Deuteronomy 16:21–22

asherah, asherath. The word "grove" suggests a row of trees. But that cannot be the meaning, since groves were set up "under every green tree" (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10)... One passage speaks of groves being planted (Deut. 16:21); another of their being made, and another of their being built (1 Kings 14:15, 23). Scripture constantly links them with idols and images.

On the whole it seems most probable that they were wooden symbols of a goddess. They took the form of images or pillars, or mere tree trunks set in the ground. In 2 Kings 23:7 we read that women wove "hangings" for the groves. But these were literally "houses" or "tents." That implies they enclosed the groves, probably for impure purposes, since immorality was almost always tied to idolatry. Some suppose that the name Asherah points to the Syrian goddess Astarte, and the Greek Old Testament translates it that way in 2 Chr. 15:16.

They had to avoid with care anything that might lead them toward the dark and detestable idol worship of the pagan nations around them. The altar of God was to stand out in clear and unmistakable separation from those groves and shady places. There people worshipped false gods and did things too shameful to name. In a word, they were to avoid with the greatest care anything at all that might draw the heart away from the one living and true God.

Israel's departure from God showed itself outwardly in making "high places" for themselves. It was only a pagan habit. It played on the imagination with a worship that has no heart in it. Men still try to satisfy themselves in the same way, with music, architecture, drapery, and that most typical "dim religious light" — and in it they worship a God who is Light itself... So on the mountain-tops a man could imagine himself nearer to God than in the valleys. The depths of groves and forests helped too. Along with the beauty of nature, they made him think he was nearer to the God of nature than he really was.

Israel is told not to plant a tree as an image close to an altar built for the worship of the Lord. They could build either a stone or an earthen altar (Ex. 20:24-25), but they were to allow no hint of idolatry. Someone might think of "a sacred pillar" as a reminder of spiritual things, but the Lord hates this. If His Word is not reminder enough, then we are in a bad spiritual state, and material objects will not help it. Let us greatly value the Word of God and refuse to add to it.

What touches God, what gives a false view of Him, bears most closely on the daily life of His people. It reaches their homes, and it reaches matters of public judgment. Suppose we are wrong in what we allow about God Himself. Suppose we tamper with what stains His glory — allowing a dishonour, for instance, to His nature, by admitting these false gods, or by putting creatures in the place of God Himself. Then the whole lower part of life will feel at once the destructive and corrupting results of it.

The closing lines of chapter 16 warn Israel against the slightest approach to the religious customs of the nations around them. They had to avoid with care anything that might lead them toward the dark and shameful idol worship of those nations. God's altar was to stand out in clear and unmistakable separation from those groves and shady places. There people worshipped false gods and did things too shameful to name. In a word, Israel was to avoid with the greatest care anything that might in any way draw the heart away from the one living and true God.

Idolatry comes up again here, and for good reason. To forsake the one Lord is the most serious matter, both for the individual and for the nation. Turning away from the Lord and His covenant is wickedness. Chapter 16:21-22 also refers to idolatry. People set up idolatrous altars and images under, or beside, green trees. See 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; Jeremiah 17:2.

To me this is no real difficulty at all. It does not interrupt the great subject of Israel's judicial life. We have to face an important truth here. What touches God, what falsifies Him as God, has the closest bearing on the daily life of His people. That holds both in their homes and in matters of public judgment. Suppose we are wrong in what we allow about God Himself. Suppose we tamper with what stains His glory, or permit some dishonour to His nature — by admitting these false gods, for example, or setting up creatures in the place of God Himself. Then the whole lower part of life will at once feel the destructive and corrupting consequences.

The nations planted groves as places of idol worship. God tells Israel not to plant a tree as an image near an altar built for His worship. They could build either a stone or an earthen altar (Ex. 20:24-25), but they were to allow no hint of idolatry. People might think of a pillar as a reminder of spiritual things, but the Lord hates it. If His Word is not reminder enough, then we are in a bad spiritual state, and material objects will not help it. Let us greatly value the Word of God and refuse to add to it.

They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on high hills and under green trees. They would no doubt say that these things were meant to remind them of God. But God had forbidden such things. Using them always lowered God in their eyes, so that in the end the things themselves became the objects of their worship.

They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take any bodily shape from which they could form an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them. So there was no need for them to try to imagine what God was like. In fact, this was the very sin He had warned them against so faithfully. They were called to hear God's voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him. Superstition tries in vain to honour God by making and worshipping an image. Faith, on the contrary, lovingly receives and reverently obeys His holy commandments.