Idolatry Is The Problem

“I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds. [Jeremiah 23.21-22]

I have written about this passage before. As I reviewed past posts however, it is obvious I only touched lightly on the "evil ways and deeds" Jeremiah mentioned. Of course these evil ways and deeds are "sin" requiring repentance but, in the context of Israel's history, the evil ways and deeds Jeremiah is speaking of are specifically about idolatry.

With this in mind, and relative to how this year I am seeing idolatry as the real problem it was not only for Israel but for us today, I am convicted that a true prophet of God today will be one who is calling out the sin of idolatry as it exists in the twenty-first century.

Perhaps the gross ineffectiveness of the Church today (particularly in the affluent west) is due to the fact that widespread idolatry goes on unaddressed as just 'normal life.' Embracing Jesus is indeed preached, but rejecting idolatry in doing so is not. The problem with this is that God has never allowed dual alliances! We cannot be faithful to Jesus and remain attached to the idols of man. No matter how passionately one feels he has pursued Jesus, if he does so while clutching to the world's idols, there will be no genuine godliness in his life, and worse, he will be rejected by Christ:

But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ [Matthew 7.23]

Idolatry is no small thing to God. Anything that promises fulfillment of that which God promised He would fulfill IS AN IDOL. We don't have to think too hard to have quite a list of things we trust for benefits God promised. What things do we trust for security, health, provision, and well-being (all things God promised He would provide His own)?

In reference to the things mentioned in the previous paragraph, to say, "God uses these things," is much like the following instance:

All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” [Exodus 32.3-4]

Not convinced? Aaron blended God in the mix. Look at verse 5 following:

Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!” [Exodus 32.5]

It is becoming ever more conclusive to me how dangerous it is to mix God and man's solutions in some sort of religious cocktail. I will continue to revert to this commandment:

You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

I am attempting here to speak for God on what has always been, and remains, the most important thing to Him: man's undivided faith in Him alone.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

Jeremiah stayed focused on the problem: idolatry.

Father, help us to remain conscious of idolatry today understanding that is has advanced right along with mankind to the present drawing our genuine faith away from God. Help us to rid ourselves of all our idols that we might be found trusting in You ALONE!