God gave amazing promises of care to Israel in their obedience. He also addresses their sin with promises of curses. The grace He shows them is replete through Scripture. We will focus on this from the book of Isaiah while also looking at their continued desire to run opposite God's instruction. Israel alone had God as their King. He "was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious" Isaiah 42:22. He offered His law to Israel to illustrate mankind's need for Him. He wanted to be their only God. He wanted to be their provision and protection. He was their only Savior.
Isaiah 43:1-4a "But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." With all Israel had gone through and experienced, the miraculous care of God from their deliverance out of Egypt, through care in the wilderness, then giving them the land He had promised, we should read of the life of gratitude by the Israeli people. God also relented and gave them Kings after He had cared for them through a theocracy. When they sinned, he'd bring consequences, yet as soon as they cried out, He sent deliverers called Judges to remove them from their enemy's dominance. His faithfulness, mercy, and grace fill the pages of Scripture for us to read throughout the Old Testament.
The same passage in Isaiah 43 says, "when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3) For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." God reminds them in verse 15, "I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, you King."
If you were to stop at this moment and write out how you have experienced God over your life, before and since becoming a believer, what would be on this list? How would you identify God?
The passages I've outlined remind Israel God is "the Holy One, Savior, LORD, and King." As "the Holy One," God identifies Himself as Transcendent. God is perfect in every way. They'd be able to trust what He promised. They experienced what He promised, both for their good and then for the consequences of their sin. As "Savior," Israel had experienced God's rescuing power. This generation heard the stories of God's deliverance from Egypt. They continued celebrating the Passover to commemorate God's power to do what only a Living God could do. "LORD" would remind Israel of His name, "I AM," as shared with them by Moses, Exodus 3:14. This name offers a relationship with the True and Living God. God heard their cries and came to deliver. God revealed Himself through relationship, above the sin, present through mercy, intimate in their worship, and consistently present in their lives. Even when He threatened to cease His presence with them, He did not. His grace moved Him, and His faithfulness steadied Him in His promises toward them.
I wanted to dig a little into the depth of the relationship God offered Israel. He simply required, they "have no other gods before Me." He commanded that they, "shall not make idols before Me." They "not take the name of the LORD in vain." With the history, I capsulized for you, there should have been no problem with God getting what He required. The grace supplied was more than sufficient for their care. The mercy delivered covered a multitude of sins. His faithfulness proved His commitment to them. He should have received obedience and thanksgiving in return. Think about yourself. I am doing the same. God has delivered grace, mercy, and faithfulness to you and me, but do we give obedience and show gratitude in return? We call His Son, Jesus, LORD, but do we do what He commands?
The blessing is we, like Israel, are not always living in disobedience. We live to obey, but sadly James 3:2 reminds us, "we all stumble in many ways..." Today, believers are filled with God's Spirit, so we can choose to live in His power or by the desires of our flesh, Romans 8. And, like Israel, it is easy to look over all God has done, and in forgetting, we choose the folly of idolatry. Thanklessness opens the door to idolatry. Our focus must go somewhere or on someone. If not God, then whom or what?
When we read all God had done to care for Israel, you'd think idolatry would be the furthest thing from their worship. After all, God has done for you and me, you'd think it would be the furthest thing from our worship. Isaiah 44:1b "the things they delight in do not profit. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?" While we find delight in things that profit us nothing, we are warned by Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." This was also a reality for Israel. We can easily find our delight in things that do not profit. It is not that we can not take pleasure in God's gifts; instead, we luxuriate in these things at the expense of building our treasures in heaven. Once we choose gratitude, things are put in perspective, and the Giver is lifted up in worship.
God wanted Israel to find their delight in Him. He had proven His faithfulness to them. God offered Israel such a privileged position as a Holy Nation, a Special people for Him, and wanted them to respond in obedience and gratitude. If you read through the Old Testament at all God had done, even more than the synopsis I offered, you would think God could expect faithfulness and thankfulness in return. In Isaiah 5, he bemoans, "they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands."
The wrong way to respond to God is to form or run to idolatry. It is to set our hearts on earthly gain. Most of us don't build little trinkets as idols, but our things, talents, gifts, and treasures can become idols. This is to put our hope in the gifts God offers, instead of the God who gives. Isaiah 55 "why do spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" My life's story is full of these dead-end moments, moments that turned into years. Where I forgot all that God provided, and put my delight in that which did not profit. I followed right into the example of Israel. A plethora of God's provisions were set aside to worship idols. Idols that left me emptier than when I offered myself to them at the start. I thank God we are reminded in Lamentations 3:22-23, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
If you are reading this and find yourself deep in idol worship, there is hope to turn back to the Only True and Holy God, our King. 1 John 1:9 "He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." That is another example we see with Israel, God's faithfulness to forgive. In fact, when Solomon dedicated the first temple to the LORD, the prayer he offered God was about sin, consequences, repentance, and forgiveness, 1 Kings 8:22-61. Solomon says, "if they sin against you, for there is no man that does not sin..." This is not a license to sin, but a warning to be aware of temptation that may lead to sin.
Idolatry is to put your hope in things or people you find security in. Things you believe offer you happiness, quick fixes, or things or people you make more important than God. I've heard people say, "I cannot imagine heaven without my dog." Others have said, "if my child died, I do not think I could love a God that allowed that." That is a mirror of what idolatry may look like today. These things are important to God. These are gifts for our management from God. He knows we delight in His gifts, but they were not meant to be a substitute god or an idol. God wants us to delight in Him. Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
How do we learn from the example offered by Israel? After all, God provided for them. His care and protection are enumerated through Scripture, yet they turned their backs on Him to idolatry. Now mind you, this was not always, but enough to eventually divorce them, Jeremiah 3:8-10, calling them faithless. We do not want to be called faithfulness due to our hearts desiring God's hand, (His gifts) over God's face, (His Person). Faithfulness continues as we choose to be loyal to Him above all we have. We love Him above all others. When we struggle with this, we admit it to Him. We communicate our struggle to God through prayer. The blessing is God reaches out to help, by His Grace, when we say, "I believe; help my unbelief."
I know God's gifts are amazing! We have wonderful children, even when they are snotty. We afford beautiful homes, fast cars, sweet pets, and more. We get enamored with the gifts and so easily forget the Giver. And because God gives us the ability to make the money to get these gifts, we give ourselves the credit. It is so easy. My best friend attempted to teach her son why he should thank God for his good grades, and it fell short. He did not understand why he should thank God when he was the one who studied, and therefore his grades reflected his hard work. She had to disabuse him; while his hard work was integral to his good grades, his ability to work hard was God's gift to him. This is the key to fleeing idolatry, Thankfulness. Remember, everything is God's gift to us and belongs to Him. All He has done reflects all we have because it is from His hand.
Israel only needed to offer God the thanksgiving He deserved. Lives of gratitude to God remind us He alone is worthy of our worship. Gratitude destroys idolatry. It turns our attention to God, it keeps our focus on Him alone. Gratitude sounds easy, but of course, we must be reminded to be thankful, so it is not natural. It is intentional, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "... give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Gratitude reminds us of all God has done, and has given us. If we live in gratitude toward the One True God, it is hard for an idol to find its way into His position as LORD. He has done too much for us to have another god before Him. But, if we forget thanksgiving, we set ourselves to become idol worshipers.
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