Counterfeit Gods - Ch 7

Intro

Group intro -

Scripture

Hear God speak, not self help or opinions

Scripture transforms us

It is the foundation for the other two

Prayer

Us speaking back to God

Acknowledging the truth of scripture

Community

The context that scripture and prayer are effective

Not just socializing - ministering the gospel to each other

Review

Studying Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

The topic is identifying and dealing with idols

It is good, but not required to read through the chapter and make notes and questions

Finished applications - looked at love, money, success, power, and cultural idols

These last two lessons deal with how to beat idols

Last lesson

Naaman had it all and it was due to his success

Yet he had leprosy - He tries to fix it with success

He was forced to listen to servants and do something anyone could - his worship of success was being assaulted

Jesus suffered, not succeeded, to save us

Intro to lesson

The Nazis pursued this in a way that was demonic and destructive

Is justice and equality good? What benefits does it have?

The French Revolution was founded on these principals, yet it was widely recognized as so unjust that it was called the Reign of Terror

We have seen how infected we all are with idols - last lesson in particular showed how they can be woven together in a complex way

What happened? Idolatry. When love of one’s people becomes an absolute, it turns into racism. When love of equality turns into a supreme thing, it can result in hatred and violence toward anyone who has led a privileged life. It is the settled tendency of human societies to turn good political causes into counterfeit gods.

How can power & politics become an idol?

Political leaders as messiahs

David Clarkson - If we think of our soul as a house, he said, “idols are set up in every room, in every faculty.” We prefer our own wisdom to God’s wisdom, our own desires to God’s will, and our own reputation to God’s honor.

We “make even their enemies their god … when they are more troubled, disquieted, and perplexed at apprehensions of danger to their liberty, estates, and lives from men” than they are concerned about God’s displeasure.

Political policies as saving doctrine

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 154). New York: Riverhead Books.

So what do we do? If idols run wide and deep, where do we start?

Political activism into a kind of religion

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 154). New York: Riverhead Books.

Is it steady work like eating an elephant (just take one bite at a time)? Is it some radical change of life? Is it something else?

Read

,

Story

Background

We looked at Jacob earlier in the study on love and sex

He was the younger of twins that Isaac had. Scripture speaks of them striving against each other since they were in the womb. Jacob was holding into Esau’s heel to try and wrestle out of the womb first.

Scripture speaks of them striving against each other since they were in the womb

This is a foreshadowing of the family dynamic. Jacob is envious and tries to out-maneuver Esau. It reaches a climax when he had stolen the blessing from his brother Esau by deceiving his father. Esau finds out and explodes in anger. He tries to hunt down Jacob.

Why would he ruin his relationships to the point of having to run away?

I believe it was because Jacob, even under false pretenses, longed to hear his father say, “I delight in you more than anyone else in the world!” Every human being, then, needs blessing. We all need assurance of our unique value from some outside source. The love and admiration of those you most love and admire is above all rewards. We are all looking for this deep admiration, looking for it from our parents, our spouse, and our peers.

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 158). New York: Riverhead Books.

Jacob runs away to his mother’s family. He stays with his uncle Laban and fall is love with his daughter Rachel. But Laban tricks him into marrying Leah. Jacob works another 7 years for Rachel.

This leads to a broken family

Jacob is searching for meaning in Rachel because of her beauty

Leah, unloved by her dad and her husband, tries to earn Jacob’s love through children.

Leah, unloved by her dad and her husband, tries to earn Jacob’s love through children.

The wives and children are envious of each other

The wives and children are envious of each other

It gets to the point that Leah buys Jacob for the night with her sons mandrakes and Rachel tells Jacob to give me children or I shall die

Things have not gotten any better

Laban and Jacob strive against each other by trying to manipulate the division of the flocks - Laban has changed my wages ten times

Laban and Jacob strive against each other by trying to manipulate the division of the flocks - Laban has changed my wages ten times

Laban and his sons start grumbling and becoming envious

So Jacob slides out when Laban is out of town. Doesnt want Laban repossessing his wages or daughters

Laban chases him down and things get heated again - God has to threaten Laban to keep him from taking away Jacob’s stuff

They eventually make a covenant to set up a marker as a boundary that they will not cross - like a brothers who draw a line down the middle of the room.

Rachel’s idols

A side plot in this escape story

Rachel stole her father’s household gods

This is one of the big conflicts that caused Laban to chase them down

When he searches for them, Rachel sits on them. When he comes in, Rachel tells her father that its her time of the month. Laban quickly leaves

Why?

It may have been a kind of spiritual insurance policy. Maybe, thought Rachel, the Lord would help her the next time she was in trouble, as he seemed to help Leah, but if not, she would call on the old gods.

Do you think of God as an insurance policy? What do you secretly keep as your backup plan to God?

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 156). New York: Riverhead Books.

God is not one of several options - he is the whole thing

Getting ready for the showdown

As he heads back, Jacob hears that Esau is coming.

And oh by the way, there are 400 men with him.

