Good Monday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Do you live in a part of the world where there are many, widely diverse opinions about who God is, what God is like, what power or authority God has, where God lives and what relationship if any God wants with planet earth and the human race? What if some of the most influential, intelligent people in your country came together and invited you to come and explain God to them, what would you say?
That is what happened to the apostle Paul in the great city of Athens about 50ad. We began looking at this scene on Friday. It’s found in Acts 17, and let’s rejoin the meeting today.
Paul is standing in the meeting of what was called the “Areopagus”, many of the wisest, most intelligent, most influential people in Athens. This group was similar to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. They met on Mars Hill overlooking the great city of Athens of which they were so proud.
Paul had begun by indicating he was fairly new in town but even a cursory tour through Athens showed Paul that statutes and monuments to a wide array of gods were everywhere, including one which had engraved on it “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Paul told the Areopagus that he knew and worshipped that God, and this God was the Creator God, supreme over all other deities of any nation. That was quite a shocking statement, and it had drawn these learned men to pay close attention to what Paul was saying about God.
Yesterday we concluded with Paul’s statement: “In Him [God] we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) Paul was declaring that the very existence of the human race is entirely dependent upon this God who has created each of us and sustains our lives from conception till death, every day, every moment. Then Paul brought it close to home by adding: “As some of your own poets have said, ‘we are his offspring.’ Look at these wise men. Their eyes just widened; their heads jerked back. Paul was quoting their philosopher Aratus and suddenly Paul the foreigner had stepped into their world, their inner group of great thinkers!
How did Paul know that quote? Let’s remember Paul was one of the most intelligent, thoroughly trained Jewish thinkers and teachers. In this Areopagus, Paul was in his element, some might say his ‘sweet spot’.
Now with all eyes riveted on Paul and having gained their respect for being well read in their philosophers, Paul pressed in: “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the Diving Being is like gold or silver or stone, – an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now God commands all people everywhere to repent.” [of such foolishness as manmade idolatry] (Acts 17:29,30) This is a very profound statement that applies to every society in the world, from the illiterate, unclothed jungle dweller who has never seen any human being outside their small tribe, yet bows down to a carving their ancestors made on a trees stump many years before; to the most educated, intelligent, sophisticated person sitting in a grand cathedral surrounded by beautiful stained glass designs of God and manmade, gold covered statues all around the cathedral.
Now ponder that for a moment my friends. For you see this issue of idolatry has been a major part of every society, everywhere in the world, from the beginning of time. As anthropologists study newly discovered people groups in isolated places, they have never found a people who did not have some idea of ‘god’ and were worshiping something, usually man made, as their ‘god’.
For Paul and all Jews since the days of Moses, this issue of idolatry was one of the topics about which they were most sensitive. At Mount Sinai, when God brought their ancestors, the rescued Hebrew slaves, out of Egypt and spent several months with His people there, God made it very clear, do you remember the first two of the 10 Commandments?
1. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt…You shall have no other gods before Me.”
2. “You shall not make for yourselves an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to such images or worship them…” (Exodus 20:1-4)
Paul and all Jews held in great reverence the clear teachings of their prophets including Isaiah and Jeremiah, as God spoke through them describing His view of idolatry: “Hear what the LORD says to you, people of Israel… ‘Do not learn the ways of the nations…for the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with a hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” (Jeremiah 10:1-5)
The Psalmists also challenged God’s people to understand the foolishness of idolatry: “Why do the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him. But their idols are silver and gold made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make these idols will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:2-8)
Paul of course had studied deeply the many chapters in Isaiah (40-48) where God over and over described His uniqueness and His superiority to all other images or imaginations that people worship and call ‘god’. So we can understand Paul felt well equipped to engage this discussion and even debate, if necessary, with these wise Athenians in the Areopagus that day in Athens! In fact, I think it’s safe to say that during Paul’s many years of study he was longing for the days when he could engage these types of discussions with intelligent people who did not know the true, Almighty God who Paul knew.
But Paul wanted these intelligent men to understand idolatry was not simply a matter of preference or imagination. For the Almighty, Creator, Holy God idolatry was mockery and repulsive and those who engaged in such blasphemous worship would be called to account before God on a day of judgment. So, looking these wise men straight in the eyes, Paul courageously said: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now God commands all people everywhere to repent.” [of such foolishness as man made idolatry] For God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that Man from the dead!” (Acts 17:30,31)
Now look at these wise, learned men. Shocked, stunned, eyes wide, looking at Paul then at each other, then stroking their beards and pointing at Paul and discussing together what Paul had just said. The Creator God, whom Paul claims he knows and worships, has a future day of judgment set when all people will stand before their Creator to give account!? Really? When? According to what standard of Justice and Truth? Where? Oh my, so many questions. And then Paul’s last statement put them over the edge! Who is this Man Paul claims God raised from the dead?
Finally, in their stunned amazement, they said to Paul “We want to hear you again on this subject.” And the record says, “At that, Paul left the Areopagus council.” (Acts 17:32,33) Let’s pause here friends and along with these men of the Areopagus, I urge you to ponder the seriousness with which God takes idolatry and consider if there may be any idolatry in your life! Anything you value more than God? And we’ll come right back here tomorrow to see what happened next with Paul in Athens! Here’s a worship song to help us keep our eyes fixed on the one true God!
Today’s Scripture is Acts 17:28-32.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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