I've been really wanting to share all of what the Lord showed me this morning and taught me from 2 Samuel 12. It's really amazing!
The year before this chapter begins, David
had sinned against the Lord. He's seen Bathsheba naked and did not take
his thoughts or imagination captive. Instead he dwelled on the
thoughts of lust and let his imagination run wild with them. Next, he
used his position of authority to get Bathsheba into his house and have
sex with her. When she became pregnant and his scheme began to fall
apart, he then used his authority (which the Lord had given him) to have
her husband killed. During all this time he was also sinning by not
taking his sinful thoughts captive and replacing them with God's truth.
Plus he was continually trying to hide his sin instead of confessing it
and repenting because he didn't want to stop. He now had a false god
and idol. He had placed fulfilling his lust above God, showing that he
loved himself, more then he loved God.
David must have been happy during that past
year though right? I mean after all he got to play with Bathsheba
during that time and that's what he'd wanted, right? Wrong! Psalm 32 and 51 tell us a little of how he felt during that year: Psalm 32:3–4
—When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day
long. *For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was
sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah * He
was being disciplined by the Lord during that year as the Lord wanted
to bring him to repentance and that discipline began as soon as he
refused to take that first thought captive! He eventually became sick
and weak, unable to do the things he normally did due to his illness.
He was sick at heart as well as his body for he knew he was living in
sin. Yet, he still wouldn't give it up or confess it, and he still
continued to sin, to hide it and then to sin more by having her husband
killed. He lost his joy, he was no longer a good witness for the Lord,
and his power. The Lord wasn't going to answer his prayers when he was
doing this, that's for sure! He probably became short with people,
snapping at the least little thing, as well as grumpy until he became
downright depressed.
Strange isn't it. He got what he wanted, even though he knew it was a
sin, and yet instead of being happy, he winds up depressed! We see that
the Lord gave David more then enough time to confess and repent of his
sin on his own...over a year, but still he refused, so the Lord sent the
prophet Nathan to him with a message.
Nathan pretended he was telling David about a case that needed to be
judged, though he never said that. He just let David think so, and told
him about a rich man who had badly used a poor man by taking the poor
man's one and only ewe. David got very angry when he heard what the man
had done and said that the man should be put to death for it, and
should have to pay back what he'd taken 4 times over. Although angry, he
was still being fair because that's what God's law calls for in such a
situation. Isn't it funny how easy it is to see other people's sins and
judge them, but how hard it is to see our own at times?
It was then that Nathan revealed to David that he was the man he had
been talking about. Nathan then told him what God said about it: that
He'd given David all he had, made him King, given him power and
authority and all the women and servants he had, made him victorious
over all his enemies, etc. and still David took another man's only wife
and then had him killed. He then told David what his sin would cost
him. I'm sure David was totally stunned, but to his credit, he finally
stopped hiding, didn't try to make any excuses, and immediately
confessed, agreeing that he had indeed sinned against the Lord.
At that point, Nathan assured David that the Lord would allow him to
live even though the death sentence was what the law called for for what
he'd done. However, there were severe consequences for his sin which
would still come to pass. Those consequences, all of which the Lord had
told him, began as soon as Nathan left that day. One of my commentaries
explains this better then I can so I'll simply quote what it says:
God was ready to forgive David’s sins, but He could not prevent those sins from “bringing forth death” (James 1:15). God’s grace forgives, but God’s government must allow sinners to reap what they sow. Psalm 99:8: "you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds." “He shall restore fourfold!”
David had declared punishment concerning the man in Nathan’s story, so
God accepted his sentence. The sword never did depart from David’s
household: the baby died; Absalomkilled Amnon, who had ruined Tamar (both men are David's sons and Tamar is his daughter); then Joab killed Absalom (2 Sam 18:9–17); and Adonijah (David's son) was slain by Benaiah (1 Kings 2:24–25). Fourfold! Add to these trials the awful ruin of Tamar, the shameful treatment of David’s wives by his son Absalom (2 Sam 12:11; 2 Sam 16:20–23),
plus the rebellion of Absalom, and you can see that David paid dearly
for a few moments of lustful pleasure. He sowed lust and reaped the
same; he sowed murder and reaped murders, for “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7). Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines
We often console ourselves thinking, "Well, David's sins were awful so
that's probably why there were such terrible consequences". The problem
with that kind of thinking is that God considers all sin the same. It
doesn't matter if it's telling a little white lie, not studying His
Word, cheating, or killing someone. The consequences of all sin is
death. I'm not saying that if we tell a little white lie that someone
in our family is going to die-not at all! God is always just. What I'm
saying though is that we tend to make our own sins seem very little,
especially in comparison to what David did. Yet David's first sin was
that he simply didn't take his thoughts captive and replace them with
God's Truth. How often do we do that??? And we usually think we get
away with it too, don't we? But we never do. Never. Not because God
is mean - far from it! But because God is righteous and just and fair
and mostly because He loves us and wants what is best for us. It's
always easy for us to say the way we've been treated isn't fair, but if
someone were to do the same thing to us, we certainly wouldn't want them
to get off the hook.
