Exodus 20:1-5a “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land
of Egypt , out of the
house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any
likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."
Last Wednesday night, our church
started the Focus on the Family video study series “The Truth Project”, and in
the first lesson there was such a wealth of information taught
by Dr. Del Tackett, valuable for our seeing and understanding the truth of the
Bible and its Author – the Lord of Heaven and Earth – God. Idolatry was a major
subject of the session on “Truth”.
Exodus 32:1-4 Now when the people saw that Moses
delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron,
and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as
for this Moses, the man who brought us
up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” And Aaron said to them, “Break off
the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your
sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the
golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the
gold from their hand, and he fashioned
it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel , that brought you out of the land of Egypt !”
Idolatry
[L. idololatria. Gr.
idol, and to worship or serve.] is defined in the 1828 Noah Webster’s
Dictionary as 1. The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or
which is not God. Idolatry is of two kinds; the worship of images, statues,
pictures, &c. made by hands; and the worship of the heavenly bodies, the
sun, moon and stars, or of demons, angels, men and animals. 2. Excessive
attachment or veneration for any thing, or that which borders on adoration.
Psalm 135:13-18 “Your name, O Lord, endures forever, Your
fame, O Lord, throughout all generations. For the Lord will judge
His people, and He will have compassion on His servants. The idols of the nations are silver and
gold, the work of men’s hands. They have
mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in
their mouths. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who
trusts in them.
In John 4:23-24, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well: “The
hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth.” To love, serve and/or worship anything or
anybody other than our Creator God is “spiritual adultery” against our Maker. Dr. Tackett
read this following passage of Holy Scripture to illustrate this foolishness.
Isaiah 44:6, 14-20 “Thus says
the Lord, the King of Israel , and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there
is no God.’” The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with
chalk; He fashions it with a plane, he marks it out with the compass, and makes
it like the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may
remain in the house. He cuts down
cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself
among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man
to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes
bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and
falls down to it. He burns half of it in the
fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even
warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he
makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver
me, for you are my god!” They
do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot
see, and their
hearts, so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in
his heart, nor is there knowledge
nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have
also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it
an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And
he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is
there not a lie in my right hand?”
In Romans
1:18-25, The Apostle Paul explains: “For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile
in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise,
they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God
into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and
creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their
hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who
exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
There are
no “Golden Calves” or any other idols of any way, shape or form for the child
of God. They are just a lie in your right hand.
Mark 12:30 “And you shall
love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”
In
Christ, Brian
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