Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 10, all unrighteousness

 

Now, back to Romans, chapter 1.

28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all

unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

We don’t usually think of man’s specific flaws as being delusions sent by God, permitted by God, because of our wicked, rebellious hearts. But, not only all sorts of sexual sins but defects of character are part of the delusions God permitted us to have. What we get is the desires of our hearts to prove our sinfulness. Think of these things in their religious context in regard to God and to God’s people.

Unrighteousness is a general term for all wickedness from which the Christian is promised deliverance on condition although you are still capable of those things.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Fornication is associated with adultery and the sexual sins with which it is associated.

Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

And it is God’s will that we Christians abstain from all such sexual immorality, obsessions, and perversions.

Wickedness is a word linked with evil in Genesis 6:5, sin in 39:9, sexual immorality in Leviticus 18:17, and pagan sexual religious practices in Jeremiah 3:2. It is a word steeped in the rebellion of mankind after the Flood. It is used to refer to the nations surrounding Israel. See Deuteronomy 9:4 and Ezekiel 5:6.

 

1Corinthians 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

1John 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

 

Covetousness, desiring something that is not yours particularly in relation to sexual matters and even to God, is fornication and is a form of idolatry.

 

Ephesians 5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

 

Colossians 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

 

On a personal level;

 

Exodus 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

 

Romans 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

This is regarded as a type of theft.

 

1Thessalonians 4:3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;5  Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:6  That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

 

Israel craved the things of the nations around them and this covetousness was regarded as not only idolatry but a spiritual fornication.

 

Jeremiah 3:20  Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

 

You can see more of that comparison by reading Hosea and Ezekiel.

Bible Study on Exodus 30, verses 17 to 38, the common versus the holy

 

Exodus 30:17 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18  Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19  For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20  When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21  So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

 

Exodus 30:22 ¶  Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23  Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24  And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25  And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 26  And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27  And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28  And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29  And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30  And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31  And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32  Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35  And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36  And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37  And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 38  Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

 

There are many good commentaries on the tabernacle and on the ceremony and ritual surrounding the worship that God prescribed for the Hebrews. I see no need to simply repeat the work of others. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA and other places there are even displays of this tabernacle for teaching purposes.

Each ceremony and each command can be preached on with comparisons to Christ. Preaching expounds on the text, makes parallels, reveals types and symbols. The washing shows God’s abhorrence of sin, the perfume not being used for common purposes showing the difference His people must keep between sacred and profane things, the spices that made up the anointing oil in comparison to the spices that Christ was wrapped in etc. These are all important subjects for preaching. But, my purpose here is to move through the text and provide you with things that will help you open up the Bible everywhere you read.

 

With that in mind, there is a term in verse 33 that needs to be examined as it is also used in other applications. The term is cut off. To be cut off does not mean exiled or kicked out of the community as that was not an option. To be cut off from one’ people means something more permanent.

Genesis 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

 

Zechariah 13:8  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

 

2Kings 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

 

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 9, Phinehas, Zimri, and Cozbi

 

Numbers 25:6 ¶  And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7  And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8  And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9  And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. 10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12  Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13  And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 14  Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. 15  And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

 

After the command given by Moses, Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, obeyed and killed both an Israelite and the daughter of a Midianite prince who were engaged in sexual relations.

 

Regarding verse 9 notice this curious verse in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.

 

1Corinthians 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

 

Bibles typically say 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to this passage in Numbers 25. The Modernist heresy in modern Christians then says, “those numbers aren’t the same! They should be exactly alike!” But, Paul is not wrong. The number he mentions is contained in the number given in Numbers. Paul is writing a letter and we have seen approximations before, conversational illustrations referring or alluding to the Old Testament writings. He does not have to be reading from the Scriptures when he writes this from memory as part of his argument. However, some commentators get around this by saying that 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to a different event. That is fine as long as you don’t need a long, convoluted argument juggling numbers from different passages to get where you want to be.

 

Numbers 25:16 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17  Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18  For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

 

To underscore that there was something religious in Zimri and Cozbi’s sexual dalliance notice what is written. This incident relates to the worship of the local god or lord of Peor which clearly is a reflection and confirmation of the sexual nature of Canaanite religion and the dangers, the very spiritual dangers that the Israelites faced.”

 

Not only sexual deviance in the pursuit of religion was caused by this idolatry but many other character traits of humanity resulted.

 

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Bible Study on Exodus 30, verses 11 to 16, a ransom for his soul

 

Exodus 30:11 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13  This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14  Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15  The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16  And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

 

An important thing to note here is that the ransom for a man’s soul was paid to the Lord.

 

…then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD…

 

The Anglican clerics, Westcott and Hort, who were mainly responsible for the Revised Version of the Bible put forward the error that Satan was such a powerful entity, almost an opponent to God, that Jesus paid a ransom to him at the Cross. This is absurd as you can see as ransoms are paid to God.

