Christians and Voting
1
Memorial Drive
9/10/17
THE TEN WORDS: No Idols!
Exodus 20:4-6
Intro –
The Text: “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, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Ex 20:4-6)
... The RULE
For some, “likness” meant even drawings, paintings, or objects
The explanatory “You shall not WORSHIP THEM or SERVE THEM” demonstrates
that God has in mind idols and imagines that attempt to represent Him (or a lesser god)
… The REALITY
The Broader Context Within Which God Reveals These Covenant Conditions …
Idolatry was an entire system that explained not only HOW your world WORKED but
also how you could most successfully RELATE to that world that surrounded you.
Attractions of Idolatry …
- Guaranteed
“Opening the mouth” of an idol created a direct conduit to the god
- Self-Centered
“… if you fed a god adequately and regularly, that god would, in ‘quid pro quo’ fashion, bless you in return with abundance of crops and fertility of cattle.”(New American Comm., Stuart)
- Easy
Aside from “feeding” the god, there were few moral requirements (or none!)
- Convenient
“… high mountains, hills, under every green tree …” (Deut. 12:2)
“ … at the place which the lord your god will choose … there you shall come.”
(Deut. 12:5)
- Normal
Consider Psalm 37:7 and Psalm 73:3
To GET anything using means not pleasing to God ALWAYS involves idolatry in one form or another! And the attraction that constantly threatens God’s people is that, quite often, idolatry works!
- Logical
“No Israelite, no matter how totally immersed in idolatry, would ever answer “No” to the question, ‘Do you believe in Yahweh?’ But at most times in Israel’s history, they would, sadly, see him only as a national god (the one who had brought them out of Egypt or the one to whom they would appeal in times of war). Their greater day-by-day loyalty in worship would be directed toward the various idols representing their various categories of gods.” (ibid, Stuart)
- Indulgent
“… you may slaughter and eat meat” (Deut. 12:15)(w/o being connected to worship)
It was typical in pagan worship to “PIG OUT”!
- Erotic
“Do not be IDOLATERS, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up toplay.’” (I Cor. 10:7).
“So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drinkAND ROSE UP TO PLAY.”(Deut. 32:6)
Sympathetic Magic – Ritualistically and symbolically doing something in one
place will cause or encourage it to happen in another
Application …Consider how “normal” these aspects of idolatry are in our own world, and even
how easy it is for Christians to fall under their spell!
Next: A further look at the nature of idolatry and consideration of why God is so set against it!