Posts Tagged ‘idolatry’

Scripture reading for November 24th:  1st Corinthians 7-10

I chose my life theme from going through Army officer’s leadership school.  A key leadership principle that stuck with me was “Set the Example!”  I was taught that one of the most powerful influences that a leader can have on others is their example.  I find this to be biblical as well.  Jesus Christ modeled for us and his disciples the way to live.  He lived a life centered on doing God’s will and serving others.   The Bible records many examples that are not so good as well.  Someone has said, “if you are not good for anything else, you can always be a bad example!”  In today’s reading the Apostle Paul reminds the church at Corinth of examples that should help them and us to live a blessed life.

In 1st Corinthians 10, Paul uses the bad examples as warning for us today.  There were three main things that Paul exhorted the Corinthians to remember about the Israelites of the Old Testament.  They had some great spiritual experiences with the Lord leading them by the cloud and fire and taking them through the Red Sea in a type of baptism.  They got to eat “manna” from heaven and drink water from the “Rock” for forty years while they wandered in the desert.  They had God’s appointed leader, Moses, praying for them.  However, God was not pleased with them!  (1st Corinthians 10:1-5)

In spite of being supernaturally delivered by God from idolatrous Egypt, many of them brought their idols with them!  They were taught by God to be true to their wives and to Him, but many were sexually immoral as they worshiped these idols and lived in fleshly indulgence.  Most grumbled against God and His provision and died from the bite of poisonous snakes and by the destroying angel of death that they had opened the door to.  Their hearts were not right with God in spite of all the supernatural power that they witnessed.  They thought they were alright with God because of God’s blessings.  They became examples for us!

We should learn from their example. (1st Corinthians 10:8-10)  They did not keep God first.  Idolatry and sexual immorality always go hand in hand.  America is a land of idols!  Sports stars, entertainment figures, soap operas, movie stars, popular music stars and the like all serve as idols.  We are sexually immoral and glorify sexual freedom that mocks God and His word because we are idolatrous!  The church is even full of idolatrous behavior and sexual immorality!

Grumbling against God because of unbelief was also a characteristic of the Israelites.  That grumbling kept them out of the land of promise and got a whole generation killed off in the desert.  The destroying angel, Satan, killed them because of their greed, idolatry, and sexually perversion.  These examples should warn us today and drive us to Christ Jesus.  He is our escape from sin, death and temptation.  He is always faithful and delivers those who depend on Him!

Scripture reading for September 5th: Hosea 1-3

Hosea was a unique prophet called by God to let his whole life, his marriage, and his children be a prophetic word to God’s people.  Hosea was told by God to marry an adulterous woman named Gomer.  God’s plan was to show Israel how they behaved toward Him and give them a visual picture of His love for them. (Hosea 1:2)   The children’s names also were prophetic and would remind the people of the consequences of their sins.  God’s ways are often above our ways and He will go to great lengths to reach His people.  Those whom He called to be His prophets had to be willing to obey His instructions, even in their personal lives.  We are not our own, we are bought with a price!  (1st Corinthians 6:19-20)

Hosea married Gomer and took her as his wife.  She conceived and bore him a son.  The Lord told Hosea to call the son “Jezreel”, because He was going to punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel and put an end to the kingdom of Israel.  (Hosea 1:4)  Gomer also had two daughters and they were also named by the Lord.  One was Lo-Ruhamah which meant “no love left” and the other was “Lo-Ammi” which meant “not my people”.  God was telling the Israelite about a coming judgment on their nation because of their sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery against Him.  He wanted them to be reminded every time they saw the prophet and his family of their own state and God’s word spoken through those children’s names. (Hosea 1:4-8)

As I reflect on this story, I am reminded we are just like Gomer in our ways.  We have been in spiritual adultery and unfaithful to God in many ways.  We have not obeyed His command to be filled with His Spirit and to go out into the world and be His witnesses.  We have run after other gods of pleasure and ease instead of wholeheartedly keeping ourselves for Him.  Just as Gomer ran after other lovers who offered her food, and clothes and drinks, so we have not walked faithfully before our God.  (Hosea 2:5-6)  We have not recognized that God is the real provider of all the good things that we have and instead have used them to serve ourselves instead of Him.  (Hosea 2:8)