The consequences of David's sins lasted the for the rest of his life and
the lives of his children. Again, not because God's mean, but simply
because that's what sin does. It's done that since the very first sin.
Look at how long the consequences of Adam's sin has lasted... it's
still going on! I have looked back on my own life and can honestly say
that I can see how my own sins, even "little sins" have affected my
children and are still affecting them. It's another aspect of sin that
we often choose to ignore and not think about. Especially if the sin is
something we want to do like David did. But our sins affect our
children and other people as well. It is not just us that is affected
by them. Everyone pays when someone sins. That's why God hates sin so
much. He hates to see us hurt. He loves us. Think how we as parents
feel when we know someone or something is hurting our child - we'll do
anything to stop it! We hate it! Well, that's a small taste of how God
feels toward all sin because He knows far better then we do, just how
horribly sin hurts us, His children whom He loves.
He knows we are enslaved to and by sin and because He loves us and hates
how it hurts us, He was even willing to come and die so we could
finally be free from it. And so we are, just as David was freed when
God forgave his sins. Yet the consequences of those sin continued just
as ours do. God will not stop the law of gravity because someone was
stupid enough to think they could fly off their roof. Nor will he stop
the consequences of our sins because if He did, there would be nothing
to stop us from continuing to sin. God's grace forgives us, but His
government must allow us to reap what we have sown, even though it hurts
Him as much as us.
The Lord shows us something else that's very important in this story
that we often overlook. Often when we sin, especially if we think it's a
"terrible sin" like I'm sure David did, we then decide that He can no
longer use us, that we're no good to Him anymore. We'll spend hours,
days, months, sometimes years, thinking about what a horrible thing we
did and how bad we were and "now God can't use us". But that too is a
lie that needs to be taken captive and replaced with the truth God shows
us here. Because after David confessed and repented, God did indeed
use him and bless him. He even sent Nathan back to him to assure him
that he was being blessed.
After the child that had been conceived in sin had died, God caused
Bathsheba to become pregnant again, with another son. This time she
gave birth to a boy they named Solomon. The Lord sent Nathan to tell
David that He loved this child and of course David knew that the child
had been given him by the Lord as all children are. Next the Lord gave
David yet another victory over his enemies and another crown.
We see that as soon as David had confessed and repented of his sin,
although there would be consequences from the sin, his relationship with
the Lord was completely restored. This is shown in more detail in
psalms 32
and 51. It's very true of all of us as well. When we're forgiven, God
promises to never bring our sin up to us or anyone else, not even
Himself, ever again, and to never use it against us. What an awesome
God we serve! When we're forgiven, God restores us to our previous
place of service and our relationship with Him is repaired. We once
again have the joy of our salvation. So we must never allow Satan to
trick us into thinking that we've gone too far or that we can't be used
by the Lord anymore etc. Where sin abounds, grace abounds more!
Of course there's much much more in this chapter then what I've shown here, but this will have to do for now. Please read 2 Samuel 12
and then read psalm 32 and psalm 51. When reading the psalms see if
you can see what David lost and how he felt during his year of sin and
what he gained and how he felt when he finally confessed and repented of
his sin. The reason being that his experience is one we all share when
we sin, regardless of what our sin is. If there's any portion of the
psalms or of 2 Samuel 12 that you'd like to discuss, I'll be happy to do so. I hope you also see how this all relates to our false gods and idols as well.
There are several points in this discussion about idols and false gods that are important to understand
and reflect on. The first being just how much we personally, really
believe in God and how much we believe He can, will and does interact
with us and our lives.
Like I said in the beginning, if we really believe in God and that He
does and will interact in our lives, then our words and actions will
show that.
