Did God have a wife?

Was God married? Was the Old Testament revised to hide evidence that God ruled alongside a heavenly queen?

These questions are in the news this week due to a flurry of stories about the alleged relationship between Yahweh and the Ancient Near Eastern fertility goddess Asherah. Drawing on ancient inscriptions that mention “Yahweh and his asherah,” some scholars (notably William Dever in Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel) have in recent years posited that the ancient Israelites worshipped Asherah and other deities alongside Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. 

Now others have taken this a step further and claimed that Yahweh’s supposed wife Asherah was later edited out of the Bible by scribes with a monotheistic agenda.These theories sound a bit shocking at first read, and most of the articles reporting on them this week spin them as a damaging blow to the Christian understanding of God and the Bible. But on closer examination, these theories don’t seriously challenge what the Old Testament tells us about ancient Israelite religion. 

Where Did it Fall?

The fourth key to regaining your cutting edge is found in verse 6 of 2 Kings 6,

So the man of God said, "Where did it fall?"  And he showed him the place.  So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.

The words I want you to focus on are, Where did it fall?  That is quite a question.  And look at the response,  And he showed him the place.

That is the fourth key, to know where you lost your cutting edge.  Unless you go back to that place, you cannot retrieve it; and unless you are willing to deal with whatever issue caused you to lose your cutting edge, you will never regain it.

Did you notice that the man knew right where he lost his cutting edge?  If you will be honest, you can probably point right to the time you lost, or began to lose, your edge spiritually.

Perhaps it was when you became offended because of what someone did.  Or maybe it was when you started watching too much television, or when you began hanging around with a certain person.

If when asked, "Where did it fall?" you cannot immediately point to the place, take some time to commune with your own heart and be still.  It won't be long before your answer comes. 

This is essential because if you are to regain your edge, you need to start where you lost it.

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