Idolatry - Still A Problem

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts. [Revelation 9.20-21]

It is remarkable to me that, with all that is said to have taken place up to this point, that people still refused to repent. And yet, in society today, no matter how absurd things have gotten, people still do not see the present chaos as a sin problem and therefore they see no need for repentance.

The problem lies in people's ignorance of the Bible. Oh, to be sure, most people know about the Bible, but they do not know the Bible. As would be expected then, these people only know about God and have no life-changing relationship with Him as He reveals Himself in Jesus Christ.

What is it that makes people's minds and hearts so calloused to God? How could they witness such terrifying events and not cry out to God? The answer is simple and yet highly complex all at the same time: idolatry.

Gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, as a whole, speak broadly of the economy of man and of the playground of idolatry. Yes, these are all indeed created and promised by God, and, as such, are good. However, when the importance and desirability of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood is elevated above obedience to God, their intended purpose of blessing is skewed and twisted into a device of bondage that Satan uses to insure man's homage. How can this be? Just as Satan tempted Eve (& Adam) with doubts about God having their best interests at heart, so his lies continue to appeal to man's self-gratification leading him to doubt God.

Debt, insurance, medicine and technology all comprise the economy of man today. The basis for their existence is the necessity they meet. However, the "necessity they meet" is highly subject to man's estimation of what "necessity" means as it relates to his obedience to God. It is in this "estimation of man" where Satan suggests doubts about what God has said versus what man estimates he deserves and should be entitled to, thus establishing the justification for disobedience. This justification for disobedience exponentially feeds self-gratification while self-gratification exponentially feeds justification for disobedience. The end result of this self-perpetuating cycle is a Godless society where debt, insurance, medicine and technology are all-important slave masters driving man's every decision and action regardless what God said (You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]).

In short, as man elevates his needs above obedience to God, his needs (which, by the way, God promises to meet - gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood) become his idols. The human element of man's effort to meet his own needs (debt, insurance, medicine and technology) gradually, but exponentially, blinds him to God. And, that is precisely why, even after witnessing all sorts of tragedy and chaos, self-gratifying people will still refuse to repent. In fact, they will (even religiously) dismiss as lunacy the pleas of others to see this and go so far as to say that God gave them the idols they trust.

The takeaway from this article should be that idolatry is just as much a problem in end times (Revelation) as it ever was. The very fact that we would say, "I don't have any idols," is our best indicator that we most likely do. And, we can be certain of this: our idols will have very much (if not everything) to do with what we think we need.

Each of us should study this in depth in our own lives. Do we have idols? We might see clues even now in how we respond to terrible things: do we repent or do we just get them taken care of (what or who takes care of them is an idol)?

Father, help us to see the problem of idols for mankind today. Help us to rid ourselves of these idols so that we might effectively repent. Help us to see that our idols blind us to the need for repentance. Speak to us through Your Word...