Tag: idolatry

Identifying Detestable Idols

Old Testament: Ezekiel 7-9

Poetry: Psalm 93

New Testament: Revelation 8

Today I want to focus on Ezekiel 8. So in this chapter, there is a description of the second vision Ezekiel had. This vision is all about the idolatry going on amongst the Israelites. God takes Ezekiel to Jerusalem. This is where the temple is, so it is where people come to worship God. But instead of that, Ezekiel sees people worshiping idols, not God. I want to focus on the idols that Ezekiel sees, and see how they could potentially be present in our lives. 

The first idol mentioned is in verse 5. It is called the “idol of jealousy.” It is important to focus on what this means, and to start to understand that, we need to know what it means to be jealous. To be jealous is to look at other things and want them more than what you have. It’s like if your neighbor gets this awesome new car, maybe a brand new corvette, and you see that, and start to feel like you just have to have that car. He looks so cool driving it, and you just need that in your life, too.  We try to satisfy ourselves by trying to be like the people around us. We want what they have and maybe, just maybe, more than they have. This is something that we can put before God very quickly. We can focus on the next best thing instead of God. God says in verse 6 “the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary.” We are pushing God away when we start looking for “things” rather than looking for God. 

The second idol that Ezekiel sees is the worship of images of animals and creatures. The elders were burning incense to these images as a form of worship. In verse 12 the elders say, “the LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.” They did not feel like God was there. So what do they do? They replace God with something else. We do this all of the time. Something doesn’t go the way we want it, we feel like God has abandoned us, and we instantly start to put something else before God. We turn to something else that makes us “happy.” Whatever that is, is different for each person, whether it’s work, hobbies, sports, school, friends, alcohol, or other things of this world. Instead of turning to these things, we need to put God first.

The last idol that Ezekiel sees is men in the temple with their “backs towards the temple of the LORD” and bowing down to the sun. The men here have completely turned away from God and are worshiping something other than God. We are sometimes guilty of this as well. We turn our backs to God and worship what is right in front of us. We see the visible thing that is right there and think that that thing is worthy of our full heart. Sometimes we need to do a full 180 and turn our worship back to the amazing, all powerful, loving God. 

Every time God shows Ezekiel one of these idols He calls them “detestable” things. They aren’t just bad or an “issue”, they are detestable in the eyes of God. Having idols is very serious to God. Just read verse 18. It is very important to evaluate our lives and identify if there is anything we put before our relationship with God. And if there is, to either reprioritize our life with God at the head, or get rid of whatever we put before God. 

-Camden Bormes

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you experienced the idol of jealousy? Have you overcome it (for now) or are you currently struggling with it?
  2. How have you seen people (including yourself) try to replace God?
  3. In what ways might idol worship creep into a culture – or into a church – or into the life of a believer – or into your life? What makes it detestable to God?
  4. What makes God and God alone worthy of all your worship and first place in your life and heart?
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The Power of Pride

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 26-28

Poetry: Psalm 9

New Testament: 1 Timothy 5

            I just realized something today.  I’m getting kind of old.  I know this comes as a shock to most of you who know how young I look (wink wink, nudge nudge).  Seriously, I’ve been alive during all or part of the presidencies of 12 different US Presidents, from JFK to Joe Biden- and several of them served 2 terms. Yikes!  To borrow from an old Clint Eastwood western, some of those presidents have been good, some have been bad and some have been ugly.  As we read through Chronicles and see the history of the kings of Judah, we could make the same observations, some were good, some were bad and some were down right ugly when it comes to their faithfulness to God

            Amaziah was one of the ugly ones. After defeating his enemies in battle he took their idols as plunder and brought them back and worshipped them.  A major no-no.  God really, really hates idolatry and gets very jealous when his people start worshipping other things as god or the ultimate in their lives.  In fact, in 2 Chronicles 25 (see yesterday’s reading) God punished Amaziah by having him routed in war against Israel, and then his own people assassinated him.  He was decisively rejected by both God and his kingdom.

