Now, Mom immediately reverses the curse and blesses him instead. I don't know about you, but my mom would have whipped me, then told me she loved me, then maybe whipped me again.
But here is where things go wrong. Mom then declares that the money is dedicated to the Lord and then takes a portion of it to have it turned into a silver idol.
She did what?
Mom was sincere in their intention to honor God. But her faith was mixed with a heavy dose of ignorance and delusion. Two of the Ten Commandments say, "You shall have no other gods before me" and "You shall not make idols."
How can she recognize one sin (stealing) while embracing another (idolatry)?
But we see this kind of twisted value system in our world every day. The reality of the situation is found in verse 6.
In those days, Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
In other words, their morality wasn't being determined by the Old Testament law. Notice that no one pointed out to her, "Hey, you're not supposed to do that!" No one!!
We rail against the sins of our society like pedophilia, destructive greed, murder, sex trafficking, abuse, fraud, racism, and addictions.
But we're comfortable with radical autonomy, "I define truth. I define myself. I answer to no one."
And where does that lead?
Identity confusion, defining who I am by my feelings, my past wounds, cultural pressure, or social approval.
Pride, repackaged as self-expression. Pleasure is pursued without restraint, without any regard for the value and dignity of human life.
A loss of personal responsibility where blame replaces ownership.
Conviction is silenced, dismissed as judgment, hate, or intolerance.
And spiritual apathy, a quiet indifference that numbs the soul.
I want to be as clear as possible about this. These are the days when we, as a people, choose to follow no one other than ourselves, so we can do whatever seems right in our own eyes.
Don't you think that it is time to look at life differently?
Add comment
Comments