The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. But since these foreign settlers did not worship the LORD when they first arrived, the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So a message was sent to the king of Assyria: “The people you have sent to live in the towns of Samaria do not know the religious customs of the God of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.” The king of Assyria then commanded, “Send one of the exiled priests back to Samaria. Let him live there and teach the new residents the religious customs of the God of the land.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the LORD. But these various groups of foreigners also continued to worship their own gods. In town after town where they lived, they placed their idols at the pagan shrines that the people of Samaria had built. Those from Babylon worshiped idols of their god Succoth-benoth. Those from Cuthah worshiped their god Nergal. And those from Hamath worshiped Ashima. The Avvites worshiped their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. And the people from Sepharvaim even burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. These new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests to offer sacrifices at their places of worship. And though they worshiped the LORD, they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came. And this is still going on today. They continue to follow their former practices instead of truly worshiping the LORD and obeying the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands he gave the descendants of Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel. [2 Kings 17.24-34]
The condition described here, as is ironically noted in the text, is still going on today. It is called syncretism.
The combined worship of multiple religious deities in addition to God, thus violating Exodus 20.3, accounts for most of Israel's ongoing problems throughout the Old Testament.
“You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]
The combined worship of multiple religious deities in addition to God, thus violating Exodus 20.3, accounts for most of the Church's ongoing problems today. Although the gods are much different and era-appropriate (modernized); the syncretism is the same.
Today's modern idol gods are (among others) debt, insurance, medicine and technology. We can be absolutely certain this is true because people insist that God uses these idols in a syncretic "working together" that the Bible emphatically warns against.
In fact, any time God's glory and power are said to depend on a relationship with any other form or function, it is indeed a violation of Exodus 20.3 - it is syncretism!
Additionally, any time God's glory and power are included in syncretic relationship with idols, God will withhold His glory and power from the syncretist rendering him worthless.
They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the LORD’s command not to imitate them. [2 Kings 17.15]
What this amounts to in our modern age is a religious existence that presents only a lackluster display of God's glory and power. On one hand there are those who defend their lack of God's manifested glory and power with doctrinal mumbo-jumbo and, on the other hand there are those who openly "claim" God's glory and power but fall miserably short when it comes to the actual manifestation of it. Both groups (and all variations in between) proudly defend their religious stance even though it is worthless compared to the demonstration of God's glory and power evident in Jesus Christ that His followers are commanded to mirror:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]
Instead of reading John 14.12 and understanding that something is terribly missing in today's Christianity, modern Christians instead either proudly "explain it away" with exclusive theological "slight of hand" or they proudly "talk the talk," but don't "walk the walk." Neither camp associates the Bible's repeated warnings about idolatry and the condition resultant to it with their own worthless depiction of Jesus Christ (compared to John 14.12). Both groups inadvertently (albeit unknowingly) praise the gods of debt, insurance, medicine and technology in syncretic worship with God when they give God some credit, but that credit is ultimately dependent upon interaction with the idols of man.
Failure to see the Bible's overwhelming identification of the recurring issue of idolatry and, failure to identify idolatry in our own day accordingly, leaves modern Christianity in the obvious and dangerous position of unrepentance and, therefore worthlessness. Jesus may indeed be invited to occupy the throne of the modern Christian's heart, but it is largely just an invitation to join the other idols firmly seated there in syncretism.
Jesus will not coexist in man's heart with idols. The overwhelming worthlessness of today's Christianity compared to Jesus' edict in John 14.12 proves this point. But also, Jesus made clear the exclusivity He requires of our lives and devotion:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]
We need to repent. And then:
Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! [1 Samuel 12.21]
Father, help us to break our ties with the worthless idols of our day that render us worthless to Your Kingdom! Help us give Jesus the entire throne of our hearts without reservation. May a movement of Biblical revelation of modern idolatry that leads to repentance result in an unmistakable display of Your glory and power as Jesus is evident in the lives of believers on the ground and on their crosses. So be it.
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