The worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself refers to Idolatry. Scores of references to idolatry appear in the Old Testament. This shows that idolatry probably was the greatest temptation, our spiritual forefathers faced. While we find bowing down to a statue is no temptation they apparently slipped into idolatry constantly. So serious was this sin that the prohibition against the making and worshiping of images was included as the second of the Ten Commandments.

"You shall have no gods except me".
"You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punished the father's fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness of those who love me and keep my commandments".

"You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it". - Ex. 20:3-7 -

Israel's ancient neighbors believed there were many gods. They worshiped whatever gods were necessary at a given time. An equally erroneous notion was that these gods either were the idols themselves or were represented by idols. Some people probably insisted that the idol was only an aid to worship and not the object of worship itself. But this distinction must have been hard to keep in mind. That is why the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible strictly forbids the making of images of any kind because they themselves receive the worship - a worship which God reserves for Himself.

Archaeologists have discovered idols of most of the pagans gods mentioned in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, in addition to many unidentified ones. Since the Romans began, emperor worship late in the New Testament period, some of the elegant statues of the Caesars discovered by the archaeologists must have been idols to be worshiped. Idolatry can take many forms and it has persisted from the earliest times, The Old Testament states that Abraham's father served idols.

Then Joshua said to all the people: Yahweh the God of Israel says this, "In ancient days your ancestors lived beyond the River - such was Terah the father of Abraham and of Nahor - and they served other gods". Then I brought your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan. I increased his descendants and gave him Isaac. - Joshua 24:2-3 -

Perhaps, the earliest reference in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible to idols is the 'household idols' or Teraphim (small clay figurines) which Rachel stole from her father Laban. - Gen. 31:26-42 -

The next noteworthy instance of idolatry was Aaron's making of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. This happened when the Israelites lost their patience waiting for Moses to return with the revelation of the true and living God. Ex. 32:1-6 - The incident at Baal of Peor also involved the worship of idol. - Num. 25:1-9 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -