Latest / Journey Elgin / Sunday Message 7/19/2026 - Are the Old gods back?

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Sunday Message 7/19/2026 - Are the Old gods back? · Journey Elgin

• Phillip Thomas: Okay. We are going to be in a couple of Old Testament passages in Ezekiel. ⁓ we're going to finish off in Ezekiel chapter 33, and then we'll be in ⁓ Jeremiah chapter seven. So last week was kind of the introduction, ⁓ but it but really even the week before ⁓ kind of goes into this because I I'm I'm wanting us to look at a big picture of how God has been working throughout history. ⁓ it better helps us to understand what's going on now. And I think that does include, ⁓ you know, I I went through kind of making the point that there was a biblical foundation to the founding of this country that was very unique. and and really we hadn't seen that ⁓ since the founding of Israel, the people of Israel, right? God gave them a government of how they were supposed to run. And it was replicated to a degree, not perfect. We are not the the new Israel. That that's no, we we are the the culmination, if you will, of Western civilization, of of ⁓ of of trying to put those biblical principles into a practical governmental ⁓ setting. and and that that actually I believe comes with some responsibility. ⁓ whenever you build your foundation on biblical principles. Well, if you start removing those biblical principles, what are you directly impacting? The foundation. And so we have kind of forgotten that. We have moved past that. And and while we're a country that balances things, we do balance freedom where you're free to to live ungodly lives, right? You're free to do that. ⁓ But we have forgotten that no We we need to keep some of those basic principles because they speak to human nature. Right. And and I think one of the reasons that we're seeing a lot of the things that we're seeing now is because we have moved ⁓ far away from those biblical principles. But what we're experiencing now is new for a lot of us, but it's not new. It's the same old evils that are just popping up again. And and ⁓ last week going through Ezekiel ⁓ chapter thirty three, Ezekiel has been telling the people, ⁓ he's one of the prophets, been telling them, Hey, if you you don't turn back, it it's going to get bad. And by the way, this wasn't just like a three week sermon series, right? That he was this is over decades this is being ⁓ preached. ⁓ actually probably closer to century, right? That That the people were just drifting away from God and it was getting worse and worse and worse. And the different prophets were coming and trying to wake them up. And ⁓ and they just weren't waking up. And ⁓ the first part of ⁓ Ezekiel thirty three is where he's called to be the watchman, right? Watchman on the wall. So it's like, hey, I'm just supposed to warn people if they keep going this direction, here's what's going to happen. And I think we have a responsibility to to Be that watchman. We need to pay attention to what is happening so that we are prepared and that given the opportunity, we can prepare others as well. ⁓ and and so what was Ezekiel warning about? Right? What what was he seeing coming? Right? And what was he he and and prophets like Jeremiah, ⁓ Elijah and Elisha, what were they? warning about and are there similarities between what they were were ⁓ warning about and what we're seeing today and ⁓ so let's look in Jeremiah ⁓ chapter seven and this is a pretty ⁓ I think it's called the the temple sermon or something like that ⁓ but this is ⁓ a pretty popular or ⁓ influential part in Jeremiah and so Jeremiah is actually ⁓ at the temple ⁓ and he's giving this warning to the people. And and I think this kind of encapsulates a lot ⁓ of of what was going on. So Jer Jeremiah chapter seven, starting in verse one. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there his word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah, who enter the gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. ⁓ amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words. ⁓ this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Okay, what what's he saying there, just real quick? So people were coming to the temple basically just because that they knew that's what they were supposed to do, and they were like, Hey, this is good enough. I come to the temple, pray praising God. I'm coming to the temple, I'm gonna come to the temple. And Jeremiah is saying, No. You have to start living that way. It's not just coming to the temple. That's not what it's about. It says, For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly e ⁓ execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ⁓ or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave. ⁓ of old to your fathers forever. Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have that that you have not known? And then come and stand before me in the house which is called by my name and say, We are delivered, only to go on doing all of these abominations? Has this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes? You recognize that line? It's what Jesus said. Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. Go now to my place that that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all of these things, declares the Lord, and I and when I spoke to your persistently and you did not listen, and when I called you and you did not answer, Therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name and in which you must and in which you trust, and know the place that I gave to you and to your fathers as I did to Shiloh, and I will cast you out of my sight as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim. Alright. Pretty powerful message not to People did not come back the next Sunday to listen to Ezekiel. this this was ⁓ was was pretty intense. ⁓ this is not the first that the people have heard these words. They had been being told them over and over and over again. Right, in different ways. ⁓ and and it's interesting because he talks about what righteousness looks like. ⁓ righteousness looks like practicing j justice with one another, the way you treat each other, right? ⁓ that you are ⁓ especially those who are ⁓ vulnerable, the foreigner, the orphan, the widow, right, those who had no societal power at all. ⁓ you know, the way that they treated them ⁓ was was vital and it was ref would be reflective of if their hearts are in the right place. And there are many other places where they are chastised because they're not treating ⁓ the vulnerable the way that they should. ⁓ it talks about refusing to shed innocent blood. ⁓ we'll we'll get into what was happening. ⁓ you know that that life is precious and how you view life and how you handle life and that you do not shed innocent blood. and if you are not chasing other gods, all of those are signs that you are being righteous, right? That you are actually living out what God has called you to do. ⁓ and what Ezekiel or here Jeremiah ⁓ is saying is that you're doing none of those things. Yes, you're still coming to the temple, right? You're still going through the motions, but you're not doing any of the things that demonstrate that you believe what you're worshiping in. Right. And man, that that should speak to all of us. Right we All of us need to be constantly checking our motives, right? Wha why do we get up on Sunday morning and come to church? Is it because we just think we have to? or is it because no, I want to worship the one true God who has made me no longer a slave? Right? Why do we do that? Right? Is it is it just because we think that's what we're supposed to do, or ⁓ well, we have a family, we're supposed to take them to church. ⁓ all of those things and and that's a it's a challenge for us because similar to to the people that he's talking about that was a cultural thing for them right so it was normal if you were born in Jerusalem back then guess what you would do within the first few days of life you would be at the temple and then you would be at the temple every week right it was part of the culture but it is our faith is not cultural. Our faith is life changing. It involves everything. It's a whole different way of seeing the world. And I and so it is so easy for us just to just to view our faith as, well, that's what our culture does. No, it's more than that. And and it it starts with just kind of becoming cultural and then it starts to slide. Because you then you start letting other things in. And we're gonna we're gonna see see that. So what is Jeremiah? He ⁓ he's he starts talking about the ⁓ that they are now oppressing the sojourner, they're oppressing the widows, they're they are shedding innocent blood, right? They are going after other gods. He specifically he says, Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal? And go after other gods that you have not known. All right. So what is he what is he saying here? Well, the he's mentioning other gods of that culture. They are Canaanite gods. They we would call them pagan today. identities, different practices, right? They they represented different things. ⁓ and and what was happening is the people were letting those influences merge with their worship of the one true God. They were starting to look like the rest of the world. Because the rest of the world, like we take this for granted that that we we have monotheistic religions. Right? What is a monotheistic religion that believes there's only one God? Right? That is rare. In fact, that did not exist until God called Abraham. Right? That's that's when the the the idea of this people group, they actually worshiped and said there's only one God. The rest of the culture said, Hey, there's plenty. And in fact, they could care less if you worshiped the God of the Bible or anything else. But let's just acknowledge that all of these gods exist. Right? That's what that's why the the Jews would get in trouble with the Romans at times and why Christians would get in got in trouble with the Romans. It wasn't because they believed that Jesus was was Lord. It was because they believed that He's the only Lord. And that none of these other ⁓ faiths that you are practicing, all of them are false. Right? And whenever you say that, you kind of tick people off, right? Because people don't like to be told that they may be believing in something that is not true, which is why we need to be really careful in the way that we approach others with this. But that doesn't mean we don't proclaim the truth. Right? And so so what's happening is these other influential ideas from these ⁓ pagan deities ⁓ are are being a are starting to infiltrate the culture. And ⁓ Jeremiah specifically mentions one of them, Baal. There were three main pagan deities that we see in the old testament. Right? And ⁓ the first one is is Baal. ⁓ he he was kind of one of the the main gods was a god of power, a god of influence. ⁓ there's fertility was was in involved with all of these gods, right? You'd pray to Baal to be able to have a child. ⁓ there would you pray to Baal to to send the reins. You remember when ⁓ Elijah is ⁓ on Mount Carmel and he challenges the prophets of Ba Baal to ⁓ to a test, right? And and ⁓ it's like who will light the the altar? Who will send down fire from heaven and light the altar? Right, and and Baal's all his his prophets and stuff are dancing around and they are calling on Baal. And ⁓ it it's really one of the best stories in all of scripture because Elijah Is like you kicked back. I I I think he was probably