Idol Worship – Israel Turns to Idol Worship, Again
It’s unbelievable that Israel could turn so easily to idol worship in Judges 2:6-23. They turned away from God after experiencing everything He did for them through Moses and Joshua — but they did. This study from the Book of Judges looks at what happens to Israel after Joshua dies. Now, the people no longer have that strong leadership from one who follows God’s will.
With that said, even with the lessons we learn from the Bible, don’t we do the same? We will be quick to condemn the people for falling away but our faith is many times only strong when we are at church or around other Christians, isn’t it? Let’s read on.
Israel Succumbs to Baal
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger.
So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed. – Judges 2:11-15 NASB
The Most Important Commandments?
Our pastor stated during a recent Bible study that the Ten Commandments were placed somewhat in order of importance.
If we look at the first two they are basically to worship only the true living God.
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. – Exodus 20:3-6 NASB
When Israel chose to worship Baal and the other gods of Canaan they broke their covenant with God – and this was to be the pattern all through the book of Judges.
The Gods of Caanan
These people had a god for just about every occasion so no matter what a person did, he or she was protected by one of them. In other words, a person could get away with anything as long as he worshiped that particular god at that moment.
Our God
The true God does not work that way. He wants us to strive to be better people although he realizes we can’t live a perfect life.
This is why he sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise again. We can ask for forgiveness (which we don’t deserve) through Christ and we have the Holy Spirit to help us to turn from that sin.
Human Nature
To sum up, Israel simply found the religion of the Canaanites to be more to their liking because it allowed them to live a life of carefree sin. And, without the judges to guide them, there was constant disobedience among them.
God sent the judges to save them from this life (and themselves) which is what we’ll see in future chapters.
What about Us?
Don’t we follow that same scenario?
We try to live a Christian life and do okay when we stay involved in church and fellowship with other believers but sometimes revert back to our old ways when we disengage ourselves.
It takes faith and the strength only God can give to keep us from falling away.
So, let’s strive to pray each time we are tempted to “worship” something or someone other than God.
He is there for us and willing to help.
Love in Christ
– Bob
If you would like to discover how to receive the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to read John 3:16 here.