Syncretism: 1 Samuel 7:3-4
The path to truth resides in having no other gods before Him. It is one of the primary laws given to Moses as the foundation of the legal code. It is also the core of our sin. All sin is fundamentally formed by a break in our desire to pursue God’s ways first.
The Bible gives a broad summary of Samuel’s leadership before diving into the specifics of his adult life. Samuel has a solid understanding of the faith. He is ready to rise to the stage God sets for him.
The first grand overture the Bible gives about Samuel references false gods. I love the tone of Samuel’s message. He says, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart.” This is a conditional; it means Samuel is not fully convinced. Samuel has heard the people, listening to their thoughts and sensing interest in God’s ways. He has not seen it put into practice.
Samuel doesn’t legislate people into faith. Samuel doesn’t make religion legally mandatory. Samuel knows obedience to God comes from the heart. Obedience to God is an internal decision each person makes themselves.
Faith comes and goes as generations flow through time. There is always a faithful remnant remaining true to God’s ways, but in general obedience to God waxes and wanes. Some generations value being humble before God; other generations value independence and living out the freedom to behave as they see fit.
Samuel knows words are cheap. The people have indicated they wish to return to the Lord, but anyone can say whatever they want. Change is easy on the lips but considerably more difficult in practice. Old habits draw us back. New trends catch our attention. Practicing our faith and living out God’s ways is much harder than talking about it.
Thus, Samuel tells them to put away their foreign gods and their Ashtaroth. The Ashtaroth were fertility gods of the Canaanite people and often worshipped alongside other gods like Ba’al. Either way, Samuel’s message is clear. There is no place for syncretism with God.
Syncretism is the intentional blending of distinct beliefs, cultures, or philosophies to create a unified system. It is the product of getting different people to get along with one another. It feels good on the outside looking in. The destructive inner core, though, is how blending different systems spreads each belief, culture, or philosophy so thin it no longer feels the same.
The Hebrew people were trying to worship God, Ba’al, and the Ashtaroth. They were looking to the successful people around them and sampling whatever they could to imitate their success. Samuel tells the people that isn’t going to work. The Hebrew people need to put away the ways religious practices of the world, not try to blend them in. The path to truth doesn’t reside in diluting God with the world. The path to truth resides in having no other gods before Him.
