Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture. Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; [Zechariah 10.1-2]
Upon reading today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, I felt at first compelled to use Zechariah 9.9 again as my starting place as I have done so many times. However, as I reviewed previous years' writings on that particular passage, I decided instead to look deeper into today's reading to see if anything else would stand out to me... surely it would... and it did.
As I read Zechariah 10.1-2 the second time today, I realized how much we need rain in my particular geographic location. Zechariah 10.1 speaks directly to the need for rain. It says to ask the LORD for rain... for He makes the storm clouds.
But then, in reading further in the context of Zechariah 10.1, there is Zechariah 10.2: Household gods give worthless advice... Then, there was this sickening realization of the potential for an idol so common as to be called a "household" god.
Do I have household gods?
We must see the contrast Zechariah 10.1-2 is providing us! On one hand, we are told to ask God for rain, and, on the other hand, we are warned about the advice of household gods...
I am going to over-simplify here to make a point. Whether the reader agrees or not is strictly up to the reader!
If I look at the ground in my yard currently, I see the undeniable need for water. Most of my grass has died off and the shrubbery and tress are suffering.
Question: What do I do?
Answer: Ask the LORD for rain? Or, check my phone for a weather forecast?
What is revealed here? I am afraid it is our household gods which have amazingly all become quite unified in one manifestation: our smartphone. Instead of asking God for rain, we grab our phone and check the local forecast...
Am I really going there? Is this just the culmination of all my "idolatry" realizations over the past few years gone to seed? Is it time to consider institutionalization for me? Have I finally lost it?
The thing is, everyone who thinks me crazy at this point suffers the same curses I suffer (a comprehensive list is found in Deuteronomy 28.15-68). Christians know and persistently claim God is our Provider, Protector, Healer, and so forth, and yet, we live in an extremely abstract realization of this "truth" (as we call it), while experiencing every sickness, need, and vulnerability described in Deuteronomy 28 - all without His tangible miraculous intervention. Now, who's crazy? But, it gets worse...
Even though most of what we know as the Old Testament - the ongoing story of God's people from the creation of the world - reveals, rebukes, and demands repentance for idolatry, we remarkably make no association today between our curses and idolatry as if Jesus came and idols simply went away. If that was the case, Jesus would never have made the following demand:
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]
Christians ARE promised deliverance from all the curses in Christ...
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]
...but nothing of Jesus' work on the cross applies to an unbeliever. In other words, they will continue to experience every curse assigned to their disobedience - their idolatry.
If this is true, "believers" today must face the reality of their present circumstances: are they, or are they not redeemed from curses? If they are not, then there are two possibilities why. One of those possibilities is that, regardless what they think, the would-be Christian who still experiences curses does not truly believe. The other possibility is that the would-be "believer" is (consciously or unconsciously) beholding to - trusting - idols (instead of, or in addition to, God) thus Biblically rendering himself an unbeliever. Based on the history of mankind, as recorded in the Bible, the latter of these two possibilities is the most likely culprit holding man under the judgment of curses.
All the "faith teaching" in the world cannot redeem would-be "believers" from the curses attached to them if they are holding onto - trusting - idols. They don't need more faith - they need instead to place their faith only in God. Peter didn't need more faith to walk on the water - he needed ONLY to look to Jesus! True believers turn away from EVERY idol and turn ONLY to God - it's called repentance. Then, and only then, is God pleased with their faith in Him ALONE through Christ as the ONLY Way to God evidenced by them giving up their own way (mankind's historically-established way of idolatry), taking up their cross (so focused on Jesus that not even death would deter singular faith in Him, Hebrews 11.32-40), and simply following Him.
The simple presence of "household gods" - those idols so common to mankind that every household has them, is the main (Biblically supported) reason "God's people" are powerless (compared to Jesus) in the earth today.
Do we order our lives by the promise that God is Provider or by our credit score? Do we order our lives by God our Protector or by our insurance policies? Do we order our lives by God our Healer or by our medicine? Do we order our lives by the Word of God or by the weather app? In the storms of life today are we looking to man's household idols of finance, insurance, medicine and technology OR are we looking ONLY to Jesus?
Father, may these words stir us to true repentance and pure undivided faith. May we see the reason Jesus demanded that we give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Him. May we see and hear Jesus' call to, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." May we see that idolatry has been the ongoing burden all along keeping man separated from God and His promises that must be given up. So be it.
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