God Among Other Gods

2 Kings 17:28-33

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

This story is about the origin of the Samaritan people that the Jews came to hate so very much that they would not even talk to each other. The hatred became so profound that a woman beside a well would be shocked that a Jewish man would talk to her, at least until she discovered that he was Messiah.

What's creepy about this story is that it paints a picture of what can happen to anyone when they do not make a clear choice to trust God. These people believed in God - they had a priest come and teach them about God and taught them how to fear God. They believed in the Great I Am, and they feared him.

But they also feared others.

The believed in God, but they didn't believe that He was the one true God. They believed he was truly God, but that others were just as true. Nibhaz and Tartak had just as much claim on true divinity as Yahweh. Even bloodthirsty Adrammelech and Anammelech, who drank the blood of their children, were as worthy of worship in their minds as was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

How very post modern of them. They didn't want to offened any sensibilities or any dieties by making any exclusive truth claims. One God is as real as another, and we all are really on the same spiritual path going to the same places. We shouldn't tie ourselves down to one truth or one God. Yahweh, Allah, Kami, Brahman, Adrammelech, Jesus - all are equally valid.

Except, of course, that they are not equal. Each of these Gods expects different things of His/Its followers. Yahweh and His son Jesus call people to a life lived in love of Him and love of others. Adrammelech calls for his followers to sacrifice their children to him. These are clearly not the same Gods, and adherance to these very different belief systems results in people doing different things and becoming very different people.

God does not put up with this. He will not be one among many. He calls for our allegiance to Him and to HIm alone.

He knows very well that we need HIm and HIm alone. If He were to let us have our own gods, we would destroy ourselves with them. We would feed them our children, hoping that they would protect us.

We American's are very sophesticated people - we would never dream of having a false God to which we would sacrifice our children. Except perhaps for the god of Wealth and Economic Security that we worship with the hours of our lives and love more than our families. We are willing to give up our families for this god. Or perhaps the god of adventerous adultery - we will happily feed our children's wellbeing to this god, and tell them it is none of their business what we do with our private time. Or the lying god of eternal good health. Or the god of entertainment. Or a thousand other secular gods that America worships.

This text is frightening to me, because it is not that the people here do not believe in God. They do. They trust him. They fear him. They even send for a priest to teach them how to fear God correctly.

But they have brought their own gods into the relationship as well. They want God's protection, but they want to hedge their bets and make sure that the other gods are pulling for them too.

I believe in God, but I still want a good portfolio to care for my old age years. I trust God, but I still want an extensive education to prove to myself and to others that I am competent. When I get sick, I pray, but my first thought is of medicin and doctors. I trust God to provide for me, but I still have insurance.

I suppose some of that is just being responsible. But how much of it is a lack of faith in the one God and too much faith in other gods?