The only answer to the gods - is God. The power of 'the gods' can only be overcome by the power of God. In the Hebrew Scriptures the word for God is Elohim. Elohim is plural. It speaks of the one true God in His transcendence and limitlessness. But the same word, translated as "God", is, in other contexts, translated as "the gods". The strange property of the word reveals a profound truth. In the end, it will come down to one Elohim or the other, the Elohim of God, or the elohim of the gods. (Exodus 3:14)
We were each created with an emptiness that can only be filled by God's presence. Our hearts possess a God-shaped vacuum. So, no matter what else we have, without God our lives and hearts remain empty. But if we are not filled by Elohim, by God, we will end up being filled by the elohim - by the gods. The elohim of the gods manifests in many forms and appearances. Whether it is the elohim of money, success, pleasure, acceptance, self-obsession, addiction, or any other thing, they are, in the end, elohim, substitutes for the absence of the One who is Elohim, God.
We were each made to seek and find Him. But if we do not find the Elohim of God, we will end up serving and worshipping the elohim of the gods. The pagan world was filled with them. But the center of that world was empty, darkened, restless, without peace, purpose, or hope.
So the apostle Paul described the condition of those living in paganism as '...having no hope and without God in the world..." (Ephesians 2:11-13)
Modern culture, having turned away from God and to the gods, is now marked by the same signs that once marked the ancient pagan world: purposelessness, emptiness, and hopelessness. And the answer to the modern world is the same as to the ancient, and all the more so - God.
More Reflection: Jeremiah 29:11; Hebrews 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; Romans 15:13; Isaiah 40:31; Romans 15:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:19; Proverbs 13:12; Deuteronomy 31:6; 1 Peter 1:3; Romans 8:24; Ephesians 1:18; Romans 5:5; Psalm 33:22; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 10:23; Revelation 21:4; Titus 1:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Proverbs 23:18; Romans 8:25; Matthew 24:1-51.
Note: Text taken from Cahn, The Return of the Gods. Scripture references added.
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