The prophets were not very tolerant of idolatry. They implored Israel to turn from the “worthless idols”; they mocked, berated, cajoled them for the inherent foolishness of turning away from the living God. They stood horrified as the people turned from God, maker of all, to something they could make with their own hands.
Today in my personal reading of the scripture I remembered as I read through Jeremiah 50 one of my favorite blasts. Jeremiah uncorks this epic rip:
Jer. 50:2 “Declare and proclaim among the nations.
Proclaim it and lift up a standard.
Do not conceal it but say,
‘Babylon has been captured,
Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered;
Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.’
The word he uses translated “idols” is “gillulim” – basically meaning balls of (insert your favorite word for it here) poop! [see the footnote in the NET bible for a good treatment – pun intended – of this] The chief deity of the most powerful kingdom on the planet at that time… a ball of poop! Man, I love the bible!
Aside from my immature delight in the word “poop” (this is why I took Hebrew?), I wonder how serious my areas of idolatry are, what language God might need to use to get my attention in some blind spot areas. It’s always easier to see other people’s idolatry than our own. I wonder how much some of the things I tend to think are appealing are really nauseating.
I’ve said before that I think that evil & the evil one has a kind of tough PR job. It has to convince us that “poop” is desirable. It’s disturbing how often I’ve agreed.
May God open our eyes so that we can see things as they really are. Lead us not into temptation!!!
