Handling Prosperity

Deuteronomy Chapter 8: The Command to Remember the Lord

Deuteronomy 8:1-20 – Highlights of The Passage and Some Thoughts

In verse 2 we have an insight into how God often works with people that we often miss. Moses was reminding the people of Israel how God humbled them, “testing you, to know your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” Have you ever been humbled by God? I have. It’s not fun but it works. And as a result, by His grace, I’m still in a relationship with Him.

In verse 3, Moses says, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know.” What a statement. Sometimes life gets very hard – you go hungry; you go without a job; you get sick; you lose someone; you are greatly disappointed, and the list goes on. Stop and consider – is God testing me? If so, realize He is doing so because He loves you and cares about your heart and soul. And then notice the phrase, He “fed you with manna”.  God won’t let you die on earth if He wants you around to accomplish more for Him. And from this verse, we can assume that sometimes, how He saves us in a circumstance may be totally strange or unknown to us. That’s our God.

David Guzik reminds us that God’s education begins with us being humbled by Him. And then it moves to us being totally dependent on Him.

This verse also contains the famous “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” quote that Jesus Himself cited to Satan when the latter begged Him to “Command the stone to be made bread.”

In the meantime, between your pain or hunger and His provision for it, we are reminded (verse 4) that we will always have what we need. Moses tells the Israelites, “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.”  Wow, imagine that. When God is taking care of you, He’ll see to it that you’ll make it through.

Verse 5 is a reminder to all of us how God created us with a conscious. As a result of your need, Moses says, you will “know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.” I don’t know about you, but I sure know when God is disciplining me. It’s not physical. It’s something that happens in my heart and in my mind.

In verses 6-9, Moses recounts the rewards of having been so dealt with by God. And in verse 10, he tells them (and us) that when we have availed ourselves of that blessing, we shall “bless the Lord (our) God” for what He has given us. Are you there yet? I am.

Verses 11-20 are cautions against forgetting God under different circumstances – including when one is well-fed, successful, etc. And this all happens when “your heart becomes proud” and “you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.” I have often said that perhaps God did not allow me to become rich and powerful because He was not ready to trust me with that kind of wealth and power. One could say, “that is so sad” and it is. On the other hand, I would say, “God loves me so much, and knows me so well, that I am so glad He did not make me rich or powerful. For if I were it might not need or want Him.”

Guzik reminds us that God is not against material things – except when they come between us and Him. He says, “God wanted to materially bless a spiritually obedient Israel.” However, let me be clear – this is not the prosperity gospel teaching. The fact that you or I are not materially blessed to our satisfaction or desire does not mean that we are not being obedient to God.

In the last two verses (19-20), Moses reminds the children of Israel that if they move towards worshipping other gods, they will surely perish as the nations that God made to perish before them. So, just listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Wrap-up

The main gist of this passage for me is that rather than pursue prosperity (wealth and power) with all our efforts, time, resources, and heart, we need to guard ourselves against it. God will apportion it to us as He sees and knows best. Our job is to find real joy and satisfaction with His choice for us in this regard. Otherwise, we will live and die, ever disappointed, ever sorry.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

You will get God angry says Moses, and you will die. But Israel will not be destroyed.

Deuteronomy Chapter 4: Part 4: Moses foretells Israel’s difficult future.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 -- The Passage and Some Thoughts

In verses 25 and 26 Moses tell the sons of Israel that by the time they become grandfathers, they will act corruptly, and make a graven image or idol to worship and God will be so provoked to anger. That would be in the future, but in the present, he wants them, as well as heaven and earth, to witness today that when that happens, they will soon thereafter die; they will be utterly destroyed.

David Guzik says this reference to heaven and earth was like saying, “Creation itself would testify against an idol-worshipping Israel.”

What a message to give a people – a people who know that you talk with God. Or was this so far away that it didn’t faze them at all? When we are warned about what God will do to the wicked, does it faze us, does it bother us, or is it too far away to worry about it right now – after all, we have a life to live.

