Today's Quick Word
Today’s Quick Word
Judges 6:29-30 They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your […]
Judges 6:29-30 They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
As I reflected on the significance of these verses, I felt quite sad. I had always thought that Israel’s big problem when they entered the Promised Land was that they naively thought that it was okay to incorporate a little ‘harmless’ Baal worship as long as they also worshipped the LORD. They had no intention of ceasing to worship the One who had rescued them from Egypt and brought them safely through the Wilderness, allowing them to settle in the land he had promised to Abraham and his descendants. Yes, they would remain forever grateful to him, but what could be wrong with a little acknowledgement being given to Baal on the side, in addition to their worship of the LORD? After all, Baal was the established ‘god’ of the land in which they now lived, and it might be wise strategy not to upset him unnecessarily!
But their reaction to Gideon’s destruction of Baal’s altar showed that the Baal worship of the general populace ran much deeper than a little ‘harmless’ dabbling on the side. All this caused me to ask myself, “Do I compromise my commitment to upholding the name and honour of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Saviour in order that I might avoid opposition or public criticism, ridicule and censure in a ‘multicultural’ society that cannot even contemplate what Peter declared before his accusers who threatened him and sought to silence him: ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12)?
How important is it to me that the Lord Jesus Christ is honoured as the Only Lord and Saviour in my speech and every part of my life and witness?” Is modernist, liberal, ‘inclusive’ theology the eqivalent of the ‘altars of Baal’ today, as we try to avoid being ‘out of step’ with our society, and to being ‘acceptable’ and ‘relevant’ to it? What has happened to the cutting edge of good old reformed, evangelical, Biblical theology that challenges people’s thinking to the core?
– Bruce Christian
