Got Any Idols? Are You Sure?

The past few weeks as part of my preparation for our study on 1st Samuel I have been reading through the rst eight chapters of this powerful and insightful book daily. Recently, during my reading and study time I was reminded how quickly and easily God’s people turned away from following wholeheartedly after the Lord. Seemingly overnight they adopted foreign gods and were worshipping them. And it is very clear that the Israelites were strongly attracted to the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, and so they erected local high places where sexually oriented and highly charged cult rituals could be practiced.

Tragically, this depraved worship quickly spread, and resulted in Israel’s breaking of many of God’s command- ments, including the commandment to have no other gods before Him. This way of life was in total opposition to everything that Israel should have stood for as the people of God. As God’s chosen people they should have known better! Yet, they chose to leave God out of their plans, and as a result they stumbled and fell, bringing tremendous suffering on themselves, their children and their nation.

The first commandment is: “You shall have no other gods before Me. 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 waters under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.  Exodus 20:3-5.  Read More...