Secondly, we need to know that God commands us to be in control of our
thoughts and emotions all the time. That's one reason He tells us to
take our thoughts captive and replace those that are lies with His
Truth. There's so much written in His Word about how we're to control
our thoughts and feelings, that it's rare to find a single page that
doesn't say something about it in one way or another. When Adam sinned,
his mind was corrupted by that sin and that was passed on to his
children, and ultimately to us. That's why no unbeliever can understand
God or His word unless He's being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Once
we're saved, that doesn't mean that our minds are suddenly
supernaturally healed of that corruption though. Instead, God gives us
His Holy Spirit to dwell within us and teach us what His Word says. The
"trick" is that we have to ask Him to teach us and listen to Him when
He does. This is why even someone who is saved and has the Holy Spirit
within them, can read the Bible and still not understand it. Without
God's teaching and guiding, we will simply apply man's corrupted
philosophy to God's Word.
However, with the Lord's guidance and teaching, and if we are applying
His Word to our lives - living it, doing what it says, and not just
reading it, the longer we're in His Word, the more and more our minds
will be transformed to be more like His. They'll still have the
corruption of sin, but because we've filled our minds with His Word and
reflect on His Word so much, that will in a sense overcome the
corruption to a large degree. At least to the point where we're able to
have stored so much of the Lord's Word in our minds and hearts that our
thoughts, feelings and our life itself, reflect Him more then the
corruption of sin. Still, even then we can never rely on our own
knowledge, but instead must continuously rely on His Word. Our minds
won't be without corruption though until that great day when we finally
receive the completion of our salvation and receive our new bodies, with
our new minds and hearts that don't have the taint of sin.
As I've heard so often said, and it's true, the battle is for our hearts & minds. God wants us to love Him with all
our hearts and minds and strength. So that's why Satan does his best
to keep our minds as corrupted as possible so we can't escape him.
Why do you think that Satan has set forth the worldview that we have to
"love ourselves"? This isn't anything new. It was one of the big
things that brought down the Roman Empire eventually. We're following
the very same path they went down, and they followed Satan's idea that
we should make ourselves "number one" and "love ourselves" first and
foremost. This is what Satan's worldview has taught from the time Satan
fell from his heavenly position. This is so ingrained in us all now,
along with the self esteem garbage the worlds mixed in with it, that
most people never even question whether or not it's scriptural. They're
so used to it that it's like the law of gravity to them - it just "is".
And I include most Christians in this too.
This is how Satan set us up to have ourselves as a false god, and for
some people, to have our community or nation as a false god as well.
One red flag to look for to see if you've made yourself a false god, is
if there's a lot of what I call the self sins going on in your life. One
of the big self sins is "pride" and it's also one of the few that don't
have the word "self" attached to it. Often
people think that we must be proud of ourselves to make ourselves into a
false god or idol, but while that certainly happens, it's not always
true. A person who's
depressed is often actually taking pride in their self pity in a
perverted sort of way, although they don't usually realize it.
They're often so consumed by themselves that they can't see the forest
for all the trees. It often takes someone else to get them to step back
from themselves long enough so they can actually see what they're doing.
In a strange way though, that's very much like what Satan did when he
fell. He was totally and completely consumed with himself -though not
due to depression. He was more like the joke we've seen where the
person is so taken by themselves that you see them primping as they
stare into a mirror, admiring themselves.
Thirdly, we need to also recognize that while
we most likely do make ourselves into a false god at times, we have
also set up other false gods to run to as needed. We need to take a look
at those thoughts and emotions that we take captive and see if any of
them lead to a false god or two. If we suspect they do, then we need to
hold them up to our view of God and see how they stand up to it. Is
our view, our belief in God stronger then our false god? Or is our
belief in the real God so low that we have no trouble hanging on to our
false gods? If so, then we obviously need to work on making God more
real to ourselves. (actually, that's not a bad idea even if we don't
find any false gods) We do that through continued daily study of His
Word with Him and just plain talking to Him about it and asking Him to
help us make Him more real to ourselves. The more we do that, and the
longer we've done it, the more our faith and trust in Him will grow.
The more real He will be to us, and our lives will show that.
Lastly we have to remove the false gods from our lives and give that space back to the real God.
Other posts about this subject:
I was asked to give examples of things we might be worshiping today without knowing it. Let me first share something that will help
you identify things in your own life that either were false gods in the
past or are false gods to you now. Whenever something, or someone
becomes very important to you, there's a danger of it being or becoming a
false god. Normally when something or someone is real important to us,
we attach very strong feelings to it. Those strong feelings then can
be a "warning sign" for us to look and see what is causing the feeling.
