Thither a Whoring

What an odd name for a blog title right? No worries, I'll explain later.

I've been reading the book of Judges here in the past few weeks, and let me tell you..
It's freakin' awesome.

From the stories of Judge Ehud's sword getting lost in a king's belly fat, to a woman shoving a tent peg through an enemy king's face, to Gideon's army of 300 men totally stomping on the enemy army of 135,000 through the power of God.
WHOA. I'm impressed.

As I was reading through the story of Gideon today, I stumbled across a small, little detail that I normally would have skipped over and just said "That's not a surprise for the Israelites." But it struck me a little different this time.
Here's a little back drop of what was going on during Gideon's time:

Gideon was a timid and shy guy who was commanded by God to go and rescue the Israelites from the Midianites. After three confirming signs from God, Gideon finally gathered up 22,000 men to help fight off the Midianites. But then there is a little twist in the story. God ends up narrowing Gideon's army down to 300 men so that God would be able to show that HE is mighty and sovereign, and capable of the impossible. And that He did! Gideon's army totally wiped out the Midianites. They had gathered so much plunder from the attack, that after Gideon collected one little gold earring from each of the Israelites, he had forty-three pounds of gold. Now, Gideon wanted to make something glorious from the plunder he collected, so he made a sacred Ephod. ( An ephod is a garment worn by priests in the presence of God in the Old Testament. David is seen wearing one while worshipping God in 2 Samuel 6:14).

Now this is where I was caught of guard.
Get this.
So, the Israelites have just witnessed God pretty much hand the Midianites over to them, with no doubt in their minds it was GOD who did it. In return, Gideon makes a lovely garment of praise out of their victorious treasure and then...

"All Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house."
- Judges 8:27 (KJV)

In other words,

"All the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshipping it."

WHAT idiots. Was my first thought.
I found myself actually laughing at what I just read.
Seriously Israelites? I can just see it in my head playing out like this...

Israel: "Victory to Israel! Hooray! Hooray!"
Gideon: "See here, Israel, I have made a  beautiful Ephod for our city, so we can always gaze upon it and remember the Lord's hand in the victory over the Midianites."
Israel: "Yes! What a grand idea!" (All the sudden the Israelites become British?)
Six minutes later.....
Israel: "Ooooh what a pretty Ephod. What a worthy Ephod. Praise to the Ephod! Praise Praise!"

Okay, so it may or may not have gone like that, but the point is, the Israelites' object of affection switched SO quickly.

God just gave the Israelites the miracle of a lifetime, and blessed them with all the gold, silver and material from the nation. Within a short amount of time, the Israelites are no longer worshipping the God who saved them, they're worshipping articles of CLOTHING!

It's so easy for me to look at the Israelites and say, "Come ON Israelites, quit being idiots!"

And in such a teachable moment, the sweetest Teacher I know is tapping on my shoulder...laughing at me.

I remember learning the 10 commandments when I was younger, and specifically remembering commandment #2, "Thou shall not make for yourself any graven image", as the commandment that didn't apply to us anymore. When in reality, most of us struggle with it daily. 
This commandment usually doesn't affect us because we think "Well, I don't worship a golden calf or a silver shrine like they did in the olden days, so I'm covered."

According to the lovely Webster's dictionary, idolatry is defined as:

: a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly: a false god

And also,

: a form or appearance visible but without substance

In other words, an idol is something that has grabbed our attention and caused us to place our hope of satisfaction in IT instead of in our God, who is the only one who can truly satisfy our hearts.And the thing is, we can make idols out of good things, things that God intended to bless us with.
-Marriage-Sex-Beauty -Work-Relationships-Material things-Success
However, when we begin to look to these things to satisfy the emptiness in our hearts, they can easily become idols, or things we worship or devote ourselves to. 
Recently, God revealed to me that  I have made marriage an idol in my heart.Since I was a little girl I have been anxiously awaiting the moment when God brings in the right guy into my life at the right time.  But as I looked a little deeper into that desire, I understood that what I really wanted was a permanent satisfaction guarantee. I wanted permanent fulfillment. In this case, marriage would leave me empty, alone, and completely disappointed. When we begin worshipping these things, we become obsessed with them, we long for them, and we aren't satisfied until they finally satisfy that longing in us that we want filled.But that's just it.That day wont come.

It is God's desire, and His pleasure to satisfy us. Because we are imperfect humans, we long for something greater. We have a hole in our heart that cries out for fulfillment. Some may see it as a burden, but in reality, it anchors us to His presence. It keeps us close to Him. When we feel that aching in our hearts for fulfillment, we can cry out to the one who fills us completely, totally, and wholly. 
Though our society beckons us to put our hope, treasure and anticipation into people and things, we can hold tight to the fact that His satisfaction is greater and more abundant than any other thing.