            In today’s reading from 2 Chronicles we see that Amaziah’s son Uzziah followed him as King.  Uzziah was young, only 16 when he began to reign.  He got a great start because he sought God.  He found a godly teacher, Zechariah, to show him the way of God and he intentionally tried to do things God’s way as he ruled over Judah.  Because of his faithfulness, God blessed Uzziah with a prosperous reign: “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 

            Today’s reading shows how successful Uzziah was while he followed God.  His army grew more powerful, he defeated their enemies. He fortified his territory. His fame spread and other nations brought him gifts acknowledging his power and success.  His country did well agriculturally as their herds and flocks grew and their vineyards were productive. 

            The blessings were really flowing for King Uzziah and he was on top of the world and felt really good about his accomplishments.  He had not made the same terrible mistakes that his father Amaziah made, there was no hint of the worship of idols under Uzziah’s rule.  But…unfortunately, as often happens in times of prosperity, Uzziah grew proud.  He started thinking that he was “all that and a bag of chips.” (do they still say that or is that from 20 years ago… I’ve lost track).  Anyway, he was FULL of himself.

            Let me back up a minute.  Going back to the time of Moses as leader of Israel there was a strict division of labor among God’s people.  You had judges and later Kings, who did the political leading, and you had the priests who oversaw the religious rituals.  Sometimes the lines got a little blurry and there was some overlap as with Samuel who was both a priest and a judge.  But by the time Kings were instituted it was clear that the Priests were the only ones allowed to go into the temple and offer sacrifices.  Offering sacrifices was a no go for the King.  King Saul had previously gotten himself in hot water for offering sacrifices (See 1 Samuel 13 for more details).  In short, Uzziah should have known better.

            Unfortunately, King Uzziah let his success lead to pride which led to his downfall.  “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” 2 Chronicles 26:16  Uzziah was doing what was forbidden for a king, to usurp the priestly role of  burning incense on the altar of the temple.

            The priests were horrified at what King Uzziah was doing and they stopped him (it took 80 of them).  Uzziah became enraged that they challenged him.  He was unwilling to stand down even with 80 priests telling him “no”.  So then God intervened and instantly struck him down with leprosy.  Leprosy was a skin disease that rendered the leper ceremonially unclean.  Uzziah was instantly cut off from temple worship and was made an outcast.  He had to leave his palace and remained an outcast until his death.

            What a sad and tragic end to the reign of a king that had begun so well.  Uzziah, as a young man had seen how bad his father had been as he pursued idols.  Uzziah sought the Lord, was faithful, God blessed and prospered him and all was well, until he gave in to the deadly sin of pride. 

            Why is pride a sin?  In the US June was just celebrated as Pride Month.  I was reminded of this literally everywhere I went.  When I turned on my computer at the hospital where I serve I was reminded that it was pride month.  I watched a baseball game featuring the Baltimore Orioles hosting the Seattle Mariners and there were rainbows and pride flags on the field, in the stands and surrounding all of the player stats.  Pride is celebrated in the world today as a wonderful and glorious thing.  But the Bible hasn’t changed- Proverbs 16:18 still says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”Proverbs 16:8.  Whether it’s being proud to tell everyone that you are gay, or being proud of your accomplishments as king, pride is destructive. 

Pride is a deadly sin because it causes us to focus on who we are and what we accomplish and take our eyes off  of who God is and what he accomplishes.  Pride is a subtle form of idolatry.  Instead of worshipping another god in the form of a statue or object, pride is the worship of ourselves.  Uzziah was full of pride so he thought he was above following God’s law that said only priests could go into the temple and offer sacrifices on the altar.  Pride leads one to reject God’s laws and God’s authority to tell us what we can and what we cannot do which is ultimately a rejection of God as God.  If, in my pride, I tell God that I don’t have to listen to him, he has no authority over an area of my life, then I’m turning myself into my own idol.  That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.  It’s what Uzziah did in the temple, it’s what we do whenever we say, “I know that God has said this is wrong, but I reject God’s authority to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body, my life.”   Pride has caused the deaths of untold millions of people, including unborn babies.  Pride has caused countless people to turn away from their faith in God and from following Jesus Christ in order for them to follow their own “truth” about who they are and what they think should be right.

