If there is one theme that dominates this sermon of Moses in Deuteronomy it is this: “Worship and serve God alone and shun the gods of the nations at all costs.” In 29:18, Moses says about the gods of the nations: “Make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.” What is this poison? To understand this, we must recognise that the gods in question are never treated in the Bible as non-existent. They are real rebellious spiritual beings seeking god-like control over human beings. Their images in wood and stone may be lifeless but there is real evil power behind them that threatened to entice God’s people into spiritual bondage. The whole point of the plagues of Exodus was to demonstrate Yahweh’s victory over the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12) and the deliverance from Egypt was a deliverance from the power of these gods. Having saved his people from bitter spiritual oppression Yahweh did not want them to invite this bitterness back into their lives. If they did it would become like a root that would spring up and take over their lives. This did happen at times in Israel’s history and it got to the point where they even sacrificed their own children in the fire (2 Kings 17:17). A small root can grow many shoots. Beware of small compromises because the spiritual forces behind the ancient gods of Canaan are still at work against God’s people. If you allow them to take root in any way in your life, they will take over in the end for sure. So be vigilant and tolerate no other ‘gods’.
Ask God to show you where ‘bitter roots’ may have taken hold of your life.
Read Deuteronomy 29
