Protestants use these Bible verses just to prove (ineffectively) their claim against Catholics that Catholics worship Mary. They say Astarte is Mary.
Jeremiah 7:18New International Version (NIV)
18 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 44:17New International Version (NIV)
17 We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.
Judith Ochshorn writes: “Ishtar’s name is etymologically identical with that of the West Semitic goddess Astarte, the South Arabian god ‘Athar, or Astar, who in Ethiopia was the god of heaven and who appears in Ugaritic or Canaanite myths as both the female Athtart and the male ‘Athar ‘Ariz. Perhaps her most significant designation is the Semitic version of Inanna, “queen of heaven,” the multifaceted and most enduring of all the powerful Sumerian goddesses. In addition, the association of Ishtar with male as well as female deities reveals an important ingredient of Mesopotamian conceptions of the divine that spilled into cultic practices.”
^ None of those idols has anything to do with Mary, the Mother of the Lord.
St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, writes in his Panarion : “Certain women there in Arabia have introduced this absurd teaching from Thracia: how they offer up a sacrifice of bread rolls in the name of the ever-Virgin Mary, and all partake of this bread… It is not right to honor the saints beyond their due …Now the body of Mary was indeed holy, but it was not God; the Virgin was indeed a virgin and revered, but she was not given to us for worship, but she herself worshipped him who was born in the flesh from her … Honor Mary, but let the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be worshipped, but let no one worship Mary … even though Mary is the most beautiful and holy and venerable, yet she is not to be worshiped.”
Church Father St. Epiphanius wrote:“According to her nature, Mary remains human and feminine. Hence, like other saints, she is unsuited for adoration, though as an elect vessel, she is glorified in a higher degree than others. In like manner, neither Elijah … nor John the Baptist … nor Thecla may be adored.”
So what if Catholics address Mother as “Queen of Heaven”? It does not mean that it is improperly and erroneously addressed to a false god it may not be used for someone else.
Ezra 7:12New International Version (NIV)
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings,
To Ezra the priest, teacher of the Law of the God of heaven:
Greetings.
Daniel 2:37-38New King James Version (NKJV)
37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
^“king of kings” was the title of Artaxerxes and Nebuchadnezzar, but we all know that Jesus is the true KING OF KINGS.
1 Timothy 6:15New International Version (NIV)
15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
Revelation 17:14King James Version (KJV)
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful
Psalm 45:9New King James Version (NKJV)
9 Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
^The queen is none other than the Queen Mother of the Davidic King who is Jesus.
Revelation 12:1Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
^There is a long-standing tradition of interpretation in the Church which views this woman from two perspectives: as representative of God’s People and as the Mother of our Lord. We note that it is common to find a feminine image for the People of God, in the OT and the NT. In this case, we see that the Savior (male child) is born of the Jewish People with the pains of birth (symbolically often used to represent a new age dawning, certainly the case with the coming of the Messiah) and Satan attempts to destroy our Lord, not just as an infant but he continually attempted to thwart his saving mission. But having failed to do this and now that our Lord has ascended to heaven, Satan continues to wage war upon the Church (the Woman). She is given protection by our Lord, as the Church is protected, through a period of persecution. The reference to a period of three and a half years, in various fractions, seems to represent a period of persecution, no matter how long it may be, in fact. This three and a half period may find a past reference in the persecution of Antiochus IV of Syria upon the Jewish people in the 2nd century BC and may find an initial fulfillment in the siege of Jerusalem from 66-70 AD, more specifically, for precisely a three and a half year period.
Sources:
http://www.ewtn.com/
http://knowthetruth.ph/
PAX VOBISCUM!`