The whole point of being holy is that you’re special. Since God is holy, that must mean that He is special. Set apart. Different. Unique. A one of one.
For ancient peoples (and still some people today), idolatry poses a real threat to that stance. The idea that God is just one of a pantheon of available deities in the universe means that you can pick and choose, eventually landing on one that suits your purposes and individual tastes.
The problem with idolatry is that you inevitably end up worshipping yourself. Your idols are personal, so whatever power they may or may not have is dependent on how much power you may or may not have.
God isn’t like that. His power and majesty and capabilities far outpace anything we as humans could even imagine. That’s a boon for Christians who rely on Him to do things that we cannot do for ourselves.
Moses saw this at the Red Sea, and it formed a core part of his song in Exodus 15. In viewing the might of God, he remarked “Who is like You among the gods, Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness?” The rhetorical answer to that rhetorical question is…nobody. There is no one like God; that’s the whole reason He is God.
In a bit of foreshadowing for the eventual wanderings and conquest of Canaan, Moses claims a few verses later that the leaders of Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Canaan recognize this as well. They know that Jehovah is mightier than anything they have in their lands, and that same Jehovah has promised to overthrow them. They know it, and they’re terrified (Exodus 15:14-16).
But here’s the million dollar question: If everyone knows that Jehovah is greater than their idols, and we know that He is greater than anything on earth, why did they not bow down to worship Him? Why don’t we?
That’s obviously a question for each individual to answer, but ironically, the answer lay with Pharaoh’s armies at the bottom of the Red Sea. They saw the plagues; why did they still challenge Him by charging into the water in pursuit of the Israelites?
Because they wanted to believe they were stronger than they are. That’s really all it boils down to, doesn’t it? We think we’re able to take on so much—and maybe we can, here and there. But ultimate power rests in God. Only a fool would challenge Him in a battle of cosmic proportions.
Once again though, that’s the nature of idolatry. We worship gods that serve our purposes, then count on those gods to fight the battles that are too great for us. But if those gods come from our own hands and/or imagination, doesn’t that mean whatever power they have comes from us? And if we’re not God’s equals, our idols wouldn’t be either.
If you want to be greater than you are, you have to serve Something unique, which is God. That’s why Moses extols His distinctiveness: He’s unlike anything man has made, which makes Him worthy of our praise. The moment we begin to think He’s no better than us is the moment we start worshipping an idol made of self.
