Flee Idolatry And Cling To God

God Establishes And Stabilizes The Nation,
But Idolatry Destroys Any Nation

When God saved Israel from Egypt, He saved His people from a nation filled with idolatry – with false gods. When God sent Moses to Pharaoh with the message,

Exodus 5:1 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

Pharaoh was quick to answer:

(Exodus 5:2 ESV) Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

Pharaoh believed – along with his people – the HE HIMSELF was god. Egypt worshiped numerous gods and goddesses, animals and leaders. It was idolatry and defiance of the God of the Bible that caused Egypt – at one time a world power – to lose it’s power and influence among the nations.

When God stopped Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, He was going to take this ragged group of people and constitute them as a nation. The Bible tells us that “God reigns over the nations” (Psalm 47:8), and that:

(Daniel 2:21 ESV) God changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

God established Israel as His nation at Sinai. So in Israel’s constitution God established a series of principles of Law that His people were to follow. We call this foundation “The Ten Commandments”. The very first part of the commandments deal with WHO is God, and HOW God is to be treated.

(Exodus 20:2-7 NKJV) I [am] the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [3] “You shall have no other gods before Me. [4] “You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth; [5] you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me, [6] but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. [7] “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold [him] guiltless who takes His name in vain.

If Israel was to survive as a nation, she needed to follow the God Who saved her. Israel was not to follow any other gods or goddesses. She was to cling to the Word of God, obeying Him in all that they did without question. Israel’s blessing relied on being obedient to God, honoring and upholding His Word.

Idolatry is a tool of Satan. Satan invents false gods to seek the destruction of mankind. When Satan revolted against God, he declared “I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Satan carried this thought into the Garden of Eden in the guise of a serpent. Idolatry always follows this pattern:

1. Question the clearly presented Word of God. “Has God really said that you shall not eat of every tree”? (Genesis 3:1). Once humans decided to debate what God said, the devil next carries us to …

2. Defy the clearly presented Word of God. “God said you will die, but He lies. You will not surely die!” (Genesis 3:4). God just said that. God doesn’t know what He’s talking about. From this point, the devil …

3. Questions the integrity of God Himself. “God knows the day you eat of it, you’ll be just like Him!” (Genesis 3:5). Once Satan deconstructed humanity’s faith in God and His Word, then we progress to ….

4. Elevate human experience and feelings over what God has said. “The tree is good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and can make us wise like gods” (Genesis 3:6).

Then they eat – and sin enters Paradise. Idolatry destroys Paradise. Idolatry destroys a nation. Think about America today.

1. Teens are rising up, taking over areas of our country in riots. Police are being attacked. Why? Because children are not being taught:

Exodus 20:12 Honor your Father and Mother

Children are being raised not to honor authority, but to BE the authority. The Bible says “FATHERS, bring up your children IN THE DISCIPLINE AND INSTRUCTION OF THE LORD” (Ephesians 6:4). But many of the children born today do not have the presence of the father in the home. When the family unit breaks down, the nation breaks down.

2. Cities are demanding that governments “de-fund the police”. Why? Because if children are raised without respect for God, or are told that they themselves are gods, then they have no respect for authority. The Bible says:

(Romans 13:1 NKJV) Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD, and the AUTHORITIES THAT EXIST ARE APPOINTED BY GOD.

3. There is a push to endorse Socialism and Communism as replacements for Capitalism in America. We as Americans are on a pathway to destruction because of idolatry.

An oft quoted text is something that God told Solomon on the day that the Temple was constructed and dedicated to the Lord. God came to King Solomon at night, saying:

(2 Chronicles 7:12-14 NKJV) I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. [13] “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, [14] “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

What God was saying to Israel under Solomon was “If you sin, I will punish you. I’ll stop the rains. I’ll have the locusts consume the crops. I’ll send sickness into the populace. BUT if you, as My people, REPENT and RETURN to Me, I will forgive you and bless your nation.”

The First And Most Persistent Sin Of Israel

Before Moses could even get off the mountain with the Law that constituted Israel, God’s people began to create idols. We read:

(Exodus 32:1-5 LSB) Then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, make us gods who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” [2] And Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring [them] to me.” [3] Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought [them] to Aaron. [4] And he took [this] from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” [5] And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow [shall be] a feast to Yahweh.”

The first commands God gave Israel was to avoid idolatry. And yet the first disobedience of Israel was to create an idol. Israel learned idolatry from Egypt. We learn idolatry from the lost world. As Christians, we are supposed to …

(2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV) … WALK BY FAITH, not by sight

An idol is a man created image or thing that visually represents God. But it doesn’t represent God. It represents our idea of Who God is. An idol lowers God to our level. God is not to be lowered, but exalted. The Bible says:

(Hebrews 11:6 KJV) … without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him]: for he that cometh to God must BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and [that] He is a REWARDER of them that DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.

We are to believe what God has said about Himself in His Word, and to pursue Him. God does not chase us. He is not a good luck charm that we wear about our necks, nor a little statue we put in our pockets. He blesses us when we PURSUE AND GLORIFY HIM.

The same King Solomon that God came to by night (remember this?) and said “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”, this wise King ailed to heed to Word of God. The Bible says:

(1 Kings 11:1-2 ESV) Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, [2] from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” SOLOMON CLUNG TO THESE IN LOVE.