Uzziah was punished by God with leprosy which caused him to lose his access to both worship and to his role as king.  He died miserable and alone.  That’s where pride usually leads.  We need to avoid pride like the plague.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you think God was so harsh and immediate in striking King Uzziah with leprosy.  After all, he’d been pretty faithful up till that point in his life?
  2. What do you think of the ways that Pride has been exalted in our culture?  Can you see any ways that pride could be leading toward societal destruction?
  3. What are the danger areas of pride in your own life?  Is there an area where pride could be leading you away from God.  Are there any areas where you reject God’s teaching in  your life and you are proud of it?
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Consequences of Idolatry

Old Testament: 2 Kings 17, 18

Poetry: Ps. 135

New Testament: Philippians Introduction Below

The school year has just ended in SC, and I am thoroughly enjoying summertime. After teaching for 5 years (and being in public school/college all those years before it), summer has become a beautiful time of rest, relaxation, and lots of swimming and sunshine. Summer is one of the perks of being a teacher, but it is definitely a time that feels earned. After a year of pushing students to be better learners and better people, I need a break. 

One of the most challenging things about being a teacher is the constant redirection and discipline that are required to make sure a classroom runs smoothly. If everyone is always doing what they want – whether that’s blurting out, going to the bathroom (as soon as we start taking notes!), or playing on the iPad – not much learning is happening. One of my jobs as a teacher is to set up a structure for my classroom that involves rules so that students know how to overcome doing what they want so that they can do what they need in order to learn. Sometimes students are happy to follow these rules. But, sometimes they are not. When they don’t follow rules, there is a system of warnings and consequences to try to get them back on track. Lunch detention, emails home, you know the drill. Occasionally, a student will not listen, and that is when the big punishment happens: ISS or OSS. Any public school kids know about this place of detention. The purposes of ISS, or in-school suspension, are two-fold: (1) By taking them out of the classroom, they miss out on the fun and good things we do as well. Normally, they don’t want to be away from the class because of this. (2) It also removes the student from the learning environment so they don’t pull everyone else down with them. 

In our reading today, we see the punishment the Israelites received that reminds me quite a bit of ISS, except much more severe and far-reaching. The Israelites were exiled from their land as a consequence of their sin. We read in 2 Kings 17:1-23 about how the Israelite king, Hoshen, continued to follow the pattern of doing evil in God’s sight. This caused the king of Assyria to invade the land and ‘carry the Israelites away to Assyria and place them’ throughout the land of Assyria (v. 6). Verse 7-8 says, “And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of the Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.” Verses 9-23 go on to describe the Israelites’ descent into sin from the time they entered the promised land with Joshua until the present time. In Deuteronomy 28, we read the promised consequences for the sin of disobedience and see these consequences given after the Israelites choose repeatedly not to listen to what God has told them to do. Despite knowing these consequences, the Israelites still pursued other gods and idols. When God would try to call them out of their sin and draw them back to him, they would not listen. 

Ps. 135 describes the difference between God and idols. Calling back to the deliverance from Egypt, it states the great works of God and praises him because “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession” (v. 4). In contrast, the idols are the work of human hands that cannot speak, see, hear, or breathe. “Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them” (v. 18). It’s chilling to read this Psalm after seeing the demise of the state of Israel. Because the Israelites trusted in their idols, they either died or were forced to live in captivity where their “life shall hand in doubt before them. Night and day they shall be in dread and have no assurance of their life” (Deut. 28:66). Instead of Israel being God’s chosen possession, God “rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight” (2 Kings 17:20). 

This is a harsh consequence, but like the punishment of ISS, it is twofold in purpose. The descent into sin needed to be stopped. This was God’s boundary line, stating that if they continued to act like this they would not be allowed to remain with him. It also removed Israel from close proximity to Judah, the nation that still remained in the Promised Land. At this point, Judah was not too far gone, so God didn’t want Judah to be brought down further into sin by Israel. 

God takes idolatry seriously, and there are severe consequences for it. We cannot be God’s chosen people if we choose to pursue idols. Idols look different than in the Israelites’ time, but they are all around us: Beauty, Money, Sex, Work, Family, Political Beliefs, Identity, Alcohol, Drugs, Social Media, Image. These are the intangible idols. We can’t hold them in our hands like idols of the olden days, but we may worship them all the same, giving offerings of our time, money, and relationships – sometimes sacrificing our parents, children, spouses, or friends on the altar of their worship. We will be exiled from his presence if we choose to pursue idolatry if we choose these things over God. It is not too late to turn back to him! Cast down your idols today. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Reflection Questions: 

  1. What are some of the idols that you see in your life or the life of the people around you?  
  2. Why does God give such harsh consequences for idolatry? What is the danger of idolatry?  
  3. What does exile look like in a modern day context? Do you think God punishes people in the present day, or is it just a future consequence (aka a lake of fire punishment)?

