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They Consult A Wooden Idol And Are
Answered By A Stick
Psalm 115:2-8 -- (paralleled in Psalm 135:15-18)
Why should the Gentiles say, "So where
is their God?" But our God is in heaven; He does
whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's
hands. They have mouths, but they do not see; They have ears, but
they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have
hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are
like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.
"Come on, aren't all religions the same?
I mean -- as long as we believe in god, what difference does it make which
manifestation of his or her being we worship?"
It sounds so inoffensively tolerant that any who would dare repudiate
such thinking would surely be construed as narrow-minded fanatics.
The current trend toward multiculturism is a chief outgrowth of such thinking,
that there is no distinction or priority between the worship of one god
over another, that all are equal in standing, and the way to approach god
is as multitudinous as the variations of his or her manifestation.
It's a popular and politically correct notion today that the beliefs
and cultures of every person are equally as important, and that to favor
one over another is a conspicuous revelation of one's own perfervid intolerance.
"How can anyone be so insular in their thinking as to believe their
God is the only God, and their way to Him the
only
way?!?"
At face value, though, I would have to admit it does seem pretty
arrogant to declare there is but one God and one way to Him, and all other
ways counterfeit and nonproductive. But, that's at face value and
omissive of the facts as revealed in the word of God. If the Bible
is clear about one thing, it's that there is but one
God and one way to Him.
Deuteronomy 4:35 -- To you
it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there
is none other besides Him.
Isaiah 43:10-13 -- "You are My witnesses," says the LORD,
"And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And
understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall
there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is
no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there
was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says
the LORD, "that I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who
will reverse it?"
Isaiah 44:6 -- (the LORD speaking) "This is
what the LORD says -- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the First and I am the Last; apart from Me there is no God." (NIV) Isaiah 45:22 -- (the LORD speaking)
"Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends
of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
I Chronicles 16:25-27 -- (paralleled in Psalm 96:4-5)
For the
LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared
above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and gladness are in His place.
Nehemiah 9:5-6 -- (the Levites speaking) "Blessed
be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens,
with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and
all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven
worships You."
Exodus 20:2-3 -- (the LORD speaking) (paralleled in Deuteronomy 5:6-7)
"I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage." "You shall have no other gods before
Me."
These passages leave no room for argument
or denial. The LORD is God; besides
Him there is no other. "Apart from Me there is no God." "Apart
from Me there is no savior." "You shall have no other gods before
Me." "All the gods of the nations are idols."
The Hebrew word translated here as "idol"
('eliyl),
means good for nothing or worthless.
It isn't exactly the type of word one might find conducive to any theory
of multiple gods. Continuing along these lines, the word of God is
also very unambiguous relative to those who may turn from the one, true
God, and seek another.
Deuteronomy 6:13-15 -- Fear the
LORD, your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name. Do
not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, for the LORD
your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and His anger will burn against
you, and He will destroy you from the face of the land. (NIV) Exodus 23:13 -- (the LORD speaking)
"And in
all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the
name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth."
Joshua 23:6-8 -- (Joshua speaking) "Be very
strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the
Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.
Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not
invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve
them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the LORD your
God, as you have until now." (NIV)
Leviticus 26:1 -- (the LORD speaking) "'You shall
not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred
pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved
stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.'"
Habakkuk 2:18-20 -- (the LORD speaking)
"What profit
is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher
of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute
idols? Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone,
'Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and
silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all." "But the LORD is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him."
Exodus 22:20 -- (the LORD speaking)
"He who sacrifices to any god, except
to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed."
"Do not invoke the names of other gods."
"Do not make idols or set up an image...." "Do not place a carved
stone in your land to bow down before it." Whereas
this type of idolatry -- although somewhat more prevalent in some circles
of professing Christianity than others -- may not be as common as it was
when these passages were written, the underlying point is an eternal one:
There
is one God, and He alone is to be worshiped.
The forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah (specifically verses nine through
twenty) contains a particularly humorous pronouncement of the folly of
those who worship the works of their hands. It is a fine, if not
somewhat sobering characterization of the fool without God -- as, so needful
is man for an object of worship, that when failing to recognize the true
God, he must fabricate one of his own.
