When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and provoking him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 

—Deuteronomy 4:25-26

When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you – the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you – and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles, and burn their idols with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 

—Deuteronomy 7:1-6

God crafted an entire generation of people wholly dependent on Him. They received manna, quail and water from Him in the wilderness, knowing God provided it all. They had been set apart geographically from the rest of the world and God had given them His law and righteous leaders to form a new generation of His people living according to His ways. God loved them simply because He loved them, and He wanted them to have full and complete lives. He wanted the best for them.  

As they camped on the bank of the Jordan River, preparing to enter the Promised Land, God knew this fresh generation had never been exposed to the larger world with all its influences and temptations. They had never been exposed to people with belief systems differing from God’s law. They were not perfect, but they were relatively pure, fresh and naïve, and God loved them, and He was preparing to release them out into the world, and He knew they would soon be exposed to new sights, sounds, whispers, shouts and all sorts of temptations, each vying for their attention, distracting them from God and threatening their ability to enjoy full and complete lives.

God is life; He is the source of life, peace, joy, rest and comfort. But like fish in a pond, His people would soon be attracted by many shiny lures leading them away from Him. So God urged them to hate the things that would tempt them, to hate the things that might separate them from Him saying, 

But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles, and burn their idols with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.  Deuteronomy 7:5-6

The Old Testament teaches us a great deal about God. It teaches us about His love, mercy and wrath. It teaches us that He is also jealous (see Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9 and 6:15). We see jealousy as a negative trait, but God is perfect, He is the standard, so unlike our jealousy, His jealousy is righteous, pure, merciful, loving and just. Nonetheless, He is jealous and He wants the best for His people. He wants each of them to enjoy the best possible life and He knows that the best life is only possible in communion with Him. So He is angry with people and things that lead His people astray.

God is sovereign. He has all power and authority in heaven and on earth. Nothing happens that He does not allow, and we see evil around us, so He allows evil and He allows His people to be exposed to evil influences. He allows Satan to whisper in our ears. He allowed a cunning serpent to whisper to Eve causing her to look at one particular tree with lust and to imagine how wonderful its fruit would smell and taste and feel sliding down her throat, and to imagine with prideful lust how the fruit would transform her into a being more like God. She was enticed by lust and pride, lured by whispers causing her to focus on the shiny, suddenly beautiful, forbidden object.

God allowed His people, the ones He set aside, groomed, tested and taught in the wilderness, the very ones whom He loved, to go into the Promised Land where they would discover lush resources and great varieties of delicious food and drink and natural resources allowing them to settle and build, knowing that, like Eve, they would also be exposed to temptations that would become the source of lust and pride for them. God urged them to love Him and to hate those things that would entice them to stray from Him, and because they hate those things, to destroy them to protect themselves and their children and their grandchildren.

We have been in the land of milk and honey for all our lives. We are surrounded by rich natural resources and we live in a system that, while far from perfect, provides liberty, allows security in property ownership and rewards entrepreneurial hard work. Because of everything offered where we are, we live in a melting pot of cultures, ideologies and beliefs. It is a land of many temptations and I fear we have grown complacent. God warns the Israelites about this saying through Moses,

When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and provoking him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.  Deuteronomy 4:25-26

God warns that complacency leads to placing other gods before Him and worshiping idols. Throughout each day we choose whether to worship God, to seek God first, to trust God, and to surrender ourselves fully to Him. The privilege of relationship with Him carries great responsibility, and the comfort of plenty carries significant risk.

What shiny lure is catching your eye? What entices you to stray from God? Where we are, it would be very common to desire a nice home, a nice car, nice clothes, the best education for our children, the ability for our children to participate in the activities of their choosing, etc. In our society, that would all be normal, and there is nothing wrong with any of it until a portion or the accumulation of it all forces us to choose between that lifestyle and God. Are you a slave to debt? Does maintaining it all make you work so hard for so long that you fail to have your alone time with God, that you fail to pray, that you fail to study Scripture, that you fail to worship, that you fail to train your children in His holy ways? Does the burden of it all rob you of relationship with God and rob you of His joy, peace and rest?

We should each regularly ask ourselves, what separates me from God? I know God calls me to seek Him first and He does so because that leads to a life of satisfaction, joy, wholeness, rest and peace. Christ Jesus provides life abundant when we give ourselves to Him, but we often give ourselves to other priorities.  

God’s holy word urges us to identify altars built to other gods and to hate them enough to remove them from our lives forever. He urges us to destroy them, to tear them down, to burn idols with fire. As I write the words, images of people tearing down statues, looting businesses and lighting fires in cities across the US fill my mind, and please know that I am not advocating unlawful behavior. However, if you feel a little enticed by porn or drugs, or if social media controls your schedule, or if you feel a strong need to know and pass along the secret lives of people around you, or if you feel a strong need to purchase goods you do not need and cannot afford, you might consider whether your fulfilment of that desire is separating you from God. If it is, hate it enough to remove it from your life and fill the void with God.   

May you have eyes to see, ears to hear and the courage to respond.