Daily Lesson for Tuesday 9th of September 2025

By turning to an idol, the Israelites were in the process of divorcing themselves from the true God, the One who had delivered them from Egypt. The Lord squarely placed the blame on them, saying that they have “corrupted themselves” (Exodus 32:7, NKJV)—even crediting this statue with having delivered them from Egypt.

Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com

What a direct contradiction to what God said to them (Exodus 20:2)! This denial of God’s presence and mighty acts was a serious matter. Their thinking and feelings were distorted and completely corrupted.

For the prophet Ezekiel, idolatry lay at the core of all the misery of God’s people, and from there springs all other sins (see, for example, Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 20:1-44, Ezekiel 22:1-12). We often wonder why ancient believers were so naïve and uncorrectable when they engaged in worshiping different human-made idols. We are quite sure that we would never do something like that. Are we really free of idols? The idols of today may have different shapes and forms, yet they have a similar appeal.

An idol is something that replaces God, and even though we know it is not right, we still worship it, often repeatedly. It captures our imagination, affection, time, and mind more than does God. It can even enslave our thinking. In fact, we become what we behold, and we will rise no higher than whatever “god” we serve.

If God is not at the center of your life, then other gods will fill His place. If we do not enjoy and cultivate God’s living Presence, we will enjoy and devote our lives to something or someone else. What we substitute for Christ may have different appearances: pride, self-centeredness, money, power, sex, food, TV, drugs, alcohol, impure thoughts, pornography, pleasures, work, sports, family, video games, films, shopping, ideas, politics, music, position, titles, grades, and so forth. The list has no end.

We are very creative and inventive in this regard. We can turn anything that is good, beautiful, and meaningful into an idol. Idolatry is extremely dangerous because it transforms our personality, our way of thinking, our affections, and our social life. It changes our identity and replaces genuine personal relationships with hollow and ultimately meaningless interactions that, in the end, cannot save us.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-11-corrupting-themselves/