Called to Be Separate

            Idolatry is a theme that repeats itself over and over throughout the Old Testament. Rachel stole her father’s idols when she departed her father’s house. Later in the journey, it is record-ed that those in the party “gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand…and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.” Genesis 35:4. Thus pagan gods early on had found their way among the descendants of Abraham.

      In the Ten Commandments, God expressly declared, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them….” Exodus 20:3-5.

       It was not long after the people had vowed to obey all that the Lord had spoken (Exodus 24:7), that Moses came down from meeting with God on Mt. Sinai and found the people in idolatrous revelry. As he saw them licentiously dancing around a golden calf that Aaron had made, Moses cast the tables of stone containing the written Ten Commandments to the ground. This act symbolized the fact that the people had grievously broken God’s Law.

       After this incident, God gave still further warnings regarding the dangers of idolatry. The Israelites were strictly forbidden to adopt the gods of the people into whose land they were going. “But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves…Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice…. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.” Exodus 34:13-17.

        Israel was commanded to destroy all traces of idolatry in the lands which they were to possess. “Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.” Deuteronomy 12:2, 3.  They were not even to mention the names of the heathen gods. Exodus 23:13.

         Not only were they not to worship other gods, but they were not to make images or likenesses, even for the purpose of reminding them of the true God. “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,  the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.” Deut. 4:15-18. 

          The danger of conformity to the surrounding heathen would be a real one. God’s people were not to follow the customs of the heathen, even in their worship of the true God. “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” Deut. 12:30-32. Thus God made it clear that His worship was not to be modified by borrowings from idolatry.

       So dangerous was idolatry, and so disastrous would be a compromise with it, that idolaters found in Israel were not to be allowed to live. Deuteronomy 17:2-5; 13:6-11.

       The people were warned of the results if they would decide to accept pagan worship. They would “utterly be destroyed,” and the Lord would scatter them “among the nations” until they were “left few in number among the heathen.” There they would “serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.” Yet hope was given. “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deuteronomy 4:25-29.

       Yet God revealed to Moses that after his death, Israel would turn to idolatry. “Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land…and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.” Deuteronomy 31:16. 

       David wrote, “They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.” Psalm 106:34-38. 

      The history of Israel from their fall into idolatry on the borders of Canaan on into the succession of their kings reveals how they fell deeper and deeper into heathenism. In an effort to arouse and save them, God finally allowed them to be carried off at the hands of the heathen to whose ways they loved to conform. A brief overview of history will highlight how this happened.

      When the king of Moab desired to conquer Israel, he called on Balaam the prophet to curse them. But Balaam was not able to utter a word against them, for they were God’s own, protected people. However, Balaam devised a plan where-by they could be overthrown. The king of Moab staged a great heathen feast, where licentious-ness, feasting, drunkenness, and idol worship took place. The Israelites, seduced to join in the festivities, threw off restraint and indulged in the vile practices of the heathen. The leaders of the Israelites led out in participating in the evil, and a great number of the people followed their example. As a result, tens of thousands of Israel-ites fell to a plague of sickness, and the leaders who had led out in the iniquity were killed by the command of God. What a high price to pay for fraternizing with the heathen! “Their iniquitous practices did that for Israel which all the enchantments of Balaam could not do--they separated them from God.” Patriarchs and Prophets 455.

       In this shameful episode early in Israel’s history, just as they waited at the border of Canaan, Satan demonstrated a principle that he used many times over in separating Israel from God. When he could not overthrow them, he seduced them to unite with him by compromise, presenting allurements with a winning, friendly demeanor. He led them thus stealthily to accept heathen practices, and when they had rejected God, they were in the path to destruction.

       After Joshua’s death, Israel turned to idol-atry. “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them…. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.  And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them…. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies….  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.” Judges 2:11-19. 

       Years later, King Solomon led Israel into apostasy again. The sinful step of marrying heathen wives led him into accepting their form of worship, building heathen temples, and erect-ing images in groves. Here took place licentious and degraded worship practices and the cruel sacrificing of children. “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods…. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidon-ians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.” 1 Kings 11:4, 5.

