Psalms 8:1
My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Malachi; 2:11 grabbed my attention:
Malachi 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
The word strange translates נֵכָֽר (nay-kar’), which refers to something foreign, alien, a “stranger.” From this idea of strange, we use the word for what is unfamiliar, unusual, out of the ordinary, uncommon, or not aligned to reality. An idea or behavior might be called strange if it departs from the norms of faith and culture. But from a biblical perspective, the contrast is always measured against God’s revelation, both special (Scripture) and general (nature). Whatever breaks from God’s order in design or decree is regarded as strange.
To “marry the daughter of a strange god” is to connect oneself with a person in a relationship God calls “unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14). A “woman” is often used as a representation of faith and religion in connection with what or who is worshipped and the associated beliefs and customs (Revelation 17:1-5; see Ephesians 5:25 with Revelation 19:7). One who devotes himself to strange beliefs has “profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved” (Malachi 2:11).
As marriage vows separate the husband from all others to his wife, and the wife from all others to him, holiness is the believer’s vow to Christ: holiness separates us to Him as His and marks the believer as identified with Christ alone.
From God’s point of view, it is strange for His people to direct their worship, exclusively belonging to Christ, to any other god, as it would be for a man or a woman to. give themselves to another who is not his wife, or her husband. He lamented: “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit” (Jeremiah 2:11). Think: God, Who created us in His image, is our “glory.” For the man created in the image of GOD, worshipping anything less than Him is shameful and worthless.
Along the still waters, I reflected on what man has left God to worship. The Bible mentions Dagon (Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 5:1-7), Ashtoreth, Molech, Chemosh, and Milcom (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13). Dagon was a combination of a fish and a man. Ashtoreth is presented as a naked female body. Molech was represented with a bull’s head on a male body. Others are said to represent departed kings who were elevated to deities and depicted in statues representing their former, earthly form.
Some deities are represented as calves, bulls, goats, and birds, often combined with human body parts. The Egyptians have worshipped beetles (the scarab) and frogs combined with a female human body.
The Hindi worship a pantheon of strange gods, almost all female, depicted with multiple sets of arms, one with an elephant’s snout, a male human god with a monkey’s face, and thousands more.
What all of these have in common is a rejection of the one True God in Whose image man was made, and the worship of the man who was made in the image and likeness of his Creator. False worship always moves in the direction of subordinating man to something less than himself: the beasts of the earth, sea, and air, or to the woman God made from and for man. And when man turns worship to himself, he has disconnected himself from his glory, and is worshipping what is less than himself. Selah!
They have, indeed, “Changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23).
In the valley, I gazed upon the Cross and thought of Him Who embraced it for me, and was filled with a desire to embrace mine for Him (Galatians 2:20). I love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19). I received the seal of my union with Christ when I was washed in His blood (Ephesians 1:13-14; Revelation 1:5), holiness is the way I “show my ring” to this world. I can’t imagine worshipping anything or anyone other than He Who loved me and washed me from my sins with His own blood, Who loved me and gave Himself for me (Revelation 1:5; Galatians 2:20).
His voice as the sound of many waters echoed in the valley: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
At the table, my Head anointed my head with His oil, and my LORD mixed His grace into my cup. Goodness and mercy, ever present, followed me as I followed Him into the harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
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