“We’re lost!
Who will rescue us from the
power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that completely
overthrew the Egyptians in the desert.”
-1 Samuel 4:8
Alrighty, let’s answer the question I posed at the end of my last post.
Why in the world did the Philistines refer to Israel’s God in the plural form as “gods”?
They had been in contact with Israel for the longest time…
So it should have been common knowledge that Israel was a monotheistic nation who only acknowledged ONE God.
What gives here?
Well the answer is as sad as it is tragic.
The reason why the Philistines viewed Israel as no different than them is because the way Israel behaved was no different than them.
In other words, their worship of YAHWEH was…
So dysfunctional…
And so casual…
It had ZERO IMPACT on their neighbors.
Israel was created to be a light to the nations…
But they failed miserably in that mission.
Instead of Israel influencing the Canaanites and the Philistines…
They began to look more and more like their pagan neighbors!
There wasn’t anything special about how they lived their life…
Or how they practiced their religion...
So of course the Philistines assumed Israel was just as pagan as they were.
And seriously, who could blame them?!
This was a time when Israel was…
Erecting shines to various Canaanite deities…
Building Ashteroth on high places…
And mixing pagan worship rituals with their worship of YAHWEH.
The entire Hebrew nation had fallen into idolatry.
When I say the “entire” nation, I mean all of Israel from top to bottom!
I ain’t just talking about the common citizens.
The leadership had abandoned God’s laws and commands.
And even the Levitical Priesthood had adopted rituals they’d borrowed from their Canaanite neighbors.
It was a total and utter disaster.
But you know what’s even more tragic?
How the modern church today arrogantly criticizes ancient Israel for falling into idolatry…
Yet they’re doing the exact same thing themselves!
When you visit a congregation who claims allegiance to the Jewish Messiah yet…
Eats pork and other unclean foods without blinking an eye…
Performs gay marriages…
Preaches a gospel that says God wants to make us healthy & wealthy…
Promotes co-worship with members of other religions under the guise that any kind of faith in any kind of god is cool…
Bottomline, when you visit a house of worship that’s supposed to be separated out of the world…
Yet looks exactly like the world…
Then you can be confident you’ve got a 1 Samuel Chapter 4 situation on your hands homie.
If a non-believer can’t see any difference between you and him or her, we’ve gotta problem Houston.
Remember we’re supposed to influence the world, not be influenced by it.
Notice we don’t read of any Philistines worshipping the God of Israel…
Or expressing a desire to learn more about the Hebrew religion.
Yet the exact opposite was true.
We hear about plenty of Hebrews who…
Adopted the religious practices of the Philistines…
Intermarried with the Philistines…
And…
Mixed worship of YHVH with the Philistine gods.
Boy I tell you…
Absolutely nothing has changed!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God—
this is your true and proper worship.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is—
his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
-Romans 12:1-2
“You adulterous people,
don’t you know that friendship
with the world means
enmity against God?
Therefore, anyone who
chooses to be a friend
of the world becomes
an enemy of God”
-James 4:4
“Do not love this world
nor the things it offers you,
for when you love the world,
you do not have the love
of the Father in you.
For the world offers only a
craving for physical pleasure,
a craving for everything we see,
and pride in our achievements
and possessions. These are not
from the Father, but are from
this world. And this world is
fading away, along with
everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what
pleases God will live forever.”
-1 John 2:15-17
Leave a Reply