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Serving Other Gods

Todd R 2 Comments

Foundational to God’s relationship with His people – His covenant – is the idea that He will be our God and we will be His people.  If we forsake all other “gods,” we will be blessed immeasurably by the true God, Yahweh.

However, in the time of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, right before the exile of Judah into Babylon, God’s people were not being faithful to Yahweh and were worse than prior generations in their rebellion.  So, Jeremiah says in chapter 16, verse 13 – “Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.”

This punishment has 2 parts: banishment from the Promised Land, and also “you shall serve other gods day and night.”  Have you ever thought that serving gods other than Yahweh is a punishment, or just that its bad or sinful?   It certainly isn’t the way the world sees it: many consider serving any god as punishment.  Others might have their own gods and would only consider serving other gods, including Yahweh, as punishment.  But here the Bible says that it is only punishment to follow false gods.

Why is this?  A good explanation comes from another prophet, Zechariah, in chapter 10, verse 2:

“For the household gods utter nonsense,
            and the diviners see lies;
they tell false dreams
            and give empty consolation.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;
            they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.”

Compared to a loving, omniscient, wise God, these other gods have no knowledge or wisdom and are not benevolent.  They cannot give us what we need to live and are not worthy of worship.  They cannot guide us like our Good Shepherd can.  Therefore, when we choose to follow anything other than Yahweh, are we punishing ourselves?

When Yahweh said “You shall have no other gods before me” in Exodus 20:3, He said it for our own benefit, and for His glory.

Amen.

A Scurry of Ebenezers

Todd R 7 Comments

What is an Ebenezer?  In the Old Testament, an Ebenezer was a “stone of help,” a kind of monument to times God helped His people.  These markers were a reminder of God’s faithfulness, providing strength for the present and future.  Sometimes in the Bible, these moments where God intervenes are noted by the phrase “but God” followed by a change in the direction of the story.

Ebenezer (pictured) is also a squirrel, and this blog’s mascot.  He represents these “but God” memorials in the Bible.  As a squirrel suddenly and unexpectedly draws our attention, Ebenezers draw our attention to reminders of God’s influence on history and our lives.  If so, a “scurry” of squirrels, as a group of them is called, should get our attention even more!  In the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis, Ebenezer (“but God”) appears multiple times:

  • Genesis 45:8 – “So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
  • Genesis 48:21 – “Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.”
  • Genesis 50:20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
  • Gen. 50:24 “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’”

The story of Joseph is long and complicated but is really a story of extreme sibling rivalry and jealousy being turned by God into a story of salvation for all of God’s family.  God intervened in many ways.

Joseph was favored by his father over his brothers, and when he shared his dreams that his family would one day bow down to him, his brothers despised him more and sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Joseph’s brothers directly were responsible this, “but God” accomplished much for Joseph in Egypt, according to Genesis 45:8.  The result of one “but God” is that Joseph had risen to a position of great power.

In addition, Joseph’s brothers hated him enough to not only sell him into slavery, but they also lied to their father, saying Joseph had been killed by wild animals.  “But God” not only used these evil intentions and acts to raise up Joseph, but through Joseph God also “meant it for good,” as Genesis 50:20 says, keeping many people alive.  Joseph had been placed in charge of the distribution of food in Egypt during a long famine.  When Joseph’s brothers came from Canaan to buy food, Joseph concealed his identity and tested them, but eventually revealed himself and gave them a new home in Egypt, providing food and a livelihood for them for years.  God made something great out of the evil of Joseph’s brothers.

There are more bad events in Joseph’s life that God overcame, without a direct “but God” reference.  Joseph had been wrongly accused of attempted rape by the wife of his earlier Egyptian employer, Potiphar.  While spending time in prison on this charge, Joseph also suffered an extended sentence because the cupbearer, who promised to advocate for Joseph to Pharaoh, forgot about him for 2 years.  All of these things Joseph overcame, with God intervening all along the way.

One last example.  Joseph also prophesied another “but God” in the future, in Genesis 50:24.  While Egypt initially welcomed Israel with open arms, giving them land in a choice area of Egypt, as the nation of Israel grew, they were eventually bound in slavery when a Pharaoh saw their size as a threat.  Joseph knew Israel would be delivered from this slavery, and “God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  The people would return to Canaan.

What does this mean for us?  That God is always intervening in our lives in more ways than we know, or probably could even comprehend.  Sometimes our lives can seem out of control and overwhelming, “but God” intervenes in our past, present, and future.

