Daily Devo - Tuesday AM September 9, 2008

“So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God,
made for themselves a molded image…”
2 Kings 17:16 (NKJV)

Just over 2,070 years ago something happened that was both tragic and triumphant. The Jewish people had already revolted against Roman rule, something that the expansionist pre-Italian race did not look favorably upon. Their response was swift and severe. As the punitive war reached its zenith, the Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC and did the unthinkable. In an act clearly intended to demonstrate Roman superiority, Pompey entered the holy of holies of the Jerusalem Temple. This sacred space, as it was so clearly regarded in both Old Testament scripture and Jewish religious practice, was reserved for Yahweh alone. No human could enter, save the Jewish High Priest and even in this exception but once per year. The Romans were engaging in what we now call “psychological warfare”. By this act, they were telling the Jews that the Romans ruled their lives. They were stronger than the Jews, and even stronger than the Jewish God.

The tragic nature of this event left a scare in the Jewish consciousness. Not only did the Jewish people feel powerless, but they also felt spiritually humiliated. Regarding this event, the Roman historian Tacticus wrote, “From that moment on, it was public knowledge that the temple housed no deity image and that it was an unoccupied place, an empty secret.” ¹ Throughout the empire the Jewish religion became little more than a joke. They had heard about Yahweh-worship for many years, and were perhaps anxious for some image of the deity to bring back as booty. Now rumors quickly spread that the Jerusalem temple held no such image. The Jews were considered so backwards and primitive as to believe in a God who couldn’t even be seen!

But therein lies the great triumph! When Pompey entered the holy of holies he only found dust. The general hoped to be impressed by the splendor of an idol, but he failed to recognize the true Deity whose splendor could never be contained in such an object. But, you may be asking ‘where is the triumph?’ The triumph is in what Pompey couldn’t see. Scripture teaches us that God is spirit. Pompey was impressed with his Roman military muscle, which at that time was the most powerful physical force on earth. For Rome, an idol of Yahweh would have been simply another object to subdue and capture; but how does one subdue a spirit? How does one capture Yahweh? Centuries earlier another bully-nation was troubling Israel. As comfort to his people, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit” (Isaiah 31:2). The teaching is clear: Yahweh can never be defeated and will never be contained.

Throughout Israel’s history, and the Christian church’s as well, we see the regular temptation to image God. We want something to look at which will help us worship—a crucifix, a statue, a pulpit, or a picture. But God forbids this. We say to God, ‘an object will help me comprehend you. God says to us, ‘an object will only obscure me’. He is spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

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¹ Tacitus, Historiae 5.9