in the first lazy boy, just kicked back, watching, right? And he's like, Hey, why don't you yell a little louder? Maybe, maybe he can't hear you. Right. And then at one time he says, Maybe he's in the restroom, right? Like literally. I mean, he is just mocking the the the the followers of Baal. And ⁓ and of course nothing ever happens. And then Elijah comes and he just has them dump water and tons of water all over the altar. And then he just says, God, would you do this? And you know, right. I mean, pr pretty, pretty awesome stuff. ⁓ thing you know, we struggle with things like that. Understand there is a spiritual world out there that that is real but has limited power. Right? That God limits their hi their power, but they still do have power. And ⁓ and so Baal is is this kind of over encompassing and they would create these high places where they would go and have ⁓ you know, worship services to Baal. And what we see is that those high places are being set up now in this the nation of Israel. And they are starting to worship Baal, right? Because they're allowing the influence of these other pagan religions to come in. And it's it is Quite incredible to see that you you and you you know we we think about and get so frustrated ⁓ today that we have forgotten some of those founding biblical principles, right? Well they they are coming from a history of a God who brought them out of Egypt. They're coming from a history of all of this stuff, and here they are starting to g do some of these cultural pagan practices. So you have Baal, ⁓ then you have Asherah or Ishtar. This is a female goddess. ⁓ has the ⁓ a shara holes. You'll see that in ⁓ in scripture quite a bit. ⁓ she ⁓ obviously represented motherhood, fertility, ⁓ sacred trees and groves, ⁓ you know, kind of was was the the the earth, right? Worshiping the the earth, ⁓ worshiping mother earth. ⁓ she ⁓ she was kind of considered the the divine feminine. ⁓ she was an intercessor. ⁓ you know, there's all kinds of different ⁓ overlap. Some say that she, you know, you know, that that she would ⁓ mate with Baal and and all kinds of crazy stuff, right? But this is this was was happening. So now you have the people of God, God's chosen people that have these ashera poles, right, that they are incorporating in their worship. ⁓ and and it was just We look at it and we say, How could this happen? And then you look at the newspaper today. The third God, and we're gonna we're gonna kinda connect, are we seeing the same spirit behind these gods today? So the third one is the god Molech, probably the most evil ⁓ god that you see in in scripture. And by the way, you can find these gods in other writings as well. Scripture wasn't making this up. This is what these cultures were worshiping. Mole ⁓ was was was a different ways to trying to make sure you not not to get too graphic. But ⁓ it was the sacrifice of the innocent, the sacrifice of the weak in order for you to gain gain prosperity, right? So you've made a sacrifice of something so that your life would be better, whether it was prosperity, whether it was favor, ⁓ you know, you the you there would be those who would sacrifice things to Molech so that their crops would come, right? The problem was Molech incorporated child sacrifice on a regular basis. And by the way, if you do history, just about every culture. That there has ever been has practiced child sacrifice. Right? The reason that we recoil at that is because of this. Right? And it and it it shows the power of this that people who don't even believe in this God now recoil at the thought of child sacrifice, right? Yet the only reason that they recoil at that is because the light has penetrated the darkness. Because the darkness in the world was just fine with that. I know it's hard for us to understand, but it was. But the light has slowly started overcoming and started pushing back these influences. Right? So so here Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they what they are talking about, they're talking about the worship, the idolatry of these gods. That is the main. problem here. It wasn't, they were not focused on people's behavior. The behavior's bad, yes, behavior can be sinful. But the problem was is that the people were following these false gods. They were practicing idolatry. And then that led to their behavior. So they could have fixed all of their quote behavior, right? They start treating people right and they start, you know, not shedding innocent blood and stuff like that. Okay, that's a good step, but you're not actually solving the main problem, which is the idolatry. You've got to tear down the high places. You've got to tear down the ⁓ a sheriff holes, you've got to get rid of those idols in your life. Right. And and on a ⁓ on a geopolitical level, that's what Jeremiah was saying, you all need to get rid of this stuff. And if you read through the Kings, you know, th the th there would be ⁓ bad kings that would allow these things to start coming in and then there'd be a good king that would go and push that stuff out. But sometimes they wouldn't tear down the high places and it specifically will say that. It's like they said, quit worshiping those other gods, but they wouldn't tear it out. They wouldn't get rid of it. Right. And so the ⁓ moment another king came in, it would just come right back in. Right. You have to be aware of these things and get them completely out. So are there connections With the spirit behind these gods. Like, I don't you're gonna ha well, you can find it because you can find anything today. ⁓ there aren't many people who are gonna proclaim that they are worshiping Baal. There's not many people that are gonna claim, Yes, I worship the god Moleg. There's not many people that are gonna claim I worship