He dropped a giant of a man with a sling, a smooth stone, and a bold faith in the most powerful force behind it all––the true and living God of heaven and earth. He wrestled a ferocious lion and a hungry bear to save the sheep he was shepherding and was victorious each time––attributing every bit of his deliverance to the Lord. He continually honored a king and father-in-law throughout his life who often was his greatest enemy and life’s threat without a hint of hatred and vengeance toward him. He had a contemplative knowledge and trust in God that many would hope to have. We see that great trust and confidence all throughout his poetry, his songs, his prayers, his psalms. He even had his moments of personal, spiritual failure, only to be lifted up by the Lord because of his humble, repentant heart. God himself would say of this man, David, “I have found David the son of Jesse, A man after my heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22)
There’s a lot to the man David we respect and to which we even aspire. But there’s a glaring, perplexing statement made about David that’s difficult to process. 1 Samuel 19:11 speaks of a human-sized “household idol” (teraphim) in “David’s house” at the time Saul is seeking David’s life shortly after becoming Saul’s son-in-law. In fact, Michal, David’s new wife, the daughter of king Saul uses this “household idol” to mislead her father. She lays it in bed, covering it’s head with goat’s skin and passes it off as an ill David while he makes his escape from the deadly clutches of a very jealous, envious father-in-law.
I don’t recall ever picking up on David having a “household idol” before. Do you? But it’s there. How could it be? That can’t be right, can it? Not David. Not idolatry. Especially when we read the statement Samuel makes to Saul earlier in 15:23, “for presumption [insubordination - NASU] is as iniquity and teraphim [idolatry - NASU].” It’s hard to conceive of David having anything to do with an idol, or an object of divination/sorcery––which is largely what a teraphim was about historically and in other biblical texts. More questions than answers flood my mind with this. But shouldn’t we think the same thing about David’s adultery and then later his sinful census of the Israelite nation––How could you, David?
But we know better than to get too judgmental don’t we? However, that passing statement of the teraphim in David’s house, without any rebuking statement from God just doesn’t seem to fit the time in David’s life to suggest he was dabbling in idolatry. In fact, continuos statements are made about other succeeding kings like Amaziah (Joash’s son) who are compared to David’s non-idolatrous status. Notice the comparison, “[Amaziah] did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” (2 Kings 14:3, 4; emphasis mine – D.M.) The part where so many of the kings of Judah fall short in comparison to David always centers around the remaining “high places” they fail to destroy and the idolatrous worship connected with it.
Perhaps it belonged to Michal, and not David. I suppose it’s possible. “Karel Van der Toorn argues that they were ancestor figurines rather than household deities, and that the ‘current interpretation of the teraphim as household deities suffers from a one-sided use of Mesopotamian material.’” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teraphim) To put Van der Toorn’s understanding into modern vernacular, it’s like having a family portrait hanging on your wall or perhaps an old crock pot, cookware, flatware, or dolls that used to belong to grandma which to you have a lot of sentimental value.
I prescribe to Van der Toorn’s view more than the idea that to David the “household idols” were objects of worship to other gods, divination, sorcery or omens. But whatever the text may or may not suggest about David and Michal having “household idols” I think this text brings up an issue that’s just as relevant to us today––idolatry, something God detested then and even today. Oxford American Dictionary defines it this way: “Worship of idols; extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.”
I’ve jokingly stated before, “My iPhone is my shepherd. I shall not want…” and then I start to realize just how attached and dependent upon it I can be. But let’s not stop there. It seems like idolatry for us today is so insidious (subtle, gradual), it’s just hard for us to notice what’s vying for our attention, dependance and devotion to share it with God (not necessarily just to replace God). Isn’t that how idolatry worked a lot of times for the Israelites? They thought they could share devotion to the true God of heaven with the “other gods.” It didn’t seem to phase them and they seemed to think they were still serving the God of heaven.
We call it “having our cake and eating it too.” I’m not sure how that idiom originated or why someone couldn’t indulge in the cake they had, but the message behind it is clear to us––you can’t have everything you want. Jesus was quite clear on this point, “You cannot serve two masters… you cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:13) Right in the middle of those repeating statements Jesus uttered the words that should ring loudly in our hearts as we profess whole-hearted commitment and service to the powerful, mighty God who created us for him, “for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
If you keep reading in verse 14, Luke tells us the religious leaders who were “lovers of money” scoffed at Jesus when he said those things. They didn’t just laugh at him, they hated what he had to say and tried to make him sound like it was ridiculous what he was saying. I suppose none of really wants to feel like Jesus is speaking to us about that. After all “it’s not us who have that problem,” we think deep within ourselves. At least, we don’t want it to be true. I mean, could you imagine literally serving your television or a good book, bowing down to your car or home, being ordered around by your paycheck or shopping experience, owned by your computer, game console and your Facebook, chained to your job, purchased by your school or your sport, commanded and driven by the whims and wills of your friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife?
Now which one of those is so great that it won’t ever let us down? Which one of those will give us life beyond the grave? Which one will make our lives better to last beyond an earthly lifetime? Is it possible to have those things and not be mastered by them? Did Jesus ever suggest that having material wealth was a bad thing? No he did not. He just got straight to the heart of the matter when he said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:24) Let’s ask the questions of ourselves, “Do I love God?” “Do I love having him as my master?” “Do I love bowing down to him and worshiping him, praising him?” “Do I love listening to him, being in his word and following his guidance?” “Do I love being a part of his family?” If I do, it’ll show it in every way I live the few, precious vapors of my life. Who or what is your master? Who or what is your god?
Danny Matchniff
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