Scandolous Idols
One Year Bible (June 16)
I Kings 15:25-17:24
Scandalous Idols
Have you heard about the most recent “Idol Scandal”?
Fans reported an unfair voting system for “American Idol” when about 100 people used an auto-dialing technology to reportedly place almost 10,000 votes every night for their favorite contestant. Then there was the issue of “time zones”. The voting would favor a particular part of the country over another area due to the time that the show premiered and the cut-off for voting.
What is the great pull for this famous show? Well, everyone wants to hear those four little words, “You’re Going to Hollywood”!
Fame. Stardom. Prestige. Power. Recognition. Money. What could possibly go wrong?
Today’s passage is all about those “Scandalous Idols”. I understand IDOLS in our day and age. We as a society have many and they are all around us.
I am just wondering, "What I am missing in my understanding of idols during the Old Testament period?" I am picturing golden calves and pondering what in the world they can begin to do for a person. I just don’t get it. I really don’t!
So, I decided to dig a little deeper…It’s really enlightening and eye-opening. Perhaps our culture today and the Old Testament times have more in common than I have ever realized.
Perhaps, It is not about "The Pole" but about "The Pull".
Here is “Dot. Dot. Dot. Debbie’s Reader’s Digest Version” of today’s text: Abijam ruled over Judah and he was evil. He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. (I Kings 15: 3)
Jeroboam and Abijam were always at war. This is an example of “Bad and Badder”. Nadab, son of Jeroboam followed the example of his father and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. Baasha also followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and did what was evil in God’s sight. Elah, son of Baasha was getting drunk and got killed. Zimri became the next king and killed the entire dynasty of Baasha.
Zimri ‘took the cake’ when it came to all the kings because his reign only lasted for seven days. He was “The One Week Wonder”! After one week he “went up in flames”! Literally!! So, then they got “Ornery Omni” who also provoked the Lord’s wrath with his “worthless idols”. Unfortunately, the next season came along, and “Ornery Omni” is “Soooo... Season 6. Yes, he was actually the 6th king of the Northern Tribes, (King of Israel).
Winner! Winner! Guess who won the “Un-American Idol Award”? Season 7 brought about “Big Bad Ahab” and guess what was said about him? Well, (Ornery Omni’s son) Ahab, ‘did evil even more EVIL than any of the kings’!” (He married Jezebel who even tops “Cruella de Vil” or was that “devil”?) He literally took the cake, “He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel than ANY of the OTHER Kings of Israel before him”!!
If you think I am joking about Ahab being a winner in the area of music, then you have never heard Ray Steven’s song, “Ahab the Arab”.
Did you also know that there is also an old song called “Jezebel” by Frankie Laine? The opening verse goes like this, “If ever the devil was born without a pair of horns it was you, Jezebel, it was you. If ever an angel fell, Jezebel, it was you!” So, there you go!
These two have the “unholy union” for “Scandalous Idolatry”. Just wait a couple of chapters from now and you will see exactly what I mean!
King Ahab was not a winner because of his “Talent” but rather for his “Terror”, and he was a “Teddy Bear” compared to Jezebel. I am pretty sure that she wore the “bell-bottoms” in this “unholy union”!
So, here is my struggle. I understand why ordinary people want to be worshipped in “The Polls”. What I don’t understand is why Kings want to worship “POLES”. Are you with me?
Why does a king like Solomon leave his palace with all its splendor to go out to the “HIGH COUNTRY” and worship “A POLE”? As you can see from the list of unkingly contestants in our line-up, he is not the only king trading in the One True God for a CREATED Idol or “god”.
Sadly, idol worship was scarce or non-existent in the land of Israel before King Solomon. His unquenchable desire for women opened the door for him to marry many foreign women. He had 1000 women in his life. (700 wives and 300 concubines) He was the first king to introduce idol worship to the kingdom. His sons and their sons followed in his unfaithful footsteps.
Not only did he use his gifts to build the Temple and the Palace, but his gift also became “his god” as he continued building… IDOLS IN HIGH PLACES!
In order to satisfy all of his wives he built and worshiped pagan deities such as Ashtoreth (the goddess of the Sidonians), Molek (the god of the Ammonites), and Chemosh (the god of Moab). The man who had it “ALL” (including a God who personally spoke to him in dreams) turned away in his “old age”.
What happened to the saying “wisdom comes with age”? Solomon had more wisdom than any living person but it seemed to all have vanished away when he moved away from God and towards idols.
Why was the worship of Baal, Asherah, and the other idols such a constant struggle and repeating pattern for the Israelites?
I look forward to reading your thoughts, questions, and insights. So, please put your comments below.
What is the “PULL” to worship "POLES"...“Scandalous Idols”?
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”-- Exodus 20:2.
