The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 17 May 2021 – God Hates Idol Worship
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TOPIC: God Hates Idol Worship (Anglican Devotional 17 May 2021)
READ: Deuteronomy 4:15-24 (NKJV)
- ” Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
- “lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,
- “the likeness of any animal that [is] on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,
- “the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that [is] in the water beneath the earth.
- “And [take heed,] lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and [when] you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
- “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
- “Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- “But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land.
- “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
- “For the LORD your God [is] a consuming fire, a jealous God.
THE MESSAGE:
After the fall, the mind of man became so corrupted that he turned to images as objects of worship (Romans 1:21-23). In today’s text Moses was warning Israel not to make for themselves idols and images in the likeness of any object (verses 23-24). This is because God is a consuming fire (verse 24, cf. Hebrews 12:29). In all the revelations of God, He had never appeared in form of any image, shape, animal, bird or creature of any kind. Yet man had always carved idols in form of created things and worshipped them. This is the highest level of the degeneration or depravity of man.
The Church today is still battling with idolatry. Many well-known members of the Church advocate for cultural revival such as masquerade revival and other heathen practices, which indeed is revival of idol worship. This inclination to promote idolatry in our society has terrible consequences on individual families and the society at large (verse 24, Romans 1:21 32). The Church should discourage idol worship in all her operations and carry out serious advocacy against it. As Christians, we should also desist from anything that takes the place of God and time for His worship (a form of idolatry) in our lives.
PRAYER: Pray against all forms of idolatry in the Church and more grace to worship God in Spirit and in truth.
