Exodus 34:11-17 – Stay faithful and committed to God

God desired to have a unique relationship with the Israelites. He would be their God and they would be His people. He granted them the privilege of this relationship but they on their part had to act responsibly. God wanted to be the only God they would worship and serve. He would not allow them to play the harlot with the deities of the Canaanites. So, we read in Exodus 34:11-14 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ¹² Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

The nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with God. Hence, He would not allow them to enter into a treaty with any other gods. Any treaty with the natives of the land would include an alliance with their deities as well. Therefore, this was to be a big no, no. God had planned to drive out the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. And when they were driven out, they would leave behind their altars and all the artefacts and objects of worship. God demanded that all these be destroyed as well, lest they would become a snare and a temptation to them. God is a jealous God and He wanted an exclusive relationship with them.

The word jealous seems to have a negative connotation. If we fail to properly understand what was God’s intention, we would conclude that He is petty. But we know that He is not and never will be. He wants our sole commitment. He does not want a relationship where our commitment to Him is half-hearted and compromised. God had taken great pain to enter into a covenant with the people and like a marriage covenant, both parties must exercise faithfulness. God on His part will never be unfaithful, but we cannot say the same of the Israelites nor of us. God wanted to eliminate the possibility of any spiritual adultery so He warned in verses 15-17, giving reasons why he wanted the artefacts of worship to be removed. He knew that if they did not do so, they “… might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. You shall make for yourself no molten gods.”

What God really wants is our total allegiance. And if we truly love God, we will give Him our total allegiance. We reserve our commitment to Him and Him alone. The best way to stay committed and faithful to God is to remove anything that can come in the way of that commitment. For the Israelites, it was the ungodly influences that could come from the natives of the land of Canaan. What about us? Here is what 1 John 2:15-18 tell us we must not do. He said to us, ”Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” Let us love God with all that we are, and stay committed to Him all the days of our life. That’s the surest way to stay blessed!