June 17, 2024
“They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” 2 Kings 17:33 KJV, emphasis added. See also verse 41.
The Jewish people made the lowest men priests for the high places of idolatry. They feared the LORD and served their own gods. God commanded them not to fear or serve other gods and to worship only Him, but they did not listen or obey. They thought they could serve Jehovah and other gods at the same time. Jehovah required specific observances, rituals, and laws, which they partially observed. But in addition, they served and worshiped their own gods. This is how deceived they were.
There is nothing new under the sun. Many professing Christians do the same today. They attend church, pray sometimes, maybe even read their Bible occasionally, but at the same time, they serve their own gods. Their loyalty is divided between Jehovah God and their gods of self-gratification, the love of money, and the love of what the world offers.
- These are the Sunday morning Christians. Most of their week is spent pursuing the gods of this world, while Sunday morning is reserved for God Almighty.
- These are the carnal Christians and lukewarm followers of Christ. They know they must give God something. They want it to be the minimum. They walk with one foot in the kingdom of God and the other foot in the world, pursuing the things of the world. They want to forgo the least amount of sin necessary, but not all sin. They want to love God and the world at the same time and to the same degree. “They fear the LORD but serve their own gods.”
They know that God requires them to love Him with all (not just part) of their soul, mind, heart, and strength. They vainly believe that God will accept a divided heart. Not surprisingly, many false teachers tell them what they want to hear. And what do they want to hear? They can fear the LORD and pursue their own selfish, worldly interests at the same time. They want to be told they can live in unrepentant sin and serve God simultaneously. They want to hear that they can fear the LORD, serve their own gods, and still go to heaven at the same time.
When it says that they feared the LORD, we are to understand that they pretended to fear the LORD, not that they did fear the LORD. If they did fear the LORD, they would not serve other gods (that is the grievous sin of idolatry), and they would forsake their wickedness. The fear of God leads us to repent of our iniquity, not hold on to it. Proverbs 1:7 states that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and that fools despise wisdom and instruction.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate.” Proverbs 8:13.
“and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Proverbs 16:6.
“Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28.
Most evangelicals teach that the fear of the LORD is reverence toward God and categorically deny that it has anything to do with feelings of fear, anxiety, or terror. But this is a great mistake, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (See my article titled Fear for more on this subject.)
At the same time, these evangelical leaders tell us that the fear of the LORD is awe and reverence; they also say that we will continue to sin for the rest of our lives, but there is nothing to fear because Christians are saved despite their unrepentant sins. There is no genuine fear of God without obedience to His will and laws. True fear of God is practical: it is demonstrated by how we live. It is shown through our repentance from sin, pursuit of holiness, and walking in obedience.
It is simply not possible to honestly fear the LORD and serve our own gods. If you believe it is, you are in great danger.