Solomon let his heart lead him, rather than the Word of God. The Bible says in 1 Kings 11:4, “Solomon’s wives TURNED AWAY HIS HEART AFTER OTHER GODS, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God. This started what I call a “domino effect” of destruction. God told Solomon:

(1 Kings 11:11-13 ESV) .. you have not kept MY COVENANT and MY STATUES that I have commanded you, I WILL SURELY TEAR THE KINGDOM FROM YOU AND WILL GIVE IT TO YOUR SERVANT. [12] Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I WILL TEAR IT OUT OF THE HAND OF YOUR SON. [13] However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I WILL GIVE ONE TRIBE TO YOUR SON, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”

Solomon had a servant – a General named Jeroboam. Because of Solomon’s idolatry, God was going to take the Kingdom from Solomon’s son Rehoboam and give ten tribes to Jeroboam. God sent a Prophet named Ahijah to Jeroboam:

(1 Kings 11:29-37 ESV) And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. [30] Then AHIJAH LAID HOLD OF THE NEW GARMENT THAT WAS ON HIM, and TORE IT INTO TWELVE PIECES. [31] And he said to Jeroboam, “TAKE FOR YOURSELF TEN PIECES, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and WILL GIVE YOU TEN TRIBES [32] (but he [REHOBOAM] shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), [33] BECAUSE THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME AND WORSHIPED Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have NOT WALKED IN MY WAYS, DOING WHAT IS RIGHT IN MY SIGHT and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. [34] Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. [35] But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand [REHOBOAM] and will give it to you, ten tribes. [36] Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. [37] And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

God was going to divide Israel both North and South because of idolatry. It was a “domino effect” that started with Solomon

All of the tribes but Judah and Benjamin followed Jeroboam north, and Judah and Benjamin became known as Judah or Southern Israel. What happened to the Levites?

The Bible says that:

(2 Chronicles 11:13-16 ESV) And THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES who were in all Israel presented themselves to {Rehoboam} from all places where they lived. [14] For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because JEROBOAM AND HIS SONS CAST THEM OUT FROM SERVING AS PRIESTS OF THE LORD, [15] and HE APPOINTED HIS OWN PRIESTS for the high places and FOR THE GOAT IDOLS and FOR THE CALVES THAT HE HAD MADE. [16] And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

God took the Kingdom from Solomon because of idolatry, and gave ten tribes to Jeroboam because of idolatry. Did Jeroboam honor God Who gave him the Kingdom? No! Idolatry, like poison in the life blood, spreads where it is allowed.

Jeroboam set up an idolatrous place of worship in Samaria in order to keep the ten tribes from going to Jerusalem to worship. The Bible tells us that:

(1 Kings 12:26-31 ESV) And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. [27] If this people GO UP TO OFFER SACRIFICES IN THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD AT JERUSALEM, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. [28] So the king took counsel and MADE TWO CALVES OF GOLD. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. [29] And he set ONE IN BETHEL, and the other he put IN DAN. [30] Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. [31] He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, WHO WERE NOT OF THE LEVITES.

Jeroboam did not trust in the power and decree of God, Who had told him that ten tribes would be given him to rule as King. He was afraid to allow the ten tribes to go to Jerusalem to worship, so he set up his own system of idolatry to protect his reign.

Preach: The Ten Tribes that were broken off because of idolatry continued to pursue idols rather that the God of Scripture. Because of this Northern Israel would fall under Assyrian conquest 722 BC, about 136 years before Southern Israel would fall to Babylon (586 BC).

Idolatry Brings About The Wrath Of God, The Destruction Of The Family, And The Loss Of National Morality

The Apostle Paul described the horrors of idolatry in the first chapter of Romans:

Romans 1:18-23 (ESV) For the WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, THEY DID NOT HONOR HIM AS GOD or GIVE THANS TO HIM, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and EXCHANGED THE GLORY OF THE IMMORTAL GOD FOR IMAGES RESEMBLING resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

You cannot serve God and an idol. You must “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). When Paul and Barnabas preached Christ crucified, they chastised the Gentiles for idol worship, saying:

Acts 14:15 … we bring you good news, that you should TURN FROM THESE VAIN THINGS TO A LIVING GOD, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

An idol cannot save. An idol cannot bless, or bring good fortune. God tells His Church, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Idolatry is one of the sins we are not only to recognize, but to run from:

(1 Corinthians 10:14 ESV) Therefore, my beloved, FLEE FROM IDOLATRY.

We live in a day of idols. Idolatry has crept into our nation. It is in our schools teaching “wokeness” and biological nonsense. We as God’s people must flee idolatry.

I found an interesting parallel that ties in to Solomon losing the Kingdom to his servant Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the first King over the Northern Tribes of Israel. King Ahab was the seventh King of Northern Israel. Jeroboam established the golden calf worship in Bethel and Dan. But King Ahab went even farther. He openly defied God, and killed the Prophets that God sent into the land.

So God raised up Ahab’s servant Jehu. The Prophet Elisha sent a messenger to Jehu, saying:

2 Kings 9:6-7 I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. And YOU SHALL STRIKE DOWN THE HOUSE OF AHAB YOUR MASTER, so that I may avenge on Jezebel THE BLOOD OF MY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS

Jehu did as God asked. He not only destroyed Ahab and his family, but Jehu “destroyed Baal from Israel” (2 Kings 10:28). But Jehu was selective in what idols he destroyed. The Bible says:

(2 Kings 10:29, 31 NKJV) However JEHU DID NOT TURN AWAY FROM THE SINS OF JEROBOAM the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, [that is], FROM THE GOLDEN CALVES THAT WERE AT BETHEL AND DAN. … [31] But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.

The Ten Northern Tribes of Israel (Reuben, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Manasseh) will eventually be taken into exile by Assyria. These tribes today are called “The Lost Tribes of Israel”. God will one day regather His people, and through 144,000 Hebrew Evangelists bring Israel to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Revelation 7:4-8). Two of the Ten Northern Tribes – Dan and Ephraim – are not mentioned in Revelation 7. I suspect that has to do with unrepentant idolatry.