The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the
women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour
out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. Jeremiah 7:18
The Queen
of Heaven was something Jeremiah mentioned also in chapter 4. The people burned incense, poured out drink
offerings and made cakes with her image in them. They claimed everything went well as long as
they did these things and kept their vows to her. The women of the time seemed to motivate this
worship.
Greek and
Roman gods included male and female.
Most likely during Jeremiah’s time was a goddess named Astarte, a false
idol of sex and fertility. By giving her
the title “Queen of Heaven,” it put her on the equal to the God of Heaven.
Putting
any other identity on the same level of God, in terms of holiness and power,
insults the true God. We are guilty of making God accessible, bringing Him down to our level, so we create mini-gods that we
can control.