Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20091025.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Training Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
F. God's Giving His People Their Moral And Civil Law, Exodus 20:1-17
1. The First Four Commandments: Loving God, Exodus 20:1-12
b. Commandment Two: Prohibiting Man From Setting Up False Gods
(Exodus 20:4-6 et al.)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    Though many of us in Western nations might never think of carving an idol out of wood and worshiping it, idolatry in various forms is making a significant comeback in today's postmodern world.

    This fits the teaching of Romans 1:18-23: as man sees evidence of the Creator in nature, but then resists this knowledge, he leaves himself in a vacuum for deity, and turns to worship created things.

    Such an explanation fits postmodern man precisely: man today is rejecting the idea of absolute truth and its sure knowledge of God, so he is leaving himself open for a vacuum for deity, becoming vulnerable to adopting intangible and tangible forms of idolatry, and evidence abounds that these various forms of idolatry are on the rise today:

    (1) In researching idolatry on the web, I found the title, "First Church of Tiger Woods" and looked up the page to find the title with this explanation: "Anyone who has ever seen Tiger Woods play golf knows that there is something very special about him. But have you ever considered that he might actually be God?"

    Another page on that site deals with the alleged "Evidence of Tiger's Divinity", and focused on his greatest golf shots!

    (2) The Christian site www.gotquestions.org claims intangible forms of idolatry exist such as "materialism" and "ego" (listed under "modern-idolatry-PF.html") Intangible evangelical gods would then include the deities one can make out of popular books, pastors or seminars that captivate the attention of churchgoers as religious fads.

    (3) However, even the secular media recognizes the existence of intangible idolatry. An editorial, "Flight of fancy" appearing in the October 19, 2009 USA TODAY, p. 10A told how the October 15, 2009 trauma of the 6-year-old boy, Falcon Heene, who was thought to have been taken up in a hot air balloon only to have gone missing from the gondola and feared to have fallen to his death, had all been a hoax! His parents had planned it so their family could gain notoriety and appear on a reality TV show.

    The editor concluded the cause of the whole charade had been "the god of Being On TV." (emphases ours)



    Thus, we ask, "If idolatry is on the rise in our postmodern era, what forms does it take, and how are we to we handle it?!"

    Need: "If idolatry is making a significant comeback in our postmodern era, HOW may I recognize and effectively handle it?!"

