“You are not to follow other gods, chosen from the gods of the peoples around you; because Adonai, your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of Adonai your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.”-Deuteronomy 6:14-15
Verse 14 warns us to “…not follow other gods, chosen from the gods of the peoples around you“.
This is a clear statement to not fall into idolatry.
In other words, the Biblical definition of idolatry is following other gods or making something or someone that is not a god into God.
Let’s dive a little deeper into this.
God labels as idolatry the placing of anything above him.
Therefore, things that normally wouldn’t be considered idolatrous can become idolatrous if placed ahead of God in our lives.
For instance, do you place certain comfortable doctrines and habits that have ZERO SCRIPTURAL VALIDITY ahead of God’s Truth as revealed in His Word?
If you do, that is idolatry.
Do you place your job or even your family above God’s truth?
If you do, that’s a form of idolatry.
For instance, let’s say your boss asks you to work on God’s Holy Shabbat and instead of declining, you go along with his request because you don’t want to raise any trouble.
Or let’s say your wife decides to leave the faith and rather than separating from her, you stay because your love for her is greater than your love for the Lord.
Or let’s say a congregation you’re attending decides to adopt some blasphemous unscriptural doctrine and instead of leaving that congregation you decide to stay because you’ve already made a lot of friends there and can’t bear the thought of leaving behind the social comfort and fellowship the group offers.
These are difficult and uncomfortable situations to be in and I myself personally have failed to adhere to God’s commands when I faced every one of these challenges (except the second one because I’ve never been married).
Instead of the God of the Scriptures, we prefer to worship the “God of Prosperity” or the “God of Sexual Freedom” or the “God of Geopolitical BS Harmony” especially when it comes to Israel and the nations or the “God of Comfort & Pleasure” or the “God of Video Games” or whatever else it may be that we place as central in our lives ahead of and above the Creator.
What are the consequences of placing something above God in our lives?
Well, have a look at verse Deuteronomy 6:15.
“because Adonai, your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of Adonai your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.”
Let me ask you something.
Have you ever been exposed to the ridiculous teaching that says since we are now in the age of grace, the Father no longer gets angry with and judges His People?
That is hogwash and just a plain denial of clear Scriptural truth.
We need look no further than how God dealt with Israel in history to see how He doles out justice to those who are His.
Israel, who was already saved, were severely disciplined time and time again and often with an enormous loss of life.
Take a look at what happened to those tribes among the 12 Tribes of Israel who committed gross rebellion against the Lord.
For instance, look at what happened to the tribes of Simeon and Dan.
Their populations were literally reduced by more than half due to their rebellion.
They sought to appease the heathen child-sacrificing Canaanites through ridiculous diplomacy, compromise and treaty.
In fact, a good majority of the contents of the books of Joshua and Judges are about how Israel fell into apostasy because they would not exterminate the Canaanites as God commanded and instead sought to obtain their inheritance through peaceful means.
In other words, they sought to do things in a worldly way and you know what, unfortunately Israel today is still trying to do things in a socially approved peaceful manner and that dog is just not gonna hunt.
The question we have to ask ourselves is at the end of the day do we want socially approved blessings or God-ordained blessings?
If the latter, the Scriptures have made it clear what we are to do.
We are not to chase after comfort and prosperity.
Instead, we are to recover God’s Word and obey His commands and NOT chase after other gods.
When we do that, then we can expect to receive the glorious blessings HASHEM has stored up for us both in heaven and on earth.
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