We've already learned to take our thoughts captive, so this will simply
be one more step to take whenever we are feeling a strong negative
emotion like anger or bitterness, or fear, etc. When we feel those
things, the first thing we need to do still is to take it captive and
replace it with God's Truth. Once we've done that though, we should
then ask ourselves some questions to determine if that anger or fear or
whatever we felt is pointing to a false god. Please know that just
because we get really angry, fearful, jealous, sad, or something does
NOT mean that there is definitely a false god involved, but it is
possible. What is does mean for sure is that if nothing else we need to
talk to the Lord about it and find our what is causing it so we can
overcome it with His help.
Any thing or person that is a false god in
our lives is going to cause us to have strong emotions about it, so
that's why they can be used as warning signs. What are some questions
you could ask yourself to find out if there is a false god behind those
feelings? I ask myself things like: “Why do
I feel threatened?” “What am I afraid I am going to lose?” “What goal,
desire, or belief is being blocked or threatened?” “What’s so
important that it's causing me to explode or lose control?” "Where is this coming from?" "What's adding fuel to this emotion?" If we want to discover our false gods, it's important to trace overwhelming feelings and reactions back to their source. Most
important, we need to ask the Lord to help us look behind these
feelings to discover if we may have turned something or someone into a
false god - into the "ultimate thing of importance" in our lives.
As for examples, the easiest way for me to do
that is to share what the Lord has shown me in my own life. I have to
admit though, this one really shocked me! Many here know that I've had
some difficulties with my adult children over the years. Something
happened recently that caused me to feel deeply hurt and disappointed
with some of them again. (notice the strong emotions I felt) I did take
the thoughts and emotions captive and began to dwell on God's truth
instead of the incident in order to replace those thoughts and feelings
with Him and His Truth. Once I was sure that I was under control, I then
began talking to the Lord about it.
That was when He pointed out to me that my children had become a false
god in my life. To say I was shocked would be an understatement! I
wanted to deny it; I didn't want to believe it, but I knew the Lord was
right. My children and my relationship with them as a whole, had indeed
become a false god. They were the thing in my life that was "most
important". They had taken God's place in my heart. I was looking to
them for love, acceptance and approval, instead of looking to God for
those things. In fact, I wanted those things from them, more then I
wanted them from God.
I would sometimes allow thoughts and feelings about my children, or
about something they'd done or not done, to determine how I acted or
felt instead of being obedient to God.
The Lord showed me all that and more and of
course I repented of it. Since then, I've felt a great deal of peace
about that whole situation that had been missing for a long time.
Since then, I've been studying about it and have discovered that our
loved ones can often become our false gods if we're not careful.
Other people that often become a false god are those people that we think do not love us, but who we want to have love us. In fact, I'd say that was one of the biggest dangers of all.
Some other things that can become false gods are our pets or animals that we love deeply. It all boils down to a desire to be loved, accepted and appreciated by someone/something. The
Lord tells us that He is the one who loves us though and we're to lay
our expectations of other people at His cross because other people are
always going to let us down. If we leave our expectations at His cross
and go to Him for our love and acceptance and approval, then, God can
heal the broken places inside us so that eventually we can have a
healthy loving relationship with other people too.
Other false Gods might be the false god of
materialism, or money, or success, security, false gods of image,
outward beauty, youth, etc. Or as John pointed out things like cars or
motorcycles or other inanimate objects can even be our false gods if we
make them that important in our lives.
Whenever we see a quality about ourselves, such as beauty or youth, etc.
as something that we must have or maintain or as something we strongly
desire, it may be a false god. It may be that we think that if we have
that quality that it means we will be loved and accepted and approved by
either: the world, men, the one we want to love us, or by our boss, or
the public, etc. We have made that quality about ourselves into the
thing that makes us worthwhile, but that's a lie. (which is why it's a
false god) God is the one who makes us worthwhile. He is the one who
loves us and accepts us, and we do not need that quality in order for
Him to love and accept us.
One of the things I discovered a long time
ago was my false god was my job. I thought I was the best at my job and
did it well. It wasn't until I got hurt and couldn't work anymore that I
discovered it had become an idol, a false god, to me. I defined myself
by my job. Really, I defined myself by two things: my job and my
children -being a mother. So in reality, my children were a false god
even back then.
As before, the Lord showed me that what I did, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I had did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I could contribute did not make me worthwhile and loved.
