We’re gonna continue exploring some more of the incredible God principles literally jam-packed inside the text of Joshua Chapter 24.
Recall at the beginning of our study of Joshua 24, I stated this was the most (not one of the most, but THE most) theologically rich chapters in the Bible.
And boy, I wasn’t kidding.
You might wonder why I’m putting so much time and energy to talk about the mindset of the ancients and their beliefs as they pertained to gods and goddesses, especially in the land of Canaan.
As a believer living in the 21st century, you may be thinking, what does this have to do with me?
I get where you’re coming from.
This discussion about the mindset of believers in ancient times might seem completely divorced from your current modern reality.
But here’s the thing man.
The reality is that from the first book of the Bible to the last, the Scriptures constantly deal with idolatry and worship of false gods.
Israel’s constant struggle to avoid the gods of the heathens is peppered throughout the whole Bible.
This struggle took on many forms.
Sometimes it involved Israel completely replacing worship of Hashem for the other gods of the Canaanites.
Other times, it involved religious syncretism, which is the mixing of worship of the Lord with the pagan deities of the Canaanites.
The common phrase Scripture uses to describe this phenomenon is “flirting with the gods”.
Out of these two forms, I would say the latter is particularly troublesome because it contaminates the pure practices established in the Law of Moses.
And what’s worse, some of the Israelites didn’t think they were doing anything wrong because in their minds they hadn’t abandoned Hashem.
They had just added a couple of gods into the mix…kind of like adding some extra spices and sauces to whatever dishes one was eating.
While a little variety in the dietary world is cool, make no mistake about it, the mixing and matching of gods in one’s worship practices was an abomination to the Lord.
And this situation was NOT a thing of the past.
When the modern church warns their congregations to stay far away from idolatrous practices, it usually means to not get entangled with the ways of the world.
This is far from the true nature of idolatry as depicted in the Scriptures.
And that’s why I’m continuing on with my discussion of the belief system of the ancient Israelites and pretty much the whole Middle Eastern world during Bible times.
Unless we understand how the Bible authors thought and the mental pictures they had in mind when they wrote the Bible, we’re gonna miss the mark big time when it comes to understanding what they really meant and the impact of their words.
And that would be a tragedy.
So see you all next time.
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