However, as Hosea was commanded to take back his unfaithful wife and buy her back from the slave market, so God has done the same for us!  (Hosea 3:1-2)  He died for us in payment for our sins and deliverance from slavery to demonstrate His love for us! (Romans 5:8)   Hosea did tell Gomer to leave her life of adultery and live free from that bondage and he would live with her.  God tells us to depart from sin and live a holy life.  Without holiness, no one will see the Lord!  (1st Peter 1:14-15)

Jesus Christ is coming back for His Bride, the Church!  She is to be a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, clothed in the white linen of His righteousness!  Check your life today and check your robes!  Your loving Husband could come today!

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 21:25

As we have read through this book of Judges, I am impressed with how much this book describes our contemporary culture and the world view of secular humanism that is so prevalent.  When people have no king or supreme authority in their life, they end up being the authority themselves.  The result is catastrophic!  Society becomes full of sin, immorality, and rebellion.  That’s all that is in the human heart apart from God’s grace!  Let’s think about these records from history we have just read.

First, without strong leadership to keep the people focused on the Lord and His Word, people always drift into evil and rebellion.  Our land has lacked leadership morally.  Men have forsaken their job of training children and mentoring younger men. Women have had to take leadership and responsibility for providing for families because men are not stepping up and the children have suffered from lack of parenting.   The home is broken down and idolatry has replaced the family altar and accountable relationships in the family.  Each person is seeking self-fulfillment in ways that are harmful to godly relationships.  Our land has drifted into sexual immorality and personal spirituality that more often than not does not have a biblical base.  In Scripture, idolatry and immorality always go together! The parents end up letting the children choose what they want, thinking that this is best.  How can a sinner choose what is best when they have no “king” but self?

In the time of Judges, the ministry of the priesthood was also corrupt.  Ministers were often hirelings.  It is often true today that the same thing is true of ministry people. (John 10:11-13)  Many are in ministry just as a job.  They have positions and go through the motions, but are not really caring for the people.  They tickle ears and tell their people what they know that they want to hear.  (2nd Timothy 4:3-4)  There is also a group that have a love for money and use God’s people to line their own pockets.  We must be discerning of the same idolatry and religious scams in our world today!

God’s remedy for these conditions in religion has always been the same.  He listens for His people to cry out to Him in prayer!  When they do, He begins to act.  (Psalm 50:14-15)  He raises up a person who will walk with Him by faith and live and preach the Word of God.    When these people preach the uncompromising Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, then healing, restoration, and deliverance takes place.  (see Judges 4:1-11 for an example)  How God longs to be our King and lead us into doing what is right and a blessing for us and those we love!  Allow Him to touch your heart today!  God bless you and your family!  Pastor John

Scripture Reading for March 14: Judges 17-21

Religion is man’s attempt to do something that makes him feel good about himself and his own relationship with God.  The problem is that there is nothing we can do to improve our relationship with God.  We are sinners.  God is holy and has set up a very narrow way of man coming to Him.  In the time of the judges, the nation of Israel had slipped away from the Word of God and each person was doing what was right in his own eyes.  (Judges 17:6; 21:25)  The nation had forgotten God and gotten lost in a self-directed religion of idolatry.

Judges 17 records the story of a man, Micah, from the tribe of Ephraim who had stolen money from his own mother.  He heard a curse pronounced by his mother and confessed his crime.  The mother forgave him and then took some of the silver he returned and has an idol made for her son!  Micah buil a tshrine, made an ephod, and installed one of his sons as a priest.  (Judges 17:1-6) This violated everything that God had established for His people in Israel.  Only the Levites could be priests and there were to be no idols.  God’s people were to go to the place God set to worship, not to any place they chose!  (Deuteronomy 12:1-9)

The next turn of events comes as a Levite stops in.  Micah hired him to be his “father and priest”. (Judges 17:10)  This was more in line with what God desired, but still far from obedience!  Everything seemed good until some spies from the tribe of Dan stopped by Micah’s house.  They inquired of the Lord through Micah’s Levite.  He gave them what they wanted to hear.  They soon returned and made this Levite a better deal.  Why not be a priest for a whole tribe, rather than a household?  The Levite accepted happily because the price was right!  Climbing the corporate ladder is not new!

