Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. – 1 John 5:21
Why do we focus on and spend so much of our time on temporary things rather than eternal things, things that really matter? Why are our priorities so often opposite of what they should really be? Why are we caught up in obsessions? Why is addiction so rampant? Why are people so angry and filled with hatred? Why do people so easily worship the wrong things? Why do we worship the imperfect and ignore the perfect? Why are so many Christians, so unchristian? Why do Christians justify behaviors that are clearly forbidden in scripture? Why do Christians overlook behaviors that God in His word define as sin? Why do Christians condone practices abhorrent to God? The answer to those questions is found in one word, idolatry.
We humans have always been idolators. What is idolatry? How important is idolatry to God? Why is it a sin? What can we do to overcome idolatry in our lives? That is what this study will consider.
The Ten Commandments are the pinnacle of The Law. The Ten Commandments are God’s synopsis of the way to blessing, order in society, and the way of life. The Ten Commandments begin:
Exodus 20:1-6 – “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 – the 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. For I the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
A few things to note about these Commandments. First, these words are the words of God. You can argue about their validity or try and explain them away, but your argument is with Him. The Ten are commands straight from the mouth of God, the Creator of all things, Sovereign over all, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omni-all God. He is Perfect and not given to mistakes. That God describes Himself as “the LORD,” or “I Am that I Am,” (Exodus 3:14) points to God being all He ever needs to be, to do whatever He needs to do or to accomplish whatever He purposes to do. Anyone choosing to overlook His commands or words should keep this in mind.
Second, in the Ten Commandments, the prohibition against idolatry is first in priority. If this list indicates the priorities of prohibition from God’s perspective, then idolatry and idol making are the most heinous offenses to Him. God is so High and so Holy, so transcendent that no accurate “image” or “likeness” can ever capture truly or accurately Who He really is. Therefore, an image of God is necessarily misrepresentative of God and an offense of Him. That is true of any “god” concocted in the imagination of human beings. It would be best to adopt and abide by a healthy reverence towards the unknown. Idolatry is rooted in ignorance.
Third, idolatry involves bowing down to or worshipping idols or entities. God, being Who He is, is alone worthy to be worshipped. And God, being Who He is, therefore, is alone in a position to determine how He should be worshipped. Here He forbids worshipping Him with idols or images made by people. That is because at its root, idolatry is applying to God a false picture or inaccurate attribution to God.
Fourth, the prohibition against “carved images” as part of idolatry is either ignored conveniently or explained away by The Roman Catholic church. Why that is, is not the focus of this article. I just mention it here because the convenience of ignorance has apparently leant itself to the same practice by individuals when it comes to idolatry in life, i.e., people follow an example set by a large segment of a ‘church.”
Fifth, Oprah Winfrey testifies that the beginning of her departure from scriptural Christianity began when she saw God refer to Himself as “jealous.” That God is jealous is no reason to see God as self-conscious or weak, it is simply God condescending to communicate to humanity in words they will understand. Rather, God being Who He is, and loving us the way He does, demands the only appropriate response from humanity which is their love, faithfulness, and obedience. Even Jesus said that love is not true love if it is not accompanied by obedience (John 14:15 and 21).
Sixth, that God visits “iniquity” of fathers to their children to the third and fourth generations is no true basis for generational curses or any injustice on the part of God. Instead this is more of a description of the nature of sin. Sin is “iniquity,” (Hebrew aon) or perversity, moral evil, depravity, a perversion of what is right and true. This sin of idolatry is linked to “hate” (Hebrew sane) or hate, enemy, foe, odious. When we sin against God, in particular when we disobey His prohibition concerning idolatry, we put ourselves as an enemy against Him; we are expressing hate toward Him. If you only had a vague understanding of what the sin of idolatry is, or minimized its seriousness, keep in mind God connects idolatry with hatred of Him. Idolatry is not a small sin.
We overlook sin at our own peril. Sin spreads. Sin is contagious. Sin is like cancer, one cell of it metastasizes to the entire body if left untreated. When parents sin, children are affected. Children learn sin from their parents first and then from others. Regardless of what generation sin is found in, God deals with it.
Seventh, keep in mind that just as God “visits” (Hebrew paqad) or administrates, deposits, levies charges on the one committing iniquity, He also offers “mercy” (Hebrew hesed) or kindness, reproof, favor, kindness, loving kindness to offenders too. Justice is getting what one deserves. Mercy is not getting what one deserves. Grace is getting what one doesn’t deserve. The message of the Bible is God’s redemptive plan to redeem those lost in sin at the expense of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. “Mercy” points us to the good news of the Gospel of God from the earliest of stages (e.g., John 3; Ephesians 2:1-9).
The Law is a tutor (Greek paidagogos), a servant who walks a child to school, a tutor, instructor, school master. The Law is like a Boy or Girl Scout leader who trains young people in the truths and skills of life. It is a guardian to protect us from harm. The Law exposes the sin within us. “I would not have known sin except through the law” (Romans 7:7a). The Law helps us understand and define sin. For instance, it helps us to understand what coveting means (Romans 7:7b). The Law ultimately exposes our sinfulness and leads us to Jesus as Savior (Galatians 3:24).
