Serving God or idols

 

READ Numbers 25–28

When visiting southeast Asia, we saw shrines with plates of food on them offered to the gods. That local dogs or the hungry homeless may have consumed the food didn’t seem to be an issue. The contrast in this compared to worshiping God through faith in Jesus Christ could not have been greater.

It makes me wonder the appeal of foreign gods to OT Israel. They bowed to Baal and others, supposing that these gods were powerful? Today’s reading tells of God’s anger and how twenty-four thousand of them died by a plague he sent until a priest fought back with a spear. At that, God said to Moses:

“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ” (Numbers 25:11–13)

After that, God ordered a census of all twenty years old and up who were able to go to war. That number was 601,730, not including the priests nor any who started their journey from Egypt except Caleb and Joshua. Then the land was divided by lot between these tribes or clans. This include a family of women whose father died without sons so that inheritance was given to them.

God also told Moses he could look at this new land, but could not go in. Moses accepted this because he knew his error in striking the rock for water instead of speaking to it (see Numbers 20) and commissioned Joshua to be his replacement to lead the people. Moses also relayed from the Lord the various offerings required: food, Sabbath, monthly, Passover, Feast of Weeks, and more.

When Jesus came, this regime no longer happened. His offering was once, for all sin and instead of wandering to idols and idolatry, God changed the hearts of His people. Yet there are still needs in Christian lives for God’s grace. We still have a problem at times with misguided worship, not so much with unseen idols but with the notion that we are the center of the universe rather than God. Perhaps this is cultural and isn’t a problem in other parts of the world, but the church in North America has lived under great prosperity and comfort — finding it easy to make “the good life” the center of our lives instead of Jesus Christ.

I’ve wondered if this last pandemic and the current state of economic and social unrest is part of God’s discipline on His church. Certainly world events have affected and even tested our faith, but not even close to the degree experienced by Christians in the middle east and other parts of the world where persecution has resulted in the deaths of thousands. Of course our enemies do not realize that putting God’s people to death actually ushers them into the reality of eternal life.

Idolatry opens the door to all sin. Unless I am worshiping and praising God, I am prone to trusting something else, usually myself, and getting into trouble. In the OT list of Ten Commandments, it is the first for a reason: “No other gods before Me” because God knows that when the hearts of His people think that way, we are able to say NO to all temptation and sin.

Jesus, I need You. I don’t want my days to be filled with selfish choices, self-centered activities, me, me, me. The needs in this world are great. Direct my heart, footsteps and hands to the places where You can use me to be a blessing to others, even in a small way. And strengthen Your people that together we might bring glory to You by our obedience to do whatever You ask us to do. Guide me always to serve You and You alone!