Fully Devoted: Israel, Act 2Намуна

Idolatry and Injustice

The nation of Israel was formed by God to be His human representatives on Earth. He established a covenant with them, promised to be faithful to them, and partnered with them to bring shalom and justice to the land. 

But the nation of Israel lost sight of what mattered most. They started chasing created things rather than their Creator. They gave into the sin of idolatry. What is idolatry? Idolatry is the worship of something that isn’t God as if it were God. It’s the exact sin that God warned the people of Israel about while He was shaping them and forming them in the wilderness after freeing them from Egypt. 

… “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:1-6 NIV

Every nation had their own gods that they worshipped. And in that culture, worshipping multiple gods wasn’t seen as a bad thing. It was actually the norm. But not so for Israel. For Israel it was supposed to be different. Because they were in a covenant with God. The picture the Bible paints of the kind of covenant God had with Israel was that of a marriage relationship. God wed Himself to the nation of Israel. 

This is why the prophets, the messengers of God, would often compare the sin of idolatry to adultery! When the people of Israel worshipped idols, they were being unfaithful to God. They were breaking the covenant they had formed with Him. This is why the Bible sometimes refers to God as a “jealous God.” Not because He is envious or petty, but because He wants His people to be just as committed to Him as He is to them! His jealousy is the jealousy of a spouse being cheated on. 

The idolatry of Israel inevitably produced injustice. 

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Psalm 89:14 NIV

Our relationship with God cannot be separated from our relationship with others, because our relationship with God shapes how we relate to everything. When we’re worshipping the God whose throne is built on righteousness and justice, who has love and faithfulness going before Him, then we will be people shaped by righteousness and justice. We will be people who bring love and faithfulness everywhere we go!

But if we’re willing to turn our backs on the God who made us, then is it really that hard to believe that we would be willing to mistreat people made in His image? When we detach ourselves from the belief that every human being is made in the image of God, and we deny our calling to love them the same way that God has loved us, it becomes really easy to take advantage of others. 

We see this all the time in our world today. When people make an idol out of sex, they will put satisfying their sexual desires over the dignity of people in their lives. They’ll objectify people, lie to people, and practice behaviors that degrade themselves and dehumanize others. When people make an idol out of money, they will put making more money over caring for people. We’ve all heard stories of people engaging in really unethical business practices that put people in harm's way—all in order to make a little extra profit. 

Idolatry inevitably produces injustice. 

These were the things that the prophets constantly rebuked the nation of Israel for. God commissioned them to warn the people of Israel that they had lost their way and to invite them to come home! Tragically, the warnings were ignored and the people gave themselves over to the worship of idols—and injustice. 

And the sins of Israel demanded a response. Because sin always has consequences. The consequences of the idolatry and injustice of Israel led to the period of biblical history known as the Exile. 

Journaling Questions 

• What verse or verses stuck out to you today? Take some time to write those down. What struck you about them? 
• In your own words, how would you describe the connection between idolatry and injustice? How are those two ideas related?  
• What would you say are the biggest “idols” in our modern world? How do you resist the temptation to put those ahead of God?

Memory Verse

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV