Imagine you are driving to an unfamiliar destination and relying on your GPS to guide you. The voice calmly says, “In 500 feet, turn left,” but as you glance ahead, you see a shortcut—a road that looks faster and lined with flashy signs that promises a quicker trip. Tempted, you ignore the GPS and take the detour. At first, it feels right, but soon the road narrows, the signs disappear, and you are lost in a maze of dead ends. Frustrated, you finally turn back, rejoin the original route and hear the GPS patiently recalculating: “Proceed to the highlighted path.” When you follow it this time, you arrive safely — definitely not as fast as you had hoped, but exactly where you needed to be. For the Christian, the journey of life is a lot like that. God provides us with directions. However, we are often tempted to listen to other voices (shortcuts and distractions) that lead us astray.
In Exodus 23:20-33, the nation of Israel, God’s people, are still at Mt. Sinai and waiting for God to bring them into the promised land (Canaan) which is currently occupied by other tribes (Canaanites, Jebusites, etc). It is here that God promises His chosen people that His presence will be mediated by an angel. This angel is most likely Yahweh Himself for a few reasons: 1) In Exodus 3, the angel of the LORD at the burning bush is clearly Yahweh. 2) This angel has the power to pardon sin (Exodus 23:21) and 3) when the angel goes before His people and into the promised land, He will blot out the opposing peoples (Exodus 23:23). Also, at this time, God promises that, as His people serve Him, He will bless them with bread and water (Exodus 23:25) and will remove all sickness (Exodus 23:25). He also promises that the Hebrew women will not miscarry (Exodus 23:26) and that He will send hornets, a judgment of pestilence, to drive out enemies (Exodus 23:28). In summary, God will make a way for His chosen people when there seems to be no way. In analyzing these promises, we must recognize the specific nature of them. These promises are specifically given by Yahweh to His people because the false gods that Egypt worshipped “supposedly” provided these exact same things (food, illness prevention, fertility and protection against enemies with pestilence). As we study these specific promises and the entire book of Exodus, we see that God provides clear instruction to the Israelites on who to and who not to worship (Exodus 23:23-24 and 32-33). Furthermore, the New Testament affirms that New Covenant Christians, like the Old Testament Hebrews, are also to worship and serve God only (Romans 12:1-2).
Now most, if not all of today’s western born again believers, are not tempted to worship the false gods of Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Instead, American Christians are more like ancient Greeks and prone to embrace philosophies, worldviews, and theories in the name of cultural advancement and academic enlightenment. One such academic enlightenment is Secular humanism which says that we should build a society devoid of God. Although we worship God on Sunday morning and at times throughout the week, we also embrace this worldview when we intentionally avoid giving credit to God in our work environment, to our families or to our neighbors in order to not cause dissention with others. Postmodernism, another worldview, denies absolute truths. Therefore, it asserts that we each should live our own truth. However, as Christians, we must recognize this: if living your truth denies or avoids the teaching of the Bible, you are not embracing a truth; rather, you are embracing your own self-deceived fabrications. As Jesus states in John 14:6,“I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.” Brothers and sisters, are you wholeheartedly embracing this truth only and using biblical wisdom to reject any and all competing worldviews?….
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