A Jealous God
by Sharon Lindbloom

When God spoke to His people, expressing the fundamentals of His eternal law called the Ten Commandments, His first concern was their fidelity to Him. He commanded the people that they were to have no other gods before Him and that they were to make no idols. Then God revealed something of His nature. He said, "For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…" (Exodus 20:5)

Passionate zeal for exclusive devotion to the true God is demanded throughout the entire Old Testament history of God's dealings with His covenant people. When He led them into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, God ordered the complete destruction of all the marks of idolatry found in that place. The alters, the sacred pillars, the carved images were to be torn down. "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree." (Deuteronomy 12:2) God demanded that His people be holy -- set apart -- and that they, like Him, not tolerate pagan religion. They were to guard the purity of their worship of the one true God lest the presence of false gods become too great a temptation and compromise that true worship.

The people were not faithful to God and dismissed His wisdom by tolerating pagan religions in their land. Their toleration moved to syncretism, and the worship of the true God became mixed with rituals of pagan worship.

King Solomon was given the gift of wisdom and ruled the nation well. God bestowed on him the incredible honor of building the temple, which he did to the glory of God. But Solomon began to tolerate pagan worship. He accumulated for himself wives from outside the nation of Israel and they turned his heart toward their gods. Solomon built "high places" for these other gods, "And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So the LORD became angry with Solomon…" (1 Kings 11:8, 9)

The writer of the Book of Kings, after praising certain rulers, often included a qualifying statement: "But the high places were not taken away…" (2 Kings 12:3. See also 14:4; 15:4; 15:35; etc.) The good work of these kings, the fact that they generally "did what was right in the sight of the LORD," was tarnished by their toleration of places of pagan worship.

Conversely, several kings are praised in Scripture specifically for their obedience to God's command to eliminate the worship of false gods in their lands. Examples include Hezekiah, Josiah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat, who are all commended because they "took away all the shrines of the high places." (2 Kings 23:19. See also 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chronicles 14:2-3, 17:6)

Destroying places of false worship is not what God's people are called to do in this current age of grace. Instead, followers of Christ are instructed to be patient while reasoning with those who are in opposition to the truth, and always be ready with an answer for the hope that is within them. Even so, in the New Testament the Apostle Paul reissues the call for God's people to be set apart. He argues, "…what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?…Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord." (2 Corinthians 6:15-17)

A question arose in the New Testament church regarding the eating of meat sacrificed to idols in pagan rituals. Within the context of this discussion Paul asserts that, though an idol is nothing, behind pagan ritual is the reality of Satan's work. These sacrifices are made to demons and not to God. "I do not want you to have fellowship with demons," Paul says. His mandate is that believers flee from idolatry; have nothing to do with paganism. (1 Corinthians 10:14-20)

Given this clear direction from God which has spanned the entire history of His revelation to His people, a recent act by the LDS Church is puzzling.

The June 5, 1999 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune reported the Utah Hare Krishna temple construction fund received a $25,000 donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation, sponsored by the LDS Church.

The Radah Krishna Temple, which is under construction in southern Utah Valley, will be modeled after an ancient temple located in India's most sacred pilgrimage place. The main temple shrine will feature marble deities carved from the quarries in Jaipur, India. According to the Hare Krishna web site, their temples are "centers for missionary work, temple worship, and spiritual learning."

The Hare Krishna faith, formally known as ISKCON, is not compatible with Christianity. In a nutshell, the ISKCON god is Krishna, who has appeared on earth in multiple incarnations. Jesus Christ is believed to be the son of Krishna, but is not the unique incarnation of God. The salvation ISKCON offers is based on self-removal of karmic debt through works and multiple self-incarnations (reincarnation). ISKCON denies the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Atonement, sin nature, resurrection, and salvation by the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus.

But the LDS Foundation has chosen to contribute to the building of a Krishna temple in the heart of Zion.

Stanley Green, president of the LDS Church's Salem Stake, worked to have this grant approved. He said, "I found these [Krishnas] to be wonderful people, honest, good people. The kind any community would want to have within its boundaries." No doubt this is true. Yet it is wildly inconsistent with the commands of God to assist in building a "high place" where false worship will be given to carved deities, where special food will be prepared and offered to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, where festival celebrations will be held to honor the many incarnations of ISKCON's god.

Paul has given followers of Christ a rule to live by which is easily discerned: Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. All Christian behavior should be for the glory of God and for the salvation of the lost, taking care that nothing is done which would cause anyone to stumble. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

The LDS Church claims to be the only true Church, the only Church with which the Lord is well pleased. It claims to honor God, obey His commands, and seek His direction from the Bible. It claims to be guided by a body of inspired men who are "prophets, seers and revelators." Yet they have done a thing which is clearly abominable in the sight of God. How can this be?

As the Lord Jesus Christ said, by their fruits you will know them.