Obedience, Idolatry, and the Choices Along the Way

I have been around awhile. Like anyone I have had my share of moments I can classify as blessings and then I have experienced pain cause by my own sin and failure. When we dream about the future, we think about the blessings and the way we want it to be. We plan our lives in such a way that we experience blessing and not ruin. No one intentionally plans out a course for utter ruin and despair, but we sometimes experience it.

Obedience, Idolatry, and the Choices along the Way.

The Test – What will I worship? The Descent – How Idolatry Happens. The Deliverance – Where Hope Resides.

V. 3-4 The Test – Who will they worship? Choose life or choose death, but choose whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15).

· The context – they did not drive out the nations as commanded (Judges 2:1-3).

· The warning – Deuteronomy 7:3–4 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

V. 6-7 The Descent into Idolatry. How it happens. A series of choices…

· Note the progression. They did not start our serving other gods….

· Cultural Assimilation – Iowa Hawkeyes (these people are weird to these people are normal)

· Live among idolators. In the beginning the contrast between the worship of God and the worship of idols was clear. In their case it’s the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. As the storm god and bringer of rain, Baal was recognized as sustaining the fertility of crops, animals, and people. His followers often believed that sexual acts performed in his temple would boost Baal’s sexual prowess, and thus contribute to his work in increasing fertility. Here is how it works. As an Israelite who is faithful to God you see your Canaanite neighbors headed off to the temple to perform sexual rites and you think its evil, gross, or at least a little weird. You think it’s silly. There is only one God who created the universe and it is absurd people would worship Baal or any other god. But then you get to know them. Aside from their perverse practices and idolatry they seem like decent neighbors. You join a bowling league together and your kids play together in the back yard and it turns out that aside from their idolatry and some of their behaviors they are pretty much just like you. They love their kids. They go to work each day. They like a back yard BBQ. The have joy, sadness, anger, and love just like you do.

· Marry idolators. The kids that grew up in the home above see things a bit differently than their mom and dad. If you were that kid you heard mom and dad talk about how weird the neighbor’s idolatry is but as a kid you grew up playing with the kid next door. You don’t see the big deal and then one day the hormones start flowing and you start having feelings for the kid who used to pick on you down the street whose parents worship Baal. You fall in love and get married. You don’t want to be a stick in the mud so you have an alter to Baal as well as some Jewish paraphernalia to acknowledge your God is still the one true God. You are not super excited about the trips to the temple of Baal for sexual rites but everyone seems to do it and you need the rain. Best to cover all the bases. God, Baal, etc…

· Raised as idolators. These are the kids two generations removed from Joshua. If that is you, your idolatry is the air you breath and the water you swim in. As the fish that swims in the culture you were born into you can’t really describe the water. You have no point of contrast for reference. You don’t see idolatry as idolatry when everybody does it. Its normalized.

· Self-Check Exodus 20:4-6

o Generational Idolatry – values (what we ascribe worth to) are caught more than taught.

o Tend to be unaware of cultural or personal idolatry. What do you value, or ascribe ultimate worth to? For the Israelites the supreme concern is the fertility of the land. We tend to catch values more than we are taught values.

§ Where to you place your hope?

§ What do you sacrifice for?

§ What do you think most about?

§ What do you worry about?

§ What angers you?

o Understand it is quite possible to “worship” or acknowledge God as God but the danger is God becomes one god among many. When you are in it you can’t see it.

Deliverance – Where Hope Resides. V. 8-9 God’s loving anger…

· V. 8 God’s anger is always righteous. He withdraws his blessing and allows those Baal worshipers to rule over them. You want to serve Baal? Fine, then serve those who formally acknowledge him as their national deity.

· V. 9a The next part of this progression is Pain. Pain rouses us from the sleepy bondage that our idols lead to. The chains feel weightless at first until they start to hurt those you love and eventually yourself.

· V. 9b God responds to the cries of his people…. He raises up Othniel, Caleb’s younger brother. He is a good man. Righteous and obedient. God uses him to bring Israel relief for forty years…. Until he died. Then the cycle starts again.

The Deliverance - So where is the hope?

· Judges 21:25 (ESV)25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

· John 8:31–36 (ESV)31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

o The choice is not simply do good as opposed to bad.

o The choice is who or what will I worship?

§ Repentance – Lord, I confess I value ______ more than you. I turn from that. Wash me.

§ Belief – trusting the Lord. Receiving his love…