Jeremiah 7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Whole families joined together in open idolatry, with children gathering wood and fathers kindling fire while women kneaded dough into cakes shaped to bear the image of a goddess and poured out drink offerings to other gods. The queen of heaven so worshiped was Ashtereth of the Zidonians, called Astarte by the Greeks and Venus by the Romans, representing the female principle in generation as Baal represented the male and associated with the moon as he was with the sun, and her worship was practiced alongside his with sexual immorality. That united service provoked God to anger and showed outward temple worship to be of no avail while the people remained treacherous, shameless and willful in desperate sin, soon to be punished by Babylon as the swift avenger in utter ruin, captivity and exile. The unquenchable fire pronounced as judgment on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah does not signify everlasting fire, but fire sent by God that no man can quench, permitted to burn while anything remains for the flames to feed upon and going out of itself when the material is devoured. That same queen-of-heaven worship continues where she is called the mother of God and worshiped by picture rather than image, for giving the mother and child the names Mary and Jesus did not change the underlying worship, and renaming the image at the door Our Lady and the Blessed Virgin while the lamp still burns and cakes and offerings are still made is heathenism Christianized by a mere change of names.
Family Idolatry Described
Jeremiah 7:18 portrays whole families joining together in honoring a false goddess and other gods, with children gathering wood and fathers kindling the fire while women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to other gods. The work is divided among the household, so that children, fathers, and women each take part in preparing and presenting the offerings. This family worship was practiced openly within households and belonged among the false worship and feasts forbidden by God's law. The cakes so prepared bore the image of a god or goddess.
The queen of heaven so honored is Ashtereth of the Zidonians, also called Astarte by the Greeks and Venus by the Romans. Though worshiped under different names across the ancient East, she represented the female principle in generation and was associated with the moon as Baal was with the sun. Her worship was characterized by sexual immorality and was practiced alongside Baal worship. That worship is also connected with the goddess Semiramis and with Diana of the Ephesians, though historical traditions about her identity and life vary.
The idolatry was practiced openly throughout Jerusalem, even in its streets. It belonged to the same pattern of following Baalim and rejecting the Lord.
Judgment Provoked and Foretold
The whole family joining together to honor a false goddess and other gods provokes God to anger. That united idolatry proves outward temple worship is of no avail while the people remain ungodly. It reveals treachery, shamelessness and wilfulness, and a desperate state of sin.
The verse belongs to a warning about Judah's unfaithfulness that the people ignored. Their refusal to heed the prophets' warnings came before Judah's fall as an independent nation.
That desperate sin was soon to be punished by Babylon as the swift avenger. Its sad result was the utter ruin of Zion and captivity and exile in Babylon. Judah's people suffered that captivity after such idolatry.
The unquenchable fire pronounced in the context as judgment upon Jerusalem and the cities of Judah because of these idolatries does not signify everlasting fire. Unquenchable means fire sent by God that no man can quench or put out. It is permitted to burn as long as there is anything for the flames to feed upon, and when the material is devoured it goes out of itself.
The family rites were part of the religious feasting and nature- and sun-worship associated with Babylonian life. They are an example of the false worship and feasts forbidden by God's law. They were part of false education among their own people and kings. The memory of that judgment warned Daniel and his companions, who refused to repeat it by rejecting Babylon's idolatrous feasts and their excesses.
Pagan Worship Still Continued
False religion draws children in from an early age and trains them to take part in its worship, with the whole household joined in honoring the queen of heaven as children gather wood, fathers kindle fire, and women prepare cakes. Israel's worship of the queen of heaven and other gods was heathen idolatry that God abhorred, of the same character as keeping pagan names and customs in the celebration of Easter. The condemnation of offerings made to the queen of heaven also forbids giving Mary that title or worship, because the title belongs to ancient heathen worship and is no fitting honor for her. By contrast, others held that Mary is given the highest place among the saints and is called queen of the heavens.
That same queen-of-heaven idolatry continues in Christianized Europe, in Russia and the revived kingdom of Greece, where she is called the mother of God and is worshiped by the picture of the Queen of Heaven rather than the image, though it remains the same worship provoking God to anger. The title queen of heaven is connected with the Egyptian goddess Isis portrayed with her son Horus, and giving the mother and child the names Mary and Jesus did not change the underlying worship, which still involved the whole household in cakes and drink offerings to her and other gods.
The same idolatry continues when the image kept at the door with a lamp lit before it is not moved but only renamed Our Lady and the Blessed Virgin, with the lamp still burning and cakes and offerings still made. It is heathenism Christianized and idolatry perpetuated by a mere change of names, fearing God while serving other gods. It lives on where every village has its own peculiar saint and its own black or white image of the Virgin, with miracles and wonders claimed to sanctify the shrine. The queen of heaven is one of the powerless gods once feared and worshiped through offerings, later cast aside for the God who hears prayer and to whom all people come.