“Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat’s-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth. When Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David, she said, ‘He’s ill.’ Sha’ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, ‘Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him.’ But when the messengers entered, there before them was the household idol in the bed, with the goat’s-hair quilt at its head.”-1 Samuel 19:13-16
Alrighty, so now we encounter something quite shocking!
In an attempt to fake David’s illness and buy more time for him to escape from Saul’s men, Michal places a life-sized idol on the family bed and covers it with a blanket.
So here’s the $64,000 question.
What in the hell is Israel’s next anointed king doing with an idol in his home?
The original Hebrew here is TERAPHIM or תרפים and it for sure means a “household idol”.
And let’s make no bones about it…
This was an abomination and violated the very heart of the Torah.
Some scholars will try to defend David and say it was Michal’s idol…
Kind of like some folks try to blame Eve for the fall that happened in the Garden when Adam was just as responsible.
I don’t buy such nonsensical excuses.
David was the man of the house, as Adam was the head of the garden, and both should’ve known better.
The bottom line is contrary to popular opinion that exists in some circles that David was perfect and never sinned, this is just one example of many showing that David did indeed sin and possessed grievous character flaws as we all do.
This also goes to show that during this time (as it was during the time of Judges), idolatry was still rampant in Israel.
The word TERAPHIM is often used in the Scriptures to refer to the many household idols of varying sizes that were sculptured to look like humans and were commonly worshipped.
That’s right homies.
I’m telling you right now this was a widespread practice in ancient Israel.
No wonder the Lord got so ticked off with His people…
But hey, the truth of the matter is we’re all guilty of this.
That’s the big takeaway here.
Despite our faith, and despite our declaration that we are believers in the one true God of Israel, we are still awash in idolatry.
How does this happen?
Simple, whenever we replace God with something else besides Him to gain peace of mind and security, we’ve committed idolatry.
It usually takes the form of worshipping money…
And doing a bunch of crazy new-age stuff like “affirmations”, “visualization”, or “raising your vibration” in the hopes that you can control your reality and get more money.
This is just one example out of many…
But I’d like to ask you…
What idolatrous practices do you feel you’ve engaged in and that you need to repent of?
I’m talking about practices you’ve used as a worship replacement for the true God of Israel.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
So share in the comments!
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