In verses 27 to 28, he continues his predictions of what will happen to them:
The Lord will scatter them.
They will be few in number in any nation that God drives them to.
There they eventually will serve gods (small g), made by man, out of wood and stone; gods that don’t see them, nor hear them, nor eat, nor smell. Guzik says, “If Israel wanted idols; God would put them in the middle of a land where there were idols galore.” When we disobey God by wanting something we should not have, He often gives it to us – at our own peril.

And all these things have happened to the sons of Israel – both in the rest of the Old Testament (some 550 years later at the time of the Babylonian exile of Judah) but in many ways right up to 1947 when they were finally recognized as a nation by most, but still hated by so many.  Why even today, as I write this, one store owner in Toronto had posted that “Zionists are not welcomed here”. You can read all about it and see the video at Foodbenders, Toronto. In fact, anti-Semitism continues to grow again all over the world.

This is very sad for us Christians who know how much God loves the Jewish People and the plan that He has for them. However, others reading the scriptures, even these here today, could easily say, “Well, they deserve it -- I mean, after all, the Bible says they will ‘serve other gods’ again.  Well, this is what happens when you serve other gods. Here’s my take on this: I don’t think that my foolishness before God allows you to treat me in a way where you take on punishing me on behalf of God.  Enough said on that here.

Chuck Smith has an interesting take on all this. First, he calls Moses’ foretelling “prophesy”. And we could agree with that, as we know that Moses almost always spoke after he consulted with God.

Secondly, Smith says we need to marvel at the fact that when the Israelites were scattered and left without a homeland, they remained an ethnic group, if not a nation. That is amazing because no other group has been able to do that.

Then in verses 29 to 30, he describes and foretells what the Israelites will do at that point when they come to their senses.
They will seek God.  (I think we all eventually will seek God. I know I do when I’ve sinned.)
They will find Him if they search with all their hearts and all their souls. (And we do.)

These things will happen in the latter days after they have once again been in distress.
Then they will return to the Lord their God and listen to His voice. (What he does not tell them, and what we don’t know when it comes to our own lives is when exactly will be our “latter days”.  And maybe that’s the whole point of it. Maybe we’re supposed to seek God, find Him, and stay close to Him right now.)

Robert Jamieson wisely suggests that these latter days may indeed mean:

“. . . either towards the destined close of their captivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance and faith or in the age of Messiah, which is commonly called ‘the latter days,’ and when the scattered tribes of Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspicious event will be the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promise made in Deu 4:31.”

Then in verse 31, Moses tells us what the Hero of the story (the Hero of every story in the Bible – God Himself) will do and why.
He starts off with the need for them to know that their God is a compassionate God.
He will not fail you.
He will not destroy you.
He will not forget the covenant He had made with their fathers.

Can you imagine being the sons of Israel about to enter the Promised Land and told that in just two generations you will have failed miserably, and you will be back at square one – again. How defeating. How honest.

Yet how wonderful to hear from Moses what the end of the story for the children of Israel will look like.

This is without a doubt, another jam-packed little passage in this Old Testament book.

Wrap-up

Check out this passage in regard to your own life right now. And I’m asking myself these same questions: (my personal answers in brackets)
1. Have you forgotten God recently or at some point in your life?  (Yes.)
2. Have you found something else to worship? (Yes.)
3. Have you realized you made God angry in doing so?  (Yes.)
4.
Did God, in a sense scatter you? (Yes. In my case, He left me with an avenue of service for a long time.)
5. Did you feel very alone because of it all? (Yes.)
6. Did you become a servant to something or someone else?  (Yes; the devil himself and the people he worked through.)
7. Did you seek God again? (Yes.)
8. Did you find Him because you searched with all your heart and all your soul?  (Yes.)

9. Do you realize that your “latter day” could be any day now?  (Yes.)
10. Do you believe your God is a compassionate God?  (Yes.)

11. Has your God ever failed you?  (No.)

12. Do you believe your God has not, nor will He, utterly destroy you?  (Yes, because He loves me; and because He will not forget His Old Covenant with Abraham and His New Covenant through Jesus Christ.)

This morning our pastor preached on Enjoying God (part one of a ten-part series) and his key passage was Ephesians 1:3-6. The particular part of that passage that I enjoyed the most was the last two words of verse 4 and all of verse 5: “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”

God had His eyes on the children of Israel through all their sinning and falling away to this day and forever. Moses tells us that. The Apostle Paul tells us that God has His eyes on His sons and daughters that have been adopted by Him now and forever. Now that’s cause for rejoicing. Even through these days of the Covid.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Responds To Moses’ Plea (and to ours)

Exodus 34:10-17:

¹⁰ Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles, which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. ¹¹ “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ¹² Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. ¹³ But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim ¹⁴ —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— ¹⁵ otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. ¹⁷ You shall make for yourself no molten gods. . ..”

Moses has just pleaded with God that He remain in their midst to lead them and God responds by saying He’ll make a covenant. No matter how you define it, a covenant is a serious and formal document. It can be described as a contract, agreement, undertaking, commitment, guarantee, warrant, pledge, promise, bond, indenture, pact, deal, settlement, arrangement, or understanding.

And God tells Moses He will perform new miracles that have not been “produced” before anywhere. Some readers of this text may think this implies that “others” may have been able to perform miracles, not just God. It’s just that they haven’t performed ‘these’ ones or this caliber of miracles before. Again, we must be careful not to project from a text what is not there.  This text says nothing about others performing miracles – either their ability to do so, or the quality of their work.

What we do know is that these miracles would be such that all who live among the Israelites will see God’s power being displayed because of the fearful awesomeness of these miraculous works.

And then God turns His comments back to the “covenant” that He was establishing with Moses, telling him to make sure to observe what God was commanding that day.  For His part, He’ll drive out the enemies of the Israelites (and He lists them), but for their part, the Israelites must be sure they don’t make any covenant with the inhabitants of the land(s) they were entering (because that would trap them or hinder them later on). [This reminds me of the pacts that western settlers made with Native Indians in North America, especially in Canada, when they first enter their lands; these treaties are now coming back to haunt them as Native Indians are claiming their land rights, even to the point that they believe the land the Canadian Capital buildings sit on is their land, causing a huge headache not to mention a massive financial and legal liability for the Canadian government at the time of writing.]

And God tells them what they are to do as well, once He has helped them defeat them. They are to tear down altars and smash their idols because the occupied land is to allow no other worship than towards the Lord, who is indeed a Jealous God. [This command has some great implications not only for what happened at that time, but also what happened with western settlers and Native Indians in North America. In Canada, we somehow interpreted this in a way which regrettably resulted in ‘residential schools’ for young native children, dragging them away from their reservations and parents, and forcing them to adopt the white man’s culture. This misinterpretation also has come back to haunt us.  The direction also has implications for Jewish people’s governing of Israel today – just how much of the non-Hebraic culture should be allowed? And of course, that has turned into probably one of the most contentious world issues of the last century.]

There is no doubt that God’s instructions to His people, can cause great angst for them, if not carried out in the spirit with which God intended for us to carry them out in. Of course, discerning that exact spirit is not an easy task, requiring much self-examination, wisdom, prayer, and even fasting in some cases.

The downside of failing here for the Israelites was that if a covenant were made with the enemies God helped them defeat, allowing them to continue in their merry ways, they would slowly influence His people to join them in their practices, even to the point of inter-marriage (something that goes on today) with the result being less and less adherence to one’s own faith. That’s a situation that God cannot bless. So, the bottom line is this -- God allows no room for molten gods as idols of worship, period.

