2 Kings 17:9-15
9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.
This passage is an explanation of how the sins of the people brought about their own downfall. God had warned Israel to follow His commandments (verse 13), but they would not listen (verse 14), and instead followed idols (verse 12). Tucked into this sobering condemnation is an interesting insight: "they went after false idols and became false" (verse 15). We become like our idols. To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Conversely, if we follow a god of lust, we will become lustful. If we idolize fake external beauty, we will become fake and external. If we view others as sexual objects, we too will become reduced to sexual objects. This is why serving dead idols is much more than just a wrong choice, it is also a death sentence for us. We only gain life as we serve the true Source of life.
Lord, help me to follow You and You alone, and thus to become more like You.
9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.
This passage is an explanation of how the sins of the people brought about their own downfall. God had warned Israel to follow His commandments (verse 13), but they would not listen (verse 14), and instead followed idols (verse 12). Tucked into this sobering condemnation is an interesting insight: "they went after false idols and became false" (verse 15). We become like our idols. To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Conversely, if we follow a god of lust, we will become lustful. If we idolize fake external beauty, we will become fake and external. If we view others as sexual objects, we too will become reduced to sexual objects. This is why serving dead idols is much more than just a wrong choice, it is also a death sentence for us. We only gain life as we serve the true Source of life.
Lord, help me to follow You and You alone, and thus to become more like You.