Survivor: Where is the Hidden Idol?

Part of the strategy of the television show Survivor is to find the "hiddened idol". It's an amulet which has powers to prevent the player from being voted out. It can be used any time the player feels that he is in jeopardy, or it can be passed along to save the another player in the alliance. The most ambitious players search diligently for the idol. It's normally hidden within an object which has strange or peculiar characteristics. If the wise player looks for a weird tree, log or rock, the idol is often found there. Finding the idol gives feelings of power and self-gratification. Players grin with pleasure knowing that they are "one up" on their fellow tribe members!

Let us now look for our hidden idol! Is it a statue of Buddha somewhere in your house? Perhaps it's a calf or sphinx out in the shed. Or is the hidden idol that money you have stashed away which few know about? An idol is anything cherished to the extreme by an individual. It can be material, but also cognitive, emotive, pecuniary, pleasurable, etc. You get the idea. It's basically something which has more emotional or spiritual value than its intrinsic worth! It's something so precious that the person edges God out and puts this entity on a pedestal! Where is your hidden idol?

It all began with a tribe of people living in a tropical paradise. Within paradise was a garden which had nourishment for all and an environment without death or disease. There were two tribes playing survivor. Their names were "Red Clay" and "Live and Breath". Rather than winning awards through challenges for their sustenance, everything was a gift! All they need to is win a challenge. There was only one challenge: "Live a life without disobedience." Like all good "challenge" competitions, there were obstacles, hurdles and opponents to overcome to win!

Let's look at the the setting Survivors in Paradise: Red Clay vs. Live and Breath. The contestants are Adam (Red Clay) and Eve (Live and Breath). Oh, yes, there is the moderator: Jeff Probst as the serpent! Here's the setting for that first challenge:

Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Just as the program Survivor, there is a hidden idol! Can you find it? I'll give you a minute or two............................................... Have you found it yet?

Is the hidden idol in the tree or beneath it? Is it in the branches or in the ground? Old Jeff (the serpent is giving clues just as on Survivor).  What are the clues? Have you found them yet? Here they are!

• your eyes shall be opened
•  ye shall be as gods
• ye shall know good and evil
• the tree was good for food
• it was pleasant to the eyes
• it's a tree to be desired to make one wise

Which player found the idol? It was the team "Live and Breath" with participant Eve first finding the idol! Good for you, Eve. Women are as able as men! However, Jeff the serpent, led her in the direction of the idol. Unlike Survivor where the idol can "save", this idol "kills"! The writer of this episode just wanted a little suspense in the challenge. Thank you God for that twist!

So Eve has the idol! What is she to do with it? "I'll just share it with Adam!" she thinks. Tribe "Red Clay" gets into the action! Adam accepted the hidden idol which Eve had found and they, because of their alliance, shared in what otherwise would have been glory, but became the reason the torch is snuffed and the tribes' lives ended when the flame was extinguished!

But have you found the hidden idol? Adam and Eve did. They know what it is! Do you?

Let's have another clue: There are two idols, but the idol the two had was one. If there were more players, there would be many idols, but all the idols would be as one. 

Like Survivor, that's a piece of the puzzle, but an important piece. It's an abstract clue and only the wise would perceive it! It takes knowledge and reason to understand that clue. Now Adam and Eve had that reason. They were "false gods", being an imitation of God only! By the way, that was another clue to the hidden idol! Did you catch that?

How many now know the where the hidden idol is and what it is? Before you were saved, you had this idol and every day of your life, this idol demands attention, pleasure and worship. He wants to be the center of attention and often you kneel to this idol! Yes, YOU KNEEL to an idol!

Before this "tribal counsel ends" I'll tell you what the hidden idol is, what it is worth and who has it!  But before we do that stay tuned for next week's episode. It's called "Grace" and the tribes will be Christians and Principalities. Jeff the serpent will be replaced by Jesus Christ and alliances will be replaced with love. There will be no idol to save anyone, but grace will be given to all! It's all back on this network! Read it in advance. It's written down Word for Word! Back to this tribal counsel now.

Ready? The idol is you! It's "The Self". You all have it and it fails to keep you safe. It destroys and no one is immune from its destruction! It gives things which hurt you in the race and with the mystery. The rewards offered by the idol are the receipt of pleasure, reason and wealth. However, the things of the idol destroy, not offering immunity when the torch is put out. Every tribe, every player has knelt to their idol. They kneel to "The Self". Even kneeling to other idols is satisfying to  "The Self"! That idol is hidden. It's too shameful to bring out for all to see. It's hidden inside each player and each tribe has many idols, but they all are "Selfs". (Remember the clues!)

"The Self" can be defeated! It's lowered into deep water and washed clean. The new person which comes out is pure. That idol is dead and the person has been born again and is new. Grace did that. It offered immunity! Now hang onto that because the competition is mad. You better watch out, the serpent will steal it if he can!

By the way. The show has the same hidden idol. They all do what they do for "Self". They lie, cheat, are untrustworthy and even betray to pleasure their "Self"!