Philippians Introduction

Paul wrote the book of Philippians to the Christians in Philippi, which was the first church Paul established in Europe.  Despite the fact that Paul wrote this letter while he was a prisoner in Rome, Paul repeatedly talked about joy – showing that he could be content in any circumstance (4:11).

Paul reminded the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27), despite the persecution they were suffering (1:29-30).  He pointed to Jesus as the ultimate example of humility and submission, and reminded the Philippians that they should have the same attitude as that of Jesus (2:3-11).

In chapter 3, Paul reminded the Philippians that even Paul didn’t earn his righteousness from following the law, even though he was a model Jew.  Instead, all of us receive righteousness that comes from God and is by faith in Christ.

I particularly like Paul’s admonition in 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I also like Paul’s reminder in 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

May we be able to say like Paul in 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”

–Steve

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Come Back

Amos 5

Sunday, November 6, 2022

For the last three years I have been in the retail industry. Working with the public, you are exposed to a wide variety of people. Ever heard of people watching? That’s when you literally just observe people for fun, whether at a shop or restaurant, because the state of our society can be so entertaining. However, it can be disheartening to a Christian. The way people talk and conduct themselves, and especially the way people treat each other, is really hard to watch. Let’s look at today’s scripture.

In Amos 5 we are greeted by a funeral song. Now, music has always been a huge part of my life. From Frank Sinatra to Dr. Dre, my appreciation of music is quite eclectic. Imagine my joy when I hear the chapter I get to write about is Amos 5! It reads, “ ‘The virgin Israel has fallen, never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, with no one to help her up.’ The Sovereign Lord says: ‘When a city sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive.’ ” This is a warning from the prophet Amos to the people of Israel to provide another chance before facing the judgment of God. The sin they needed to repent from in this case was idolatry, and the imagery of the men dying in battle was to foreshadow the eventual tool God had planned to use to remove this sin, an invasion at the hands of the Babylonian empire. 

In verse 4 it reads, “Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: ‘Come back to me and live!’ ” And that’s the amazing thing about the grace of God, is that’s all it takes. If the Israelites had simply put their false gods aside, they would have not (eventually) been punished.

Let’s pull it all together. You hear all the time from people that modern times are “so awful” and “that nothing like this has ever happened”. But that is plainly false! The sins of man have always been abhorrent, but “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent…” (Numbers 23:19, NASB 1995), that means that when God said “Come to me and live” he MEANT that and will ALWAYS mean that.

-John Evans

Reflection Questions

  1. Read Amos 5 and list all the things God saw the Israelites doing that He was warning them against continuing. Also list what God wanted them to do instead. Which of these actions and attitudes do you see today in society? In God’s church? In yourself?
  2. What warning do we need today?
  3. What does it look like to Come Back to God? How will you Come Back to Him? How will you help another to Come Back to Him?
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All for the Glory of God

1 Corinthians 10

June 11

Idolatry has been going on for all of human history.  It is as old as sin, because when we stop worshiping God we naturally start to worship something else that is not God, and when we do this we give it an importance and a prominent position in our life that it should not have.

The ancient Israelites dealt with the idols and sacrifices to Baal and Ashera, the early Christians in Corinth lived in a culture that worshiped Apollo, Athena, and the Emperor.

The worship of these idols defined the culture of the day and helped to form a part of the social life of many people.  For many, accepting Christ and walking away from the worship of Apollo meant losing all of their friends and community, and a part of their identity.  So many of them tried to keep a foot in both worlds.  They would go to Christian services and be a part of that community, and they would offer meat to idols and try to maintain their position in society.  They would argue that eating meat and talking with friends was not bad, but they missed the point.

18 Look at the Jews. They ate the animals that were brought to God as gifts in worship and put on the altar. Did this not show they were sharing with God? 19 What do I mean? Am I saying that a false god or the food brought to it in worship is worth anything? 20 No, not at all! I am saying that the people who do not know God bring gifts of animals in worship. But they have given them to demons, not to God. You do not want to have any share with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot eat at the Lord’s table and at the demon’s table. 22 Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Do we think we are stronger than the Lord?