       “He tried--but at what cost!--to unite light with darkness, good with evil, purity with im-purity, Christ with Belial.” Prophets and Kings (PK) 58. Solomon was perpetuating the tool of Satan used on the borders of Canaan. He tried to blend the worship of God with the worship of paganism. Again, the result for Israel was disaster.

       “During these years of apostasy, the spiritual decline of Israel progressed steadily. How could it be otherwise when their king had united his interests with satanic agencies? Through these agencies the enemy worked to confuse the minds of the Israelites in regard to true and false wor-ship, and they became an easy prey. Commerce with other nations brought them into intimate contact with those who had no love for God, and their own love for Him was greatly lessened. Their keen sense of the high, holy character of God was deadened. Refusing to follow in the path of obedience, they transferred their alleg-iance to the enemy of righteousness. It came to be a common practice to intermarry with idol-aters, and the Israelites rapidly lost their abhor-rence of idol worship. Polygamy was counten-anced. Idolatrous mothers brought their child-ren up to observe heathen rites. In the lives of some, the pure religious service instituted by God was replaced by idolatry of the darkest hue.” PK 58, 59.

       Solomon in later years repented of his great apostasy and turned to the Lord. However, the consequences of his sin remained. After his death, just when his son Rehoboam was about to come to the throne, the kingdom of Israel split into two parts: ten tribes of Israel, and two tribes of Judah. For a time, Rehoboam attempted to do right, but soon he began to grow more and more into the practices of idolatry. “And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” 2 Chronicles 12:1.

       “With the rending of the kingdom early in Rehoboam's reign the glory of Israel began to depart, never again to be regained in its fullness. At times during the centuries that followed, the throne of David was occupied by men of moral worth and far-seeing judgment, and under the rulership of these sovereigns the blessings resting upon the men of Judah were extended to the surrounding nations. At times the name of Jehovah was exalted above every false god, and His law was held in reverence. From time to time mighty prophets arose to strengthen the hands of the rulers and to encourage the people to continued faithfulness. But the seeds of evil already springing up when Rehoboam ascended the throne were never to be wholly uprooted; and at times the once-favored people of God were to fall so low as to become a byword among the heathen. 

       “Yet notwithstanding the perversity of those who leaned toward idolatrous practices, God in mercy would do everything in His power to save the divided kingdom from utter ruin. And as the years rolled on and His purpose concerning Israel seemed to be utterly thwarted by the devices of men inspired by satanic agencies, He still manifested His beneficent designs through the captivity and restoration of the chosen nation.” PK 96, 97.

       Jeroboam, the new king of the ten tribes, also led his people into idolatry by erecting golden calves, organizing a priesthood, and calling the citizens to worship these idols. “And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” 1 Kings 13:34.

       The prophet Ahijah predicted, “For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and He shall root up Israel out of this good land, which He gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And He shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.” 1 Kings 14:15, 16.

       “Yet the Lord did not give Israel up without first doing all that could be done to lead them back to their allegiance to Him. Through long, dark years when ruler after ruler stood up in bold defiance of Heaven and led Israel deeper and still deeper into idolatry, God sent message after message to His backslidden people. Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to stay the tide of apostasy and to return to Him. During the years that were to follow the rending of the kingdom, Elijah and Elisha were to live and labor, and the tender appeals of Hosea and Amos and Obadiah were to be heard in the land. Never was the kingdom of Israel to be left without noble witnesses to the mighty power of God to save from sin. Even in the darkest hours some would remain true to their divine Ruler and in the midst of idolatry would live blameless in the sight of a holy God. These faithful ones were numbered among the goodly remnant through whom the eternal purpose of Jehovah was finally to be fulfilled.” PK 108.

       “From the time of Jeroboam's death to Elijah's appearance before Ahab the people of Israel suffered a steady spiritual decline. Ruled by men who did not fear Jehovah and who encouraged strange forms of worship, the larger number of the people rapidly lost sight of their duty to serve the living God and adopted many of the practices of idolatry.” PK 109.

