Even while these people were worshiping the Lord (Yahweh), they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did. (2 Kings 17:41) He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “This is your god, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord (Yahweh).” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. (Exodus 32:4-6) I added in Yahweh in parentheses just to make it clear as to who the people were worshipping. In the case of Exodus, all of Israel, scared that their mediator between themselves and God had been killed, desired a new mediator. The Israelites werent dumb. They knew that the calf couldnt talk. But they wanted something in between them and God because they knew they couldnt stand before him and also, they wanted to do things their way, which is the underlying reason. In the case of Kings, the people of Samaria had been swept away by Assyria and new peoples had been replaced. However, God starting punishing these people for not worshipping him properly. So Assyria arranged to have a priest come back and teach the people how to fear the Lord and worship him appropriately. Unfortunately, the people there merely added worship of him to their list of their own nations gods. While there are no other incidents recorded because of this mixture, it did end up causing these new Samaritans to be excluded in the restored Jerusalem and excluded in the building of the new temple. Perhaps a lesson we should learn from this is that while we might be worshipping Yahweh, we might also be worshipping our idols. We might even be doing it in his name like the Israelites did with the Golden Calf! We need to take inventory of our lives and get rid of anything that is not of him. And just because God is silent, does not mean he does not disapprove. Rather we should take the time to pray for his light to shine on these dark deeds and expose them so that we might put aside these things and live in his glorious light.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 17:33:30 +0000
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