Have you ever heard of someone making a really stupid decision and asked yourself, “What were they thinking?”
You really don’t have to look very far to find those people. In just the last few days, we have…
Charlie Sheen. Hollywood star. His incoherent rants in the last couple of weeks cost him his $2 million per episode contract.
Jim Tressel. Ohio State football coach. Lied to the NCAA about information he was aware of concerning some of his players. He’s been suspended by Ohio State for two games and fined $250,000. The NCAA won’t be so kind.
Tiki Barber. Former NFL running back and broadcaster for NBC. Left his wife, who was 8 months pregnant, for a 23-year-old NBC intern. NBC fired him from his $300,000 a year job. Now Tiki is trying to get back into football four years after he retired. He needs the money.
Of course, we could compile a long list of pastors and Christian leaders who have been equally as dumb.
And just in case you think I’m pointing a finger, I don’t need to look any further than the mirror to find someone who does really stupid things. There’s no one who has even come close to giving me as much trouble as I’ve given myself.
What were we thinking?
Yesterday, we looked at Deuteronomy 4:1-2.
Today, we’ll pick up the next two verses…
You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.
Moses is passing on God’s commands to Israel right before they cross into the Promised Land. In these two verses, he’s reminding them of what they saw God do at Baal Peor. He destroyed the Israelites who followed the Baal of Peor.
Well, what does all that mean?
To find out, we need to go back to Numbers 25:1-3…
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.
The region of Shittim is just across the Jordan River from Jericho–the first city the Israelites would attack after crossing into the Promised Land. They are camped out here 40+ years into their journey through the desert. In other words, they are SO close to making it out of the desert and into the good land God has promised to give them.
But there’s a problem. Some of the men are seduced by women living in that region. The women invite the Israelite men to come sacrifice to their god, Baal of Peor. Worshiping this god is thought to have required “sensual indulgence.” The men indulged in sexual immorality with the Moabite women and worshiped their foreign god.
And God’s anger burned against them. And 24,000 of them died from a plague.
We really don’t have to go very far to find out why this was such a serious violation. The first two of the 10 commandments are:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
What were they thinking? They were so close. They endured so much. They had so much to look forward to. They had everything going for them.
And yet…they were stupid. They were unfaithful to their God. Just when everything they’d waited for was within reach.
I suspect that these 24,000 men didn’t suddenly decide to abandon God. Like you and me, it was gradual. One decision, one day at a time. They weren’t quite so intent on seeking God. Their eyes, their hearts, their minds wandered. They wanted other things more than they wanted God.
Do you relate? I do.
Maybe this season of Lent is the time to turn away from those things that keep grabbing for our attention, those things (and people?) that keep us from being faithful to the one true God.