Whether I was good looking, had money, worked, or anything else, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
God made me worthwhile and He loved me and it wasn't due to any of those things.
So really anything that we think causes us to be worthwhile or loved, can be a false god in our lives. I have a feeling that we all have a bunch of them that we didn't even
realize were there. But our Lord will help us discover them and get rid
of them so we can have the peace and joy He wants us to have now.
Positive feelings could also indicate indicate a false god or idol. I'm trying to think of times in my life and the things that I
now know were false gods in order to give an example.....
For instance, when I was seeking love and acceptance from men instead of
God - always looking to my husband instead of God, my feelings were
mixed, but at times - when my husband happened to be giving me the love I
thought I wanted, I'd be very happy. It was only when he wasn't doing
that, that I'd be unhappy.
Another false God I had was first my school
work and then later, when I was older, my job. I worked hard and made
mostly A's in school, and when I'd make an A, I'd be happy, and that was
most of the time. But when I'd get even one question wrong, even
though I'd still get an "A", because it wasn't perfect, I'd be very
unhappy. I know that sounds ridiculous to most people, but that's how I
was. I strove for perfection because deep inside I thought I had to be
perfect to be loved and accepted by God. My school work, and then
later my job, became false gods because I was looking to them to prove
my love and acceptance, or to prove that I was lovable and acceptable,
however you want to look at it. I
remember how I would get very stressed out when it was time for our
boss to do our job reviews. Again, I was striving for perfection and
worried that I wouldn't measure up. All my reviews were very good, but
the problem was, the last question on each review was "What can your
employee do to improve?" To me, that was the same thing as saying that I
wasn't good enough. My mind knew better, but my heart didn't. So I
always got very upset when it would come to that last answer no matter
how gently my boss tried to word his answer. It
wasn't until I knew the Lord and gave up my false gods and accepted His
love and acceptance, that those things no longer bothered me. Because
then I finally understood that by myself, I could do nothing good - and
that was ok because everyone is that way; but that the Lord loved and
accepted me anyway, even at my very worst, and because He did, His love
made me worthwhile. I no longer
needed to strive to make Him love me, or strive to prove I was lovable.
Instead, I could just love Him back and rejoice in His love for me.
One way to tell is to ask yourself who is being glorified by your thoughts and feelings. Is it you? Is it another person, place or thing? Or, is it God
I suspect that everything
in this life, and every person we know or wished we knew, as well as we
ourselves, could be a false god and idol for us. I guess I need
to just state that instead of giving examples like I did. No, not
really...I think the examples help some too because hopefully they show
how perfectly ordinary things can be a false god. Because a false god is simply something or someone that we think is super important to us in some way, shape or form. In fact, here's another one that really surprised me because it's not something anyone would "want" to have...
I also discovered that the pain I'm in can be
a false god or idol to me at times. For example, that time I wrote
about in the pain forum, when I trusted in the pain more then I trusted
God, remember? At that moment, it became an idol; a false god for me. I
guess I should explain that in case anyone who's not a pain forum
member reads this:
I'd been in a great deal of pain, especially at night and one
evening got very upset and didn't want to go to bed because I "knew"
what would happen when I did -the pain would get worse. So I wound up
staying up all night.
The Lord pointed
out to me that the reason I had the problem and got so upset that
night, was because I'd turned away from Him and allowed myself to dwell
on the possibility or likelihood of the pain instead. I'd
basically put my faith in the pain happening and me not being able to
handle it instead of taking the thoughts and fear captive and replacing
them with God's Word which says that His strength is made perfect in
our weakness and that He is our strength and is always, always with me
and loves me and will sustain me and give me peace. So, really, I
traded my peace for fear and self pity.
The Lord pointed that out to me the next day and I was quite ashamed of
myself then, especially when I realized that I'd literally put the pain
ahead of Him. See by focusing on the pain, it promised me that I
wouldn't get hurt if I just stayed up, but it lied, as false gods always
do. If I had taken those strong emotions of fear, anger, and self pity
as a warning sign, I would have realized something wasn't as it seemed.
But during that time I was determined to be disobedient to the Lord.
I knew I should take the thoughts and feelings captive, but I refused
to. I even lied to myself and told myself that they were there to
"warn" me - meaning that they were warning me not to go to bed. Well I
was half right. They were warning me, but it wasn't about that. They
were giving me the same warning they always do and telling me to take my
thoughts captive because they were lies. But I chose to believe the
lies and to dwell on them instead of on God and His strength and His
help.
