In this post we will be going over the topic of Idolatry and Graven Images. This topic is highly relevant for today because probably everyone on earth has committed or does commit this sin at some point in their life, whether it be the Pope, your car, sports, or even your favorite television show ANYTHING can be an Idol when placed above God.
The Command!
First we shall be taking a look at passages where people are commanded not to make/commit Idolatry. One of the first places in scripture that we see this is in Gen 35:2, where the Patriarch Jacob tells his household and those that were with him to put away the strange gods that was with them. This topic is really about the first two commandments, which are to have no other gods before the Lord and not to make/worship graven images (Exo 20:3-5). The crime of Idolatry was is so serious that the children of Israel were forbidden to even mention the names of other gods (Exo 23:13). God rather instructed them to destroy the gods of the Amorites, the Hittites, etc (Exo 23:23-24, Exo 34:13 -17,Deu 7:25 -26).
It is a repeated warning throughout the books of Moses that Israel wasn't to make Idols (Lev 19:4, Lev 26:1, Deu 4:15 -19).
In the New Testament the men of Lystra would have sacrificed to Paul and Barnabas because they thought they were gods. Paul and Barnabas however beseeches them not to, but to rather turn from their idolatry unto the living God (Act 14:11 -15). We find out in the book of Acts that one of the few things that the Gentiles who were turned to the Lord were instructed to do was to avoid meat that was offered to Idols (Act 21:25). This is done so that we don't wound the consciences of others (1 Cor 8, 1Co 10:27-33). So we learn from scripture that it wasn't just for the old testament Jews to keep themselves from Idols, but it is our duty to flee from Idolatry as well (1 Co 10:6-7, 10:14, 1 Jn 5:21). Finally we see John being forbidden from falling down to worship the angel that did show him the things that were written in the book of Revelation (Rev 19:10).
So how are Idols described in the Bible?
The Bible calls graven or molten images an abomination unto the Lord (Deu 27:15), this means that God hates, loathes, or detest them. In fact, the bible describes other gods as devils (Deu 32:16 -17, 1 Co 10:19-21, Rev 9:20). Graven Images are described of having eyes but not seeing and ears but not being able to hear, we also learn that those that make or trust in them are like them (Psa 115:4 -8, Psa 135:15-18). They cannot save their worshipers (Isa 45:20, Isa 46:5 -7). False gods are compared to broken cisterns that can hold no water, this is in contrast to the Lord who is the fountain of living waters (Jer 2:11-13, Joh 4:10 -14). Molten Images are regarded as falsehood, vanity and the work of errors (Jer 10:14 -15).
Punishment For
So let's talk about some of the judgments that were incurred for the practice of idolatry. The bible tells us that anyone who sacrifices to any god save the Lord only would be destroyed (Exo 22:20, Deu 8:19, Jos 24:20, Psa 73:27, Eze 6:4-5, Eze 6:13). A great example of this is in Numers 25 where many Israelites were slain for joining themselves to Baalpeor. When Israel went in to possess the promised land they were instructed to drive out the inhabitants thereof and destroy their high places, groves and graven / molten images (Num 33:52 -53, Deu 7:1-5).
The Israelites were expected to not have any pity when it came to Idolatry, even for family members or friends, in fact their hand would be the first on them to put them to death (Deu 13:6 -9). The punishment for serving other gods in the Old Testament was death by stoning (Deu 17:2 -5). A popular god in the book of kings was called Baal, in it we see the prophet Elijah and king Jehu ordering the death of the prophets/ worshippers of Baal (1Ki 18:40, 2Ki 10:19-26). We learn that Amaziah's destruction came because he sought after the gods of the Edomites, even though those gods couldn't deliver their followers from his hand.
(2Ch 25:14 -16, :20)
The bible also teaches us that those that go after other gods will have their sorrows be multiplied (Psa 16:4), and that those that make or serve graven images will be confounded (Psa 97:7, Isa 45:16). In Ezekiel 8 we learned that Israel committed such Idolatrous practices as worshiping creatures portrayed upon the wall, weeping for Tammuz, and worshiping the sun as well, therefore the Lord says he will not spare or pity them. We also see that King Belshazzar was slain the same night that he was praising the gods of gold, silver, etc (Dan 5:4 -30). In Jer 7:9-16 we learn that God isn't pleased with people who come to worship him if they are going around a committing Idolatry among other sins. One result of Idolatry that we learn about in Hosea is that the Idolaters daughters will commit whoredom and their spouses will commit adultery (Hos 4:12 -14). The prophet Jonah puts it quite clearly when he says "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." (Jon 2:8).
