I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 3-4.

    When Ahaziah’s brother took the throne, he stopped the worship of Baal which his father Ahab had instituted, but he continued to encourage the people of Israel to worship the golden calves. Having read through this time and again, it seems clear to me that many of the people of ancient Israel and Judah did not see a conflict between worshiping God, Jeroboam’s golden calves, and Baal. In fact, it appears that a significant number viewed them as worshiping the same god. It looks to me like there was a kind of progression.

    There were those who worshiped God and either studied the Law of Moses or followed the spiritual direction of those who studied the Law of Moses. These knew that God had forbidden the worship of physical representations of Himself. These for the most part made regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship. Just as today, not all of those who claimed to believe that the Law of Moses was the correct way to follow God were godly people who truly did so. There were certainly those who attempted to use it as a means to look down on others, or overlooked those commands which told them not to commit the sins which they desired to commit.

    Then there were those who had been raised to follow the basic laws and worship practice laid out in the Law of Moses but had never actually read it nor had those from whom they received spiritual guidance. These created idols, or used idols created by others, to focus their attention towards God. If we look at people today, I probably overstated it to say that none of them had read the Law of Moses. Just as today, there were probably those who had read God’s commands and felt that they were too limiting and that there was no need to be that legalistic. Again, just as today there were probably some among them who lived godly lives, who were faithful in the less ceremonial, but more important, of God’s commands.It seems likely to me that not all of those who worshiped Jeroboam’s golden calves were rejected by God. However, the lack of knowledge or arrogance which led them to do so made it likely they placed more emphasis on ceremonial worship than on truly obeying God.

    Then there were those who found Baal worship more emotionally satisfying. They felt that all religions taught more or less the same thing. Thus there was no reason not to follow the teachings of Baal worship which gave them a greater sense of spirituality. They did not see any reason to follow specific rules and regulations. What was important to them was “being a good person.” While it is possible that a few of such people were godly, it is unlikely, not impossible, just unlikely, that any of them had a sufficient understanding of what God truly desired to faithfully follow His will.

    Finally, there were those who took this even further and worshiped Asherah and other gods of the region. These last thought that the important thing was to follow some sort of religion, but that it did not matter what. The important thing was the communal practices and ceremonies.