But idolatry is more than an image we make; it’s more than an artistic representation of our imagination. The essence of idolatry is putting anything or anyone before God in priority or loyalty. Idolatry is choosing to disregard God’s Law and word to follow or obey an alternative. Sin therefore, when we disobey God to obey an alternative, is at its heart, idolatry. Whatever you love, obey, prefer, choose more than God, and His word, is an idol and sinful.
God commands we have no other gods before Him. We aren’t even to make images of Him or any other god. When we put God first, we worship Him. When we put something before God by disobeying Him, we are worshipping something other than Him. Sin therefore, at its heart, is bowing down to something, it is at its heart, misguided worship. When Lucifer chose to rebel against His Creator, he chose to worship self. “I will ascend. . . I will exalt . . . I will also sit. . . I will also sit. . . I will ascend. . . I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). At the center of “sin” is “I.” Such thinking and behavior is sinful and will end up leading the guilty “to the lowest depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15).
When Eve and Adam chose to disobey God, they chose to worship self. There actions communicate to us that they thought, “God is a liar or mistaken. I know better than Him.” Sin is first and foremost self-worship because it exposes that “I” think I know better than God, or “I” and “my” needs or wants are more important and greater than God and His holy ways. That is not only misguided but sinful shortsighted foolish godless worship of self.
God doesn’t demand obedience to His Law from some tyrannical motive. God wants humanity to obey His Law because it directs us in the way of life (Ezekiel 20:11). God’s Law gives us life more than the food we eat (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4), it revives the soul (Psalm 19:7). God’s word comforts us (Psalm 119:50 and 93). God’s word is a path and guardrail on the road of life {Proverbs 6:23). It keeps us from falling off of a cliff. Though God’s law gives us life it also exposes sin in our life (Romans 7:10; Galatians 3:21). The Holy Spirit uses the Law and God’s word to expose the foolishness and kill our reliance on our own efforts to save ourselves and points us to Jesus as the way of life (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Jesus used the Law to witness to a rich young ruler who asked Him about eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus spoke, and used the Law, to show sinners the way of life (John 6:63). Whenever we disobey God’s Law and word, it sows death in life. Sin separates us from God who is the Author of life (Isaiah 59:1-2). When we are separate from God, we are spiritually dead, like a prodigal (Luke 15:24). When we sin, we don’t only turn our back on God, but we turn from life to death. That is the ultimate consequence of idolatry.
It’s not easy when loved ones choose to reject God and His word and follow the world and its sinful ways. The indoctrination our children are subjected to twists their young malleable minds and infects their hearts. It’s a nonstop flooding of beliefs contrary to God and His word. Pastor’s and Sunday School teachers can feel as though they just aren’t given the time and resources to compete with a public school system that pushes points of view with sinister insinuations toward anything rooted in scripture. So in their futility, they are lured into thinking, “Maybe God’s way isn’t the right way.” They compromise and indulge new “woke” ways of worldliness. Parents can feel it’s a futile uphill battle they are ill equipped to fight. So rather than digging deep and making oneself “ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” they give in and adopt what is contrary to God idolizing their children or beloved one who is sinning (1 Peter 3:15-16).
Idolatry is an issue of lordship. Idolatry is an answer to the question, ‘Who or what is your “God?” Idolatry answers the question, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, . . .” (Joshua 24:15). Idolatry is a matter of lordship. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Life is filled with hard choices. We are warned in scripture, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). For instance, the world tells us the marriage covenant is not sacred and throws mud on it by encouraging lusty premarital indulgences. It entices with a convoluted call to “try it you’ll like it,” or to live by our feelings. But feelings are fickle. The truth is found in Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). If you want the best of what God has to offer, you have to obey His way.
You would be hard pressed to find a more difficult decision than forgiving people who have hurt you. For instance, forgiving a spouse who has been unfaithful is one of the hardest things to do in life. Yet the Bible calls us to forgive. Our forgiveness from God is dependent on our forgiveness of others (Matthew 6:14-15). It is in the difficult situation where forgiveness is commanded that we discover the real meaning of God’s love (Romans 5:8).
It is in such difficult forgiveness that we come closer to Jesus. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Bitterness is the rotten fruit of refusing to forgive. One apple rotten with bitterness can rot an entire bushel of apples (Hebrews 12:15). We are warned against forgetting or falling short of God’s grace. When we forgive those who hurt us we can understand just a very small tip of the iceberg of how it felt to Jesus to forgive us.
Being a parent isn’t easy; it can rip your heart out. But there are times when in agony a parent has to choose between loving God in obedience to His word versus overlooking His word to affirm a child caught up in a sin. This is often the temptation in cases of gender confusion, a huge issue manufactured by the philosophies of this fallen world. Speaking God’s truth in love as the Holy Spirit enables is the only true option. Deeper sin, broader sin spreads when we condone what is clearly forbidden in God’s word.
