Idolatry Then and Now
7/6 Reading Portions: Joshua 8; Psalm 139; Jeremiah 2; Matthew 16
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
7/6 Reading Portions: Joshua 8; Psalm 139; Jeremiah 2; Matthew 16
Jeremiah 2:27
“…who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’”
KOOKY
Yehovah God expresses the shameful kookiness of serving idols. Since the waning years of the reign of Solomon, throughout the reigns of kings in the divided kingdom, as well as in depths of fleshly corruptions dwelling in every man since Adam, is the propensity toward idolatry. Israel, whether king, officer, priest, or prophet, bowed the knee in the forests of Asherah to say to a tree, “You are my father.” If that wasn’t enough, they carved out their stone Baals and said to them, “You gave me birth.” Then, when calamity came, when trial, trouble, and tribulation assaulted, they called out to Yehovah God, “Arise and save us!” The LORD asks,
“But where are your gods that you made yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.” Jeremiah 2:28
This kooky, idolatrous, double-mindedness goes on today in many who profess to know, serve, and worship God. Some, with obvious idolatry in worship of icons and objects of veneration. Many others, with a subtle testimony that their own power, strength, and decision had saved them; that, they say, “Jesus only made it possible.” By this, they claim to have given birth to themselves, saying such stuff and nonsense as, “I didn’t have a choice in my first birth, but I did have a choice in my spiritual birth.” How absolutely absurd! They exalt their own choice, decisions, and free will to at least equality with Jesus, if not supreme over our Lord and Savior— while at the same time ridicule Roman Catholics who have done the same with the virgin, Mary. The priests and prophets of these free-willers exacerbate the problem by preaching— “Jesus has done all that he can do; the rest is up to YOU!” —carving out for themselves idols from the stony hearts of unsaved souls. Kooky, I say. Just kooky. If Jesus isn’t All, including His power to save, then Jesus isn’t anything at all.
Lord Jesus, my flesh yearns to claim
Its value and its worth;
Lord, strengthen me to despise the shame
Of sin and its vile curse.