Tag: idol worship

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El Shaddai – The Almighty, Self‑Sufficient God

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“When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.  On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”  Genesis 15:17-18

“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” John 5:26

God doesn’t need you.  He doesn’t need me.  

That may sound shocking or stark to some. But truth is what sets us free. Just like God’s self‑existence, understanding His self‑sufficiency is essential to our Christian walk.

Now, God being self-sufficient doesn’t then lead us into the heresy of deism.  That’s the claim that God did create the world but doesn’t intervene daily in our lives.  Deists must disregard just about every page of the Bible, including the entire New Testament in order to hold to their views.  They must shut their ears to the millions of testimonies by believers of God’s daily intercessions.

On the flip side, we must believe in God not needing us lest we become like pagan idol worshippers or followers of superstitious practices.  Rubbing coins for a god to make our wishes come true.  Or making daily sacrifices to please an unpleasable piece of wood.  

Oh, we Christians do try and fall into this practice.  I heard a friend once say that as a new Christian she was led to believe if she didn’t end a prayer with “In Jesus’ Name,” then God wouldn’t hear her prayer.  If we miss church, “God will be mad.” If we skip our daily 15 minutes of Bible reading, our day will be filled with quiet punishments.

The Truth and The Balm

We need to leave all those big and little lies behind us.  God may not need us but the balm to that hard truth is that He still made us and loves us.  He shows up, He blesses, He listens, He comforts.  The worshippers of the goddess Artemis in Ephesus didn’t have that same security.

We find in Acts 19 the apostle Paul making quite a stir when, with the work of the Holy Spirit, he was making headway into spreading the Gospel.  That not only angered all the artisans responsible for the booming Artemis idol trade but it also frightened them.  

They were worried that without the constant bowing down and sacrificing then the goddess would lose her divine stature and authority.

But the One and Only True God doesn’t need us to rub our beads, wear our crosses, lay flowers at the church altar.  Without us, He is still God. With or without belief, He reigns.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” Acts 17:24-25.

This truth, my Friends, should bring you to your knees in loving worship.  He’s not just a god who loves people.  He is God who IS love.  Between the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit they have all the love they ever need.  But He chooses to bestow that love upon us.  How glorious is that?  

“Goodness (love, truth, beauty, holiness) is not some external standard He tries to emulate. He is goodness. God has no parts on which he depends.” Michael Reeves, President, Union School of Theology

He Doesn’t Have To

This Spring as the flowers around you begin to bloom and the colors explode in all their majesty remind yourself of this point: God didn’t have to.  He could have been content in His own perfect triune situation.  Instead, with an expert painter’s brush He created the world and everything in it.  He then became the eternal steward of His creation!

The Westminster Confession of Faith (2.2) says this about God’s self-sufficiency:

“God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; … To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, he is pleased to require of them.”

God is contingent on no one and nothing.  He is to be reverently feared while at the same time loved as a good, good Father.  When you read the covenants of the Old Testament you’ll find a remarkable aspect of each.  

Our opening OT verse today mentions the flaming pot moving amongst the animals split in two.  It was a type of longstanding ceremony done in those times.  But when done by man, man was responsible for the keeping or breaking of the deal.  A broken deal meant death.  But God’s covenants are made and kept by one faithful person, God.  God makes the promise and God fulfills it. His promise is sufficient.

All we need to contribute is our gratefulness through obedience.  That should help us not only have confidence in God but also allow us to rest easy that we don’t need to be in constant “please God” mode.  

Instead, we can wake each day knowing the gifts we have received come without burden and therefore should be received with all honor and love.

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The Lord in the Midst of You

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“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” 1 Kings 8:27

“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:20

A quick look up on Wikipedia will inform you that the Egyptians at one point had 17 gods of war.  When one Egyptian city went out to battle another, they brought their gods to fight alongside them.  When the Assyrians and Babylonians came up against Israel, they too carried their idols on the backs of slaves.  Assured that with their gods in their physical midst the battle would be theirs.  Yet when Moses and Joshua faced the fierce Amalekites all they had was Moses’ arms. But was that all they truly had?  

“And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Exodus 17:7

This verse sits just prior to the story of the great battle against the Amalekites.  The Israelites once again, believed God had left them without food or water.  The LORD told Moses to strike the rock so that water would flow freely from it. Afterwards, we find Moses naming the place as he so often did, when God performed a miracle.  I would imagine their question, “Is the Lord among us or not?” caused God to further show His omnipresent state with the ensuing battle.  The Israelites didn’t need an idol carried into battle, they only needed hands lifted to Him.

All throughout the ancient world idol worshippers felt compelled to have an object on their person or in their household in order to be in the presence of the gods.  But I love this (long) piece of scripture from Isaiah mocking this concept:

“He (the carpenter) cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
It is used as fuel for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
    he makes an idol and bows down to it.
Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
    “Save me! You are my god!” Isaiah 44:14-17

And yet, modern “spiritual” people still do the same with beads, rocks, and stones.  If you wear a special bead bracelet then you are protected by some sort of god or spiritual being.  A bracelet probably made in China by child labor.  I prefer the God who is omnipresent like the one Paul describes here:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.   And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:15-20

This God is everywhere with us at all times, throughout all time.  We don’t need to conjure up some spirit out of our craftsmen’s hands.  We, through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, have the Holy Spirit living in each believer.  We are His temple, His dwelling place.  Wherever we go, He goes.

There are so many other beautiful truths about God’s omnipresence in the Bible but this Psalm is a standout to bring the point home.

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:7-10

I want to be held fast while in my car, in my bed, on a plane, in the presence of believers and non-believers.  And knowing that He sees me everywhere should also hold my feet to the fire to remember to whom I belong.    

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 23:24

For the believer in the western world, we can easily forget that we need this God to be with us throughout our days.  But think about the believers in hostile lands such as Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria, North Korea, and unfortunately too many other places.  Even without a Bible in their hands, they can know the truth, that God is with them.  God the Father was with the more than 20 Nigerian Christians slaughtered by Islamic terrorists over Easter.  Now they are with Him in His arms for all eternity.

Friends, may we never face the terror some of our brothers and sisters face in defense of our Savior.  What we more likely face each day is the clash of cultures.  We face decisions to stand up for our faith or be ridiculed.  I pray each time you do, you remember the LORD is in the midst of you.  He is with you always.