Let’s remember this is God’s response to the plea of Moses. So, God sets the rules. And the same is true for us.  If we want God to be with us; if we want His blessings, we have to meet His requirements for life. As a teenager, I was a big fan of President John F. Kennedy – I think now that it was the way he spoke that charmed me the most.  I had memorized many of his lines or those attributed to him by comedians. I remember one line in particular when he was supposedly playing football with his young son, Little John as he was known, on the front lawn of the White House.  Kennedy said to his son, “Little John, if we’re going to play football together, we’re going to have to play by my rules.  Do you know why, Little John?  Because it’s MY BALL!” So, it is with us. He sets the rules – take them or leave them.  It’s our choice.

[We note here that God’s requirements for His blessings do not end in this passage but continue for another eleven verses which we study below.]

 

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Have We Been Missing the Apostle Paul's Intent for Writing Romans?

Hope For The Nations: Paul’s Letter to the Romans, A Corporate Reading

Tom Holland, Apostolos Publishing Ltd., London, UK, 2015

                                              

This is a book that presents both traditional concepts as well as new ones on what the Apostle Paul was intending for his audience to fully grasp.  That sounds mundane but I must admit I could not put it down.  It’s written by a scholar but within easy reach of a layman like me.  Tom Holland, Senior Research Fellow in Biblical Studies at the Wales Evangelical School of Theology, has given us a well researched and extremely well written book that speaks to every believer in a valuable and timely way.

His theory is that it is all about “context” and he shows us why time and time again.  Holland says for years we have taken the letter to the Romans as one speaking primarily to “individuals” in the church – to you and me.  But he shows us why Paul was writing about, and to, much larger groups – Israel, the Gentiles, and the new combined Church as an entity. He is careful to point out that this position does not exclude the idea that the points which Paul is making to the Roman Church are not as applicable to the individual Christian – they are, but when studying the Epistle we must remember his intended audience.

Holland argues and shows that Paul, in just about every key phrase in the letter, was drawing from the Old Testament, and especially Isaiah.  He talks about the first, second, and third Exodus of the people of Israel, the Jews, and how God has led them out of slavery, gave them a great part to play in history of all mankind’s salvation, and now is calling them to be part of the Gospel that they themselves ushered in.  He is careful however to distinguish between all of the Jewish people and those that were (and will be) a “remnant” and those that still will accept the Gospel.

He points out the various “covenantal” themes we find in Romans tied to the rest of Scriptures.  He helps us see and understand why when reading Romans we need to look at the references therein to the Old Testament from the perspective of how the early Church read it.

This is a great book for those studying Romans, teaching it in a group or to a class, or preaching a series on it.  For the individual student, it serves as a modern commentary on each verse.  Holland takes great effort to not put down the thoughts of others, but also shows us why he personally tends to go with a particular view.  I like that.

He deals extensively with the tension caused by the requirement that converted Jews placed on Gentiles to be circumcised. He also deals with the issue regarding the eating of meat sacrificed to idols and explains particularly well why that may be a problem to Gentile converts and not to Jewish ones. (The answer he provides was instrumental, by extrapolation, in helping me understand why certain Christians object to alcohol today and why some do not.) Both issues he addresses were major contributors to the discord between the two sources of origin for the original Christian Church.  In the process he deals with how Paul sees the purpose of the Law in the Old Testament and for the new Church, as well as for us today.

The book is full of gems of knowledge and wisdom for the taking. Issues that I personally struggled with were helpfully explained time and time again.  My copy of the book is filled with my notations on new insights.

You can listen to preacher after preacher and teacher after teacher on Romans and never really understand the “big message” or see the “big picture” of what the author is trying to share.  Getting a hold of a scholarly work rewritten for non-scholars yet communicating the secrets of historical and contextual hermeneutics to bring alive God’s Holy Word allows you to stop and think and question and reflect.  Tom Holland does just that for you.  I very highly recommend it to all.  I will be looking for more of his books.

The author’s bottom line (and his own desire for writing) is given away in the very title of this book – there is indeed “Hope for the Nations” of both Gentiles and Jews.

