The best kept secret

The Bible describes the condition of man and says that all people know deep down that they are accountable to God for their actions. And they know that the judgment of God is just; read Romans 1 and 2.

“For when Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature what the law says, though they have not the law, they are a law to themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts. Their conscience also bears witness to this, and their thoughts accuse or excuse each other.” (Romans 2:14-15)

Such a state, where your own thoughts accuse you and then you excuse yourself again, is untenable. That is an ongoing process that would almost drive you insane. A man who really thinks about the things of life and his hopeless position before God has a choice of two things. You can turn to God and seek His Salvation or you can turn to Satan to believe his lies. If you reject the first, you choose the second. In that case, what your God-given conscience tells you is "skillfully" blotted out of your soul and mind. We've thought about and written about that before; see for example here. Hell no longer exists and death no longer frightens you. Satan's best kept secret, so to speak.

But for the people of God there seems to be another secret. It is the idolatry, which you might say is Satan's very best kept secret.

Israel, the people of God

When we read the history of the people of Israel in the Bible, it appears that they fell again and again into idolatry and the Lord God had to judge them. Even immediately after the Exodus from Egypt, while they were in the wilderness, they worshiped idols (e.g. Amos 5:25,26 and here). What God had said was not unclear, was it?

“You shall have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt make for thyself no image, no image whatsoever of what is in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. , but who shows mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him innocent who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:3-7)

Their disobedience was the reason they perished in the desert and were not allowed to enter the land. Also in the land they have actually constantly served idols and the Lord eventually had to drive them out of the land that He had given them as a promise. By the way, He already warned them about this before they entered the land; the book of Deuteronomy bears witness to this in several places (eg 28:36,45).

In one way or another, the people of Israel have either misunderstood God's warnings or deliberately set them aside. Or should you say that the devil is far too clever for the people of the people of God? That he always managed to entice them with some simple ideas? It is probably all these things together that make the people go wrong again and again.

Surely we should notice that the people as a whole have not understood and ignored God's warnings against idolatry? There were always only a few who served the Lord in faith and obedience.
All in all, it's an incredibly sad story.

Israel, a warning example

But this sad story, according to Paul, is given to us Christians for an example and warning (1 Corinthians 10:11). It is clear given the context in the chapter that it is about the idolatry into which Israel fell again and again.

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak to you as to wise men, so judge for yourself what I say.” (1 Corinthians 10:14-15).

If we read this chapter with this command to stay away from idolatry, then we as Christians are obliged to pay attention to this. There would then be no reason for us not to want to know what this actually means.

You would therefore expect that the subject is known among Christians and that the Church would fare better than the people of Israel. After all, we now have the whole Bible, God's Word, and can read everything.
But what you see is that even sincere and true believers are hardly concerned with this theme. We are busy with all kinds of theological themes, as Christendom around them is succumbing to idolatry and being deceived by Satan and his demons. There is no Christian group or denomination that does not have to deal with this and yet we are apparently unable to delve into the theme and arm ourselves against the deception.

'You will only see it when you get it'

But Christendom is going through a history that is actually similar to that of the people of Israel. We have not learned the lessons of the people of Israel and almost the entire Christian church has fallen into idolatry. We've talked about it before and it was the reason for this site. The subject of 'idolatry' is a non-issue in Christendom.

It is Satan's very best kept secret, which has gone completely under the radar in the Church. The Old Testament is full of them, and that alone should be enough for us—given Paul's admonition—to delve very seriously into the subject. But not only that; The New Testament is also full of it. Most letters have more or less elaborate discourses on or warnings against idolatry. The problem is we just don't see it. Johan Cruyff said it succinctly: 'You will only see it when you get it‘.

That's why you might call it Satan's very best secret.

We don't concern ourselves with negative things

Sometimes you hear believers say that they prefer not to deal with these kinds of negative topics. They prefer to be concerned with the blessings of the Christian faith. The latter is of course fine and the very best, but that does not alter the fact that we may withdraw from what the Bible says about it.

Because how can you as a Christian survive if you do not know the wiles of the devil?
We must know the mind of Satan says Paullest Satan take advantage of us.” (2 Corinthians 2:10-11). Moreover, the Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit“mentioned as part of the armor we must put on”that you may stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11-17).

The apostle Jude wanted to write a letter about the 'common [Christian] Salvation'; the positive things so to speak. But he was forced to write about the spiritual battle. What he then describes are not nice things, but they have everything to do with the influence of the heavenly powers on this world and also on the world of Christians.
Jude says we're in'this last time' have a duty to take care of the people around us.
“And have mercy on some, being discerning in doing so. But save others with fear, and snatch them out of the fire. You must also hate the undergarment that is stained with the flesh.” (Judas 1:22-23)

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