It is not the meat they are eating that is bad, but the context, the community and the mindset.  If they accidentally happened to eat some of the meat that was offered at a pagan altar, they would get some tasty protein and that is about it, but if they seek out a community of people that are offering sacrifices to, and worshiping something other than God in order to maintain their social standing and public image, then that is sin.  They have elevated their pride and their image and have put that ahead of God’s will, and when they join in with the idol worship they show the non-believers that God means less to them than the idols.  

27 If a person who is not a Christian wants you to eat with him, and you want to go, eat anything that is on the table. Ask no questions about the food. Then your heart will not say it is wrong. 28 But if someone says, “This meat has been given as a gift to false gods in worship,” do not eat it. In that way, it will not hurt the faith of the one who told you and his heart will have peace. 29 How the other person feels is important. We are not free to do things that will hurt another person. 30 If I can give thanks to God for my food, why should anyone say that I am wrong about eating food I can give thanks for? 31 So if you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to honor God

In every context our mindset should be to honor God.  Because we are Christians all of our actions send a message to others about who God is, and when we are hypocritical or give in to social pressures, that hurts the faith of all who see it.

-Chris Mattison

Application Questions:

  1. Do you have anything that you are trying to keep in your life that could be an idol?  Maybe a group of friends that party a bit too hard, but you don’t want to lose them as friends?  Or an unhealthy obsession with social media and how others view you, instead of how God sees you?
  2. The early part of this chapter looks back at the Old Testament times and how angry God gets at idolatry, why do you think God gets jealous and angry when his people turn to idols instead of to him?
  3. Do you need to be more aware of the struggles of those around you and give up some of your freedoms so that you can honor God and help grow their faith?
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Numbers 25-26, Luke 3

Almost 40 years had passed, and the Israelites were nearing the time when they would enter into the Promised Land. A generation had died in the wilderness because they failed to trust that God would guide them, protect them, and give them the good things he had promised. God had used the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings to teach them about his holiness and to teach them to trust in him more. However, not all of the Israelites were sanctified through this time. 

In Numbers 25, the Israelites are staying in the country of Moab. Because of intermarriage and lack of loyalty, they turn away from God and begin to worship Baal, a pagan god. Leading the way in this idolatry are several leaders of the people. God sends a terrible plague among the people that eventually killed 24,000 people and orders Moses to strike the idolatrous leaders down. So, Moses and Aaron’s great-grandson, Phinehas, gather the people together. The people are in mourning for the loved ones they lost in the plague, and all gathered together at the tabernacle, they are mourning in supposed repentance. However, Phinehas sees one of the Israelites blatantly bring a Moab woman into the tent of meeting! While the people are weeping in repentance, this person acts in a way that would indicate that he was not repentant at all. He was going to continue in his sin. The repentance was only caused by the negative experiences the Israelites faced, but it wasn’t true, heart-changing repentance that would cause them to change their actions. 

Phinehas, in a zealous passion, takes a spear and kills both the man and the woman who are doing this. Because of that harsh measure, the plague stops and God promises the priesthood would continue with Phinehas for generations. This seems like a brutal action. But, the reason why God praised Phinehas for doing it was because this action shows (1) Phinehas understood the concept of the holiness of God and his tabernacle and (2) Phinehas recognized how sin has to be stopped so it won’t continue to do its damage. Sin spreads like a plague, which, once it gets started, is very difficult to eradicate. If we recognize the importance of holiness and trying ourselves to live a lifestyle of holiness, we cannot continue to allow sin to spread in our lives. We have to be willing to act zealously to snuff it out. 

In Luke 3, we read about the ministry of John the Baptist in his own wilderness. He cries out to the people to ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!’ He urges those who come out to see him to “produce fruits consistent with repentance” because “every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:8-9). Recognition of the severity of sin and true repentance from that sin are crucial to producing good fruit. If we do not recognize and repent from sin, we will not produce good fruit. We will not live lives that glorify God. 

Evaluate your life. Is it characterized by a right understanding of sin? Of an understanding of the importance of holiness? What about true repentance and good fruit? As John and Jesus said, “Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is near!”

~ Cayce Fletcher

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading at Biblegateway.com: Job 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2 .

