A Land Full of Idols
Do you know that over 90% of the Thai population are Buddhists? Do you know that there are more than 44,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand? Before our family visited Thailand last summer, I did some research online and got those statistics. I thought I knew what to expect in Thailand, but when we were actually there, we were blown away by what we saw. Temples in every neighborhood. Shrines at every corner of the street. Idols everywhere. It is one thing to know in your head, but it is another thing to see with your eyes.
In Acts 17, when the Apostle Paul arrived at Athens, he saw that the city was full of idols. Did Paul not know that Athens was a city full of idols before he visited it in person? Did he not know that Athens was famous for her pagan temples, especially the Parthenon, built in 447 B.C. and dedicated to the goddess Athena? Of course he knew. Paul was a man of great learning, learned in both Jewish law and Greek culture. But when he visited the city and saw the idols, we are told that “his spirit was provoked within him” (Acts 17:16).
The word “provoked” (paroxynomai in Greek) is a strong word, from which the English word “paroxysm” is derived. It conveys the sense of a sudden, intense, and painful emotional reaction, since the original word contains the meaning of “a sharp edge.” Paul was provoked, irritated, and distressed by what he saw, as if his soul were cut by a sharp sword. Interestingly, the only other place where this word occurs in the New Testament is in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “It [love] is not irritable or resentful.” Love is not easily provoked, so we should not be easily provoked, but when we see the rampancy of idolatry, we should be provoked, we should be deeply distressed and greatly troubled.
When I was in Thailand, my spirit was provoked within me. I was provoked to anger because I saw how people “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). I was provoked to sorrow because I saw how people gave up all that they had and put their trust in worthless and lifeless idols, which “have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see; ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths” (Psalm 135:16-17).
But our God is so different. He has spoken to us at many times and in many ways; he sees our afflictions and hears our cries; and he has breathed into us the breath of life. More than that, God the Son, driven by his zeal for his Father’s glory and sorrow at his people’s misery, came into the world. The image of the invisible God took upon himself the likeness of man to suffer for our sins. The Son who was the Father’s eternal delight became a man of sorrow to bear our griefs. The Author of life breathed his last on the cross and was buried in a grave. But he was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, so that we might receive the Spirit of life and have eyes to see and ears to hear, so that we might proclaim with our mouths the breathtaking and life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.
So how do you feel when you see idols everywhere? Idols are worthless to those who worship them, but to us who worship the true and living God, idols can be useful and powerful. Idols can provoke us to zeal and action. Idols can provoke us to seek their very opposite—Jesus Christ, the radiance of the glory of God. Do you long to see a land full of idols be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord?
Pray for our family as we are preparing to start a mission work in Thailand. Pray for the lost who live in the land of idols and are enslaved to idolatry. Pray for yourself that your spirit will be provoked to feel the zeal and grief of the Holy Spirit.
Hao is Associate Pastor of College Hill Reformed Church, Beaver Falls, PA. He is happily married to Amy, his wife of 9 years, and richly blessed with 4 children: Kai, Asaph, Boyle, and Lettie.