God Is Jealous: Idolatry Topples, God Protects

``Our idol could be our reputation. It could be a championship for our sports team. It could be a new car or a baby or a political movement or a new wardrobe or the approval of others. We think, if I could just have that thing, if I could just have it and hold it, I would be satisfied. That's probably actually the last thing I'll ever need. When I get that thing, I'm gonna be content. That's what will complete my life, that thing. [00:48:04] (29 seconds)  #I can do that — could you confirm how you want the quotes separated (e.g., one hashtag per paragraph separated by blank lines)? The text you pasted repeats several passages, so I want to be sure I match the exact number of quotes you expect.

Here's your side by side. Isaiah says, panel one, we have the most extraordinary being possible. Made everything, sustains everything. If you used up every tree in the great forest of Lebanon, you couldn't make him a worthy fire for the altar. In panel two, you have a carving made of one of the tree's dead branches. How did you get into exile, my people? God asks. You thought that a figurine was better than me. You put your hope into a statue, into a Barbie doll that you thought would increase your grain harvest or help you get pregnant, And God says, you may wanna reconsider your life choices just a little bit. And listen, if it sounds sarcastic, it is. [00:57:45] (55 seconds)

There's no ratio of God to anything else. He's above and beyond at all, and that's why we adore him. We adore him in song and in study and in communion and in fellowship, and we adore him all week long. So be people on fire for Jesus this week in your community. Pray for your church. Pray with your church. Pray for the lost. Sacrificially give to other people. Give of your time. This is what it's like to live with a God, a holy one, who cannot be compared. [01:18:42] (32 seconds)

But unjust societies are ones in which people find themselves helpless with no one to turn to because the rules and the laws favor fewer people who have greater power. In the bible, god repeatedly calls for justice for widows, widows, and foreigners, and orphans, people who could be taken advantage of by the system. And when those kind of people seek aid or hope, everybody says, well, you know, we feel bad for you, but rules are rules. And god knows that in other nations, fatherless kids and grieving wives and sojourners from other lands were kicked aside and ignored, and God would not allow Israel to become that kind of nation. [00:46:16] (52 seconds)

Yeah. You might be able to purchase the boat, but you find suddenly that boat controls your summer schedule. When it needs repairs, you get depressed. When the weather's bad, you get grumpy. The zebra mussels start living rent free on your hull, and you can't find anybody who wants to help you take the dock out in October either. Right? Little by little, that idol you had to have is turning you into its slave. [00:48:57] (30 seconds)

And so we're asking together as a church, what is God really like? There are lots of opinions, lots of ideas out there, lots of versions and stories we say about God. But what does the Bible teach us about God's character? Well, one of the ways that we know about God's character is through the observations of the authors. People in the Bible story itself saw God's actions and understood God's heart, they wrote about it. But the other way we learn a lot about God is through God's self disclosure. We know about God because of what God says about God. And today, we're gonna look at a couple of sections of scripture in which God, who, of course, is the ultimate authority on himself, has to say about his own character. [00:35:13] (57 seconds)

The candidate that excited you so much when he was running for office keeps asking you for more and more campaign contributions for reelection, keeps compromising with the other party, keeps telling you half truths, but you're so invested at this point, you just have to go along with it. And in the end, unchecked idolatry leads to destruction. Sometimes that destruction comes from the Babylonians, but far more often, are crushed by the very idol that you craved. [00:49:27] (41 seconds)

Now we're gonna arrive at this concluding idea by way of Isaiah's words, but here's the thought I want you to put in your front pocket for the next twenty minutes or so. God is so deeply committed to you that God will not tolerate any other rival in your relationship. God knows nobody else is good enough for you except him. [00:38:30] (33 seconds)