Readings for today: 1 Kings 17-19
The Bible could not be more clear. The source of all the evil and suffering and trouble and heartache in the world is because humanity continues to chase all the wrong gods. Our idolatry is literally killing us and those we love and live among. In ancient Israel, the idols took the form of little statues called “Baals” that represented things like the forces of nature. The people of the ancient near east worshipped these idols and made sacrifices to them in an attempt to harness those forces on their behalf. They worshipped from a place of fear, always anxious of what might happen if they didn’t get say the proper incantation or make the right sacrifice or do something that might displease the local god.
Listen to how the prophet Elijah describes it to Ahab when he confronts him in the midst of a deep drought. “It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel but you and your government - you’ve dumped God’s ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals.” (1 Kings 18:18 MSG) Rather than turning to God for help in the midst of a national crisis, Ahab turned to false gods. Rather than call on the Lord of the Universe to provide for His covenant people, Ahab turned to pagan idols. The result was predictable. Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. No help came. Why? Because Baal is not real. He is a concept, nothing more. A deification of the forces of nature. A human attempt at control. His idols are simply wood and stone. They have no power. They have no voice. They have no ability to hear and respond to our prayers. This is why Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal as they punish themselves to try and grab their god’s attention. He knows Baal cannot answer.
Why do we still chase after Baal? Sure, most of us don’t make little statues but we do make idols of money, time, power, success, significant others, sex, substances, or certain social/political ideologies. We worship them in an attempt to gain control in and through them over the forces of our world. It doesn’t seem to matter how much technological progress we make or how deep we probe the mysteries of this world, there is a pagan impulse within all of us that pushes us to worship creation rather than the Creator. And this, again, is where things go so very wrong in our world. The devastating impact of human idolatry is on display every day in the news or on social media. It’s brutal and terrifying and traumatic. How much better would this world be if we simply would turn to God? Submit our ways to Him? Obey His commands? Love as He loves? Serve as He serves? Give as He gives?
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Kings 20-21