Articles
CALLING A SPADE A SPADE, Part 3
Ask anyone regarding “idolatry” and the definition which quickly comes to mind would
be the worship of idols. Perhaps images from the earliest days of the Israelites as they crafted a
golden calf “who will go before us; ...” (Exodus 32:1). Or maybe consider an earlier time when
Rachel steals her father’s household idols as they leave for Canaan (Genesis 31:17-21). The
people of God were drawn time and again to the idol worship of the surrounding nations, causing
an apostasy from the one true God.
But consider again the words of God spoken from Mt. Sinai. “I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 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 water under the earth. You shall not worship them or
serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, …” (Exodus 20:2-5). We may respond
with full compliance having no “idols” in our possession, but what was God really commanding?
What about the phrase which states that God is “a jealous God”? For what is He jealous?
The word “jealous” is an adjective that is used to describe God (Ex. 20:5; 34:14). It
means that He tolerates no rivals. He alone is to be worshiped. Perhaps God could be thought of
as a jealous husband who wants what is best for his wife and refuses to share her with another
man. Warren W. Wiersbe explained, “Just as parents are jealous over their children and spouses
over their mates, so God is jealous over His beloved ones and will not tolerate competition
(Zechariah 1:14; 8:2). The Scriptures present idolatry as the equivalent of prostitution and
adultery (Hosea 1-3; Jeremiah 2-3; Ezekiel 16, 23; James 4:4-5). God desires and deserves the
exclusive love of His people.” (*Coy Roper, Truth for Today Commentary, pg. 325)
Perhaps with the understanding of God’s desire to be first and foremost in our lives, we
can begin to examine more closely if we have truly put God “first and foremost” in our lives. No,
we don’t have in our houses the “idols” such as Rachel took from her father’s house, but sadly
we do have idols that we have placed before God. Those idols take the shape of TV, jobs,
entertainment, friends, family, etc. Anything that comes before God is an idol! What was that
“idol” which kept you from worship or Bible study the last time? What was that “idol” which
kept you from spending time in personal Bible study or prayer? We like to shrug off any idea
that we have allowed other things to come between us and God, but fact is, there are many things
that have become idols in our lives.
I pray that we will all examine our lives more closely (2 Cor. 13:5) to be sure that we rid
ourselves of those very things that draw us away from our heavenly Father. (to be continued)