  1. The second command of the Ten Commandments calls Israel NOT to MAKE any god for worship in place of the Lord, Ex. 20:4-5a.
  2. This command counters the TANGIBLE IDOLATRY we face:
    1. This command opposes worshiping tangible pagan idols such as the pagan idols of Egypt that God judged in the Exodus, Exodus 12:12c.
    2. However, in view of the wide Bible context, it also counters tangible idol FORMATION that occurs in parts of Christendom today :
      1. The Exodus 20:4-5a prohibition countered giving tangible objects deity or divine associations as clarified in Isaiah 44:10-20:
        1. Ancient Mesopotamians felt (1) their idol carvers were inspired by an idol carving god so the god, not the carvers, was honored for their work. (Stephen Caesar, "The Prophets' Knowledge of Contemporary Idolatry," www.biblearchaeology.org) (2) They did not worship a new idol, but used a "'Washing (or Opening) of the Mouth'" ritual for the god or its attributes to enter it, Ibid.
        2. Yet, in line with Exodus 20:4-5a, Isaiah held (1) the carver was not divinely inspired (Isaiah 44:11, Ibid.), and (2) since he put part of the tree in the fire for heat as his livelihood and carved an idol to worship with another part of the same tree, such idol formation was illogical and thus errant , Isaiah 44:14-17; Ibid.
      2. Applying Isaiah's words critiques idol formation in Christendom:
        1. The Roman Catholic Church holds: "With regard to the . . . priests . . . when they pronounce the words of consecration, the incarnate God has obliged Himself to obey and come into their hands under the sacramental appearance of bread and wine," Bishop Alphonse de Liguori (a canonized saint), The Dignity and Duties of the Priest as cited in Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, 1978, p. 175. This "conversion of the total substance" of the elements into Christ's body and blood is called "transubstantiation," The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1986, p. 583. A modification of this view is the Lutherans' claim that Christ's Spirit becomes present in and with the elements by special ritual [consubstantiation] , A. H. Strong, Syst. Theology, 1970, p. 968.
        2. However, applying Isaiah's words, (1) a minister is an ordinary mortal man (Isaiah 44:11), so claiming Christ as deity submits in a mere ritual by a mortal in arriving in conjunction with the elements is illogical and errant! (2) Also, some of the grain and juice from which the elements originate is sold in the market to be used for the general public's livelihood, so worshiping the elements as Christ's body as in transubstantiation, or toward them as His Spirit as in consubstantiation, is illogical and errs like the ancient idolatry of Isaiah's time! (Isaiah 44:14-17)
      3. Exodus 20:4-5a then counters this idol formation in Christendom!
  3. However, other Scriptures reveal the Exodus 20:4-5a command is applicable to ALL other INTANGIBLE idols we face today:
    1. Philippians 3:19 claims one's god can be his stomach, or his appetite.
    2. Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5 claim covetousness is idolatry.
    3. Thus, idolatry is relying on any entity other than God for fulfillment, the One we must love with all of our being, Matthew 22:37.
  4. Since idolatry is a PRODUCT of the SINFUL NATURE according to Galatians 5:19-21, it is OVERCOME as follows:
    1. First, one must trust in Christ as his Savior from sin to be given a new nature and become indwelt by the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Romans 8:9.
    2. Then as a believer, he must rely on the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16) for the will and the power (Phil. 2:12-13) to rely on God for fulfillment and not set up any other entity, tangible or intangible, for fulfillment.
    3. If we believers realize we are idolatrous, we must confess it to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and apply section "IV, B" above!
    4. To minimize temptations toward idolatry, may we read God's Word that always exalts God's all-sufficiency, Psalm 119:11 with 23:1.
  5. [To explain Exodus 20:5b-6, God judges each generation that hates Him (Exodus 20:5c); He does not punish the children for the sins of their parents, a truth abundantly clarified in Ezekiel 18:1-32.]
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from sin to be indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Eph. 1:13-14. (2) Then, may we (a) mentally rely on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) for the (b) will and the power (Phil. 2:12-13) to (c) trust our All-Sufficient Lord for total personal fulfillment versus any competing false god!

Lesson: Idolatry is the dependency on any tangible or intangible thing besides God for personal fulfillment, and it is overcome by faith in Christ for salvation, and reliance upon His Holy Spirit for fulfillment from God!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

 In concluding this sermon, we list some common intangible "idols" we believers often form, and relate how to handle them:

(1) The idol of financial security. Especially in our current economic recession, even we Christians are tempted to worry about our financial welfare due to the threat of job losses and the ensuing threat of the loss of a home, being swamped by uncontrollable debt, etc.

In response, Jesus urged us in Luke 12:31 to focus on the interests of God's kingdom in our lives and that He would meet all of our material needs in the process, Luke 12:22-30. In that section, Jesus told how God feeds the ravens, birds that often neglect to feed their own young (Job 38:41), and yet God has preserved the raven as a species since creation by His constant intervention throughout history. Thus, regardless of even inadequate money managing skills, job training or work ethic, etc., God is more than able and willing to meet our livelihood needs as evidenced in His aid for the hapless raven! We must thus rely on the Holy Spirit to trust God opposite looking to the "man-made financial security" idol.

(2) The idol of acceptance by other people. Having others think well of us, or accept us, or protecting our pride before others is a huge idol in many people today.

However, Proverbs 16:7 KJV reveals that "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." God has great power over our relationships, and He can influence them for our good. Thus, may we rely on the Holy Spirit to trust God instead of worshiping the "man-made acceptance by others" idol!

(3) The idol of personal rights. We Americans often treat as sacred our rights of free speech, freedom of worship, free enterprise, etc. Yet, though Scripture calls us not to be the slaves of men (1 Cor. 7:23) so that we should obtain our liberty if we can lawfully do so (1 Cor. 7:21b), if we find ourselves in a state of bondage, and we can legally do nothing about it, we are not to be anxious about the situation, but focus on heeding God, 1 Cor. 7:21a. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to seek fulfillment in looking to the Bible's God versus worshiping even the idol of personal liberty.

May we trust in Christ as Savior, and cleave to Him alone for all of our needs that we not set up our own false gods in His place to the harm of our walk with the Lord!