God and idols

God and Idols

Jeremiah 10:12-16 

1 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. 2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." 6 No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple-- all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. 11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' " 12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance-- the LORD Almighty is his name.

Jer. 10:2…"Do not learn the ways of the nations... Exodus 23:24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Leviticus 20:23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. Jeremiah 10:3…3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless....

Customs - A practice followed by people of a particular group or region.

This is the synonym of another word, religion.

Religion - A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.

I have witnessed, with my own eyes, preachers and church folk, focused on what is being brought in by the offering. Some preachers even set of lines during offering time for people to give a certain dollar amount. I have also witnessed churches put their organization above other church groups. In today’s society we can see a lot of things being idolized, but what do we need to do to improve ourselves. What are some of the things we need to do not to follow the ways of the world?

Verse two of Jeremiah continues…or be terrified by signs in the sky…. Genesis 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,

We, as humans, believe the things we can see. This could be an insight upon why we lose faith in God because we can’t see Him. But lets take two things into factor, God is the Creator of all things and we are created in his image. We have to understand that God made all things to keep us moving in a positive manner. For farming, the seasons tell us when to plant, nurture, and harvest.

Verse 3…they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel… Isaiah 40: 19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. Deuteronomy 9:21Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain. 1 King 8:36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. Jeremiah 44:8 Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth. Ezekial 7:20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them.

This idol worship has become a huge dilemma today. People are still dying in the diamond minds to get the diamonds, still killing themselves to acquire gold. People will work themselves to the bone for that thing called money. But what will we do for the simple “Love of God”?

Idols:

Exodus 34:17 "Do not make cast idols

Leviticus 17:7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.'

Leviticus 19:4 " 'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God

Leviticus 26:1 " 'Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God

Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you

Most people believe this will happen at the end of time, but has anyone ever loved something so much that when it gets taken away from us, we are devastated?

Numbers 33:52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

Deuteronomy 7:5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire

Deuteronomy 12:3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places

Ashera(h) = "groves (for idol worship)" a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images the goddess, goddesses her images sacred trees or poles set up near an altar

This is a task that all believers are to perform to win the world over to Christ.

Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. 32:16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. 32:21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

i·dol - an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.

Amos 5:5 But seek not Bethel Do not go to Bethel, the place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set

Deuteronomy 32: 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to demons, which are not God-- gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. 18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. 19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. 20 "I will hide my face from them," he said, "and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. 21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding. 22 For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains. 23 "I will heap calamities upon them and spend my arrows against them. 24 I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. 25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. Young men and young women will perish, infants and gray-haired men. 26 I said I would scatter them and blot out their memory from mankind,

If we look at the particular passage of scripture, we see the outcome of idol worship. When we idolized anything besides God, it corrupts our minds. We begin to do things that are pleasing to the idol and forget about what is pleasing to God. Idol worship, although is a sin against God, does not coexist with our physical existence. For example, if I idolize my car, this means that everything I do is to care for this vehicle. If anyone come near it, I will harm them. This now places me in violation of one commandment, “love thy neighbor as thy self”. Another thing comes to mind here, if we are created in the image of God, then what should are reflection be?

Verse 16 of Jeremiah 10….He who is the Portion of Jacob….

Por·tion: a part of a whole; an amount, section, or piece of something.

Jacob: That supplants, undermines, the heel. He grasps the heel. Supplanter.

            Supplant: to take the place of (someone or something that is old or no longer used or accepted)

Jacob, being a selfish individual, needed to have a part of him that is what God is a part of. Jacob, at birth, gripped the heel of is brother and maintained that grasp until he met God. He idolized the birth rights of his brother Esau and literally stole them from him. Again the question is asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper”? In order to properly walk the “heel” is the first portion of our body to touch the ground. Once this occurs we can cover more distance as we walk. This also allows the body to cushion itself as we walk across a solid foundation. As difficult as this may sound, our lives are faith based, we should look to God and wait on His blessing to unfold in our lives. I currently have a problem with finances were it is difficult to pay my debt but you see if I abide in True Faith, blessings will come at the right time. I get anxious, because the bill is due and start stressing because it’s due. But see first of all I didn’t follow what God told me in the first place, make proper planning. I didn’t walk properly on the solid foundation God prepared for me, Now that I am in this predicament, God becomes my refuge. See God should be our counselor at all times that way strategic steps can be made. Today we cut down trees and make the idol people are killing themselves over and killing other people for, it’s called money.

John 1:10 says, Christ came into this world and the world did not know him. People today call the name of Jesus, sing worship songs, and still don’t know who He really is. Hebrews 1:22....but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. I found 15 reasons why Christ came:

1. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
2. Jesus Christ came into the world to call sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17, "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
3. Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost. Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
4. Jesus came into the world to demonstrate the true purpose of life and give Himself a ransom. Matthew 20:28, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
5. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a King and bear witness to the truth. John 18:37, "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
6. Jesus Christ came into the world to do the Will of His Father. John 6:38, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."
7. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a Light in the world. John 12:46, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
8. Jesus Christ came into the world that men might have the Abundant Life. John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
9. Jesus Christ came into the world to Judge the world. John 9:39, "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."
10. Jesus Christ came into the world to Proclaim and preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God. Mark 1:38, "And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth."
11. Jesus Christ came into the world to die on the cross. John 12:27, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour."
12. Jesus Christ came into the world to fulfil the law. Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."
13. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a Divider of men. Matthew 10:34, 35, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law."

(Christ makes it necessary to choose between relatives and the truth. This choice often causes division.)

14. Jesus Christ came into the world as a demonstration of God's Love. 1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
15. Jesus Christ came into the world because the Father sent Him. John 20:21, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."

a. The Father SENT Jesus to be the Propitiation (atonement) for our sins.

1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

b. The Father SENT Jesus and gave Jesus as the Savior of the world.

John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

c. The Father SENT Jesus to bless us by turning us from our iniquities.

Acts 3:26, "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

d. The Father SENT His Son to redeem us from the curse of the law.

Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

e. God SENT His Son to make possible a new power in the hearts of men, a power to enable him to fulfil the righteousness of the law.

Romans 8:3,4, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

In all of these scriptures there is no where it says to worship Jesus Christ. We have come into a society that put the fleshy man upon a pedestal and worships him. In churches today the pastors, bishops, and elders are worship because of who they claim to be.

Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

If we worship Jesus Christ, yes we are worship God, but it is in the fleshy form. God is Christ but in the flesh. This now loses the complete existence of God. God made us and in this state are we to live according to Gods purpose. No flesh is to be worshipped, no object is to be worship. In order to worship God it is done in “sprit and truth”. The only object of worship is God Thee Creator of all that exist. Now is there anything wrong with the worship of Jesus Christ? I believe not, because the worship is still of God, just in the human form. So in a sense, it may not be the complete because we may lose focus of the Spirit that leads us. Study the Word of God thoroughly and this will prove the message God sends you. In simple words, idolize nothing and live a life of truth. We want to idolize God but in order for that to happen we have to know who God is. Once we find out this factor, there will be no more idol worship, just peaceful living among mankind.