Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
She says the ancient Near Eastern “other gods” were “vicious and cruel,” and that idolatry wasn’t God being “snippy” but a call away from oppression and injustice; what modern “gods” function similarly—promising life while training you in cruelty, self-protection, or exploitation—and how would “be holy like I am holy” directly oppose them?
Another way to ask: What “modern gods” promise a better life but actually train you to be harsh, self-protective, or to use people? How would God’s call, “Be holy like I am holy,” push back against them?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript doesn’t list modern idols by name, but Rochelle’s principle is clear: “other gods” train people into cruelty, oppression, and injustice, while the true God is good and calls His people to mirror His holiness. A reasonable inference is that any rival “god” that forms you into self-protective harshness is functioning like those ancient cruel deities.
- Rochelle says the ancient Near Eastern gods were “vicious and cruel,” and serving them meant “embrace evil and injustice and oppression and cruelty.”
- She clarifies: God’s rejection of idolatry is “not just God being snippy” but a moral rescue from destructive worship.
- God “rejects all of that and calls his people to a completely different kind of worship. He calls them to be like him.”
- She quotes the call: “Be holy like I am holy,” linking holiness to reflecting God’s character.
- She repeatedly describes God as patient, kind, forgiving, and loyal, contrasting Him with cruel gods.
- She observes that trusting God’s character changes behavior: as one translator learned God’s patience, he chose not to “cut people off.”