Bowing Down

In the Word it talks about people bowing down and worshiping idols, which was forbidden for the Israelites to do.  Even though it was forbidden it seemed to be a common practice, something God hated.  It says this in Deuteronomy 5:6-10, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (NKJV) Worshiping other gods was a very serious thing and was punishable by death.  There were warnings in the Word about worshiping other gods.  

It says this about the subject in Deuteronomy 13:1-18, “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers, if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.” (NASB)

God not only spoke to the individual, but to the false prophets, to the dreamer of dreams and even the cities responsible for this abomination and the consequence, or punishment, was death and destruction. This practice was not only forbidden for the Israelites, but also for us today. 

Many people are in cults today, worshiping false gods and some are bowing down to idols.  A god is anything that a person puts first in their life.  Think about what your main priorities are, they may be sports, video games, TV, movies or other things, if so, you may be building your live around something else and not God.  What is your greatest desire?  Is it money, a career, being popular or powerful?  If it is, you are devoting yourself to something else besides God.  You have to recognize whatever it is that you are putting before God and take action by repenting and turning away from whatever it may be and put your Heavenly Father back in His rightful place as your first priority.  

Think about this; how much time do you spend with God compared to the other priorities you spend your time with?  If you were in a relationship with someone that claimed to love you, but they spent very little time with you, how would you feel?  How do you think God feels when you claim to love Him but spend very little time with Him, but have all kinds of time for other hobbies or priorities?  God should be our main priority and everything else should be second in our lives.

Like I said, this message was not just for the Israelites, but it is a wake-up call for us also, so please don’t take it lightly.  This lesson is not meant for a rebuke, but for a reminder of how much God loves us and how He longs to fellowship with us.  Please think about this and if you need to prioritize your priorities I hope you will.  God bless you and have a super day!!