The Pursuit Of Wealth And Skill - Idolatry

Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and officials, will be hauled off to distant lands! [Jeremiah 48.7] 

As much as this verse reveals God's displeasure in those who trust their wealth and skill (discussed quite thoroughly in past articles The Pursuit Of Health And Well-Being (2017), Have We Lost Our Minds? (2019), Hypocrisy (2021), and Man's Actions Define His Idols (2023)), there is something else regarding Chemosh that I believe confirms our own participation in idolatry today.

In Jeremiah chapter 48, Jeremiah is prophesying about Moab. Jeremiah's mention of Moab is not the only mention of that nation in the Bible.2 Kings 3 details a time in Israel's history where the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah combined forces to attack Moab for their rebellion against Israel. There was a significant event recorded at the end of 2 Kings 3 subsequent to Moab's defeat:

When the king of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he led 700 of his swordsmen in a desperate attempt to break through the enemy lines near the king of Edom, but they failed. Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have been the next king, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelites withdrew and returned to their own land. [2 Kings 3.26-27]

Mesha, the king of Moab, sacrificed his own son to Chemosh the god of wealth and skill. It's a gruesome story, but what does it mean?

Is it any wonder that, in this age of wealth and skill greater than at any other time in history, that 73 million abortions were induced last year (2024) alone? 

Jeremiah's accounts of Moab and their god Chemosh and the 2 Kings 3 account of child sacrifice by Moab's Chemosh-worshiping king offer us what should be a frightening indictment upon ourselves. Whether we admit it or not, our unchecked idolatry with wealth and skill is proportionately revealed by the sacrifice of unborn babies. Likewise, our worldwide slaughter of innocent children confirms just how intense our worship of wealth and skill really is.

If the Bible is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119.105), then I am not just overthinking this! If the Bible shows an association between wealth and skill and the murder of innocent children, shouldn't we associate our wealth and skill with the murder of innocent babies also?

The problem is not abortion. Abortion is an awful symptom. The symptom of abortion reveals the underlying condition of idolatry to wealth and skill. 73 million innocent lives sacrificed in 2024 alone should tell us just how serious our idolatry with wealth and skill has become.

Many would argue that the breakdown of the traditional home is the underlying cause of abortion. However, the home only began to deteriorate when the idea of "more wealth" drove not only men but also women outside the home to work, ultimately leaving children increasingly more vulnerable as the idols of wealth and skill pace each other in consuming precious time from humanity. The pursuit (worship) of wealth and skill will (and must) then necessarily be accompanied by the sacrifice of children. The Bible illuminates this connection and so should we.

The preservation of wealth and skill manifests more distinctly in man's cyclic idolatry with debt, insurance, medicine and technology, that all promise "better life" with their unbridled albeit "untitled tax" upon man's covetousness for things he cannot afford (debt), fear of losing what he has (insurance), impatience with the life and health God gives (medicine), and insatiable lust for the convenience knowledge provides (technology).

If King Mesha sacrificed his child to appease the god of wealth and skill, how much more apparent is our attempt to appease the god of wealth and skill in the unfathomable number of children being sacrificed today?

Shall we look at Jesus' encounter with a wealthy young man again?

Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. [Matthew 19.16-22]

Is it any wonder that Jesus went straight to the underlying issues of wealth and skill? Yes, skill was just as much a problem as wealth because it was the young man's skill of reasoning that deceived him to think he could not give up his wealth to follow Jesus. 

Wealth and skill are indeed gifts from God. HOWEVER! Our pursuit of wealth and skill is where idolatry comes in evidenced by dead babies (yes, that will take some time in meditation of God's Word to fully process).

Father, help us to see our condition. Only You can reveal it. My words here mean nothing if they are not the illumination of Your Holy Spirit. May our eyes and ears be opened to what Your Word has been saying all along... So be it.