Idolatry – Page 4

Digging in Deeper: Hosea 7:2

September 6, 2019September 6, 2019Leave a comment

“But they never consider that I remember all their evil. Now their actions are all around them; they are right in front of my face.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Do you know what is some good advice: Don’t offend someone with a long memory. Generally speaking, we have a fairly remarkable ability to remember bad or hurtful things that have happened to us. Even a small slight can stick with us for a long time. If we’re not careful, it can become the lens through which we see not only the person who offended us, but everyone with whom we come into contact. Now, when we’re dealing with a person this isn’t good, but it’s not such a terrible deal. When it comes to God, the idea that this kind of thing might even possibly happen is a great deal more uncomfortable of a thought.

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Morning Musing: Deuteronomy 4:39

May 17, 2019May 16, 20192 Comments

“Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Idol worship is silly. The idea of bowing down to some statue like that statue could do anything is ridiculous. Even bowing down to a statue like it represents some kind of meaningful power and that power could impact you is laughable. Right? Sure, if you live in a culture where monotheism has been the most fundamental worldview assumption for most of 1500 years. If you don’t, it’s not nearly so laughable as it perhaps seems. And, just because monotheism is one of a culture’s guiding assumptions doesn’t mean that idol worship goes away, it simply changes forms.

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Morning Musings: Judges 17:13

July 6, 2018July 5, 2018Leave a comment

“Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Consider the insanity of this for a minute. This man has set up his own household god, hired a passing Levite as his personal priest of his personal religion, and now boasts confidently of the blessing of the Lord because of it. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Psalm 135:15-18

February 23, 2018February 23, 2018Leave a comment

“The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

In the ancient world, idols were obvious. Someone who worshipped an idol would often literally bow down before a statue. He would make sacrifices before a big hunk of carved rock or wood or shaped metal. They were things made by human hands. Today…not so much. But, just because idolatry is more difficult to spot doesn’t meant the reality of it is any different. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 44:18-20

November 15, 2017November 14, 2017Leave a comment

“They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This and the few verses on either side of it is one of my favorite passages in the whole Old Testament. It ranks up there for me as one of the best in the Bible. That may not be a very spiritual answer to the question of what this preacher’s favorite verse is, but read it again for yourself. It’s hilarious. No other passage in the Bible captures the sheer idiocy of idolatry quite so well as this one does. And it does it with a sarcastic sense of humor that resonates really well with my own. Read the rest…