       When Ahab came to the throne of Israel, he “did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and wor-shipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.” 1 Kings 16:30-32. “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites….” 1 Kings 21:25, 26. Ahab led nearly the entirety of the people into heathen worship. It was a terrible national apostasy.

       “Under the blighting influence of Ahab's rule, Israel wandered far from the living God and corrupted their ways before Him. For many years they had been losing their sense of rever-ence and godly fear; and now it seemed as if there were none who dared expose their lives by openly standing forth in opposition to the prevailing blasphemy. The dark shadow of apostasy covered the whole land. Images of Baalim and Ashtoreth were everywhere to be seen. Idolatrous temples and consecrated groves, wherein were worshiped the works of men's hands, were multiplied. The air was polluted with the smoke of the sacrifices offered to false gods. Hill and vale resounded with the drunken cries of a heathen priesthood who sacrificed to the sun, moon, and stars. 

       “Through the influence of Jezebel and her impious priests, the people were taught that the idol gods that had been set up were deities, ruling by their mystic power the elements of earth, fire, and water….

       “Through faithful messengers the Lord sent repeated warnings to the apostate king and the people, but in vain were these words of reproof. In vain did the inspired messengers assert Jehovah's right to be the only God in Israel; in vain did they exalt the laws that He had entrust-ed to them. Captivated by the gorgeous display and the fascinating rites of idol worship, the people followed the example of the king and his court, and gave themselves up to the intoxicat-ing, degrading pleasures of a sensual worship….

       “Alas, how had the glory of Israel departed! Never before had the chosen people of God fallen so low in apostasy.” PK 115, 116.

       For this time of deep apostasy, God raised up the prophet Elijah, who brought a fearless call to return to the true God. When he told Ahab that there would be no dew or rain on the land, the priests of Baal found that their gods were power-less to provide for the lack. Israel turned into a dry wasteland, and Jezebel earnestly sought the life of Elijah. Unable to find him, however, the wicked queen proceeded to have slain all of the prophets of the true God whom she could find. Elijah, and a hundred other prophets whom Obadiah hid in a cave, escaped the destruction.

       And yet God’s judgments, sent to lead the people back to Him, found them still hardened in opposition to Him. They persisted in their stubborn apostasy. It was only at the end of three and a half years of no rain that the final showdown between the worship of the true God, and the worship of Baal, took place on Mount Carmel. When God sent fire from heaven to con-sume the sacrifice, the stones, and the water, the people acknowledged that the Lord is God. Baal’s priests, however, remained unrepentant.

       “And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” 1 Kings 18:40.

       The kings of Israel who succeeded Ahab also did evil in the sight of the Lord. In Judah, King Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, thus bringing the wickedness of Jezebel into Judah. This evil continued until the child king Joash was brought to the throne, and Athaliah, who had been ruling as queen, was slain. This woman had led many people of Judah into idolatry.

       “A reformation followed. Those who took part in acclaiming Joash king, had solemnly covenanted ‘that they should be the Lord's people.’ And now that the evil influence of the daughter of Jezebel had been removed from the kingdom of Judah, and the priests of Baal had been slain and their temple destroyed, ‘all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet.’ 2 Chronicles 23:16, 21.”  PK 216.

        In Israel, God raised up the prophet Elisha to continue Elijah’s ministry. Through his work, many Israelites were brought back to the worship of the true God. “The long years of idolatrous backsliding on the part of rulers and people had wrought their baleful work; the dark shadow of apostasy was still everywhere apparent, yet here and there were those who had steadfastly refused to bow the knee to Baal. As Elisha continued his work of reform, many were reclaimed from heathenism, and these learned to rejoice in the service of the true God.” PK 259.

        But sadly, Israel as a nation still continued in its apostasy. “The closing years of the ill-fated kingdom of Israel were marked with violence and bloodshed such as had never been witnessed even in the worst periods of strife and unrest under the house of Ahab. For two centuries and more the rulers of the ten tribes had been sowing the wind; now they were reaping the whirlwind. King after king was assassinated to make way for others ambitious to rule…. Every principle of justice was set aside; those who should have stood before the nations of earth as the depositaries of divine grace, ‘dealt treacherously against the Lord’ and with one another. Hosea 5:7.

