Ugly Idolatry


Judges 2:11-15
11And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreth. 14So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

If you’ve read this blog for very long, you know that I often try to include a picture of the topic of the day. Today, I went out onto the internet to look for pictures of Ashtoreth / Baal and needless to say, there is an abundant choice. But then I thought twice about including a picture. I just don’t want that visual image to be a part of your day. Suffice it to say, Ashtoreth is generally depicted as a naked female with the head of a lioness. She is a fertility goddess and reported to be the mother and consort of Baal. From this description, I hope you are getting the character of degradation that she represents. This is who the Children of Israel turn to instead of the God who has saved them. This was the goddess of the Canaanites and learning to worship her came naturally since that is who they were living among.

As we read these five verses, our heart needs to break. I confess to a sense of great sorrow as I read them. God’s heart is breaking as His people choose to serve these evil gods rather than Him. He does the only thing that He can do. He allows the very people they have chosen to live with to enslave them. Any battles they pursue are lost and their resources are stolen. “And they were in terrible distress.” That says it all.

But here is where the rest of the book of Judges takes the readers. Every time Israel takes this path, God is still there – waiting for them to repent. He doesn’t just leave them to their apostasy. Instead He waits for the pain of their situation to turn them around and He rescues them again. We are no different.

Far too often I find that I am running under my own power. It doesn’t take very long before I’m feeling desperate and overwhelmed. Why don’t I learn? I’m not bowing down to Baal, but I am bowing down to my own abilities and skills. I’m trusting in myself to make things happen and very quickly (more quickly the older I get) I am exhausted and burned out. It’s miserable and I find myself “in terrible distress.” There may be no statute before which I bow, but I believe it is idolatry nonetheless. It’s the idolatry of the self and God finds is heartbreaking.

But Jesus came and died for that sin and God is standing right beside me waiting for me to surrender my foolish pride, falling before His feet again. The cycle may look slightly different than what we find in Judges, but ultimately, it’s exactly the same.

Dear Lord, I have been foolish and sinful. I have regularly fallen into the trap of trusting myself rather than You. I am so very sorry for that sin and I am grateful for those feeling of distress because they turn me right back to You. And there You are, having never left me; I just took my eyes off of You! Thank You for these stories of Your people because I am no different from them and their lives point me back to faith in You. Blessed be Your name alone! Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more