Job 33:24  Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

 

Psalm 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

 

Matthew 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

 

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 

Christians have granted too much power and authority to Satan who is subordinate to God. He can do nothing without God’s permission and the book of Job says he must operate under the limits set by God. In the Persian religion there was a good god and a bad god; Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. This eventually resulted in the heresy put forward by the Iranian teacher, Mani, called Manichaeism of a very clear black and white universe where bad things that happen and good things that happen are clearly separated into the realms of distinct entities.

However, the Bible teaches God’s absolute sovereignty throughout. There is nothing that He did not either cause to happen or permit to happen for reasons He shows in Job we may never know on this earth. Our duty is to trust Him. Satan is wholly subordinate to God’s will and can do nothing that God does not permit. This is very difficult for Christians who have grown up in pagan Christianity where non-Christian ideas like Greek philosophy, are mingled in with Bible truth.

No ransom is now or was ever paid to Satan. That is heresy and blaspheming God’s sovereignty. Satan does not have a position where he can demand a ransom, nor is he ever said to request one.

Notice verse 14 about the twenty-year age mark. We often talk about the so-called age of accountability when before, a child is “safe” and not in danger of spending an eternity in God’s wrath, and after, when unless you accept God’s free gift of salvation in Christ you are judged and condemned as a sinner.

2Kings, chapter 16, comments

 

2Kings 16:1 ¶  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. 3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. 4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

 

Ahaz did not do right and even practiced the abomination of sacrificing his son to a pagan god in the superheated arms of the statue of Baal which I have described previously.

 

Carthage, Rome’s mortal enemy until destroyed, saw 300 babies sacrificed to Baal’s superheated arms in one day to try to placate the Devil and end a Roman siege while musicians blared drums and horns to drown out the screams of the agony of the infants. Carthage was a colony of Phoenicia.

 

Leviticus 18:21  And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

 

Unlike previous kings who simply allowed the people to sacrifice to pagan gods Ahaz did the worship himself. Pagan worshippers used to leave their offerings for the gods under trees.

 

We’ll discuss God’s interaction with King Ahaz in Isaiah, chapter 7.

 

2Kings 16:5 ¶  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. 7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. 9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

 

King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel intended to overthrow Ahaz and install a puppet king as we learn in Isaiah. Ahaz appealed for help to the King of Assyria, a superpower of that time, for help against them and spent much of the treasure of the king’s palace to do so. Damascus, Syria fell to him and in typical Assyrian fashion he carried them away and killed King Rezin.

 

2Kings 16:10 ¶  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. 13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. 14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of

the altar. 15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by. 16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

 

Ahaz went to show his fealty to the King of Assyria and saw a heathen altar that caught his eye. So, he had Urijah the priest construct one like it. Ahaz would use this altar to satisfy his lust for idolatry.

 

The altar was clearly not built according to specifications in Exodus but was of a heathen configurement and yet Ahaz wanted to offer sacrifices on it. Chronicles will give us more detail but I’ll wait until I get to those histories and combine cross-references from Kings and Isaiah to give a complete picture.

 

Ahaz “remodeling” of the altar and implements of worship continued.

 

1Kings 16:17 ¶  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. 18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria. 19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

 

To please the King of Assyria and to honor the gods of Damascus and Syria, Ahaz did this great evil of idolatry, explained here. Some of Ahaz’s projects are lost to us but we get the gist of this ungrateful, rebellious, and idolatrous king’s wickedness.

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 8, a stumblingblock

 

See my comments on Numbers, chapter 25;

 

“Numbers 25:1 ¶  And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2  And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3  And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5  And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

 

The Israelites begin consorting with Moabite women. This also included the worship of their gods.

 

Here is what Balaam was able to accomplish against Israel. He would not curse them. He could not. But he could lay a stumblingblock in their path to service to God, a sexual stumblingblock as we have already learned about the sexual content of ancient religion. First, the point at from where this began would be when Balaam was with Balak who was demanding a curse but getting a blessing.

 

Numbers 23:28  And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

 

Numbers 31:16  Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

 

Revelation 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

 

Baalpeor  means obviously ‘god of Peor’ or ‘lord of Peor’, a physical location we have seen in the text. The context indicates the sexual nature of the worship of this local god which, unfortunately, like all of the hypersexualized worship of the Canaanites we’ve already looked at was a stumblingblock to this race of former slaves of Egypt. This is not a case of, “oh, them local girls sure are pretty,” considering what you and I have learned about religious customs in Canaan so far. God orders Moses to execute every one who fell to this very sensual worship of this local Canaanite god.

