In the past I have found reading through the really long and bizarre names of kings to be overwhelming and somewhat irrelevant. As I read them this time, I have found myself quite inspired by those kings who "did right in the eyes of the Lord." And I ponder, if I were in that position, what would the "annals of the kings of Judah" say about me? Would I have removed the Asherah poles? How about all of the high places? And then I ask myself, "What are the Asherah poles of my day?" Any thoughts?

I would definitly say a major Asherah pole or alter to Bail today materialism. I often look around at the stuff collected in my garage and in the closets and think "Is this too much?" If God asked me to get rid of all this... would I hesitate? Would I do it gladly? Would I grumble?

BTW, What is an Asherah Pole? I always picture in my mind a May Pole with the colorful ribbons, but I am sure that is not what they were.

Hey Jason, here's a link about the goddess Asherah - not alot of info about or description of the Asherah poles.

http://www.studylight.org/dic/bed/view.cgi?n=301

I just found one brief description as follows, "This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Ex. 34:13; Judg. 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.)." at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0000337

Jesse
RUSH ministries