Rejecting the fear of the Lord and Idolatry

 

An Emoji devotions for 8th December, 2021

Topic: Rejecting the fear of the Lord and Idolatry

By Pastor Hans Ulrich Wenger

Highlights: So Moses went back to the Lord and said, ‘Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin – but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.’ The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. (Exodus 32:31-34) 

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. no noBut encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12-14) 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Psalm 110:10) 

The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. (Proverbs 19:23)

Inspired by God, Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and let them experience many wonders, provisions and salvations in the wilderness. Finally they arrived at Mount Sinai and God wanted to make a covenant with them. 

He instructed Moses to sanctify them for his appearance on the third day. Nobody was to touch the mountain or to set foot on it, but Moses was commanded to deliver this message to the people:  “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6)

 “The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said.’ So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.  The Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.’ Now the appearance of the Lord was quite earth shattering and the people trembled and run away. They did not want to stay in the fear of the Lord.  “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18-21)

 The story of the golden calf shows us that the avoidance of the fear of the Lord was a fatal mistake. The encounter with the holiness of God puts the Israelites and us  in the rightful place. By staying in the fear of the Lord, I am aware that there is absolutely no messing with God. Many people died in this story, just because the people created for themselves a shiny God of Gold and if it would not have been for the priestly heart of Moses, the whole people of Israel would have been annihilated except for Moses himself.

 God has forgiven them for the time being, but he made clear that the punishment for their sin will come in his time. (Exodus 32:33)

 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. (Proverbs 16:6) 

The fear of the Lord is the main weapon against evil and we better stay before the Almighty in the fear of the Lord, even if it gets scary and we may have the feeling of dying. All the characters of the bible that stood and fainted before the Lord in fear have been touched by his redeeming touch and love. God is never a fellow or a buddy; he is the Almighty, Holy God and father, the emperor of the Universe and much more. But whoever submits to him in the fear of the Lord becomes his beloved child and gets the right to call him Abba, Daddy. 

To be close to the heart of God leads over the fear of the Lord. 

The Hebrew Christians, and we with them, get exhorted to stay in the fear of the Lord and to watch out that no one gets deceived by tolerating Gods of shining gold and avoiding the fear of the Lord instead of avoiding evil. Today we are surrounded by evil and too often the church and believers are tolerating evil in their lives. The Apostle Paul writes in his epistle to the church in Ephesus: “For of this you can be sure. 

No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” (Ephesians 5, 5 – 7) We are to stay in the fear of the Lord and to encourage each other to seek the Lord who is absolutely good and full of love for all his children that turn to him in the midst of the evil by which they are surrounded. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you that you are my father and that I am even allowed to call you Daddy, but beware me from thinking of you as a fellow or buddy. You are the holy, almighty God who has created everything and reigns everything. I praise you and I thank you that I am allowed to stand before you and to serve you. Your ways are holy and I thank you that you lead me on the paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. Thank you that I do not need shiny Gods of gold and help me to destroy them, wherever they want to pop up in me, in my fellow brothers and sisters or in the church. Amen