“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” Acts 17:16
July 18, 2025
The city of Athens in Paul’s day was an upside down world. It boasted of its glorious past and reveled in its intellectual sophistication. But the truth was Satan had a strangle hold on the world view of the city and culture of the Athenians. With a population of about 10,000 there were 30,000 statues of god and goddesses. One observer, Xenophon, described the city as follows: “The whole of it is one great altar, one sacrifice and votive offering to the gods.” The apostle Paul was distressed by what he saw. He was not a charmed tourist. Do we think that our cities and culture are any less idol saturated? Idolatry is no respecter of persons. It finds its source in the sinful, self-exalting heart of man. James Boice has hit the nail on the head, “Idolatry is the basic problem of our society.” Do you wonder at the moral breakdown in moral values? Adultery, child abuse, homosexuality, racism, dishonesty, pornography, gambling, drug abuse tell us what we don’t want to hear. We have lost sight of God. It is the wise Christian who prays to God for the discernment to see Satan’s masterpieces all around us. This should make us wonder if and where the seduction of false gods has found a place in our thoughts and values. We will track this thought in coming days on the MM.
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“The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is.” A.W. Tozer