    -- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/10/08  

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God Says "You Don't Need To Make a Deal" with Your Enemies.

God Says No Spiritual Multi-Culturalism and No Deal

Exodus 23:31-33: “And I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Back in the wilderness, thousands of years ago, God told the Israelites that He would “fix the boundaries of their land that He was giving them”.  And then the text goes on to describe the Promised Land for the Israelites.

Take a look at the description given in these verses and then check it out on a map.
On the south: The Red Sea
On the west: Somewhere in the “wilderness” from Egypt (Gulf of Suez) to modern-day Israel (north of the Gulf of Aqaba)
On the north: The Great Sea (sea of the Philistines, now also called the Mediterranean Sea)
On the east: The Euphrates River (beyond a part of Syria today).

Now compare that massive expanse of land to the property that modern-day Israel is fighting for and protecting as a nation today – only a small portion of what God had promised them. And still many of the world powers want them to give that up, too. They would rather have them homeless – without a land to call their own. Their enemies – primarily the Palestinians and the Iranians -- want them to be erased from the face of the earth.

In my humble opinion, there is a possibility that God not only will make sure they keep what they have, but that it is possible He may, before this is all over, in a miraculous way give them now what He promised them in the book of Exodus, or some of it. That makes for interesting observing in the years ahead. Even the Nuclear Deal agreed to by world powers with Iran this past week will change what God has in store for His people and for their enemies. (Of course, in the very end, it really will not matter, because God’s people will have it all.)

God told the Israelites that their enemies would be delivered ‘by Him’ into their hands so that ‘they’ can drive them out of the land that is to be theirs. The truth is that Israel has never actually taken over all of that land (save for a short period in the times of King David, only to lose it again because of their sin). David Guzik explains this by saying that God may “grant” but we need to “possess”. He says, “(God) withholds our possession of many blessings until we will partner with Him in bold faith and obedience.”

Like the Israelites, we too, Guzik says, have “been granted every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; but will only possess what we will partner with Him in faith and obedience to receive. God is not an indulgent, spoiling father, pouring out on His children resources, blessings, and gifts they are not ready to receive or be responsible with.”  And there once again we see the reference to two of the three key elements we had earlier discovered are the secret to a great life with and for God: total trust (reliance on God); total obedience; and committed service.  If the Israelites did not get what God promised them it was not because He changed the rules. And the same is true in our case.  We claim God’s promises and are ticked off when we don’t get them, but we fail to examine how short we fell on our side of the agreement.

And then God says, “You shall make no pact with your enemies or with their gods.” The promise of the land was conditional also to this requirement – that they should make no agreement of friendship, nor have any familiarity with idol-worshippers, or with their idols or gods. And God goes even further by telling them such people shall not be allowed to live in their land or travel in it without first renouncing their idolatry.  So, what does this tell us about modern-day immigration laws?

I am not so sure that what God proposes is so much an immigration issue as the need for His people to avoid both His reproach and that of other believers as a result of having a close relationship with the worshippers of false gods. Now, who does that include today? Well, in one sense, just about everyone who does not accept, as the Apostle Peter utters in Matthew 16:16 that Jesus Christ is “the Son of the living God” and has accepted Him as his/her own personal Savior. That’s a lot of people.  Did God mean for us not to ‘associate’ with non-believers? Absolutely not – just look at the example of Jesus in the New Testament.  No, the intent of the instruction here for us is not to have “intimacy” and that may mean different things to different people. For me, it means do not rely on them, do not obey them where their instructions contradict what God is wanting of us, and do not serve them or the things or idols they serve. It means do not intermarry with them.

In the days of the Exodus, it may well have made sense that before someone comes to live in the land controlled by the Israelites, they had to become monotheists and agree to worship the Living God of Abraham. That would make a lot of sense today, but it’s far too late for that, as we’ve already given up idea of unification between ‘church and state’.  We have dichotomized our very essence be separating the two. But yet God never intended that way.

