We cannot afford to put any other gods before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
"And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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; 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 on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
(Exodus 20:1-6 NKJV unless otherwise noted)The above verses are the first two of the Ten Commandments. The second commandment is typically remembered as; "you shall not make any graven image", typically referred to as idolatry. So what is idolatry? If we do not literally bow down to images of wood, stone, silver, or gold, then do we (or can we) still have a problem with idolatry in our lives? It is my opinion that putting anything in front of God is idolatry; therefore, having an idol automatically breaks the first commandment.
Although stone and wooden idols are one form of idolatry, a person does not need to bow down before them to be an idolater.
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
(1 Samuel 15:23)"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."
(Colossians 3:5)Here we have two other descriptions of idolatry: stubbornness is idolatry, and covetousness is idolatry.
Love of Money - money represents the power to get what you want in this world. Many people will sacrifice almost anything to get it - God, family, friends, spare time, principles, and morals.
"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
(Matthew 6:24 NLT)"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
(1 Timothy 6:10)"Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."
(Hebrews 13:5 NLT)Television – millions of people willingly devote hours a day to this mesmerizing idol. This idol tells you what to value, what to believe, what to buy, what is cool, what is not. That's why the commercial interests of this world spend billions to get advertising time on it. They know it controls you. It can fill your mind with fantasy, with fear, with lust. Through television, you can stare at beautiful women without public shame. Television brings "the world" to your home. It makes adoring the false gods of this world so convenient.
"You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols,
however you were led." (1 Corinthians 12:2)"Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made."
(Isaiah 2:8)Self - this is the "idol of idols" for most of us. If we are to have a relationship with God, we must die to self.
Wait a minute, surely we don’t have any self idols in this country do we? After all, our nation was founded on Christian morality. Our nation might be a little selfish, but surely we do not do anything as detestable as sacrificing people to idols or sacrificing our children to Molech… or do we?
From the Pro Life Alliance:
"For the most part, though, abortion is still legal, and occurring in mass numbers every day (over 4000 a day in America.)
4,000 x 365 = 1,460,000"
1.4 million Abortions in one year in America alone. If you look at the charts of the leading causes of death, you never see abortions listed, why is that? For the most part people in the country seek after their own lusts, certainly not putting God first.
"knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,"
(2 Peter 3:3)From a British Web article:
"More than half of all British babies 'are born out of marriage'
More babies will be born outside of marriage for the first time this year since records began... More than half the babies born to British mothers this year will have been born out of marriage, shocking new figures have revealed.
The statistics are a result of the fact that marriage among Britons has slumped to its lowest levels since records began, according to new figures released by the Office of National Statistics.
The figures show a steady decline in the number of Britons being married since the 1970s when fewer than one in 10 children were born out of wedlock."
We no longer have a moral compass in this and other countries. As a result God has forsaken us.
"
…The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." (2 Chronicles 15:2b)"how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts."
(Jude 1:18)"And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."
(Luke 16:15)Do not take Luke 16:15 lightly,
"For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."Many people have been proclaiming for a long time that the end is near. But let us wait patiently for the return of Messiah (Christ) and let us not be like the Israelites who so quickly turned away from God.
"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.""
(Exodus 32:1)We need to see the Golden Calf incident as a warning for our country and to the Church today. Yeshua is delaying His return. During this delay, what are we doing? Are we becoming more like the world or are we drawing closer to God?
We have been warned!
"then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."
(Deuteronomy 6:12)How do we forget YHVH (LORD)?
"Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,"
(Deuteronomy 8:11)What did the children of Israel do?
"Thus the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;"
(Judges 8:34)The children of Israel forgot God’s greatness.
"Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,"
(Psalms 104:1)"For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods."
(Psalms 95:3)"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable."
(Psalms 145:3)Unfortunately God has had to plead with us to return unto Him.
"Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen."
(Isaiah 44:2)"…Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me."
(Jeremiah 35:15)Demitru Dudiman, Henry Gruver and others have claimed visions of doom and destruction for our nation and others around the world. The warning in these visions is to repent; to turn back to God and away from following our own lusts. Some of these visions proclaimed mass destruction in the United States. Is following our own lusts worth it?
"Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," Says the LORD of hosts. "But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’"
(Malachi 3:7)Notice God says "MY ordinances"; he did not say your interpretation of My ordinances. God’s ways are not popular with the world. God is not pleased with our re-definition of worship to him. The golden calf incident was an example of this. The children of Israel claimed to be making a feast to YHVH, but they were doing it their own way. Likewise, our re-definition of God’s morals to satisfy ourselves is not pleasing to Him.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world——the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life——is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."
(1 John 2:15-17)"Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
(2 Corinthians 6:17)Conclusion:
We cannot afford to have anything before God. While we may not literally bow down to visible, tangible idols, what in this life has become an idol to us? The love of money? The Pride of life? Love of self? Love of television? These things, and many more, can consume our thoughts and hearts leaving no place for the Creator of all living things. He requires that HE be put first in our hearts and minds. We need not worry about the things of this life. If we are truly His, He will take care of us!
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
(Matthew 6:33)