Idolatry

But they put God to the test

and rebelled against the Most High;

they did not keep his statutes.

Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless,

as unreliable as a faulty bow.

They angered him with their high places;

they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

~Psalm 78:56-58

Anyone who has read through the Old Testament at least once will notice a recurring theme: the rebellious spirit of the Israelites, God's anger, the Israelites' repentance, and God's saving grace.

The Israelites have witnessed, at first hand, how God miraculously delivered them from the Egyptians. They watched as God enabled Moses to part the Red Sea; they walked through the dry seabed, a tired but awed procession, vast walls of water on either side; and saw again the walls come crashing down on their pursuers.

Yet, once free, they forgot their God. They complained endlessly, looking back with longing to the days when they had enough meat to eat in Egypt.

But their worst sin was that of idolatry - a deliberate rejection of God Himself even though they had experienced His presence. Repeatedly, throughout their history, even after they had entered the Promised Land, the Israelites continued to turn away from God and His ways.

They worshipped idols - Baal and Molech and a host of others - all dumb, mute, blind. They rejected the One Living God for dead wood and stone.

It's easy to look at them with scorn, thinking self-righteously "If I had a personal encounter with God like they did, I wouldn't be like them! I wouldn't turn away to worship other gods!"

It's easy to say that we would have chosen to obey and worship God, because we saw Him part the Red Sea. The Israelites had all the evidence they needed to believe at hand.

And yet, it is precisely that which proves that evidence pointing to God's existence will not necessarily guarantee belief and faith.

We censure the Israelites, with their cold, hardened hearts, because they turned away from God even though they had witnessed Him at work.

But who are we to point fingers? Aren't we just as guilty as the Israelites are?

How many times has God parted metaphorical Red Seas for us? How many times have we felt His presence, experienced His grace and felt His love?

Yet we run after a new pantheon of gods and idols - Money, Power, Fame, and that awful god Self. We lust after them, our desires in tune with theirs, wanting only to satisfy their thirst.

The god Self crooks his finger, and we rush to Him. We think that he knows better than God does.

We forget just as easily as the Israelites forgot.

Instead of looking upon them with scorn, we should leave judgment to God and learn from their mistakes. We must continually ask God to sift our hearts and purify us so that we may never lust after useless idols!