The reason he had left was because Esau was trying to kill him

Jacob (understandably) freaks out

He splits his camp in half, so if one is attached the other could run away

He sends very lavish gifts to meet Esau

Tomorrow would be the climax of Jacob’s life

He had wrestled with Esau for the inheritance of the family and love of the father

He had wrestled with Laban to get it in love and wealth

But it hadn’t worked. He was still needy and empty inside. The relationships within his own family were stormy. His idolatry of Rachel and her children had poisoned the lives of Leah and her children... And now Esau was on his way, the man who had kept him from his father’s love, from his inheritance, from his destiny, from happiness. He was coming with an army.

Needless to say, he cant sleep and takes some time alone to prepare

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 158). New York: Riverhead Books.

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 158). New York: Riverhead Books.

Wrestling Match

But a strange man comes and wrestles with him all night

Who is the stranger?

We are not told outright, but it is told

The man can merely touch Jacob and rip his hip out of socket - very powerful

The man tries to leave before daybreak

Anyone who sees God’s face dies

Jacob realizes this later - For I have seen God face to face and yet my life has been delivered

Told that he has striven with God and man and prevailed

Jacob’s response

Now if you realized that you had just pinned God, what would you do?

Expected response

And as the sun rises to show the man’s face, Jacob would die if he did let him go

Expected response

Rational self preservation or emotional fear

God had been holding back and could destroy you in a split second without any effort

J

And as the sun rises to show the man’s face, Jacob would die if he did let him go

He should have let the man go and run away

Jacob instead held onto him tighter (despite his dislocated hip) and said I will not let you go unless you bless me!

What do we make of this response?

What do we make of this response?

What an idiot I’ve been! Here is what I’ve been looking for all my life. The blessing of God! I looked for it in the approval of my father. I looked for it in the beauty of Rachel. But it was in you. Now I won’t let you go until you bless me. Nothing else matters. I don’t care if I die in the process, because if I don’t have God’s blessing, I’ve got nothing. Nothing else will do.

Stop and pause - This is the main point of the entire study - a total dependence, a clinging to God, something bordering on desperation

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 161). New York: Riverhead Books.

Gospel as dependence

Dependence

Justification/adoption/regeneration

Jacob acknowledges this to God -

Rachel’s insurance vs Jacob’s dependence

Satisfied hymn

Effects of Dependence

God’s Response

God changes his name from Jacob to Israel

Something God had done with Abraham as an illustration of His love to Abraham

Israel - He strives with God

And he gives Jacob the blessing that he had been looking for

Jacob walks away as the very picture of one who has believed the gospel, for he had been permanently lamed, yet permanently fulfilled. He had been humbled, yet emboldened—all at the same time.

Why Jacob?

Jacob was not a hero

He was devious, foolish

He was constantly in conflict - often damaging his family members

Jacob did not deserve blessing

Yet God came down from heaven, and met Jacob in weakness. He condescended (in a good way)

He condescended (in a good way)

Why, if God is holy and just, was he so gracious to Jacob? Why would God feign weakness to keep from killing him, then give him clues as to who he was, then bless him for no better reason than that he held on desperately?

Bigger question - How could God be gracious?

As John preached in Hebrews, Jesus became a man

He again came as a man and in weakness was pinned to the cross in darkness.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.… He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

This promise of the spirit is later described in Galatians as the work of the Spirit in our hearts, crying out Abba Father

We do not know why God is gracious to us - we are only told it is for God’s glory, but we know that he is, and we trust in Him

So, what does this have to do with idols?

Hearing God’s blessing is the only way to defeat idols

Are the words “You are my beloved child, in whom I delight” an endless source of joy and strength? Have you sensed, through the Holy Spirit, God speaking them to you? That blessing … is what Jacob received, and it is the only remedy against idolatry. Only that blessing makes idols unnecessary

Intro quote

Our hearts are a vacuum pulling in something to give us that blessing. If it is not God, then it will be a created thing, an idol.

So removing idols is just doing that in reverse, seeking God so that we have no need to search out for an idol to satisfy us

Keep in mind that we may be made lame in the process

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 161). New York: Riverhead Books.

Justification

Why Jacob?

Jacob was not a hero

He was devious, foolish

He was constantly in conflict - often damaging his family members

Jacob did not deserve blessing

Why, if God is holy and just, was he so gracious to Jacob? Why would God feign weakness to keep from killing him, then give him clues as to who he was, then bless him for no better reason than that he held on desperately?

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 162). New York: Riverhead Books.

He again came as a man and in weakness was pinned to the cross in darkness

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.… He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

This promise of the spirit is later described in Galatians as the work of the Spirit in our hearts, crying out Abba Father

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (p. 163). New York: Riverhead Books.

God as an insurance

Hearing God’s blessing is the only way to defeat idols

Are the words “You are my beloved child, in whom I delight” an endless source of joy and strength? Have you sensed, through the Holy Spirit, God speaking them to you? That blessing … is what Jacob received, and it is the only remedy against idolatry. Only that blessing makes idols unnecessary

Satisfied Hymn

Intro quote

Keller, T. (2011). Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (pp. 163–164). New York: Riverhead Books.

Satisfied Hymn

Justification/regeneration/adoption

Rachel’s insurance vs Jacob’s dependence

God’s condescension & accommodation

God’s condescension & accommodation