the goddess Asherah, right? Because we've moved past that. We are in a cultural place that believes. There's one God, right? Or, but that God can be seen through Hinduism, through Buddhism, through Islam, through right? But we're in a different place. Most of us don't think about things as, ⁓ you may be actually practicing the spirit behind some of these pagan gods. Well, Baal. is greatly entwined with power, with wealth, with importance. Think of the materialism that we have today. All of us struggle with this. The struggle of wanting more, right? Of seeking more. If you listen to our ⁓ political leaders right now, what is the the one thing that is most important? I think this came out during ⁓ when Clinton was running. They came out with the little phrase, ⁓ it's the economy, stupid. Remember that? Right? Because that drives so much. Right. Right now, the political messaging on one side is the economy's horrible, everything's going bad. The on the other side, it's the greatest economy we've ever had. The stock market is hitting highs. Right? All of these things, right? Why are we judging how well and healthy we are as a country based on economic material? Stuff. Now that's a part of the world. I'm not saying it's it's not, but if you notice where the focus is, it it becomes focusing on the material power. We are all influenced by that. That is a very real thing, and we have to be very careful with that. ⁓ but all also there was a lot of hedonism that went into that spectacle of how you worship, right? ⁓ just You look at our entertainment, you look at our media, ⁓ you look at ⁓ just how important ⁓ sports has become. The th these are like the spirits of of of ball, the same thing that that that was kind of he represented that pagan god. We're subject to that. I mean it how many people can tell you the the name of the every person that plays on their favorite team? And yet can't tell you what the first book of the Bible is. Okay. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy sports. I love sports, but be careful. Those things can easily become an idol. I mean that I I our men for sure have been been taken over by a lot of idols. Right? And Focus on things that are not godly. Right? And ⁓ and we have to push back against that. We need to be aware of what's going on there. Asherah, the goddess. We have no idea how much this the spirit that she represents has infiltrated our society. Whenever you hear things like Mother Earth, Queen of Heaven, the Divine Feminine, these are all terms that were associated with her. They elevated the feminine over the masculine, right? That ⁓ elevated fertility. One of the ways that ⁓ that the the the priest of of her ⁓ would would do is they would have to mutilate themselves so that they would not be men anymore. They would be women. Right? Talking thousands of years ago. Right? In order to worship this God, that was what some of them would do. Are we seeing that spirit maybe infecting us today? Yeah. Just in in Oregon from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty four came out that about two percent of the ⁓ of girls under eighteen were diagnosed with some form of transgenderism. Two percent. There's no way that is there is no way that is true. And many of them were then given medications to help them start producing testosterone. This is Blatant evil. And we and we just kind of like, ⁓ well, that's just where the culture's going. We are allowing these pagan influences to come flooding back. Environmentalism. You know, we all talk about global warming, climate change, all that, right? And we can have all these things. This God was all about elevating the earth above humanity. You have to be real careful when you start engaging in these conversations that you don't elevate the earth over humanity. And by the way, I think his name's Paul Ehrlich, something like that. He was like a depopulation guy. He thought we were going to be ⁓ have too much population and it was going to destroy the world. You read some of his garbage, it is unbelievable. Like they were trying to find this is back in the 1970s, trying to find ways to depopulate the earth because we're we're elevating the earth above creation. That is part of the spirit behind this goddess. Then you get to Molech. And of course, we're all appalled that people would practice child sacrifice. You can read, there's a at the the lowest of lows, King Ahab, I believe, ⁓ actually sacrifices his own child to the fire. And they talk about casting into the fires of Moloch. ⁓ the people, and it would not have been all of them, but they would have started to practice that. Why were they practicing that? Right. It was because if I give this gift, then I will receive a benefit. All right. Now you can you can you can justify anything, right? And so so well, I'm gonna do this. I know it may not be the right thing to do, but the benefits I will get are worth it. I am thankful that we do not live in a time where this is. Openly practiced. We live in a time where it's hidden behind closed doors, where it comes to you in the mail. I and I know this gets really touchy and and I've preached on abortion, but the principle behind it. What is the principle? Big principle. I'm not talking about policy things and how we go about changing things. I'm talking about just the principle behind it. It is terminating what would be a life, whether you agree that it's a life or not, it's terminating something that will be a life. Why? Well, the the quick response, well well, what about for those rape and incest? Okay, I'm talking about the ninety-five percent that are done just for convenience. It is the sacrifice of what will be a human being, and I believe already is a human being, it is sacrificing that for your own benefit. Whether it's man, I'm only 14 years old. How am I going to raise this child? Valid questions. Right? And so you can easily justify. I just can't do it. It would be it would be worse for that child to come into this world in these circumstances. So I'm actually doing the child a favor. Right? You see how you can easily start to rationalize all this stuff. But the spirit of it is that an innocent life is being terminated. For personal benefit. That spirit is heavy here, right? And it causes divisions within pro life people, within ⁓ pro choice people, right? All of that. It it is a massive problem. I mean there have been over sixty million abortions, right? And now we think well, Roe versus Way was overturned. And there are laws now. That some states actually are more restrictive than ⁓ other countries in the rest of the world. Before the Roe v people don't believe this stuff. Before Roe vs. Wade was overturned, we had the most permissive abortion laws nearly in the in the whole world. Like like all these places that we think are godless and stuff like that had way more restrictive abortion ⁓ laws than we did. Now we have states that are much more restrictive. However, we have had the rise of a pill that anyone can can get, and you can terminate your pregnancy in the quiet of your own home. This is this is ⁓ it's an evil spirit that has deceived. And we need to we need to be careful, we need to be humble, and we need to be compassionate in how we help those who have been deceived. But we have to know what the battle that we are fighting, where it's coming from. It is coming from these ancient spiritual practices that are not new. They're just manifest in a little bit different way. Does that make sense? That's where we are. Right? And kind of the overarching philosophies of all what what happens with all of these ⁓ gods is it creates pragmatism over principle. No longer is the principle important. It's just how how practical it is. Let's just get the job done. Right? Ends justify the means. Right. You have the idea of of pluralism that, hey, whatever you believe, it's true. That's what happens when you allow these spirits to start coming in. Right? It's it it always leads to the sacrifice of the innocent and the vulnerable. It ⁓ it is it starts eroding the importance of of having a covenant with God, of saying there is only one true God. All of that stuff starts getting attacked. Those were things that our culture valued. We valued principle. We valued human life. We valued the idea of serving one true God. Over the years, we've just been slipping further and further and further away. And that's why we are where we are. Now I want us to go to Ezekiel and wrap up. Ezekiel chapter thirty three. This is right after he's talked about being the watchman, starting in verse ten. And you, Son of Man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said, Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we and and we rot away because of them. How then can we live? Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked Turn from the his way and live, turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? And you, Son of Man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he is named from his wickedness, and the righteousness shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trust in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, though, I say to the wicked, You shall surely die, yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, and Gives back what he has taken by robbery, walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice. He shall surely live. He shall not die. None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right. He shall surely live. That is the message that we need to take to the world. There are many people who are deceived. And they are believing a lot of these practices. They still have hope. They still have time. We can turn from our wicked ways. We need to evaluate ourselves. What are the what are these cultural things that now that the culture says is fine, that we are now adhering to? And we need to turn from them. Just because you go to church, whenever it's talks about that your righteousness is not good enough, see the people, they thought that they were righteous because they were God's people. And they're like, hey, we're righteous. And God is like, no, it is not your righteousness. It is me. Right? And that is why Jesus Christ came, is because we can't do it on our own. And we have to turn to him. That is the message that the world needs to hear. It does not want to hear that message. Repentance does not preach well. But that is what the world needs. We need to recognize what's going on. The darkness that we see out there, it it seems different and new to us, but it is just ancient evils that are rising again. But the message of repentance and redemption still brings life. And when Jesus Christ entered into the world and when the church began to share his message, what did you see start to happen? All of these pagan gods started to fade into the background. That's what needs to happen today. Take that message, that message of hope with you. Share that with the world around you. Do it with a smile. Do it with the joy that seeing a little girl walk around brings. Does that not bring joy? Yes, it does. It's it's awesome. There's nothing wrong with that. It's wonderful. Because it brings joy, and there's still joy in the darkness because of who Christ is. And man, it breaks my heart that there are so many people that are deceived by these same ancient spirits. And we need to be able to bring them hope, bring them joy by pointing them to Jesus Christ. Make sure you do that each and every day. Let's go to him in prayer. His kingdom. Sing to him. Yeah.