Judg 2:11-13 | KingComments | STEP | It is a remarkable phenomenon that, when man leaves God, he exchanges God for other gods. It is not the case that a man gives up God to continue his own way. Man must have an object of worship. Someone once said: “If there was no God, it would be necessary to find out or invent one.” Man seems to have a religious instinct that demands a higher power or powers. Every human being has this ‘instinct’ within him, even the atheist who denies the existence of God. When you talk to such a person, it often turns out that he believes in himself, and thus that he is his own god. The poignant thing in the book of Judges, however, is that it is a people who God has made to be His people and to which He has done so much good things. The cause is that they forget the LORD, the God of their fathers, Who led them out of the land of Egypt. For us it means that the door is open to evil when the personal knowledge of Christ and His work and the Word of God disappear into the background. Satan sees his chance and fills the resulting void with his means. Two idols are mentioned by name, one male, Baal, and one female, Ashtaroth. Baal means ‘man’ or ‘lord’ with the thought of owner. Ashtaroth, the female idol, speaks of fertility in a natural sense. Both idols are perversely connected and show something of the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness means that there is no authority being acknowledged. It is doing one’s own will, satisfying one’s own lusts. This is the result when God and His Word disappear from the field of view.

‏ Judges 2:11-13

Idolatry

It is a remarkable phenomenon that, when man leaves God, he exchanges God for other gods. It is not the case that a man gives up God to continue his own way. Man must have an object of worship. Someone once said: “If there was no God, it would be necessary to find out or invent one.” Man seems to have a religious instinct that demands a higher power or powers. Every human being has this ‘instinct’ within him, even the atheist who denies the existence of God. When you talk to such a person, it often turns out that he believes in himself, and thus that he is his own god.

The poignant thing in the book of Judges, however, is that it is a people who God has made to be His people and to which He has done so much good things. The cause is that they forget the LORD, the God of their fathers, Who led them out of the land of Egypt. For us it means that the door is open to evil when the personal knowledge of Christ and His work and the Word of God disappear into the background. Satan sees his chance and fills the resulting void with his means.

Two idols are mentioned by name, one male, Baal, and one female, Ashtaroth. Baal means ‘man’ or ‘lord’ with the thought of owner. Ashtaroth, the female idol, speaks of fertility in a natural sense. Both idols are perversely connected and show something of the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness means that there is no authority being acknowledged. It is doing one’s own will, satisfying one’s own lusts. This is the result when God and His Word disappear from the field of view.