Wednesday: The Dangers of Idolatry
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 24th of December 2025
Read Joshua 24:22-24. Why would Joshua need to repeat his appeal to the Israelites to get rid of their idols?
The threat of idolatry is not a theoretical one. Earlier, on the plains of Moab, in a similar context, Moses asked for the same decision (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). The gods that are in view now are not the ones of Egypt or those beyond the river, but they are found “among them.” Therefore, Joshua pleads with his people to incline their hearts to the Lord.
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
The Hebrew term used here, natah, means “to stretch,” “to bend.” It describes a God who is expected to bend down and listen to prayers (2 Kings 19:16; Psalms 31:2-3; Daniel 9:18), and it is also the attitude required of Israel later by the prophets (Isaiah 55:3, Jeremiah 7:24). It is employed to indicate the apostasy of Solomon when his heart inclined toward foreign gods (1 Kings 11:2,4,9). The sinful human heart does not have the natural tendency to bend and listen to God’s voice. It takes conscious decisions on our part to incline it toward fulfilling God’s will.
The Israelites’ answer literally reads: “We will listen to His voice.” This expression emphasizes the relational aspect of obedience. Israel is not asked to routinely follow lifeless rules. The covenant is about a living relationship with the Lord, which cannot be fully expressed by mere regulations. Israel’s religion was never intended to be legalistic; rather, it was to be a constant conversation in faith and love with a holy and merciful Savior.
Even after the people’s threefold promise to serve the Lord, which implies, as Joshua commanded, the removal of foreign gods from among them, there is no report that it actually happened. Throughout the entire book, it became customary to report on the fulfillment of Joshua’s commands (or those of Moses) as examples of obedience. The lack of it now at the end of the book leaves the plea of Joshua open-ended. The central appeal of the book to serve the Lord is not only for Joshua’s generation but also for each new generation of God’s people who would read or hear this message.
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How often have you promised the Lord you would do something, but then you didn’t? Why didn’t you? What does your answer tell you about grace? |
The issue of idolatry did not go away for the Israelites. The historical books of Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, record a meandering spiritual path between God, Baal, Ashtoreth, Molech, and Dagon, and probably others. From our modern Christian perspective, we ;ook back and ask the rhetorical question, “What on earth were they thinking?” We forget sometimes that we are essentially on a hill looking back in time and can see a lot more that someone in the bottom of a valley. When you have a small horizon you can only see what is around you. Think about the following issues:
Prosperity and Calamity: When the neighbours crops are doing well and yours are doing poorly, you search for reasons. If in the search the question of gods comes up, you may be willing to try a different god. A lot of worship allegiance was associated with crop and herd success and failure.
Moral Restriction: If the neighbours are having a good time because of their lax morals, there is a lot of hormonal pressure to join them and throw off your moral code.
Youthful exploration: Young people often associate without the restrictions their parents see. Good-looking damsels and handsome young men are powerfully attracted ot one another, irrespective of religion.
Keeping up with the neighbours:. We never want to be too different to our neighbours.
And in the valley of the twenty-first century, where our own horizon is small, are we all that different. We may not have the gods Baal, Ashtoreth, Molech, and Dagon but the motivation is still the same. And one of the big issues we face is we look for the equivalent modern gods instead of addressing the motivation.