And God says there’s a good reason for religious (not racial) separation. Matthew Henry spells out the implication. There’s a “. . . danger of being drawn to worship with them. By familiar converse with idolaters, (our) dread and detestation of the sin would wear off; (we) would think it no harm, in compliment to (our) friends, to pay some respect to their gods, and so by degrees would be drawn into the fatal snare.” Henry, writing many years ago even points out the dangers of living in a ‘bad neighborhood’ for the sins of others will be our snares, if we look not well to ourselves.” (Italics and bracketed parts mine.) Of course, millions of people living today in the only places they can afford to live are proving that to be true. With murders and drug deals taking place regularly, these people know their only hope for survival is to move away.

But the main point Henry makes is this: “We must always look upon our greatest danger to be from those that would cause us to sin against God. Whatever friendship is pretended, that is really our worst enemy that draws us from our duty.” Amen. What relationships do you and I have that would qualify for that?

And by the way, just what did happen to the Israelites with respect to this promise and this warning?  David Guzik writes, “Through lack of discernment, Israel did end up making a covenant with some of the people of the land.” We read about it in Joshua 9. But we also know that there is no area of the law that Israel - or anyone - has ever kept perfectly. And thus, if we were honest, we cannot expect God to bless us fully in them, although in His magnificent grace and love, He does much more than we deserve.

And we will never be in a position where we have to make a “deal” with those that oppose God in order to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, our world leaders do so out of fear or political convenience and nations pay the price.

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God's Strict Orders -- Exodus 23:13

“Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.”
 

I remember as a young lad being put on a Greyhound bus from Toronto to New York to visit my aunt and uncle during summer and Christmas breaks, as well as Easter breaks (for that is what they were called when I went to school; not March or Winter breaks). The reason for my visits was that my father and mother both worked and I would have no one to take care of me.  I remember all the instructions I was given about what I was to do on the bus ride and how to be on the alert for various things, plus what to do if by chance my uncle or aunt were late in coming to the New York city bus terminal to meet me. Those directives or teachings came from my loving parents who were reluctant to let me go, yet realized they had to for my own welfare. Overall, these were pleasant separations between a parent and a child. But the world is also full of unpleasant, unkind, and very often undesired separations between parent and child.

No matter the circumstances of separation, when there is time and opportunity to do so, a wiser older person will often say to the younger, weaker one, “Now remember everything I have told you. Watch out for those that may hurt you or trick you or rob from you. Be alert. And whatever you do, do not . . ..”

That’s exactly what is going on in this verse. You will remember way back in chapter 19 of Exodus, the story begins of Moses meeting God on that awesome mountain. It is during that time with God that all the commandments and directives of how the Israelites are to live were made known. And while there are some instructions with respect to various feasts and other matters still to come, for the most part this awesome meeting with the Living God Almighty is drawing to a close. So God says to His beloved children of Israel, “Remember everything I have told you. Be alert.” It was as if God was saying, “Sons, daughters – you are going to need to do these things if you are going to survive and do well in your life for the Enemy is great and active and just looking for a chance to ensnare you.” How true that is of life for us today.

But God also goes on to give a very significant warning that I believe many of us have either forgotten or we have chosen to ignore. God says, “ . . . do not mention the name of other gods. Do not even let them be heard from your mouth.” In context, God was likely referring to Baal and other similar idols or heathen gods that people worshipped at the time. He knew that uttering their names or talking about them in any capacity except to denounce them was dangerous, as they had the power to entice and lure people into their realms, inch-by-inch, thought-by-thought, and practice-by-practice.

We also know that for us today, “another god” is anything that takes us away from our reliance and dependence on God and God alone. Be it that new car, some form of music, sports, making money, that summer escape, a bigger home we desire, any vice, and anything else we can think of that makes us lose our focus on what is God’s desire and plan for my life right now. God says, “Stop talking about those things!” Doing so does not help and it can definitely hurt.