It is always best to speak God’s truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). When we speak and abide by the truth of God, in love, we release offenders and the wayward to the Holy Spirit. There are times when we must allow prodigals to go their way. They must be allowed to walk their way of death in hope that when they get to the end of the road and slump to the depths where they even envy the pig slop of sin, they remember the truth spoken and taught by their loved ones in earlier years. Then, hopefully, bloodied and bowed, broken and repentant, they return, they come home. But if the loved one forsakes God’s truth and affirms sin, the prodigal will have nothing to return to. Only when they repent and return can we run to them as we see them come over the horizon (Luke 15:1-24). Prodigals have to taste death before they are ready to be resurrected. Only then is there the possibility of true rejoicing.
Some prodigals or offenders don’t return or repent. We have to be ready for that when we obediently entrust them to the Lord. Some will decide to live lives of death. That is heartbreaking. But that is a reality in this fallen sinful world. There are men like Ahab and Judas, women life Potiphar’s wife, and Jezebel. Some like Herodias and her daughter, though confronted with the truth of God, will reject it and call for the head of the John the Baptist who proclaimed it. We are called to obedience. Our responsibility is to simply live by and stand on the truth of God. The outcome is in God’s hands and in the hearts of idolators. “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Salvation and new heart transformation is a work of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 16:8-11). Our only true choice is to give our loved ones and hard situations, to the LORD.
Misplaced “love” has led many to be willfully blind to what can be clearly seen in God’s truth. True love is truthful. “For we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). That verse is not only for walking into the unknown, but also for choosing to obey when we know the truth of God will not be accepted. Walking by faith is obeying God no matter what. Idolatry is walking without faith, but with emotion, fear, or worry.
We are living in an age of idolatry. Politicians idolize their positions, power, influence. Our Cultural idolizes celebrity, popularity, and our body shapes. Athletes idolize their sports and teams. Patriots idolize nations. Anarchists idolize revolution. Teachers, students, academics idolize learning and degrees. Artists and authors idolize their works. TV and radio breeds idols of a look or a sound. Bloggers and video creators idolize their productions. Scientists idolize science. Workers idolize their jobs. Husbands and wives idolize each other and marriage. Mothers and fathers idolize families and children. Children idolize their parents. Grandparents idolize their grandchildren. Grandchildren idolize their grandparents. Even pastors idolize ministry and buildings. Everybody idolizes their phones. Idolatry is everywhere!
Anything exalted in priority over God is an idol. Idolatry is birthed wherever people forsake the wisdom of God and His word and rely on their own or other human wisdom. That never cures or makes better a sinful situation, it only complicates and muddies it. Idolators are everywhere. Whether worshipping the obscene on a screen or justifying some scripturally forbidden lifestyle personally or in a loved one’s life, idolatry is rampant. When we lust after something and covet, it is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Idolatry is a work of our sinful nature (Galatians 5:21). Idolatry is giving in to the worst of who we are. Idolatry is devilish.
But there is hope. You don’t have to give in to idolatry. There is a way to obey the call to, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:21). God promises a way of escape from idolatry:
1 Corinthians 10:13 – 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
The temptations or trials we encounter in life are “common,” everyone faces them. Some are harder than others. But we can always find someone in life who has been through a storm similar if not identical to the ones troubling us. There is fellowship in suffering. Jesus was tempted just like we are and was without sin. Jesus sympathizes and empathizes with us. His incarnation to become the Son of Man, makes Jesus the Perfect Person for us to run to in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16; Philippians 2). We may think our abuser or wayward loved one is unique, but Jesus came to help us deal with such people and situations. Jesus is the way the truth and the life of escape when we face trials (John 14:6). You will never be as close to Jesus as when you join Him and “know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).
Yes, Jesus will help us when it’s hard to obey. We will be tempted to disobey, to indulge in idolatry. But He will always be there, to help us, to listen to us, to lend us a hand and lift us up and get us through. He will even give us joy through it all. Happiness depends on happenings, but joy depends on Jesus. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). That is reason to rejoice.
I think it’s very interesting, telling, that, right after we are promised that God will provide a way of escape when we are tempted and tried, we are told in God’s word, “flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). Idolatry was part of the first sin. Idolatry is at the heart of every sin. But when we encounter the idols of life whether they are inanimate or animate, things or situations or beloved people, there is hope. When beckoned to bow to some idol or idolatrous situation, Jesus will be there to understand and help us choose to obey the LORD. He will help us flee. He will help us to obey the command, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
Father in heaven we come to You in Jesus’ name. We confess our weakness and that there have been times when we willingly chose to be an idolator. We have allowed fear and concern to rule us. We have chosen bitterness and it has defiled many, especially ourselves, just like you said it would. Please enlighten us to see the wisdom of Your truth. Please empower us by the Holy Spirit to obey and live by Your truth and to speak it to others, in love, even when it risks losing them. Father, please make us what we need to be, to do what You call us to do, for Your glory, until Jesus returns. In Jesus’ name. Amen.