Tag: idolatry

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

One spear; two speared

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Bakr Magrabi on pexels.com

A “through the bible” devotion from Numbers 25.

In a flagrant display of unfaithfulness and disobedience, an Israelite man brings a Midianite woman into his tent. Responding in faithfulness and obedience, Phineas, a grandson of Aaron, takes a spear and runs it through the two of them at the moment they are intimately involved in the inner room of their tent (Numbers 25:6-8).

Phineas is commended for this horrific act and promoted to permanent position of priesthood (25:12,13). Priests typically interceded for atonement. Here, it is to execute judgment.

Moses even records the names of the guilty parties. The man was Zimri; the woman was Cozbi. Their actions and their death triggered Israel’s attack on the Midianites and put an end to their seductive idolatry.

If you’re shocked by this account, I don’t blame you. But I’ll bet you’ve seen much worse in the movies you’ve streamed into your home. I’ll bet you’ve heard about even more scandalous behavior on the news. You may have even been a part of it yourself. This is our world. This has always been our world.

No one would blame God for throwing up his hands and just letting Israel (and all of us) self-destruct. But someone like Moses or Phineas or intercedes and the story goes on.

We’ll read about a future stroke of justice when Jesus is run through with a spear after he dies on the cross. He’s the priest, he endures God’s judgment, and he bleeds out in a scene just as gory as this one. Jesus steps in, and the story goes on.

Posted in Life, teaching

Idolatry and the Dollar Tree

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I asked the class, “So what is idolatry?”

One young lady perked up and exclaimed, “The Dollar Tree?”

It was a priceless moment.

From time to time I teach a middle school Sunday School class. This year, the curriculum takes them through the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings. This morning, we covered 1 Kings 12-14, when Israel divided into the northern and southern kingdoms under Jeroboam and Rehoboam, respectively. When Jeroboam sets up two golden calfs in the north, it’s a repeat of the golden calf episode in Exodus. God’s people tend to make the same mistakes over and over.

It’s a challenge to engage any class of young or old with this particular narrative. Metal and wooden idols seem kind of silly to modern ears. So we have to talk about those thing we fear, love, and trust more than God, which are our idols.

While we have much to learn about idolatry, we’re familiar with Dollar Tree. True, most of the stuff there is junk. But almost everything costs $1.25. Inflation, you know. Between them, Family Dollar and Dollar General, I never feel like I’m more than five minutes away from a discount store. This reality says much about what we value. It’s stuff. It’s the creation rather than the Creator. Once I take a step in that direction, my life drifts further and further away from God, something Paul writes about in Romans 1.

Anyway, because of our discussion this morning, when someone mentions idolatry, I’ll always think of Dollar Tree!