Root...That Produces Such Bitter Poison

Deuteronomy 29:14-18 – I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today. You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Genesis 6:18 – But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

Exodus 20:3-4,23 – “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below…Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

Exodus 34:15 – “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.

Application:

• ·         God extends His loving concern to the whole family of righteous Noah—a consistent pattern in God’s dealings with His people, underscoring the moral and responsible relationship of parents to their children.
• ·         The contrast between the one true God “in heaven”, who “does whatever please Him”, and idols of silver or gold, who can do nothing at all, is striking.
• ·         “Root…that produces such bitter poison” was the poison of idolatry, involving the rejection of the Lord.
• ·         No deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God in Israel’s heart and life.
• ·         Because God has no visible form, any idol intended to resemble Him would be a sinful misrepresentation of Him.
• ·         Partaking of food sacrificed to a pagan deity invites compromise.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV