Many years after these words were written the apostle Paul asked the rhetorical question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul then went on to emphatically assert, “no one!” (see Romans 8:31-34) This should not come as a surprise given all that God has done for his people down through the years. In the New Testament the greatest evidence of God’s power is the redemption he accomplished in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read More idolatry, protection, deliveranceAlthough the Lord is merciful and patient, he is also just and altogether wise. If he sets limits to our freedom, it is because we need them.
Perhaps Solomon considered himself wiser than he was? He did not obey God and his foreign wives eventually led him to turn away from the source of his prosperity and to prostrate himself before idols. God was right and the results were disastrous.
Read More obedience, consequences, idolatryOut of love for his people, God intervened in this difficult political situation in order to avoid a civil war. Rehoboam did not understand that the Lord had caused the division of his people and he himself, could do nothing about it. Through the ages, humans have been too quick to wage war and their motives are almost always selfish.
After hearing the message of the prophet Shemaiah, all the Israelites and Rehoboam accepted the division of the kingdom.
Read More idolatry, faithfulness, abundanceAs we see in this story, the kings of Israel went from bad to worse as they moved away from the Lord altogether. They led the Israelites into some increasingly terrible heathen practices, like those of the Canaanites whom God chased away under the leadership of Joshua. Not only did they separate themselves from the Lord, they started building temples to idols worshipped by foreign people.
Read More idolatry, choicesWhen was the last time you thought about idols or idolatry? Frankly it’s not something I think about often. Idols and idolatry are relics from another time and place, or are they?
In today’s reading, Isaiah rails against the idolatry of his people.
Read More Ten Commandments, idols, idolatry, worshipWe are apocalyptic. We live in a culture of doom. Every other film is the End of The World, by asteroid, weather, aliens and now the dead.
How are Christians different? We embrace the End. We look forward to the “Lord’s return.” But should we? There will be no more tears, no more pain, no more mourning, no more suffering – but for whom?
Read More idolatry, justice, the End, loving-kindness
Read Reflect Recently my pastor gave a sermon about how the people in the Bible were just like us. It’s a bit hard to take. After all, we don’t dress in long robes, bring sacrifices to a temple, practice polygamy, or worship carved images. However, a close look at this chapter of Isaiah reveals that […]
Read More relationship with God, busyness, idolatryRead Reflect When Josiah read the Book of the Law that had been found in the Temple, he was completely persuaded by what he read, and realized that for years his people had not been keeping the covenant. This chapter is impressive for its descriptions of how thoroughly Josiah tried to put things right. The […]
Read More idolatry, sin, pagan practicesAs the vision of chapters 8 and 9 continues, Ezekiel sees the mobile chariot-throne with the Lord’s glory that he had seen in chapter 1 (vv 15, 20, 22). What is significant is that the Lord’s glory is progressively moving out of the Temple.
Read More Temple, God’s glory, idolatry
