See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine.. [Isaiah 1.21-22]
Today's One Year Chronological Bible reading speaks to the problem of idolatry. Having other gods makes people spiritual prostitutes. This is the very thing the 2nd Commandment warns against.
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. [Exodus 20.4-6]
As seen in most all of today's OYCB reading from Isaiah, there are distinct results (signs) of idolatry, one of which is seen immediately following the subject passage above:
Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows. [Isaiah 1.23]
Corrupt leadership is the direct result of idolatry. Isaiah goes on in chapter 2 to define some other results of idolatry:
Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans. Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. [Isaiah 2.5-8]
Then, in the 5th chapter of Isaiah, we find another result of idolatry:
What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. [Isaiah 5.20]
The thing is, we could go on for days listing the results of idolatry and still people today refuse to see the obvious signs all around them. They do so because they are ignorant of God's Word. Anyone who genuinely wants to see and know God can see and know Him in His Word. But instead, they are those Jesus spoke of:
And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. [John 3.19-20]
There is only one solution to the idolatry problem in the Bible and in our day. It is the solution God saw fit to make the 1st Commandment:
“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3]
This demand for singular devotion and commitment is, as would be expected, exactly what God-in-the-flesh, Jesus, demanded:
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)]
It is not enough to look around and complain about the results of idolatry all around us... there is the matter (and demand) of repentance. What that looks like is found back in Isaiah 1:
Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness. But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the Lord will be consumed. You will be ashamed of your idol worship in groves of sacred oaks. You will blush because you worshiped in gardens dedicated to idols. [Isaiah 1.27-29 underline for emphasis]
Until there is shame for idolatry, there will be no repentance - no turning away from idols. But there will be no shame if people remain ignorant of what idolatry is:
Idolatry is trusting anything other than, or in addition to, God.
People will remain ignorant of what idolatry is as long as they remain ignorant of God's Word. God's people simply must become students of His Word - not students of colleges (even Bible colleges), not students of denominations or churches, not students of doctrines and theology - but students of God's Word. They simply must avoid contamination or dilution of God's Word with the opinions of man. They must stop quoting men, and start quoting God. Genuine believers in God (followers of Jesus) must make every effort to give up every way of their own - the ways of man's self-serving ingenuity and academia - and instead determine that God's supernatural power must and will be their trademark - their defining characteristic - the distinction that they are God's ALONE - even if it costs them their lives (Matthew 16.24 above and Daniel 3.16-18).
The problem with everything said heretofore is that when we finally set out to identify the idols of our day so that we might give them up, then, and only then, do we realize just what wretched, whorish, adulterers against God that we really are. And then is when our proud religious theologies and academia (not to be confused with the actual knowledge of God's Word only) lulls us back into our idolatrous comfort zone fulfilling exactly what Jesus said in John 3.19-20 above.
Do we trust man's industry of finance to meet our needs? Then we are trusting man and not God. We are idolaters.
Do we trust man's industry of insurance to protect ourselves and our assets? Then we are trusting man and not God. We are idolaters.
Do we trust man's industry of medicine for our health? Then we are trusting man and not God. We are idolaters.
Do we trust man's industry of technology for our convenience? Then we are trusting man and not God. We are idolaters.
How do we know this is true? By considering all the implications of the following question: "Does God want me to trust Him ALONE to meet my needs without debt, insurance, medicine or technology?" The answer is as plain as day in God's Word.
We might also consider where our money goes... The Biblical pattern is that "where our money goes is where our god is." This is especially true where God, in His Word, said He would provide for us, protect us, heal us, and meet our every need if we obey Him (which, by the way, is better than sacrifice - 1 Samuel 15.22). In contrast, man's idol industries of debt, insurance, medicine and technology all demand monetary sacrifices made directly to them in exchange for their "benefits" - and, they require no accountability to God whatsoever.
The signs are all around us, and, sadly, the Church is saturated with them. God's Word calls us to repentance... but then, to know that, we must necessarily know God's Word. Hosea's words on behalf of God keep coming to mind:
My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me... [Hosea 4.6]
Father in heaven, our eyes to see and our ears to hear will not be functional until Your Word is not just a priority, but our life (or, death as the case may be). May we walk in Your grace to give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. So be it.
No comments:
Post a Comment