Sermons
Do Not Imitate the Nations
Do Not Imitate the Nations
Deut. 18:9
Introduction:
1. These words were spoken to the nation of Israel in anticipation of their entrance into the land of Canaan.
2. God had just brought them out of the land of Egypt. The ten plagues had demonstrated God’s superiority over the gods of the Egyptians.
3. Like the Egyptians, the Canaanites were polytheistic. According to the Metropolitan Museum there are more than 234 deities recorded in Ugaritic texts (The Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. metmuseum.org.). Ex. El, Baal, Asherah, Anat, Astarte, Yam, Mot, Dagon, Molech.
4. These deities all had their so-called spokespersons. Deut. 18 forbids listening to such spokespersons and calls on Israel to listen only to the prophets whom the LORD would raise up.
5. Deut. 13 is very explicit. Anyone who said, “Let us go after other gods and serve them,” was to be executed. This included spokespersons for the idols, relatives, and close friends who counseled idolatry. The inhabitants of cities taken with idolatry were to be destroyed with the sword and the cities burned with fire.
6. When God said, “Do not imitate the nations,” this meant that He had an absolute “no tolerance policy” in the matter.
7. But shouldn’t we be tolerant of other cultures? Shouldn’t we respect their religions? Isn’t one religion as good as another? Shouldn’t we live and let live? What’s so different about the God of the Bible that He should be considered the only God?
Discussion:
I. God said, “Do not listen to their ‘authorities’!” (Deut. 18:9-11).
A. During the plagues of Egypt, the Egyptian religious authorities duplicated the
powers of God.
1. The Egyptian wise men, sorcerers and magicians turned their staffs into
serpents just as Aaron had done. While Aaron’s staff swallowed up their
staffs, Pharoah’s heart was hardened (Ex. 7:8ff).
2. When Moses turned the Nile to blood, the magicians of Egypt did the same and
Pharoah’s heart was hardened (Ex. 7:14ff).
3. What I want you to see is that Pharoah has a “good reason” for equating his
gods as equal with the God of Moses.
B. In our own society there are “good reasons” for listening to “their authorities.”
1. Their authorities say, “We should respect everyone.” While that is true it
does not mean that every philosophy is true.
2. All should be respected, but not all behavior is right, good and productive.
3. All deceit involves some element of truth or it would not work to persuade.
4. False religions do good things. But don’t let those good things deceive you
into believing what is false.
5. In many ways the world is perfectly willing to assimilate the God of the Bible
into its pantheon, if He is syncretized into society as just another religion.
II. God’s sovereignty is at stake.
A. What are we talking about when referring to the sovereignty of God?
In the Bible, Gods sovereignty refers to his supreme and absolute authority,
power and rule over all creation. It means God is not subject to any external
limitations or control and that all things are under his ultimate dominion. God's
sovereignty is often expressed through his position as King of kings and Lord of
lords, highlighting his unrestrained authority.
B. It is evidenced in the ten plagues.
1. These plagues were particularly designed to demonstrate His power over the
Egyptian gods.
2. The very idea of multiple gods notes that they are not considered sovereign.
C. The gods of the nations were localized deities. They were limited to particular
geographical areas.
1. You see this perception clearly in 2 Kings 17:24ff.
2. The Assyrian king Sennacherib saw the gods of the nations as more limited
than himself (2 Chron. 32:9ff).
3. In contrast the God of the Bible is the God of all flesh (Jer. 32:27). He is God
over all the earth (Isa. 54:5). He brought Israel out of Egypt and delivered
them from all the kingdoms opposing them (1 Sam. 10:17ff). Deut. 32:8-9
says He gives the nations their inheritance. He separates people and sets
the boundaries of their habitation (Acts 17:26). He is sovereign over all the
people. He moves people from one place to another (Amos 9:7). He
assigns land to the nations. He rules over all the earth.
D. It was God’s sovereignty that was the issue when Elijah challenged Baal in the
show down at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20ff). The question was, “Does God
rule over the weather or does Baal?”
E. Yet, Israel wanted a king to be like the nations (1 Sam. 8:5ff). The problem
wasn’t the king, but her wanting to be like the nations. She was rejecting
God’s sovereignty! Cf. 1 Sam. 12:12ff; Isa. 43:15; Ezek. 20:33ff.
F. The Psalms testify to God’s sovereignty.
1. Psa. 95:3-6 says, “The Lord is a great God and a great King above all
gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth. The peaks of the
mountains are his also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and his
hands formed the dry land. Come let us worship and bow down and
kneel before the Lord our Maker.” All of worship is founded upon God’s
sovereignty. Other gods are eliminated. Gods of wealth and materialism.
Gods of humanism. Gods of power. Gods of political systems. There is
no other God but Him.
2. Psa. 103:19-22 says, “The Lord has established His throne in the
heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His
angels, mighty in strength who perform His word, obeying the voice of His
word! Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His
will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion;
bless the Lord, O my soul!”
3. Psa. 2:1-6 establishes God’s rulership over the kings of the earth. Even
though they oppose Him, He will shatter them like potter’s ware. Note
how the church in Jerusalem interpreted His sovereignty in their mission
(Acts 4:24-31).
III. What does God’s sovereignty mean in our 21stcentury?
A. God rules in the affairs of our history.
1. He rules over nations, political systems.
2. He rules over all other dominions (Col. 1:13-20).
3. He has raised Jesus from the dead, who reigns over all rule, authority, power
and dominion, everything is in subjection under His feet. He is the head of
the church (Eph. 1:20-23).
B. In His sovereignty He has made us alive (Eph. 2:1-10).
C. He calls us to not imitate the nations, but to come out and be separate (2 Cor.
6:14ff). Cf. Ex. 29:45; Isa. 52:11.
D. Complete and total submission to Him and His willis required.
1. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve
God and wealth” (Matt. 6:24).
2. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33).
3. “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or wife or brothers or
parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not
receive many times as much in this time and in the age to come, eternal
life” (Lk. 18:29-30).
E. He is calling on us to trust His sovereignty implicitly.
Conclusion:
1. Will you make Him King in your life?
2. Will you submit your will to His?
3. Will you trust Him to do the good for you He has promised?
4. Will you submit to His sovereignty?
5. There is a day coming in which every knee will bow and every tongue confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).
