There is archeological evidence of this, and I recall a secular archeology professor citing it when mocking Christians. The poor ignoramus evidently didn't know the Old Testament very well, because evidence like this doesn't contradict the Bible, it confirms it. Throughout the OT we have descriptions of the Jews falling away and worshipping other Gods and participating in vile practices, and this was just part of their apostasy.
The false part is claiming the Bible ever taught God had a wife. That's nonsense. But heretical Jews were certainly worshipping Asherah and bringing God's wrath down on them.
Good write up.
And the sermon per the article said the following: He condemned King Josiah for destroying idols and Asherah poles during his reign, lamenting the impact it would have on young Israelite girls who needed a feminine deity to look up to. Helton argued that Josiah's reforms were motivated by a desire to consolidate political power, not theological purity. The pastor claimed that ancient Israel worshipped not only Yahweh but Yahweh and Asherah together, and that the prophetic literature shows nobody had a problem with that. He asserted that scriptures were modified and history rewritten to eliminate the divine feminine, blaming "fragile male egos" for the change. "Can you imagine for a minute being a woman in seventh-century BCE Israel?" Helton asked his congregation.
GOD THE FATHER’S wife is said to be Israel.