Breaking Free Ministries USA
God or Goddess: Who Are You Worshipping?
                                                         by Janice Swinton

The Problem: God or goddess, language or leverage?

Many women today reject Christianity because of their feminist beliefs. They feel that God is male
orientated and does not regard them biblical or physically. I've had conversations with women who
want to "change the language" of the Bible to make it more relative to their gender. Or they want to
change the "gender" of God to that of goddess or queen so that they will be able to relate to Him. But
the problem is not the "language" of the Bible nor the "gender of Almighty God." The problem is that
women have been living in an oppressed society for thousands of years and now that they have a
platform to voice their concerns and bring change, they feel the need to make God "fit" into their
plans instead of fitting themselves into His. God is not the one that has been oppressing women in our
society. Men are. Mere men! Place the blame where it belongs. Women have been so abused by their
human fathers, brothers and men in power, that it is hard for them to relate to the Father in God.
Some women have been sexually abused, verbally and physically. Some have been emotionally abused
to the point where relating to God as a Father is very difficult. So it is easier for them to relate to Him
as a "queen, goddess or mother." Other women have lived in very sexist and oppressive societies (not
unlike America), ruled and governed by men, and have likewise experienced this same male dominated
oppression in the "church," making it hard for them to related again to God the Father and Jesus His
Son. Therefore, it becomes necessary to make Him a goddess, giving them more leverage and a more
equal playing ground, so that they feel more important comfortable with their own gender. Or they
need to find something in God that represents the feminine, so they can relate, hence, enter the
goddess theory. God made woman in His image, male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).
There is no gender bias here. Male and female came out of God and were represented in Him. Both
male and female originated from God Our Creator. That's equality.

God & Gender: What's The Real Issue?
God is a Spirit. Spirit is genderless. The gender issue is only relative to the human race for the purpose
of the institution of family. Male and female He created them and told them to be fruitful and multiply
and thus replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28). Even nature tells us that in order of procreation to take
place you must have male and female humans to do so. These outward fleshly bodies simply house the
real person which cannot be seen, spirit and soul. This gender issues is an earthly issue only. Heaven
will again be genderless. We will be spirit being not human beings. In heaven there will be no marriages
and the institution of a earthly family will no longer exist. "For in the resurrection they neither marry
nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30). We will then become
the family of God, which will consist of spirit beings, not human beings. So the whole argument of
gender will end in eternity. It definitely was not an issue with Jesus either. He recognized the women
about Him, showing respect first to Mary His mother, and to all the other women who followed Him.
"There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). As women, we
must start looking at ourselves the way God sees us. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his
appearance or at the height of his stature... For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'" (I Samuel 16:7). As women we must become
comfortable with how God chose to make us. Comfortable with our height, hair, looks, and build. If
women want to be respected by men and be treated equally then we all must stop putting so much
emphasis on gender. In II Corinthians 5:16, Paul states that we should no longer regard one another
according to the flesh: "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though
we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer." We are spirit
beings clothed in earthen vessels: "For we know that if our earthly house this tent, is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Corinthians
5:1).The question is not who God is but who are you? The need to change His image represents a
problem with women's  self-image. It makes them more comfortable with who they are to make Him
like them. If you cannot be comfortable with yourself without trying to change His image, there's a
problem. As a woman, your self-image changes when you realize you are made in His image. Not
man's image, but God's image. Father God's image does not need to be changed, ours does.

How Does Father God Feel About All This?
Goddess worship as we know is quite old. In ancient times people worshiped pagan gods. They had
many gods for all occasions and seasons. They had Ashtoreth, a Syrian and Phoenician goddess of the
moon, sexual love, and fertility. Diana in Roman mythology was the goddess of the moon, hunting,
wild animals, and virginity. The Nation of Israel was to worship the one true God, Yahweh. But when
the people began mixing with pagan nations, they soon joined in and began to worship pagan gods.
Something strictly forbidden by God. "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:1).
The Israelites soon forgot this commandment as seen in Jeremiah 7:17,18: "Do you not see what they
do in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the
fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out
drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger." "I have sent to you all My
servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying 'Oh, do not do this abominable thing that
I hate [worshipping pagan goddess and gods (v. 3)]'" (Jeremiah 44:4). But the people were rebellious
and would not heed the prophet's warning. They replied: "But we will certainly do whatever has gone
out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her, as we
have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 44:17). God replied (v. 26), "Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who
dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the Lord, 'that My name
shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, 'The Lord
lives.'" "Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who
are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them"
(v. 27).

The cost of their goddess worship was destruction. God is never pleased when His people worship
pagan gods, in this case, "the queen of heaven.""As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is
the house of Israel ashamed...saying to a tree, 'You are my father.' And to a stone, 'You gave birth to
me.'...But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you
in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah"
(Jeremiah 2:26-28).

