IDOLATRY
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it:”
–Leviticus 26:1
PART ONE: What is Idolatry?
It’s important to establish what is and what is not idolatry. This is important as false teachers, false religions, false apostles and others deceitful workers have worked tirelessly over the years to muddy the waters about what constitutes idolatry.
The dictionary (or man’s definition) of idolatry is as follows.
“Idolatry is the worship of an idol or a physical object as a representation of a god.”
In other words, the worship of a physical object that is seen and can be touched in the place of something that cannot be seen or touched.
The Bible repeatedly records what God has declared idolatry is. THIS is the only definition which counts.
God is VERY specific what constitutes an idol. The reader should be able to pick up a few characteristics which God uses to describe what an idol is in the following 12 selections.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them”
–Exodus 20:4-5
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.”
–Leviticus 26:1
“Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth”
–Deuteronomy 4:16-18
“Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth”
–Deuteronomy 5:8
“And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)”
–Deuteronomy 29:17
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.”
–Psalm 115:4-7
“The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.”
–Psalm 135:15-17
“Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.”
–Isaiah 2:8-9
“In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.”
–Ezekiel 6:6
“And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.”
–Hosea 13:2
“What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?”
–Habakkuk 2:18
“Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.”
–Micah 5:13
God repeatedly describe idols as
- Gold, silver, wood, stone;
- The work of man’s hands;
- Images and pillars, graven or otherwise; and,
- being dead; i.e., they cannot see, hear, speak or move.
In other words, idols are CREATURES made by man (who is a created being).
In addition, the New Testament declared that covetousness is idolatry.
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
–Colossians 3:5
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
–Ephesians 5:5
False teachers try to blur the very clear lines God has set up for idolatry by claiming there is something called “modern idolatry.” They confuse idolatry with the things of this world: self love, self divinity, pride. Some claim football and other past times are idols.
Some so-called “Christian” writers confuse straw men with idols. They offer the reader something different than what God declares an idol to be–and then they knock it over.
One website said “An idol is any person, object or activity you give a higher priority in your life than a relationship with God.”
This appears to have been manufactured by the person writing the piece. There is nothing in the Bible to support this definition of idolatry. There is nothing in the Bible to support that a person can be an idol.
Though not referring to Ephesians and Colossians, these folks sometimes reference pursuit of material wealth and the things of this world as well.
While none of these activities are godly, and ALL can be associated with sin, they are NOT idolatry (with the exception of covetousness).
Some false religions justify their idolatry as an “expression of faith.” But worshiping an idol is the opposite of faith.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
–Hebrews 11:1
WHY does a man need faith if he can see the object of his worship?
“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”
–Romans 8:24
To ensure that men know EXACTLY what idolatry is, God specifically refers to idolatry in the end times.
“And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
–Isaiah 2:17-21
“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk“
–Revelation 9:20
There should be NO confusion as to what modern idolatry looks like.
Part One: End Times IDOLATRY: What is Idolatry?
Part Two: End Times IDOLATRY: Why Do Men Worship Idols?
Part Three: End Times IDOLATRY: The Land is Full of Idols
Images: graven images, carved images, molten images, images of things which are in the earth, images of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth, pillars of stone, standing images, images of males or females; images of humans, beasts, birds, fish.
The Bible forbids ALL of the above.
Does the reader disagree? Does the reader plead “Be reasonable!”?
The reader needs to plead with God, who is the author of the Scriptures.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God”
–2 Timothy 3:16
Does the reader have any of these in his home?
Does the reader visit anywhere which has these displayed?
When the reader enters into any space which has these images, does he act in a hushed way? Does he have a great respect or veneration for these images or the space they are in?
Deception is heavy in the times in which we live.
Repentance is still possible.
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
Tender Mercies of the Lord: Will Not Always Be Available
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
—John 20:31
THE GOSPEL
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
images:
1- ETPR/MORU2006, pd/ETPR
2- ETPR/arkorn,FreeDigitalPhotos.net/ETPR
3- pd
4- stockdevil, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
© Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report, 2012-16. © Mondo Frazier and End Times Prophecy Report, DBKP 2007-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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