We told you earlier this week about the young woman at our poker table who brought the ancient Greek god of wine, Dionysus. And we quoted a warning from the true God to Moses in Exodus 23:13. "Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."
Does this mean the woman sinned by saying.... uh.... the D-word? This is where we sometimes might not want to take the Bible 100-percent literally.
Do a concordance check for the word "Baal" and you'll find it appears in the King James Bible more than 60 times. If a minister or worship leader simply read the Bible aloud, would he violate the warning of Exodus 23?
If so, then Elijah broke that warning when he challenged a crowd: "If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." (I Kng. 18:21) Yet God answered Elijah's prayer later in the chapter with a victorious and certain confirmation (verse 38) -- not punishment for saying the wrong name.
If all scripture is "given by inspiration of God" (II Tim. 3:16, KJV), we're led to conclude the warning of Exodus 23 is not an absolute for us today. After all, the Bible says the Lord is supposed to be a stumbling stone (Isa. 8:13-14) -- not the names of embedded false gods, which also appear in scripture under God's inspiration.
So you don't have to scold another poker player who might bring up Baal, Zeus, Dionysus or some other false god. But that moment might open a door for you to explain the One real God -- as we tried to do.
By the way: did you know the name Dionysius appears in the Bible? We found it in Acts 17:34 -- for a man who converted to Christianity at the preaching of Paul, and may have become a bishop in the first-century church at Athens. There's nothing in the New Testament to indicate he changed his name.
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