If we are to receive the
bountiful grace of God, then we must turn our devotion entirely to Him.
In the ancient world,
monotheism (belief in one God) was extremely rare. Virtually all other nations
besides Israel were polytheistic (belief in multiple gods), and each of these
gods supposedly reigned over the various categories of life — ranging from
wisdom and war to fertility and farming. However, God refuses to share the
throne with such powerless idols.
One of the most important
themes of Scripture is God’s unrelenting battle against idolatry in all its
forms. The Bible is filled with showdowns between the God of Israel and man’s false
idols.
Consider God’s campaign
against the idols of Egypt. Prior to the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt with
Moses, God unleashed ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. These plagues sought
to prove that the various gods of Egypt were utterly powerless.
“I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt
The first plague transformed
the Nile River into blood. In that day, the Egyptians believed that the Nile
River was the bloodstream of Osiris (the god of the afterlife). What message
would the Egyptians have received when the river of blood began to stink and
rot? Osiris is dead, and he cannot save you! Each of the plagues continues to
prove the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods.
These plagues were not driven
by cruelty, but rather God’s desire to demonstrate His power to men. As the
Israelites were desperately blocked by the shores of the Red Sea, the Lord
declared:
I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh
and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord (Exod 14:4).
At their core, the marvelous
works of God were evangelistic — even His plagues! After the exodus, the world
began to hear about the matchless power of Israel’s God. The Lord had proven
Himself greater than the greatest gods of the greatest empire of the ancient
world. After being delivered from the armies of Pharaoh, Moses penned a song of
praise. The Lord loved this particular song so much that it will be sung in heaven
for all eternity (Rev 15:3).
In this song of praise, Moses
asks:
Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who
is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exod 15:11)
Indeed, there is none like
our God. He stands alone worthy of praise and adoration. He wages war against
the idols of men that subvert our relationship with Him. Countless conversions
to faith occur only after a person has been stripped of every worldly comfort.
Often times, God uses tragedy or crisis to call His people to Himself. He is
showing our idols to be powerless. Only then, when all idols are defeated, will
a person surrender to the unrelenting pursuit of God.
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