This verse is a gem that many of us miss. Or we try to avoid it all costs.  But we do so at our own peril. Be alert.  If we love our Heavenly Father the way we say we do, at least during the worship singing time at church, then we must listen to His very strict order to us –“Stop talking about other gods in our lives.”

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God Repeats What He Is Most Interested In -- Exodus 20:22-23

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.’”
 

This is an interesting passage.  First of all God tells Moses to point out to the Children of Israel that He had already spoken to them directly.  This supports the argument that the Ten Commandments were indeed first given to the Israelites verbally, rather than to Moses.  And then, in this passage, God simply repeats His number one concern – that they do not make other gods besides Him.

Now whereas grammatically one can argue that this means we can “make images of Him” – it does not.  It simply says we cannot make any image of other gods.

God’s greatest desire for us is that He is our only God.  We are not to worship or love or desire any other god.  We are not to rely on any other god, as useless as it may be to do so.  When it comes to our spiritual devotion – it’s all God or nothing of God.  This is one of the most difficult lessons to learn in life.  Sometimes it comes easily, but more often it comes after decades of struggles in a person’s life.  God is not only to be first in our lives, but when it comes to worship and adoration, there is to be no one or no thing that comes second.

As much as He is a “jealous God”, our God does not require us to live a life of isolation with Him alone.  On the contrary, He wants us out in the world as His representatives.  But we do that always mindful of our relationship with Him and our dependence on Him.  The Christian pilgrim’s journey is primarily a voyage of discovery – the discovery of how best to accomplish just that.  It is a tough assignment.  But here’s the good news.  He does not want you to travel that journey of life alone.  He was willing to go with them and now for us, He has provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to travel it with you.

God told the Children of Israel that He was their God and they needed no one else.  He says the same thing to us today.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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No Graven Images -- Exodus 20:4

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”
 

This verse speaks for itself.  It’s clear – “no idols”.  An idol is generally defined as an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.  A secondary definition is a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.  Some newer Christians that come from an eastern religious tradition may well still fall within the first definition.  I remember growing up that my parents had lots of friends who had almost all but left their Greek Orthodox faith and moved towards Protestantism but still hung on to their icons of various religious figures and saints.  Most of us, however, who are guilty of having idols, would clearly fall under the secondary definition these days.

But here in this verse, God is focusing on the first and main definition we use to describe the meaning of ‘idol’ today.  The second, He leaves for later in Scripture (the Psalms, Proverbs, etc.) and especially to the New Testament.

One of the issues with us making for ourselves an idol, is that we would fashion it in our own man-limited image that we have in our heads as to what a god or God Himself should be like.  That’s a no starter to begin with in the Great Artist’s school of faith.  God says “don’t go there; you’ll fail”.

God goes on to say we are to have no “images or likenesses” made of anything that we end up worshipping.  That includes both two-dimensional and three-dimensional concrete objects.  It covers pictures of heroes and heroines, lovers and leaders, rebels and revolutionists.  Nada and no one.

But it seems that the all-knowledgeable Creator also knew that some of us would turn to the very ‘nature’ He Himself created for us and look for idols there.  So He said, “no idol likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth”.  To me the reference to the heavens above means no pictures of old Christian saints or even Fathers of the Faith as found in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11, if the purpose of having them is to worship them.  No pictures of angels or archangels or the earthly mother (or father) of Jesus if their purpose is that we worship them.

And the reference to the earth and the sea means that we are not to make gods of any creature that exists on earth or in the depths of the oceans.  And I believe that includes the elements of nature that God uses to keep His creation in balance – wind, water, fire, and earth (dirt) itself.  Religions of both old global aboriginal traditions before the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of new-age religions that incorporate any of these aspects of worship, are to be avoided.  This is idol worship as clearly identified by God in Exodus 20:4.

So what do you and I have to rethink with respect to any graven images we may be worshipping today?

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

________________________________________________________________________

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.