So you see, even something as unpleasant and disagreeable as severe pain can become a false god and idol if we allow it to.
Another big one that most of us have had at one time or another is our
past. We often give our past much power over us instead of taking those
thoughts captive like we're told to and replacing them with God's Truth
about us. .
Still another one that we've all probably had at
one time or another is ourselves. Yes, we even make ourselves into a
false god at times, like in the example I gave Eva.
It just goes to show that anything can be a false god.
More posts about idols:
Part 2 of: What are your false gods, your idols?
The times we're most likely to turn to an idol
Psalm 106:13–14
—But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his
counsel. *In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland
they put God to the test. *
To me, the above two verses sum up what we read
over and over again in the Old Testament regarding how the behavior of
the Jew's toward God. Over and over again He would rescue them and set
them up to have a great life, bu as soon as a little problem came up,
they'd totally forget about Him and instead turn to the false God's for
help and comfort. Or, sometimes it was because of the abundant life He
gave them. They'd be enjoying it, and after awhile, would forget why
they had such a good life, and because of greed would decide they wanted
yet more or something different, and again would turn to their false
gods in order to get it.
I used to read those stories and wonder how in the world anyone could do
the things they did...how anyone could forget the wonderful things God
had done for them and try to get something from a false god instead. It
wasn't until I realized that the stories weren't just the history of
the Jew's but were also a history of my own life that I began to
understand how they could do such a thing. I began to understand
because I realized that I'd done exactly the same things they had! My
false gods had different names then theirs did, but I went running to
them for the same reasons.
These verses give us a big clue as to "why" we run to our false gods and about the state of our hearts when we're most tempted to run to idols.
Notice that it often happens in the desert, wasteland, or wilderness.
It's generally not when life is going smoothly, but when we're
struggling to get through something and have been struggling for awhile.
We're not talking about a day trip into the desert as a tourist, but
rather an unwanted detour that's happened and we feel unable to find our
way back out. These words describe a large desolate, uninhabited place
with little or nothing available for sustenance. They're usually
described as lonely places with little or no water. It's when we're in a place like this that we'll be "craving" relief.
It's when we're feeling lonely, or alone. We don't have to really be
alone to feel that way. We may be surrounded by friends and family and
yet still feel alone. It can be because we feel no one understands us
for whatever reason. Ironically, it could be because no one else in our
circle knows the Lord, and so we feel "alone". There are probably as
many reasons for feeling alone as there are people, but regardless of
the reason, it's a time when we feel cut off from others.
We've often hear Christians talk about "the desert experience" meaning
that they're going through a time when the Lord seems distant or not
there at all, even though they know He really is. Because of that,
again, they feel lonely, as though they've been abandoned by God. It
feels like He doesn't hear our prayers much less answer them when this
happens, and this can really shake us up, especially if we aren't
familiar with His Word which tells us that He really is there, does hear
our prayers, He does love us and that He always will.
One of the reasons Christian's call that kind of experience a desert
experience is because there's a lack of water and food in the desert,
and those are synonyms for God's Word. So being in a dry place, a
desert, would also be a time when we feel that we're not being fed from
His Word. Of course we can and often do put ourselves in a desert and
simply refuse to eat what's offered.
It's when we feel that we're unable to survive on our own or when our
survival is threatened. By that I don't mean that our lives are
necessarily threatened, though that too would be a reason, but when we
think our way of life is threatened. When something we hold dear is
being threatened. It could be the loss or possible loss of our home, or
our job, or an important relationship. (like a spouse,
boyfriend/girlfriend, child, parent, etc) It could be having to decide
between buying medication or food or between those and paying the bills.
It could be the loss or threatened loss of a dream, such as a desire
to send our children to college or to buy a better house, or move to a
better neighborhood. It could be chronic sickness or pain that causes us
to feel this way.
Looking at all of that, it's pretty easy to see that the desert is a
place where we have very strong feelings of need and for relief. These
are the times when we're most likely to turn to our idols for that
relief, just as the Jew's did. We may turn to our own wisdom and
intellect, to try and figure out how to solve the situation and get what
we want, instead of praying and seeking the Lord about it. This was
one of Hezekiah's mistakes when he got sick and became terminally ill.
