Deuteronomy 4:15 – 31 “So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, of any beast on the earth or bird that flies in the air, or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish in the waters below.
When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land.
Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol in the form of anything, doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.
God is sovereign, but God is also far bigger than anything on our planet earth. The urge to worship is part of human nature; unfortunately, humans are also very prone to want to worship things that they can see, touch, or even hear. When the Israelites left Egypt, they were leaving a culture with a huge number of gods of various shapes and sizes. According to https://www.worldhistory.org/article/885/egyptian-gods—the-complete-list/, there were more than 2,000 gods in the Egyptian pantheon! The Israelites had 400 years in which to become familiar with these deities. Several times, Moses ordered the Israelites to put away their gods, presumably small idols that they had brought with them from Egypt. It’s likely that much of the gold and silver jewelry the Israelites collected from the Egyptians might also have born the images of some of these gods. And there would certainly have been temptations. For example, pregnant women might have wanted to carry the image of Tawaret. The Ancient Egyptian goddess Tawaret, or Thoueris, was the protective goddess of mother and child during pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing.
Here, not only is Moses sternly warning his people against idolatry, but he is also calling on heaven and earth as witnesses. Any Israelite choosing to go into idolatry can expect destruction and slavery in a foreign land where they will be forced to worship worthless idols. But God is also promising that those who will turn away from idols and worship Him will be delivered. No matter how faithless humans might prove to be, God is forever faithful and forever keeps his covenants.
APPLICATION: Who or what is your god? What is the most important thing in your life? If money or your work is most important, or your family, or a pastime such as collecting antique or following your favorite sports team, those things are your gods. Jobs can disappear, and sports teams can fail. If the recent pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that sometimes no amount of money, no advanced treatments, may be sufficient when health fails completely.
“But,” you ask, “what is wrong with placing a high value on my family?” There’s nothing wrong with loving and valuing your family. But there are some parents who literally worship one or more of their children for their athletic prowess or their scholastic achievements or for their musical talent or their acting ability. Such worship of an individual is not only wrong but it also puts an undue burden on the person being worshiped. And what if the child star suddenly wants to stop and try something else or has compelling reasons to withdraw from an event?
God specifically refused to manifest Himself as a form that could be copied when He was speaking to the Israelites out of the fire. Years later, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that “God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 Only the eternal everlasting God is truly worthy of worship. Today we should search our hearts and ask ourselves whom we are worshiping.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Help us to give up our idols and to truly worship only You. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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