       “With the severest reproofs, God sought to arouse the impenitent nation to a realization of its imminent danger of utter destruction. Through Hosea and Amos He sent the ten tribes message after message, urging full and complete repentance, and threatening disaster as the result of continued transgression….

        “Some of the leaders in Israel felt keenly their loss of prestige and wished that this might be regained. But instead of turning away from those practices which had brought weakness to the kingdom, they continued in iniquity, flattering themselves that when occasion arose, they would attain to the political power they desired by ally-ing themselves with the heathen….

       “…the Lord had repeatedly set before the ten tribes the evils of disobedience. But notwith-standing reproof and entreaty, Israel had sunk lower and still lower in apostasy….

       “The iniquity in Israel during the last half century before the Assyrian captivity was like that of the days of Noah, and of every other age when men have rejected God and have given themselves wholly to evil-doing. The exaltation of nature above the God of nature, the worship of the creature instead of the Creator, has always resulted in the grossest of evils. Thus when the people of Israel, in their worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, paid supreme homage to the forces of nature, they severed their connection with all that is uplifting and ennobling, and fell an easy prey to temptation. With the defenses of the soul broken down, the misguided worshipers had no barrier against sin and yielded themselves to the evil passions of the human heart. 

       “Against the marked oppression, the flagrant injustice, the unwonted luxury and extravag-ance, the shameless feasting and drunkenness, the gross licentiousness and debauchery, of their age, the prophets lifted their voices; but in vain were their protests, in vain their denunciation of sin….

        “Such were some of the results that had followed the setting up of two calves of gold by Jeroboam. The first departure from established forms of worship had led to the introduction of grosser forms of idolatry, until finally nearly all the inhabitants of the land had given themselves over to the alluring practices of nature worship. Forgetting their Maker, Israel ‘deeply corrupted themselves.’ Hosea 9:9.” PK 279-282

       God repeatedly appealed to His erring people through the prophets. Even in their deepest apostasy, He offered forgiveness if they would return to Him. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.” Hosea 6:1. Unfortunately, the majority of those who heard these calls of mercy did not return, but con-tinued in their impenitence.

       “The evils that had overspread the land had become incurable; and upon Israel was pro-nounced the dread sentence: ‘Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.’ ‘The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it.’ Hosea 4:17; 9:7.” PK 285.

       God said, “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.  All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.” Amos 9:8-10.

       When Amaziah, a leader of idolatry at Bethel in Israel, told the good prophet Amos to leave the nation and go to Judah, and no longer to disturb Bethel, Amos prophesied that the land would go into captivity. This came to pass. At first, the Assyrians exacted tribute from Israel. However, King Menahem of Israel and the two kings after him continued to do evil, until the Assyrians came and took away numerous captives, scattering them in faraway lands.

       “From this terrible blow the northern kingdom [Israel] never recovered. The feeble remnant continued the forms of government, though no longer possessed of power…. Soon the kingdom was to be swept away forever.” PK 287, 288.

       Yet another chance was given to the remaining Israelites. Good King Hezekiah arose in Judah, bringing in reforms and a return to righteousness. He invited those of Israel as well as Judah to attend the Passover at Jerusalem, after the order of God’s requirements.

       "Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria…. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified forever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away His face from you, if ye return unto Him." 2 Chronicles 30:6-9. This was the message that came from Judah.

       “…but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 30:10, 11.

       In the space of around two years, Assyria returned to Israel, taking the rest of the people captive. “For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God…and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the heathen…. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities….  And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them…for they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my command-ments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks…. and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the command-ments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.  And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight.” 2 Kings 17:7-20.

       What a sad ending for a nation that began so gloriously! Called to be separate from the world, called to be God’s peculiar people, they instead married the world and rejected God. Yet there was a ray of hope. Among the captives taken by the Assyrians were some who were true to God, and these would bring the truth to the heathen among whom they had been scattered.

All quotations are from Ellen G. White.