 

Once the Israelites began enjoying physical relations with the Canaanite women spiritual decline was inevitable.

 

1Kings 11:1  But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

 

Nehemiah 13:26  Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

 

Put it in a modern perspective. You tried to raise your son or daughter right. You permitted them to go away to school. They announce to you at some point that they have fallen in love with a local girl or boy where they are. Marriage follows and then children, hopefully in that order. But you notice that the children seem to be raised with a different standard than the one you set for your child. Your grandchildren act very differently than your child did growing up, usually with less impulse-control and perhaps even acting a bit disrespectfully. You realize that if your child’s spouse was raised in a more liberal environment with less order than your child this will be reflected in your grandchildren’s behavior. We cannot underestimate the power of a child raised with a lower standard has on even a young person who you think is firm and solid in their beliefs and standards. It can be very disheartening. While you raised your child to be respectful of other’s property and a good guest in someone else’s home your grandchild acts like a Vandal sacking Rome when they visit. Maybe you notice that the family does not attend church faithfully or even, in some cases, bear any resemblance to a Christian family.

Bible Study on Exodus 30, verses 1 to 10, do not mix the heathen and the holy

 

Exodus 30:1 ¶  And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2  A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3  And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4  And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5  And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 6  And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7  And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8  And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 9  Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. 10  And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

 

In verse 7 there is a form of the verb to dress. To dress something in this context means to prepare it, make ready for use, to maintain. For instance, in dressing an animal one has slaughtered for a meal, caring for a garden, or washing one’s feet.

 

Genesis 18:7  And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

 

Genesis 2:15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

 

2Samuel 19:24  And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

 

Paying particular attention to verse 9 you can see again that God does not want pagan worship mingled in with His worship. He demands that no strange incense on this altar. Strange is a synonym for foreign or alien as stranger is a foreigner or alien.

 

Genesis 35:2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

 

Exodus 2:22  And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

 

Exodus 18:3  And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

 

Psalm 69:8  I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.

 

Ephesians 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

 

Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, will violate this command of God and die for it.

 

Leviticus 10:1  And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2  And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

 

What can we take away from this? It reinforces that God does not want pagan elements mixed in with His worship.

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 7, the perversion of ancient religions

 

Exodus 32:25  And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

 

To explain further, in ancient Greece and Rome orgia was a sacred word denoting worship in the mystery cults such as that devoted to Dionysus. It included dancing, singing, and drinking as well as promiscuous sexual behavior. You cannot underestimate the sexual perversion of ancient religion after the Flood. The ancient Egyptians practiced every kind of perversion in their religion.”

 

In ancient Near Eastern religion the sex act was important to the worship of heathen gods. Temples were attended by heterosexual and homosexual prostitutes. Throughout the Bible this was condemned and amazingly this behavior was brought into God’s temple, making it a house of prostitution like the pagan world around them.

 

Deuteronomy 23:17  There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.18  Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. [dog in this context is slang for a homosexual temple prostitute or sodomite]

 

God gave mankind over to this perversion because of the wickedness of their hearts. Do you see how we in America are returning to that?

With regard to idolatry please note the warning Moses gave in Deuteronomy, chapter 4.

Deuteronomy 4:1 ¶  Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things

that we call upon him for? 8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10  Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11  And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12  And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of

stone. 14  And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15  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: 16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17  The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18  The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 

And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

 

You remember discussing Baalpeor, don’t you? The entire incident suggested the degradation of the Israelites downward into the prevalent religious impulses of the day.

 

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 81, verses 8 to 16, they walked in their own counsels

 

Psalm 81:8 ¶  Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; 9  There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11  But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. 12  So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. 13  Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14  I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. 15  The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. 16  He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

 

If the Israelites will just listen to God, if they will just listen. They were told not to worship foreign gods, but the God who led them out of Egypt. For strange as foreign see;

The word stranger is used to denote a foreigner, an alien to a people, who lives among that people.

Genesis 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Genesis 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Leviticus 24:22  Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

Jacob put away his strange gods.

Genesis 35:1 ¶  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3  And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4  And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

Remember the Law given to Moses;

Exodus 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4  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: 5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

See verse 12 and how God will give people over to their own delusions. See the religious history of mankind summarized by Paul in Romans.

Romans 1:16 ¶  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

    19 ¶  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the

 

judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

If the Israelites had obeyed God would have done good things for them as He says here in this Psalm. Let this be a warning to you that your life will go much better, even though you will have persecution and tribulation just by virtue of living in a fallen world in a fallen body, but life will go much better and the Lord God will bless you if you obey Him and stay close. Let God speak to you through His word daily and often and do what you understand from the Bible what God wants you to do. Praise God and don’t make the mistake of the Israelites in ignoring His admonitions and commands on your life.