It's almost 11 PM, and I'd rather go to bed than write this post. I also would prefer not to write this because it's an uncomfortable topic. But I need to be honest about what God has been showing me; it's an ugly thing that I have become aware of in my life, and also in the Bible. There are two passages that I'm writing from; the first is in Judges 8, and the second is in Ezekiel 16.
Judges 8 is the aftermath of the story of Gideon. For those that don't know, God used Gideon to save the Israelites from the oppression of neighboring countries. God took Gideon's army of thousands and only let him take 300 men, so that they would know they wouldn't win in their own strength. And God used that small group of men to defeat a massive army, and eventually liberate Israel from oppression. So what happens after all that? Gideon takes the gold rings from the plunder and makes an idol. Here's 8:27,33-34:
Judges 8 is the aftermath of the story of Gideon. For those that don't know, God used Gideon to save the Israelites from the oppression of neighboring countries. God took Gideon's army of thousands and only let him take 300 men, so that they would know they wouldn't win in their own strength. And God used that small group of men to defeat a massive army, and eventually liberate Israel from oppression. So what happens after all that? Gideon takes the gold rings from the plunder and makes an idol. Here's 8:27,33-34:
"Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family...No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side."It's incredible (aka unbelievable) that this is what happened after God's provision for them. You have to wonder how they could be so blind to go back to their old ways. Ezekiel 16 is probably more appalling. It's God's allegory of Jerusalem when they were being unfaithful to Him. Since I don't want to post the whole chapter, I will summarize, but I would recommend reading it in its entirety. God equates Jerusalem to an abandoned baby left to die in a field; He takes her in as her own and grows her back to life "like a plant of the field." She becomes a beautiful lady, "the most beautiful of jewels." He then enters into a marriage relationship with her and gives her the finest clothes, food, love, etc. She becomes a famous queen "because the splendor [God] had given [her] made [her] beauty perfect." But then comes the tragedy in verses 15 and 22:
"But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors an anyone who passed by and your beauty became his...In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood."Prostitution is an ugly reality, and these passages paint an ugly but true portrayal of the Israelites' treatment toward God. In their pride they forgot all that God had done for them and trusted in themselves. They prostituted themselves with the world. These stories still happen today; this is something God has been showing me in my own life. I have been prideful. I have trusted in my own strength and gone my own way. I have prostituted myself with the world, leaving the perfect love of God and searching for satisfaction elsewhere. And on the eve of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that God has been showing me my faults and reminding me of what He has done for me and who He is: a loving Father who reconciled us to Himself through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18) and who brings us back into fellowship with Him when we have gone astray (Luke 15:11-31).
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." -Psalm 139:23-24