In George Orwells novel 1984, the concept of doublethink refers to the simultaneous acceptance and belief of two completely contradictory ideas. Do you find yourself believing in God but also believing in worldly values, following a mission but also pursuing ambition, or embracing two contradictory things at the same time? The Lord says a resounding NO to this kind of confused faith. In todays lesson, lets look at why we should fear the Lord alone.
First, We have fallen into the trap of self-worship.
The Assyrians were zealously taught to fear the LORD by a pseudo-priest who taught them to sacrifice a golden calf, but they made and worshiped all sorts of animal images. The Samaritans temples became a great place for Gentile people to bring in their local gods and worship them as they pleased. They considered God to be the god of the land, the god of the land of Samaria, so they each served their own idols, but they also served the LORD, and they took whoever they wanted to be their priest. We all fall into the trap of self-worship. But no matter how much we worship ourselves, there is no salvation in us. If we dont honor God and fear God, we will spend a lifetime struggling in the trap of self-worship and then fade away into nothingness.
Second, It is the only way out of that trap.
In verse 34, 'today' refers to the time period in which 2 Kings is being written, which is at least 160 years after Israel was destroyed and became Samaria. So, the mishmash of worshiping Jehovah has been going on for over 160 years. And since verse 33 says they 'also' worshiped Jehovah, why does verse 34 say they didnt worship Jehovah?To say that they also feared Jehovah is to make it clear that they did not fear Jehovah. The Lord consistently says from Genesis to Revelation, serve God alone. To serve even God is not to obey the Word and is not to fear Jehovah. The Word of God is a covenant, a sure promise of life and salvation: If you fear, worship, serve and honor God alone, you will live forever. The first step is to have no other gods.The most fundamental sin that holds us captive, original sin, is self-worship. Since we can never get rid of the idols of self-worship in our own strength, the Lord gives us the Exodus event that separates the BC and AD of our lives, and He gives us instructions on how to live in the form of statutes, laws, and commandments. Only God can deliver us from this Egyptian trap of self-centered living and bring us to the Canaanite land of God-centered living. But because we were slaves in Egypt for 400 years, even though we have been delivered, our deep-rooted slavishness continues to lead us to sin that enslaves us.Trusting, relying, exalting, and fearing the Lord alone is the only way out of the trap were in.
Third, It is the beginning of grace to a thousand generations.
The phrase according to the custom is repeated for the third time in todays text, which means according to the judgment that the age deems right. The way of life changes, but the people dont change, so our very existence has never changed from Adam until now. We are greedy, jealous, hateful, confrontational, arguing, fighting, just as our ancestors did until today.I see God as one of many gods, and Christianity as one of many religions, so I can work hard to make idols for myself and worship God at the same time. In the second commandment of the Ten Commandments, 'Do not make idols and do not serve them,' there are two promise clauses.They are that if you break the commandment and make and serve idols, the punishment will be to three or four generations, and that those who fear the Lord alone will be given perfect grace to a thousand generations. You should know that looking at the evil around you and knowing that I am bound to be ruined is the beginning of bringing about the blessing of a thousand generations. Believing in and serving God alone and not neither God is indeed a narrow and difficult path that you can only follow if you are prepared to be hated and bullied by the world. That is why the life of a saint is a difficult and hard cross that requires constant conflict.Isnt this how we worship because we have received grace to a thousand generations as a result of the obedience of one Lord to the point of death? I believe that one small application of obedience to the Lords word will be the beginning of a thousand generations of grace that will save families, save churches, save nations, and save our childrens childrens childrens children.
This community confession is a story that happened in the early days of QT Mission. When we were just starting out, a deacon whose husband had been called to heaven called me and told me to use the 40-square-foot office in the best neighborhood of Gangnam, which he had inherited from his nephew, as the office of QT Mission. He asked me to be the secretary, and I told him that I would meditate on the Bible and pray about it before I answered, because the Lords work is not done on a whim. I was meditating on the book of Exodus at the time, and when the king said, 'Offer sacrifices to your God on this land,' Moses said, 'It is not possible' (8:26-27).I said, 'I think you could be a secretary now, but its something youve never done before, and it could get tiring quickly, so I think you should serve as a volunteer first, discovering your gifts and taking them on when youre able to serve with joy, and I dont think you can use your nephews office because its his livelihood, not a faith commitment.'
When you dont know what it means, you cant go wrong if you apply it in a way that is considerate of the other person, even if it hurts you first.If you apply it with consideration for others first, the Holy Spirit will surely teach you later, so dont worry and let the Word guide you.
My prayer for you is that you will be blessed with a thousand blessings as you escape the trap of self-worship by fearing 'Jehovah alone,' not 'Jehovah also,' and free yourself from syncretism, ups and downs, child idols, and supreme idols.
