“But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter. In those towns that the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you. This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God. [Deuteronomy 20.15-18]
We should understand that the Promised Land (Canaan) had its own thing going on with God entirely unrelated to Israel.
“Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ But recognize today that the LORD your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the LORD has promised. “After the LORD your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The LORD has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The LORD your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. [Deuteronomy 9.1-6]
The detestable "wickedness" of the people of the Promised Land that aroused God's anger against them started and ended with idolatry. Just the context of Deuteronomy alone (up to this date in the One Year Chronological Bible readings) declares the problem of idolatry over and over (I apologize for the length, but the numerous references below prove the point).
“You saw for yourself what the LORD did to you at Baal-peor. There the LORD your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. But all of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today—every one of you. [Deuteronomy 4.3-4]
So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this. [Deuteronomy 4.23]
“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and will arouse his anger. [Deuteronomy 4.25]
“So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. [Deuteronomy 4.39]
So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. [Deuteronomy 5.32-33]
“You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, for the LORD your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. [Deuteronomy 6.14-15]
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. [Deuteronomy 7.1-6]
“You must destroy all the nations the LORD your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. [Deuteronomy 7.16]
“You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction. [Deuteronomy 7.25-26]
“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God. [Deuteronomy 8.19-20]
Then the LORD said to me, ‘Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!’ [Deuteronomy 9.12]
“But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the LORD and serve and worship other gods. [Deuteronomy 11.16]
But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the LORD your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before. [Deuteronomy 11.28]
“When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods! “Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. [Deuteronomy 12.2-4]
“When the LORD your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the LORD your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods. [Deuteronomy 12.29-31]
Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the LORD your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you. [Deuteronomy 13.4-5]
“When you begin living in the towns the LORD your God is giving you, you may hear that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods you have not known before. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it. Burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a large nation, just as he swore to your ancestors. [Deuteronomy 13.12-17]
“When you begin living in the towns the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman among you might do evil in the sight of the LORD your God and violate the covenant. For instance, they might serve other gods or worship the sun, the moon, or any of the stars—the forces of heaven—which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then the man or woman who has committed such an evil act must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. [Deuteronomy 17.2-5]
“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the LORD your God forbids you to do such things.” [Deuteronomy 18.9-14]
But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’ [Deuteronomy 18.20]
This then brings us up to the opening subject passage above (Deuteronomy 20.15-18). God knows that idolatry breeds idolatry! In fact, idolatry infectiously blinds those who refuse to turn from the idolatry that they first see, effectively blinding themselves from seeing any further idolatry, and worse, from seeing God.
Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.2-8] (see also Psalm 135.15-18)
God is one hundred percent intolerant of idolatry because, even just a little idolatry blinds people from seeing Him. God's jealousy is therefore well-founded for our protection! God is intolerant of idolatry for our own good!
And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. [Deuteronomy 10.13]
And, herein is the difference between God's jealousy and the jealousy 1 Corinthians 13 speaks against (in case you are wondering): God's jealousy is for our own good where human jealousy is selfish.
So, the back story of Israel acquiring the Promised Land is the story of God's disdain for Canaan's idolatry. God's destruction of the people of Canaan is not at all inconsistent with His warnings against idolatry. We then are faced with an object lesson of our own... Do we want to be like the hated blind idolaters of Canaan or like the loved recipients of the Promised Land beholding our God?
The New Testament totally supports all of this. Jesus spoke of "seeing..."
For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]
Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. [Luke 10.23]
Idolatry is the way of man without God. A man without God is an idolater in all his ways. As Israel foreshadowed the Church, and the Promised Land foreshadowed God's Kingdom, so idolatry is everything today that prevents the Church from enjoying the benefits of the Kingdom. Again, idolatry is the way of man without (or in doubt of) God. And, for this reason, Jesus, in unmistakably intolerant language, said:
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 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
"Your own way" is the way of man without God - idolatry. "Take up your cross" is the way of undivided, unshakable faith in God alone. Jesus' life demonstrated what this looks like and therefore we are commanded to "follow Him."
But, the idols must first go. We must first give up idolatry.
Father, You have been faithfully giving further insight into the reality of idolatry today among those who claim to be Your people (myself included). Our man-made idols prevent us from seeing You and prevent us from seeing the plethora of idols we serve in blind succession. May we come back to the fact that You are the God Who delivered us from our slavery and that You demand singular, undivided trust in You alone. May this our repentance be joined by our faith in Jesus ...giving up our own way (the way of man - the way of idolatry), taking up our cross (the way of undivided faith), and following Him. May our repentance and faith manifest in us seeing Jesus in ourselves - in our words and in our works. So be it.
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