Instead of turning to the Lord, he immediately turned to doctors. Now
the Lord doesn't have a problem with us going to doctors and makes that
clear in His Word. But He does have a problem with us putting all our
trust in them instead of in Him. Especially in our country today, most
of us rarely even consider going to the Lord about it when we don't feel
well. We just call the doctor, get our prescription, take it and get
better. (just like Hezekiah tried to do) Or we may do the opposite and
simply try and tough it out, perhaps using home or over the counter
remedies, hoping we'll eventually get better on our own. I know that's
what I used to do. Like I said, God doesn't mind us going to doctors or
taking medicine, but He wants us to recognize that He's in control and
that He's the one we should turn to first and continuously all through
the experience.
Turning to the idol of self is something we do all to frequently. We
also frequently make others into idols. Likely candidates are those
people who are most important to us. Another person becomes an idol, a
false god, when they become the ultimate thing in our lives. For example
when a woman feels as though her life would be over if her boyfriend
left her, or if she didn't get a boyfriend (even an idea or ideal can
become an idol!) No one but God should hold that kind of power over us.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be hurt or feel badly over a loss like
that, but to feel that strongly about it shows that we've given God's
place to a human being. We need to remember that God isn't just "A God"
or even "the God", He's "my God" to each of us and wants to be first in
our lives.
When our pain, hurt, or desire is so strong it will always cause us to
run somewhere - either to God or to our idol. Our idol could be illegal
drugs, prescribed drugs, alcohol, work, overeating, TV, a particular
person like a boyfriend/girlfriend, a spouse, our children, or even a
pet. These days it could even be a counselor or doctor, or self help
books, or even just any books if reading is our refuge. An idol is
anything we run to and or cling to that we think will dull or take away
our pain, hurt, confusion, anxiety or fear. It's whatever we run to to
make us feel better, even if it's only for a an hour or two. It's where
we go when we're feeling desperate. (although we certainly don't have
to physically "go" anywhere to find many of our idols)
It was when I finally understood this that I really realized why these
things were idols and false gods. The Lord wants to be our one and only
help; our only refuge in the storm; the only one we go to when we're
desperate. The first one we think of. Again Hezekiah comes to mind,
this time because he did what was right. When Israel was under siege and
about to fall, the commander of the enemy army sent him a letter
telling him to surrender or else. Hezekiah immediately took the letter
to the temple, laid it before the Lord and cried "Help!" And of course
the Lord came through for them. Jesus wants us to come to Him when
we're weary and burdened, because He knows that He's the only one who
can really help us. He desperately wants to gather us under His wings
like a hen does her chicks, and keep us safe, but we keep running off to
our false gods instead. Jesus is the one who truly loves us and has
nothing but good intentions toward us. He calls us His bride, which is
why when we go running off to our false gods, it's spiritual adultery.
Thankfully He shows us how to identify our false gods and when we're
most likely to run to them, so with His help, we can stop and remember
to run to Him instead.
I wrote a long time ago in I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
about how I discovered to my shock that I was an idolator. When you discover something like that, the obvious first thing you want to do is stop doing it! The problem is that with idolatry, we generally have quite a few idols in our hearts that we've been unaware of and we have to discover what they are before we can get rid of them. With the Lord's help, I've learned of one way to discover what my idols are, and it's actually pretty easy to do. It makes sense too when we realize that anything we've made into an idol is going to be something we feel strongly about.
When we feel strongly about something, that means we're also going to have some real strong emotions concerning it when we feel it's threatened. The main emotions we tend to feel when an idol is threatened are anger, fear, and/or jealousy. I learned that if I pay attention to what makes me really angry, or hurt, I'll come to quickly know what my idols are.
Our emotions can tell us what we hold the most dear, what's the most important to us. If someone spills something that stains on a piece of carpet that we think of as trash anyway, we're not going to get upset about it, or at least not real upset. But if someone stains something we value highly, then we're going to get really upset!
I'm not suggesting that every time we get angry it means we've got an idol lurking behind it. The way we can tell the difference is by how often we get angry about something. If we consistently get angry or fearful or feel jealous about something, we need to examine what's behind it to find out what our false god is. If we're generally angered or hurt by things other people say and/or do to us, if we examine what made us angry about what each person said or did, we'll most likely find a pattern, and that pattern will lead us to our false god.
We all have the false god of self that we have to deal with. The major symptom for that god is selfishness which can show up in many different ways. When we're saved, our part is supposed to be to die to ourselves and live for Christ, so it's natural that our "self" is going to fight that to the bitter end. But if we're not aware of it and keep alert, it's going to take back control or try to. So the idol of self is one I think we all have to fight fairly constantly.