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Matthew 19 & Mark 10

In Tim Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods, he describes the ways that we put other areas of our life in the role of ‘god of our lives.’ Though the handmade idols that the Israelites worshipped – like the Baals and Golden Calves – may not exist anymore, idolatry is still very present in our modern day life. Keller describes how we, as humans, have a tendency to make good things god things, and consequently, we allow those things to turn our focus away from God. Sex, marriage, money, wealth, (self-)righteousness, and status can all be good things, but these things cannot be the ultimate thing. 

In today’s passage, we meet the Pharisees who were trying to trip Jesus up with a question about divorce. They wanted to know if Jesus was going to contradict the law of Moses by saying that divorce was not legal. After Jesus responded that divorce should not happen outside of sexual immorality, the disciples were amazed and said, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry” (v. 10). Jesus agrees with them in v. 12 when he talks about the eunuchs who chose to live that way for the sake of the Kingdom. 

Then, later on in Matthew 19, a rich young ruler comes and asks Jesus what rule he needs to follow to get eternal life. Jesus tells him the thing that he needs to do is give his possessions to the poor. He “went away sad, because he had great wealth” (v. 22). When Jesus tells his disciples that it is incredibly difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom, they are amazed and asked “Who can be saved?” (v. 25). Jesus responds in v. 26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

In Matthew 19, Jesus focuses on 3 areas of life, and in each case, he shows the disciples that they need to obediently follow what God says, despite how contrary it looks to the world. These 3 areas of life can be areas where we all easily fall into idolatry. They are good things – but they cannot be the ultimate thing. These things cannot be our god, but we try to put them in that place. 

The pharisees (and the rich young ruler) struggle with self-righteousness. They wanted to be good enough to be their own god – so that in effect, they wouldn’t actually need God. Though no one in the story seemed to struggle with marriage and sex, the question the Pharisees asked brings up this next idol that so many people make an ultimate thing. Both of these marriage and sex are created by God, but so often, we do not act with obedience to God’s word in these areas, and we step out of God’s design for us. By doing so, we are making these things an idol. The last area is money and wealth. The rich young ruler had so much wealth that he went away grieving. We don’t know if he made the choice to act with obedience to what Jesus commanded him to do, or if he decided that his wealth was too important to him to follow Jesus and ‘enter life.’ What we do know is that he mourned for his wealth. The disciples were amazed that Jesus spoke so harshly of wealthy people. In a culture that values money and possessions (like our own), the pursuit of wealth always seems like a good thing. However, like we’ve read this past week in the book of Luke, money can become an idol in our life, and the Bible says plainly that we cannot serve two masters: God and money (Matt. 6:24). 

When it’s so easy to fall into idolatry, who then can be saved? Jesus reassures us that “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” If you find yourself in a place of idolatry – putting good things in the place of the ultimate thing, turn back to God. He is the one with whom all things are possible. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Matthew 19 & Mark 10.

Tomorrow, we will read Matthew 20-21.

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A Time for Justice, A Time for Mercy

Ezekiel 20-21Ezekiel 20 8b 9a NIV sgl

In Ezekiel 20 God is explaining to the Israelites why he has gotten so tired of their rebellion.  He explains how each time they had rebelled he had mercy on them for the sake of his name so that the rest of the world would not mock him, but this generation of Israelites is following in the path of their ancestors and this time he will not have mercy.

 

“30 “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? 31 When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.”

 

God has had mercy on them so much that the people of Israel do not really see the consequences of their sins and continue to go back to their sins over and over, and God has decided that it is time for them to feel the full weight of their sin and realize what the consequences are.  Again, though, he says that he will not stay angry with them forever, and he will bring them all back and will lead them again after a time.

 

“42 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. 43 There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.’””

 

We are so blessed that we live after the time of Jesus, and can have our sins covered by his blood.  That way God can deal with us in mercy and use our example and our witness to spread the gospel and the glory of his name.  It is important to remember that it is not for our sake, but for the sake of God’s glory that we are shown this mercy.

Chris and Katie-Beth Mattison
Today’s Bible reading passage can be read or listened to at Biblegateway here – Ezekiel 20-21
Tomorrow’s Bible reading will be Ezekiel 22-23 as we continue on our 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Isaiah 28-30

Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip service - yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote

As we turn back to Isaiah in our reading, we read about the judgments pronounced upon Jerusalem and the surrounding nations. At the end of Isaiah 27, God had given the Israelites a picture of their hope – to return to Jerusalem. However, in Isaiah 28, we turn back to the reason why the Israelites had to be removed from the promised land in the first place. 