The word of God also contains many warnings against the consultation
of spiritists and mediums -- a devilry all too common today, even among
professing Christians.
Leviticus 19:26 -- (the LORD speaking) "'Do not practice divination or sorcery.'"
(NIV)
Leviticus 19:31 -- (the LORD speaking) "'Do not turn to mediums or seek out
spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."
(NIV) Leviticus 20:6 - (the LORD speaking)
"'And the person who turns to mediums
and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face
against that person and cut him off from his people.'"
Isaiah 8:19-20 -- And when they say to you, "Seek those
who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people
seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Deuteronomy 18:9-13 -- When you enter the land the LORD your
God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations
there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter
in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages
in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who
consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to
the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will
drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before
the LORD your God. (NIV)
"Well," one might interject at this point,
"these are all so obviously false gods, but what of the other,
major religions? Aren't their gods and their ways just as substantive
and affecting?" Again, what does the word of God say? Can one
come to God through Confucius or Buddha or Muhammad or Zoroaster or some
other?
Hosea 13:4 -- (the LORD speaking) "Yet I
am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no
God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me."
Acts 4:12 -- (Peter speaking -- referring
to Jesus) "Nor is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved."
I Timothy 2:5-6 -- For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for
all, to be testified in due time...
These all seem graphically trenchant confirmations
of the one God, one way dogma of the Judeo-Christian faith. What
does the Lord Jesus say about the way to God?
Matthew 7:13-14 -- (Jesus speaking) "Enter
by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that
leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because
narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there
are few who find it."
John 10:1-5 -- (Jesus speaking) "Most assuredly,
I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens,
and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes
before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers."
"Okay. So why all this talk about
gates? What gate? Where is it? How does one find it?"
John 10:7-10 -- Then Jesus
said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door
of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters
by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
"Perhaps here Jesus isn't really saying
what He appears to be saying. Isn't there somewhere else we can turn
where He's more definite?"
John 14:6 -- Jesus said
to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me."
That's pretty definite. I don't hear
Him saying, "Many are the ways, the truths and the lives. Anyone
may come to the fathers -- or mothers (as some maintain) -- through them."
John 11:25-26 -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall
live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."
"How arrogant can one be?!?! How can
he claim that?! How can he even think that?!"
The answer is obvious. Either Jesus is who He claims to be, or he's
insane and a liar. Let's look at both possibilities, the latter first,
and assume Jesus was quite mad and not really who He said He was.
Okay, simple enough. Then all of Christianity is a lie, and more
are we who profess a faith in it to be pitied than any wretched creature
on this planet -- for we've denied ourselves all the pleasures and
excesses
of
this world for naught. There is no God -- at least not the God of
the Bible -- no Savior, no resurrection, nothing. As the writer of
Ecclesiastes reasoned through the eyes of the world, all that we have is
what's under the sun, and all that is under the sun is an utter waste of
time and meaningless -- a chasing after the wind. We live
rather pathetic existences here, then we die and that's all. Why
get up in the morning except to indulge our own insatiable lusts and desires,
entirely incongruous to anyone else? Why the pretense of charity,
kindness, patience, goodness, meekness, self-control or love? We
should only be concerned with how we can please ourselves at this moment,
for if tomorrow we die and are no more, nothing but this very moment matters,
and my wants for this moment are foremost and all-important.
But, what if the former assumption is correct
-- that Jesus is who He claims to be? Then there is but one way,
for He said: "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me." "I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved." Whoever
attempts to enter any other way is "a thief
and a robber". "All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers."
" I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will
live, even though he dies."
Luke 11:23 -- (Jesus speaking) "He who is not with Me is against Me,
and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
In essence, what it comes down to is just this: Is
Jesus Christ the Son of God? If
He is, then we need to believe Him when He claimed to be
the only way to the only God.
Jesus answered,
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me." The
options are simple. This statement is either true or false.
No other options exist. Jesus Christ did not come to hang on a cross
and shed His blood so that people could come to God through Buddha, Muhammad
or Moses.
The option you choose to believe will determine
your outcome for the rest of eternity. Jesus is the only Savior or
Jesus isn't any savior. The word of God emphatically confirms the
one, the world the other. Which do you choose to accept? |