God vs goddesses and gods. They Can't Save You!!
A classic story of the powerless and utter uselessness of pagan gods to help those that worship them,
occurred in the book of I Kings 16:31. Ahab the king of Israel was enticed by his wife to serve and
worship Baal. Even though he knew better, he followed after her pagan gods and goddesses. His wife's
name was Jezebel. Jezebel surrounded herself with pagan gods and their false prophets. Elijah, a
prophet of the true God, I AM, challenged idolatrous Israel, who had turned their back on the true
God to worship pagan gods, and Jezebel, the king's wife, and all of her 450 prophets of Asherah, a
Canaanite goddess, to a test. "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God,
follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him" (I Kings 18:21). In I Kings 18:22-40 Elijah challenged
Jezebel's prophets to cut up a bull and place it on the altar. Elijah did likewise. Then he told them that
the God that answers with fire who was the true God. So the prophets of Baal called upon their god to
put fire under the offering, but nothing happened: "So they took the bull which was given them, and
they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon saying 'O Baal hear us!'
But there was no voice; no one answered. And they leaped about the alter which they had made. And
so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them saying, 'Cry aloud for he is a god, either he is meditating or
he is busy or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened'" (v. 26). This
continued all day until the time of the evening sacrifice. Then Elijah called on God Almighty: "Then
the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burned sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust,
and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their
faces; and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God.' And Elijah said to them, 'Seize the
prophets of Baal! Do not let one them escape.' So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to
the Brook Kishon and executed them there" (v. 38-40).

Jezebel's response: Jezebel was quite upset with this and threatened to do the same to Elijah (19:2). But
Jezebel was out of her league because she was challenging Almighty God. Her gods and her goddesses
had failed her and she had no fear of the man of God. Jezebel is represented today in women who
don't fear God nor the prophets and prophetess of God. They have been duped into believing they
have some supernatural power or because they are "real women" or "feminist" that they don't need
God or have a need to fear Him. Don't be deluded that you have more power than God just because
you say so or believe it. This will lead to destruction. No woman or man can challenge God with their
goddess or philosophies and prevail. In I Kings 21:23 Jehovah God, Yahweh, I AM gave her sentence:
"Concerning Jezebel, the Lord also spoke, saying, 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezebel.'"
This prophecy was fulfilled in II Kings 9:30-37. Jezebel was leaning out of the window addressing Jehu
when her eunuchs who were on his side. "Then he said, 'Throw her down.' So they threw her down, and
some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and they trampled her under foot. So they
went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her
hands' (v. 33,35). The dogs had eaten her (v. 36). Ahab, her husband, on the other hand repented when
he heard God's prophecy against him,  God said, "Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will
not bring the calamity on his house" (I Kings 21:29). There is still consequence to the worship of pagan
gods. Those who worship and serve pagan gods are worshipping and serving demonic powers. And
although satan has some power, he is powerless before Almighty God. Jesus stripped him of all his
power when He died on the Cross. God forbids us from worshipping idols because stones and rocks are
not gods. Trees are no gods. Mythology is just that, myths. There is only one true God. I AM.

Choose Who You Will Serve - God or goddess?
Don't make the mistake of thinking you are serving God via your worship of goddesses or your desire
to make Him a goddess. You are not! If you choose goddess worship over acknowledging God as He is,
then you are worshipping pagan gods. You need to choose who you will serve, as Elijah challenged the
children of Israel and the pagan prophets. There is only one true God,  Jehovah God, Yahweh, I AM.
If you are involved in worshipping goddesses or other idols, please consider the above. If you will turn
away from this idolatry, God will have mercy on you. If you don't, there is a price to be paid. Don't
make the mistake of becoming an idolater in search of feminism or religion. At Breaking Free
Ministries we believe in equality for women and that God is no respecter of persons. We believe in
equal rights for women, but we recognize that the oppressor is men NOT GOD. God gave man a will
when He created us. He did not make us robots to follow Him blindly. Therefore when man chose to
disobey and fell in the garden, we became a society run by men not God. God only intervenes in our
lives when we acknowledge  His Deity and Him as Creator. Otherwise we suffer at the hand of men.
Men have controlled and dominated the workplace and the money for centuries. Men have been in
control of the governing bodies as well. That is why, at  Breaking Free Ministries, we don't see the need
to or have the desire to change who God is to fit our plans. We worship God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit, the three being one. Secondly, learn to become comfortable with who you are
and please don't make the mistake of trying to change God into your image. Take a look at yourself
and how you feel about who you are. It is not enough that He made you in His image? Father God is
not a goddess, or queen of heaven. He is ALMIGHTY GOD - I AM.

Note: If this article has been of any help to you, please e-mail me.  I would appreciate it very much.
God bless you,
Janice