What do we get from this bizarre story that can help us in our walk with Jesus today?  First, we must be aware that we can easily slip away from a true relationship with the Lord.  Micah and his mother were descendants of Ephraim, on of the sons of Joseph.  They had a rich heritage of faith and knew of the miraculous working of God.  They should have!  Life in the promised land can easily distract us from passing on the faith and teaching about God.  Prosperity can blind and distract us!

Second, notice how big a part money played in this story:  stolen money, money to buy an idol, money given to appease this rebellious son, money to hire the Levite, and more money to hire him away from Micah’s family!  Money seems to be the answer to every problem!  Priests here are for sale and God’s blessing can be bought!  What a lie from the Devil himself!  When you have no King, you end up in contemporary religion!  Watch out today!

Scripture reading for January 30: Exodus 32-34

In our reading today, the nation of Israel quickly turned away from their commitment to obey God alone.  Moses was on the mountain in the cloud and fire for 40 days.  He was receiving the tablets with the 10 Words from the Lord.  The people came to Aaron, who was left in charge and asked for gods who would lead them.  Aaron gave in quickly and asked for gold earrings and ornaments.  The people gave freely and soon Aaron had fashioned a golden calf as the god that led the people from Egypt.  They made hasty plans for a festival, built an altar and sacrificed.  They bowed down to the calf-god  made by Aaron. God’s anger and jealousy was aroused!

God spoke to Moses about the idolatry and told him to leave Him alone so He could destroy them.  (Exodus 32:8-10)  God’s verdict–”They are a stiff-necked people.”  Stubborness is as the evil of idolatry and rebellion is as the sin of divination.  (1st Samuel 15:23)  Sin leads to death!  God is jealous!  (Exodus 34:14)  God had just written the tablets on which he emphasized with two commands the order to have no gods before Him and to make no idols.  (Exodus 20:3-6)  Moses smashed the tablets in holy anger indicating the breaking of God’s Word by the very people who had sworn to obey!  (Exodus 32:19; Exodus 24:3)

Moses, however did pray and intercede with God, asking Him to spare the people.  He asked on the basis of God’s reputation and promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Moses was well aware of the Covenant and God’s promises!  These were precious promises that caused these patriarchs to live by faith and walk by faith.  God listened but judgment still fell on those who sinned.

Moses called for those on the Lord’s side and the Levites stepped up.  They had to strap on swords and execute those who participated in the idolatry, even if it was their brother, friend or neighbor!   (Exodus 33:27-2)  Three thousand were executed that day.  Sin is deadly, particularly idolatry!  God is jealous! Israel was His Bride!  From her would come His Son, the Messiah!

The lessons for us today are plain.  This loving and compassionate God (Exodus 34:6-7) will not tolerate idolatry and sexual immorality.  These nearly always occur together because they are closely related.  Lying goes with them, too. Note Aaron’s response about just throwing the gold into the fire and an idol coming out!  We are all born into idolatry.  The “self” or “Big I” is our first and biggest idol!  We are stiff-necked because we don’t want to get rid of this idol and truly worship God.  The sword represents a slaying of the flesh!  The flesh must be crucified!  Idolatry is a work of the flesh.  (Galatians 6:19-20)  The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God brings conviction which can lead us to repent and forsake idolatry!  We must walk by the Spirit and allow His fruit to grow in our lives.

Bow your neck today in reverence and prayer to the merciful and compassionate Lord who paid to free us from the sin of idolatry.  No more stiff-necks among the people of God!  Jesus is interceding for us like Moses of old.  Instead of smashing the tablets, He kept them fully for us and shed His blood to cleans us from sin and death!  What a Savior!