When I was in high school, every student that drove had to take a driver’s education class before they could get their parking pass. I was standing pressed against the glass at the DMV the day I turned 15 (the age we could get our learner’s permit), and I knew that I would do whatever it took to be able to drive to school as soon as I could. Along with the videos of car crashes and the several hours driving with the instructor, one activity we had to do was put on a pair of beer goggles to show the effects of driving under the influence. With the vision of someone who had way too many beers, we were supposed to catch a tennis ball. As you can imagine, almost all of us dropped the ball as we stumbled and swayed with the goggles on our face. With our vision clouded, there was no way that we were able to complete the task that we were given. 

We’ve been looking at the effects of idolatry over the previous days. This was not the Israelites only sin though. In Isaiah 28, God turns to focus on Ephraim’s drunkards and says woe to them. These priests “stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer. They are muddled in their visions, they stumble in their judgments. Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit; there is no place without a stench” (Isaiah 28:7-8). This presents a dire picture of priests turned alcoholics, which means they can’t do much good for anyone. We know how alcoholism and drunkenness itself can be dangerous, but what is so striking to me in this description is the way that it shows a parallel to all sin. All sin clouds our vision and judgments. All sin realigns our priorities. Ultimately, all sin separates us from God and leaves our lives defiled. 

When we are living under the influence of sin, we miss out on God’s purpose for our lives. The priests in this chapter were supposed to teach the people how to seek after God. Instead, they stumbled over their words while they instructed and caused their people to stumble in their everyday walk with God. Where do you see the effects of sin goggles in your life? Where can you take off the sin in your life so that you can have a clearer vision for how to serve God better? 

~ Cayce Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to on Bible Gateway – Isaiah 28-30.

Tomorrow, we continue reading about the history of Judah and Israel in Isaiah 31-34– as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan.

Hosea 8-14

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you_ sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Reading through the prophets can be difficult. Just like the story of Gomer that we read yesterday, we may find ourselves wanting to reach through the pages across the span of time and just whip these people and nations back into shape. Because of our hindsight, we think (arrogantly) that we would have made better choices if we walked in the shoes of our ancestors. The Israelites downfall is that they always seemed to fall prey to idolatry, though that idolatry existed in many forms. Unfortunately, like we saw yesterday, we are quick to worship those same idols in different forms.

If we look back to the birth of the Israelites as a distinct set apart nation, we return to the infamous scene with the golden calf in Exodus 32. The Israelites had the choice to follow the word of God or follow the gods of the surrounding nations. While Moses was receiving the law, they chose to worship the golden calf. Hundreds of years later, the calf returned in 1 Kings 12:28-30. King Jeroboam of Israel created two golden calves and set up places to worship them, going directly against the laws of Moses that all of Israel has received. The Israelites had continued to worship the calf through Hosea’s time as we see in Hosea 8:5-6: “Your calf-idol is rejected, Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? For this thing is from Israel – a craftsman made it, and it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits.” For hundreds of years the Israelites worshipped the calf, and because of it, they started to resemble the thing that they worshipped. In fact, we see the qualities of the cow come out in the Israelites in Hosea 4:16 where it says, “For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow. Can the LORD shepherd them like a lamb in an open meadow?” They had held the cow as an idol for so long in their life that they started to imitate that. This imitation led them directly away from becoming the people that God wanted them to be. 

Israel thought that they knew God and were seeking after him (Hos. 7:16, 8:2-3), but they were really seeking after their own hand-made idols. A life that seeks after God cannot be categorized as lustful, greedy, selfish, or prideful. If our life looks like that, we have begun to imitate those idols that we may follow. A life that follows after God will be full of love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit. If we follow after God and not idols, we will seek his righteousness all of our days. 

So, ask yourself: Who or what are you worshipping? Who or what are you imitating? 

“Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your unplowed ground. It is time to seek the LORD until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.” ~ Hosea 10:12

~ Cayce Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to on Bible Gateway – Hosea 8-14.

Tomorrow, we continue reading about the history of Judah and Israel in Isaiah 28-30– as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan.