Idol

Idol (def) - An idol is a person or thing that is loved, admired, or worshipped very much.

In the lost world, Idols are rampant, and our Christian culture has adopted many of these same idol practices, even with statues of Jesus. We get to a point where we need. our imagination to kick in to help support our lack of faith by having something we can bow down to and hope they do something. The prophet Isaiah wrote the following in Isaiah 44: ⁹ Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

¹⁰ Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing? ¹¹ Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together.

God forbade the worship of idols with His strongest language, given through the Prophet Isaiah, and basically called anyone worship 'figures' stupid or foolish. One thing about idols, you can make it say anything you want, because you are god when thinking and trusting those idols. Just like satan, the desire to be god is a dead-end road that we must not go down. There is only one God, and we are not Him. Praise God for that distinct truth that we rely on. Paul had to deal with idol worship in Ephesus, and it got sticky real quick because there was money being made by those who made the idols and those who promoted idol worship.

Here is what Jesus said about worshipping idols in Matthew 4: ⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^\“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Jesus rejected the offer to worship and so should we. Maybe you are in some kind of wilderness in your thinking about idol worship, and you need to read the above scripture and line up with the strong, perfect reply of the Son of God to satan and get out of that wilderness in your thinking.

In Ephesus, the temple of Artemis was huge and about four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens, so idol worship was definitely out of control. The temple was economically very profitable for the whole city, and the Apostle Paul calls out this worship of idols and says to worship Jesus alone. Not a popular message, but in referring back to Matthew 4, we can see the devil was behind all of this idol and worship, but the message of Jesus was changing lives, and Christ was being worshipped and HIm alone. The prophet that was being lost by the image makers was the rub Paul had to deal with, and deal with it he did. Acts 19:¹⁸ And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Perhaps it is time to 'draw a line in the sand' and say "no more idols" as the Prophet Isaiah wrote? I believe so. Just don't expect a happy acceptance of following the Word of God in the area of idols, because the devil has a stronghold in our world right now. We must prevail and follow God's word and His warnings and purge this weak and apathetic, worldly faith, and once again believe in God's Word in the midst of idols. Joshua 1: ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren