That's right, it needs to be talked about.
I just finished Jacob Foulk's book "Exposing the Spirit of Ashtaroth". Really good, there was a ton that resonated with me. Granted, there was about 15% or so that I didn't totally agree with, but that doesn't lessen the 85% that I think was pretty darn spot-on.
In it, he highlights how the Canaanite goddess Ashtaroth is intrinsically linked to the spirit of Feminism today (this is corroboratedo by Jonathan Kahn's book "Return of the Gods" if you'd like further reading). I think he is really onto something with this assertion.
It got me thinking, though- is there a "spirit of toxic masculinity"? Come on now, you can't pretend that men don't really suck sometimes and drop the ball on who we are supposed to be. Feminism was only able to thrive because we give women reason to be unhappy. I strongly belive that if men's "agape" love for women looked more like Christ's love for the church (Ephesians 5), Feminism could and would not have taken root (a la "perfect love casts out fear")
Jacob also mentions how Ashtaroth is the female counterpart to Ba'al, and that worship of one is often in proximity to the other. As many of us also know, Ba'al literally means "master" in Hebrew, and is actually a word used in the Bible which is often translated to "husband". I think this linguistic nugget is significant, because it reminds us that the husband is indeed the head of his wife.
However, there is a "fleshly" way of "wife mastery", and there is the "kingdom" way of "wife mastery". In Ephesians 5 we sre commanded to "agape" love our wives, and 1 Corinthians 13 tells us exactly how this should look:
(Agape) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Patriarchy should look like 1 Cor. 13. Otherwise, I think the spirit of "toxic/hyper patriarchy" rears its head as an inherent tendancy of Men. I cant help but wonder if this is the "spirit of Ba'al" at play.
Ba'al breaks down the divine order by "overlording" those under you void of true agape love. Ashteroth breaks down the divine order by causing the "lover" to subvert the "master". They are both two sides of the same toxic coin.
Don't be Ashtaroth. Don't be Ba'all. Be Jesus. Men, love your wives. Women, submit to your husbands.
THAT is the divine order.
Thoughts?
I just finished Jacob Foulk's book "Exposing the Spirit of Ashtaroth". Really good, there was a ton that resonated with me. Granted, there was about 15% or so that I didn't totally agree with, but that doesn't lessen the 85% that I think was pretty darn spot-on.
In it, he highlights how the Canaanite goddess Ashtaroth is intrinsically linked to the spirit of Feminism today (this is corroboratedo by Jonathan Kahn's book "Return of the Gods" if you'd like further reading). I think he is really onto something with this assertion.
It got me thinking, though- is there a "spirit of toxic masculinity"? Come on now, you can't pretend that men don't really suck sometimes and drop the ball on who we are supposed to be. Feminism was only able to thrive because we give women reason to be unhappy. I strongly belive that if men's "agape" love for women looked more like Christ's love for the church (Ephesians 5), Feminism could and would not have taken root (a la "perfect love casts out fear")
Jacob also mentions how Ashtaroth is the female counterpart to Ba'al, and that worship of one is often in proximity to the other. As many of us also know, Ba'al literally means "master" in Hebrew, and is actually a word used in the Bible which is often translated to "husband". I think this linguistic nugget is significant, because it reminds us that the husband is indeed the head of his wife.
However, there is a "fleshly" way of "wife mastery", and there is the "kingdom" way of "wife mastery". In Ephesians 5 we sre commanded to "agape" love our wives, and 1 Corinthians 13 tells us exactly how this should look:
(Agape) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Patriarchy should look like 1 Cor. 13. Otherwise, I think the spirit of "toxic/hyper patriarchy" rears its head as an inherent tendancy of Men. I cant help but wonder if this is the "spirit of Ba'al" at play.
Ba'al breaks down the divine order by "overlording" those under you void of true agape love. Ashteroth breaks down the divine order by causing the "lover" to subvert the "master". They are both two sides of the same toxic coin.
Don't be Ashtaroth. Don't be Ba'all. Be Jesus. Men, love your wives. Women, submit to your husbands.
THAT is the divine order.
Thoughts?