The Pauline epistles teach us that those who commit Idolatry will not inherit God's/Christ's kingdom but rather their end will be destruction (Gal 5:20 -21, Eph 5:5, Php 3:19). This is further confirmed by the book of Revelation when we learn that those that commit Idolatry will not be entering the holy city of Jerusalem but rather will be cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 21:8, Rev 22:14-15).
What else can we find out about Idolatry from scripture?
We learn that even some of the earliest civilizations committed idolatry when we read of the account of Rachel stealing her father's gods (Gen 31:30-35), or when the children of Israel worshiped the molten calf (Exo 32:8). We see that Israel further committed Idolatry after being brought into the promised land by serving Baalim and the gods that were round about them (Jdg 2:11-12, Jdg 10:6). The Pagan Idol Dagon was fallen with his face to the ground before the Ark of God when it was captured by the Philistines (1 Sa 5:4). After David won his battle with the Philistines he and his men burned the Idols that they left (2 Sa 5:21).
The great king Solomon heart was turned away after other gods on the count of all his wives (1 Ki 11:4, Deu 17:17). Then we have the king Jeroboam making two calves of gold because he didn't want Israel to return to Jerusalem for fear that they would go back to king Rehoboam (1 Ki 12:26-28). I like how the bible shows the contrast between the evil kings and the godly kings in how they dealt with the Idols of the land. One such example is the evil king Manasseh (before he repented) and Josiah (2 Ch 33:3-7, 2 Ch 34:3-7). A perfect example of how men ought to view idols is found in Isa 30:22 where we see that they shall cast them away as a menstruous cloth. One thing that we can deduce from scripture is that Idolaters are notorious for committing child sacrifice (2 Ki 17:16 -18, Isa 57:5 -6, Eze 23:37). The passage of Jer 2:27-28 perfectly describes evolutionary teachers in that they believe they came from rocks.
We see that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were delivered from the power of the flame when they refused to serve Nebuchadnezzar's image (Dan 3). The bible teaches us that the God the creator is separate from his creation (Hos 8:6, Rom 1:21-32, Gal 4:8 -9). It sure is refreshing to hear that God will eventually remove the names of the idols out of the land so that they will no longer be remembered, and that men shall worship the Lord even from all the isles of the heathen (Zec 13:2, Zep 2:11). There's the account of Demetrius who felt very threatened by Paul because he taught that there was no gods made with hands; this is because he was a silversmith who made shrines for the goddess Diana (Act 19:24 -27). We as Christians may have served false gods in the past but know we are turned from them to serve the true God (1Th 1:9, 1Pe 4:2-4).
In conclusion we learn that there are many false gods out there but only one true and living God. He is the only one who can save and we are to be unlike the Pagans around us who serve images that are made out of Gold, Silver, Wood, and Stone.
Bonus Verses:
Exo 20:23, Deu 16:22, Jdg 6:28, Jdg 10:10 -16, Jdg 17:3, 2 ki 21:11-12, 2 Ki 23:5, 1Ch 16:25 -26, Psa 96:5, Isa 2:8, Isa 10:11, Isa 19:3, Isa 41:29, Isa 44:9-20, Jer 16:20, Eze 16:17, Eze 14:3 -8, Hos 9:10, Hos 13:2 -3, Hos 14:3, Nah 1:14, Hab 2:18 -19, Acts 17:16 -30, 1 Co 12:2
"How much more truly do dumb animals naturally judge concerning your gods? Mice, swallows, kites, know that they have no feeling: they gnaw them, they trample on them, they sit upon them; and unless you drive them off, they build their nests in the very mouth of your god. Spiders, indeed, weave their webs over his face, and suspend their threads from his very head. You wipe, cleanse, scrape, and you protect and fear those whom you make; while not one of you thinks that he ought to know God before he worships Him; desiring without consideration to obey their ancestors, choosing rather to become an addition to the error of others, than to trust themselves; in that they know nothing of what they fear. Thus avarice has been consecrated in gold and silver; thus the form of empty statues has been established; thus has arisen Roman superstition. And if you reconsider the rites of these gods, how many things are laughable, and how many also pitiable!"
ReplyDeleteThe Octavius of Minucius Felix (a dialogue between a Christian and a pagan), chapter XXIV