Every moment, we are surrounded by a scurry of Ebenezers, including many we are not aware of.

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” – John Piper

Ebenezer in a Dream

Todd R 2 Comments

In the ESV Bible, the phrase “but God” appears in the narrative 43 times, changing the direction of the story.  Ebenezer the squirrel, the blog’s mascot, represents these memorials of God’s intervention in the world and in our lives.  As a squirrel can unexpectedly draw our attention, I write about these moments to draw our attention to God as a reminder that adding God to our circumstances can change everything.  One of the times the words “but God” appears is in Genesis 20:3, which says:

“But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.’”

This “but God” Ebenezer comes during Abraham’s sojourn in Gerar, where Abimelech was king.  Similar to an earlier story from Genesis 12, Abraham lies and says his wife Sarah is his sister in order to stay out of trouble.  In this case, Abraham explains his reason for lying as: “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”[1]  Ironically, Abraham inadvertently here proved there was no fear of God in his own life at this moment, by prioritizing an assumption he had made about Abimelech’s character above the absolute knowledge of God’s character, who does not lie.  Be careful about what you’re certain of.  It might be wrong.

Just like each of us, even the heroes of our faith are not perfect and seek their own means of finding prosperity apart from God.  How God deals with them therefore reveals His grace with real people, and also has lessons we can learn from.  In response to this “but God” dream, Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham to avoid sinning with her.  The dream revealed the power of God to Abimelech, who “took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.”[2]  Abimelech even gave Abraham 1,000 pieces of silver and told Sarah it was “a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”[3]

Ebenezer, the ‘but God’ squirrel, is behind more than you know.

Although Abraham ended up shamed by this situation, God ended up glorified.  God was always in control, even when Abraham was faithless.  Of this story, the Life Application Study Bible notes: “How many times has God done the same for us, holding us back from sin in ways we can’t even detect? We have no way of knowing—we just know from this story that he can. God works just as often in ways we can’t see as in ways we can.”  In other words, there are often many Ebenezers we are not even aware of.  We may benefit from “but God” moments in the lives of others, as Abraham did with Abimelech.  Therefore, next time you see a squirrel (or the next 100 times), thank God for His many mercies toward you that you haven’t even noticed.

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” – John Piper

[1] Genesis 20:12
[2] Genesis 20:14
[3] Genesis 20:16

An Ebenezer in the Sky

Todd R 2 Comments
Photo by Stainless Images on Unsplash

Ebenezer the squirrel, the blog’s mascot, represents memorials of God’s intervention in the world and in our lives.  The times when He changes the course of events, and when the narrative is changed by the words “but God.”  In the ESV Bible, this phrase appears 43 times, including:

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” – Genesis 8:1

The phrase first was used in Genesis 3:3, when Eve says to the serpent, “but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”  As we know, Adam and Eve fell to temptation, eating the fruit and therefore providing us a warning that we should live by God’s words, not just quote them.

However, the second time we see “but God” it is a reminder that God intervenes to save sinners.  Sin started with one rejection of God’s word, but by Noah’s time, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”[1]  God had Noah build an ark for his family to escape the coming flood of judgement, and the last verse before Genesis 8:1 says, “the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.”[2]  Even for Noah and his family, the ones God chose to save, 5 months alone in an ark may not have felt like salvation.  “But God…made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

Today, if salvation seems far away, if the flood around us feels like it’s not going away, even if it’s been months since we’ve had a “good day”, God gave us an Ebenezer especially for this occasion: the rainbow.  Genesis 9:14-16 says:

“When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.  When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

When you see a rainbow, in the sky or anywhere, remember it as a sign of God’s love for His people, for sinners who rejected Him, but who He chose to save anyway.  He will deliver all of God’s children from the flood because His covenant is everlasting.

[1] Genesis 6:11-12
[2] Genesis 7:24

Daily Readings for July 14 – 20

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Fellow travelers:

Here is the list of readings for this week: 2 chapters to read per day as the main reading plan, and extra chapters for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2025.  Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings are about 9 chapters per week.

Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

Monday, July 14: Numbers 23-24
Tuesday, July 15: Numbers 25-26
Wednesday, July 16: Numbers 27-28
Thursday, July 17: Numbers 29-30
Friday, July 18: Numbers 31-32
Saturday, July 19: Numbers 33-34
Sunday, July 20: Numbers 35-36

Additional readings if you want to read the whole Bible this year:
Isaiah 42 – 50