Copycat

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. And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.   2 Kings 17:15-17

Wow, the children of Israel were into some nasty stuff. Burning their sons and daughters, using divination and omens, selling themselves to do evil. That sounds completely horrid, and no wonder YHWH was angry! He had set down rules that, if the people lived by them, would turn out to be for their own good, to be a blessing to themselves and all nations around them. Ten simple commandments that, if fully and whole-heartedly obeyed, would promote peace, goodwill, fellowship, joy--all the things they were created for. But instead they chose to anger their Creator, turning their backs on His protective power to pursue creations of their own. Lousy of them, and so easy for me to see from my perspective as I am reading through their story and not living in it.

The truth is, however, I am living in it, or at least I was. I, too, have gone after false idols and become false. I have chased down self-interest, self-pity, self-focus, and selfishness. I have claimed my rights and fought fiercely over them, not realizing that I was fighting to the death for something that would merely turn and consume me. I have put up false pretenses, looking very pious and generous on the outside while inwardly stewing over the affront to my rights or my dignity or whatever I believed to be affronted at the time.

 I have burned my son and daughter as offerings; perhaps not literally, but I have scalded them with an acid tongue when they stood in the way of something I wanted to do or a (in my thoughts) well-deserved moment of peace and quiet. In doing so, I have scorched their spirits on an altar of my own self interest, and in doing so I have set an example of self-love rather than the self-sacrifice that Christ has called me to.

I have sold myself to do evil, perhaps not in the sight of the world, but certainly in the sight of the Lord. I have been tempted by good things, giving myself to them wholesale because they were good things or  worse, because they made me look good. This is evil in the sight of the Lord, this selling of myself to exalt my name.

I have done all these things and worse, and so I cannot judge the people of Israel too harshly. It is a plague of the human condition that, until our eyes are opened and we are given the Holy Spirit to see that which is spiritually discerned, we often do not see the sickening stain on our selves when we can plainly see it on others.  And oh, how I fought the Lord in this! For while the use of omens and divination that I left out of my confession did occur before I knew Christ the rest, I must admit with shame, occurred after I knew Him.

In this, I find the most incredible thing about the love of my God--His notable long-suffering of Israel's sin is also mirrored in my walk with Him. Though Israel provoked Him to anger, it was generations before He actually allowed them to be swept away. A similar pattern existed in Judah with one exception--there were moments of true repentance and return to the Law in Judah. There were none in Israel. God was patient with them both, sending prophet after prophet in hopes of inspiring repentance and a return to His favor.

He has been equally tolerant of my foolishness, rekindling the voices of the same prophets to sear my conscience with His words of love and rebuke. When my eyes were first opened to the truth of sin as a newly-born Christian, I saw everyone's sin as clearly as my own. Infinitely patient, He has turned my eyes from them to my prideful, self-righteous facade and shown me instead how painful my own sin is to Him.

Rather than look scornfully on the rest of the world, I must address the sin in my own heart. No matter how humiliating and painful it may be, it is mine to dredge the substance of my own heart for every design reminiscent of rebellious Israel and turn them over to Him for destruction as they come up. In doing so, I find that I stand accused and deserving of death, but He Himself has provided a Lamb to die in my place. My response is to die with that Lamb and live for Him now and for myself no longer, to no longer be false, to no longer follow all the people around me. No matter what I want, no matter what "everyone else" is doing, He has shown me that I must fix my will on Him and follow Him alone.

So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children--as their fathers did, so they do to this day.  2 Kings 17:33-41

But not me. This part, I shall read but I shall not live. I choose now to raze the old idols of rights and pride, to sacrifice myself and not my children, and to give my life for the Lord. This is not to say I will not stumble, but when I do I will not take my eyes off the Light that guides my way, not even to examine what caused me to stumble. That is no longer a concern to me, but only that I, in my journey, might match my stride more and more to His.

"Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:14-15

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.