A WORD
ABOUT IDOLS
"I
am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the
land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."
It’s been said,
“God made man in his own image, and then man kindly returned
the favor.”
A good working
definition of an idol is anything that is loved or feared more
than God. It is a
substitute or replacement for true worship.
Idols are entreated
for the protection, power, & blessing of individuals and
nations. From ancient times, and continuing today,
civilizations have been creating & then worshipping false
gods through the images, icons, and statues.
Temples, priesthoods, and elaborate systems of worship
shower them with honor.
God severely condemns this practice in scripture, since
He is Creator of all things and due all of mankind’s
gratefulness for our existence and the world He has given us
to live. God
alone can give mankind the love, protection and blessing that
we desperately need.
Consider below the
God’s Word through Isaiah the Prophet:
"The
LORD ,Not Idols "This is what the LORD says-
Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first
and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who
then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay
out before me what has happened since I established my ancient
people, and what is yet to come- yes, let him foretell what
will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not
proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses.
Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I
know not one." All who make idols are nothing, and
the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak
up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.
Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him
nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen
are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their
stand; they will be brought down to terror and infamy.
The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the
coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the
might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he
drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a
line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with
chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form
of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a
shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or
oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted
a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man's fuel for
burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a
fire and bakes bread But he also fashions a god and worships
it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he
burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his
meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says,"
Ah! I am warm; I see the fire." From the rest he
makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He
prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god."
They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes
are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed
so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has
the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used
for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat
and I ate. Shall I make a
detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a
block of wood?" He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart
misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not
this thing in my right hand a lie?" "Remember these
things, O Jacob for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made
you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins
like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed
you." Isaiah 44:6-22
"The
God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of
heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything,
because he himself gives all men life and breath and
everything else." Acts 17:24,25
The
superstitions of idol worship were not created without help.
Scripture teaches that idol worship is empowered by
demons. The
fallen spirit world offers magic, threatens retaliation, and
gives the manifestations necessary to establish false
religious worship. Once
established, shame and honor codes, ethnic pride, and fear of
family, neighbors and government are enough to sustain the
system.
They
must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols
or demons to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a
lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.'
Lev. 17:7
They sacrificed to demons, which are not God- gods they had
not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did
not fear. Deut:
32:17
They sacrificed their sons and their
daughters to demons. Psalm 106:37
Do
I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything,
or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans
are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be
participants with demons. 1Cor. 10:19,20
In the Western
world, we have our list of things that we love or fear more
than God, and we can make idols without using a graven
image.
Here is a short
list of things we love or fear more than the One True
God.
-
1.
Ourselves: Narcissism, our way, & our desires must
come first.
-
2.
The opposite sex, the pursuit of romance.
The opposite sex was to be man’s second most
important relationship, but it has become the first.
-
3.
Money, and the pursuit of material blessings can keep one
from a relationship God for entire lifetime.
No matter how much you have, it is never enough.
-
4.
Power & control can be an attempt to receive personal
glory.
-
5.
Material possessions, homes, cars, boats, jewelry.
-
6.
Chemicals that synthesize the fullness and joy that God
offers us.
-
7.
Causes that we can devote and entire lifetime to, in place
of a devotion to the living God and His cause.
The list is
endless. Any
created thing can become an idol.
Man’s root problem is the disconnection from his Holy
and Powerful Creator. The
bible tells us that the willful sin of the human race has
separated us from the Lord and we are blinded to Him.
As a beautiful rose picked from it’s stem, soon we
wither and fade. We
need to be rooted and grounded in God’s love.
We are isolated, empty, angry, fearful and needy.
Without a relationship to God our innate desire to
worship leads us to god’s of our own making.
All of our attempts to worship anything other than God
turn out to be very disappointing and leave us empty, violated
and addicted.
Thankfully, the
Lord has not left us in this desperate state, destined to
spend our lives in pursuit of false gods that will never
satisfy. Jesus
the Messiah, has paid the ultimate price for our sin and
shame. Through
God’s sacrifice on our behalf, somehow, God has satisfied
the demands of His own Holy Nature for perfect justice.
We can come home.
We can worship the One True God.
We can begin a new life.
Say “Yes” to
God’s provision for you and come home to His love.
After
Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 2"Father,
the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify
you. For you granted him authority over all people that he
might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now
this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John
17:1-3