The other false gods may not be so easy to spot. There's false gods of money, success, image, beauty, materialism, etc. Anything can be made into a false god, and probably has been by someone.
When we feel angry or fearful about something consistently, we need to ask ourselves why we're feeling threatened; what are we afraid we're going to lose; what goal is being blocked, or what's so important that it's causing us to lose control, and what are we getting from this area that we should be getting from God? What need is it filling for us that we should be having filled by God?
Strong emotions are a good reason to look and see just what those emotions are pointing us to. Fear, anger, hurt feelings, and jealousy are especially good signs that will often point us to who or what we're putting our hope in. I've also realized that the things that have hurt us in the past, how and why were were hurt and what we think we need to stop the pain and prevent it from happening again, will also help point us toward our false gods.
A false god or idol is anything that we have put our hope in, or that we're looking to for love, acceptance, contentment and/or happiness. Our strong emotions can tell us that something's wrong, that we've misplaced our affections, because God is supposed to be first in our lives. He demands to be first...above our parents, children, spouse, siblings or anyone or anything else.
I'd like to end this by simply including a few of my notes about idols as they've helped me to find many of mine.
We’ve defined idols as anything that is inflated to take the position of God in our lives, anyone or anything that becomes an ultimate thing. We’ve discovered that some of their roots trace back to experiences of being unloved, rejected, abused—or the flipside, of having it all while ironically having an insatiable desire for more. We’ve identified a few of their more prominent characteristics, which revolve around subtle deceit, blatant lies, and flashy seduction. No other gods
“Belief in Yahweh doesn’t come with your mind, Hezekiah. It comes with your heart. When you only believe in things you can see with your eyes and touch with your hands, it is idolatry.” Trusting in Molech, as Ahaz did, or trusting in your own wisdom and intellect—there’s no difference in God’s eyes. It’s all idolatry.” Gods and kings: A novel.
Idolatry is thinking anything about God that isn’t true or attempting to transform Him into something He isn’t. God: Coming face to face with His Majesty
The essence of idolatry, is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Be Determined.
The love of pleasures and possessions is but an insidious form of idolatry, demonic in its origin and destructive in its outcome. To make possessions and pleasures the most important things in life is idolatry. The Bible exposition
Anything becomes an idol when it keeps us away from God. Morning and evening
According to Paul in Romans 6:16, we all have a yoke and we all have a burden—there is no getting around this, as much as we might like to think we can skip through life weightless and independent. Every day, every minute, we will serve something. The trickier part is who or what will that be? The idols of our hearts—the people I depend on for approval, Ashley’s dismal boyfriend, five more social drinks—are not gentle, and they are far from humble. They are cruel with our hearts, promising what can’t suffice yet grooming us as repeat customers. Their yoke is weighty and binding. Christ’s is easy and light. No other gods:
To keep yourself from idols is to live with a whole heart of faith in Jesus. John’s last line properly leaves us with that most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart. Has something or someone besides Christ taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear & delight? It's a question bearing on the immediate motivation for one’s behavior, thoughts, & feelings. In the Bible’s conceptualization, the motivation question is the lordship question. Who or what rules my behavior, the Lord or a substitute?
The 1st Great Commandment, to love God heart, soul, mind, & might, also demonstrates the essential inwardness of the law regarding idolatry. The language of love, trust, fear, hope, seeking, serving—terms describing a relationship to the true God—is continually utilized in the Bible to describe our false loves, trusts, fears, hopes, pursuits, false masters. If idolatry is the characteristic & summary OT word for our drift from God, then desires is the characteristic & summary NT word for the same drift. See Gal 5:16ff; Eph 2:3 & Eph 4:22; 1 Pet 2:11 & 1 Pet 4:2; 1 John 2:16; James 1:14f Both are shorthand for the problem of human beings.
The 10th commandment's also a command that internalizes the problem of sin, making sin psychodynamic. It lays bare the grasping & demanding nature of the human heart, as Paul powerfully describes it in Rom 7. Interestingly & unsurprisingly the NT merges the concept of idolatry & the concept of inordinate, life-ruling desires. Idolatry becomes a problem of the heart, a metaphor for human lust, craving, yearning, & greedy demand. 2nd, the Bible treats idolatry as a central feature of the social context, “the world,” which shapes & molds us.
Idols of the Heart
1 John 5:21 —Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. *
