Worthless Things

Author: Joseph

Date: January 20, 2019

Israel was on the verge of entering the land of promise and before they set out to conquer the land, God gave them instructions on how they were to possess the land. How they conquered the land would affect how they lived in the land.

God spoke to Moses, “When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places” (Numbers 33:51-52). The people of the land and their idolatry were not to be tolerated by Israel. God understood that Israel’s people were vulnerable to the temptation of the idolatry of the land and wanted to eliminate it along the way of them receiving their inheritance.

"...they were vulnerable and would suffer..."

God further warned Israel of the consequences of disobeying His command, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you’” (Numbers 33:55-56). God wanted Israel to know that they were vulnerable and would suffer the same fate as the inhabitants of the land. If Israel would not drive out the inhabitants and destroy all signs of idolatry, they would surely be tempted to commit idolatry themselves.

Places of idolatry, memorials for idols, and the idols themselves are worthless. When people interact with idols, however, whether through visual pleasure or by imaginative amusement, people draw out sinful desires and drift their attention away from God and His teachings. An idol gives someone an excuse to blame their sinful ways on a god that does not exist or to justify themselves by dismissing personal responsibility for wrongful behavior. This is why Israel had to destroy the idols they encountered before they too became tempted to follow them.

An idol can take many forms because the root of an idol is the sin within a person. Someone who idolizes themselves, for example, can excuse sin in the form of personal rights and even distort the Bible to say that no one can hold them accountable for their sinful behavior. Another example of idolatry is someone who takes an unhealthy interest in hobbies or entertainment and begins to shift their thoughts, their resources, and even their social relationships to surround that source of fulfillment. In both of these examples, the person who idolizes these things becomes defensive of their “need” for these things and their reliance (faith) in these things becomes life-changing for the worse. Just as Canaanite society was in unison with their idolatry, so does a person’s life become united with the idol they worship.

The Canaanites had their idols of gold, wood, and stone. The society we live among has idols that are too many and some even so worthless that it is hard to imagine the thing or idea is an idol. Knowing this, however, we cannot be deceived into thinking that people do not practice idolatry. We also are much more vulnerable to be tempted by these idols because they are less apparent than the idols of the Canaanites.

Remember, idolatry begins with sinful desire, and this can come from inside a person’s mind and heart or it can come from an outside source. If you are tempted to idolize something that is good, repent of the evil intention and honor God instead for what He has said is good. If you are tempted to idolize something evil or something created from sinful intent, turn away from that idol, removing its presence from your life and then seek God with all your heart. Idols destroy those that worship them. Idols can do no good to you nor can they do anything for you. Only God, the living God, can ever fulfill your life while idols will always leave you emptier than before.

Do you recognize any idols in your life that need to be removed and repented from? If so, seek God eagerly and with all your heart. Now is the time to turn away from worthless things.

Bible Passage: Numbers 33:50-56

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org