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What Enticed Israel to 'Go After Other Gods'? Part 2

 Peer Pressure, Majority Pressure, and Powerful Influencers

The Jews were a people who stood out significantly among other peoples and nations.  Their very identity was wrapped up on not being like others in their belief in only one God, not having idols representing gods, avoiding any religious syncretism, not conforming to their sexual ethics, limiting themselves to certain foods, being circumcised, and maintaining certain, identifiably unique practices.  Of the last, we might mention Jewish holy days and festivals, opposition to enslaving fellow Jews, and their own legal system in general that sometimes reflected Ancient Near Eastern laws and often did not.  They were a unique people.

Being so different, Jews faced pressure to conform when they found themselves in the presence of other groups.  A polytheistic theology is far more accommodating than Jewish monotheism.  The challenge of having special food laws is mentioned in Daniel 1.  Daniel’s refusal to discontinue his prayers to God landed him in the lion’s den, and his friends’ refusal to worship the king’s image landed them in the fiery furnace.  Not conforming could have consequences.

The pressure to conform might not carry consequences.  Just being different could be enough pressure on its own.  Such pressure could come from a small circle of peers, or it could come from the majority in a given culture.  It could be a pressure others place on the individual, or it could be a pressure that the individual himself or herself feels.  When the Greek Seleucids ruled Israel and Jason purchased the high priesthood from the king, the majority of people abandoned Jewish customs and law for Greek culture.  Some young men went about in Greek hats and hid their circumcision so that they could be comfortable in the new fad of going to the gymnasia (Josephus, Antiquities 12.240-241; 2 Maccabees 4.11-12).  The high priest’s influence, not just pressure from the majority, was crucial in this abandonment of Jewish identity.

Israel’s identity was distinct in the context of other nations, but the righteous of Israel were typically a minority within the land.  This is well illustrated in the case of the 8th c. BC prophet of the northern kingdom, Elijah.  When Elijah complained to God that he was the only devout person left in Israel who had not worshipped Baal, God replied that He had reserved for Himself 7,000 (1 Kings 19.18).  The influence of the foreign Queen Jezebel, a great proponent of Baal worship, on her husband, King Ahab, and the two together on the majority of Israelites, brought about the famous encounter between Elijah and God on the one side and the prophets of Baal and Asherah on the other side on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18).  Influence and majority pressure go a long way in turning the hearts of people from the truth and godliness.

In the Southern Kingdom, King Josiah brought reform to the syncretistic religious practices in Judah.  Even the temple was compromised.  Baal worship was incorporated into the worship of Yahwh.  Houses for male cult prostitutes associated with the worship of Baal in the temple itself were removed (2 Kings 23.7).  Yet Israel’s fate was sealed, and just a few decades later, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians.  In various prophetic messages, Ezekiel explained God’s rejection of His people over their continuous defilement with other religions and ethical practices (cf. ch. 16, 20).  Jeremiah says, ‘I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen’ (13.11).

One of the great themes throughout the Old Testament is that of standing against the pressure of the group to follow God.  Whether pressure from a group of peers, pressure from the majority, pressure from other peoples, or pressure from a person with power (kings and queens, prophets, priests, etc.), God’s people are to stand firm and remain true to Him.  The lesson learned from the Old Testament is stated by Jesus, when He said that ‘the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many’ (Matthew 7.13).  The way leading to life, on the other hand, is a way that stands against the pressures of others.  It’s gate is narrow and its way is hard (v. 14).

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