Jer 19:3-4, 15 (NIV) 'Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned sacrifices in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. …
15 "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Listen! I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.'"
NOTE: There are many reasons for God's judgment against Judah. Near the top of the list is the worship of foreign gods, idols. But what are idols, and what is the worship of idols in this day and age? I think an idol, and the worship of an idol, is anything that captures our affections to the point of negatively changing our relationship to God. This is a difficult definition to develop and I'm not sure I have it right.
Some affections are good, such as the affection of a husband for his wife. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians also states that a man's interests or affections are divided by marriage, but that is still okay. On the other hand, a car or home or hobby that consumes our attention and affects our relationship with God can easily become an idol. A thing is not an idol by the amount of time it requires. In that case, work would be an idol to everyone. Work is an idol for some, but work is, generally, a good thing which God created. But when my idol consumes so much of my time and interest that I don't have time for God, as measured by fellowship (church and small group involvement), devotional time (reading the word and prayer), witnessing (standing up for what is right), and obedience (responding to God in areas where he reveals sin), then I have an idol. And an idol, is a terrible thing to God.
God destroyed Israel and Judah for their idols. Of course, the old testament believers were under the old covenant which included blessings and curses (mostly curses). The new testament believer is under a different covenant that is characterized by spiritual blessings and some warnings. One warning, "do not be deceived, God is not mocked, a man reaps what he sows," should cause us to reconsider our lifestyle (in context it relates to our use of money and giving). God forgives, but God will not be mocked by our stiff-necks and unwillingness to listen to his words, which is not any different than how he treated the old testament saints (Jer 19:15).
No comments:
Post a Comment