Trust God Alone

“In that day,” says the LORD, “I will slaughter your horses and destroy your chariots. I will tear down your walls and demolish your defenses. I will put an end to all witchcraft, and there will be no more fortune-tellers. I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands. I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles and destroy your pagan cities. I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.” [Micah 5.10-15]

I will not be so presumptive to declare when "in that day" is, but I will point out what the problem is "in that day." In particular, I want to focus on this sentence: "you will never again worship the work of your own hands."

If we can glean anything from this passage of Scripture, it should be that God's main source of grief with His people (that needs to be corrected) is that they depend on themselves - "the work of their own hands," instead of depending upon Him.

It has become glaringly obvious that modern society, with its advancements in science and technology, has become less dependent upon God. Why? Because the "work of our own hands," our science and technology, has become the object of our trust that God specifically reserved for Himself. Consequently, man no longer looks to God for daily bread, shelter, and protection. We now have jobs, financial independence, insured houses and cars, and a treatment for nearly every medical need (as well as insurance to pay for it).

It is rebellion (witchcraft) for man to depend on the work of his own hands! Even the prediction by Micah above that God will put an end to all witchcraft (synonymous with "rebellion") goes right along with the context in which it is found. 

Shrines, Asherah poles and pagan cities (all the work of man's own hand) are mentioned because these all represent false gods. In fact, everything mentioned in Micah 5.10-15 has some allegorical reference to any and every idol man would trust in instead of trusting God.

It is not surprising that God's First Commandment is:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3]

God's First Commandment serves not only to provide direction for would-be followers, but also to predictively proclaim what their greatest obstacle would be if they would serve Him! The First Commandment reveals man's greatest challenge: trusting God alone. From the time the First Commandment was first introduced to this very day, man's primary struggle has been to trust God instead of man's own devices. 

If we will only allow ourselves to see it, the entire Bible chronicles this very dilemma. Micah's prophecy serves as only one of many warnings against the deception of man trusting in himself.

An undeniable fact about Israel's history is that the measure of any leader's "good-ness" was revealed in how proactive that leader was in removing the shrines, Asherah poles, and pagan cities that were the object of Israel's trust instead of the LORD. 

"Removal" was an important factor then and "removal" remains an important factor today!

Yes, if God's people today are to be pleasing to Him (remember it is impossible to please God without faith), it will be in the removal of everything man trusts in instead of God. God will not cohabit with idols when it comes to our faith. Our faith is to be in Him alone - and that, specifically in His Son for "His work" on our behalf (not the work of our own efforts). But to do so requires that we rid ourselves of any and everything that would attract our faith to it instead of to God.

This reminds me of something a dear brother sent me the day before this writing about "pruning."

Father, help me to rid myself of everything I have adulterously trusted in instead of You. Forgive me for my misplaced trust in the works of man's hands, the systems of man, and the knowledge of man. I want to trust You alone and I want my life to reveal that to all.