Civil Government—American Idol

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The great sin we all remember from the Old Testament stories is that of idolatry. With tiresome repetition we read of the Israelites whoring after the idol gods of Baal, Asherah, Moloch and others. We read how they burned incense to them on every hill and under every green tree. They were sent prophets who warned them in the clearest of terms that they must turn away from those idols and worship and serve only the Lord (Yahweh). We read these prophetic shoutings and shake our heads in wonder at how blind and foolish these people were after all God had done for them. How could they possibly miss who was God and who was not? It was not, after all, any of those other gods who had parted the Red Sea. None of them had produced manna from heaven or water from a rock. Yet, Israel persisted not only in offering incense but their children as well to these false deities. How could they think they were making any progress in replacing the Lord with these earthly gods?

The close meaning for Moloch, god of the Phoenicians and Ammonites, was shameful king. The name was fitting because of the sacrificial acts required for Moloch worship. In a bizarre ritual, parents would give control of their children to Moloch. That act was considered so heinous that God Himself pronounced destruction on Israel for their faithlessness and immorality. It is bad enough to destroy yourself, but doubly wrong to destroy your children. Understand that these idol gods were not simply religious figures with limited influence. Moloch and the other ancient gods were heeded as rulers over the civil realm as well. They were consulted for guidance for the courts, warfare, personal morals, standards for justice and all else in society. They were the face of society and government for the people of their times. Foreign kings prayed to them before determining battle plans, hence, the idol gods reigned above the earthly kings.

Idolatry in American Life

We think ourselves more socially and civilly developed than those ancient people. We know about Jesus. We have truth on our side. We would never bow down to an idol or offer it our children. We do not trust in any idol to answer our prayers, provide for our daily bread, fight our battles, pay for our medicine, or take control of our children. That was them not us. OK—that pay-for-our- medicine part cannot be proven about the ancients, but the rest…?

I fear we have long ago tumbled into the same sins our spiritual ancestors embraced. We have different names for our idols now but the sin remains the same. We know Jesus but they knew Yahweh, the same trinitarian God we worship. We all have fallen essentially into the same sins and are deserving of the same judgments. The Jewish people deserved famine, plagues, tumors, and eventually invasion and destruction for their idol worship. Why, I may ask, would we deserve less? We act like they acted, idolizing a higher power that does for us what Moloch did for them. We find our security in our idol government god very similar to the way they found security in their idol government gods. Are we really any better? They handed their children over to unbelieving priests where that foreign religion led to the child’s destruction. We, being supposedly wiser, hand our children over to the high priests of a humanistic religion, where their souls are stolen and their faith ruined, leading to the eternal death of those very children we said we loved.

American Government is Overgrown

It appears we also worship a shameful king. We have not been satisfied to contain the civil government within the constraints of Biblical boundaries. God’s law gives the civil government only very narrow duties and rights. As a nation we have expanded those duties and rights far beyond anything God allows. We have erected for ourselves an idol to which we may turn for those benefits God Himself was supposed to bestow. We find it nearly impossible to imagine life lived within a social context of Biblical allowances, morality, and faith. Rather, we expect daily, to raise holy hands in supplication to the more visible god of government to meet all our needs in its fading glory.

Time to Reject Modern Idols

I know the words I am writing today will, in many cases, feel like a lead weight to the hearts of many. We are patriotic. We live in the greatest country on earth. We are the last superpower. Without us the ends of the earth would unravel. This was also true of Rome, and Greece, and Babylon. Remember with me that it was from those very kingdoms that God rescued humanity and brought them to freedom in Christ. That freedom was not just a freedom from eternal damnation. It was also a freedom that extended to life on planet earth. Christian liberty derives and expands from our faith to the nations, as Christ’s kingdom conquers the idols of every age. We could start our quest for liberty by taking back our children. We are living in an era of unbounded opportunity for the church if we will only turn back to our God and reject the idol(s) of our day.