The Road to Idolatry

This morning we are going to look at Idolatry, now this is something we have covered in our Christian Ethics study on Sunday and Wednesday nights, but I think it is something we all need to understand. Now when I think of Idolatry

This is what I think of, falling down before a statue or something like that and worshiping it. But Idolatry is much more than just that. This morning I have two questions that I am going to ask later.

What is Idolatry

According to the Nelson Bible dictionary Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself. According to Dictionary.com it is extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone. Admiration, or love for something or someone, now lets keep both of these definitions in the back of our minds as we dig into God’s word to see what He has for us. We are going to be looking at a few different passages today, one in the OT and the rest in the NT. But we must start in the OT because that is the foundation for what we are going to learn. We will start in Exodus 20:3-4

Exodus 20:3–4 ESV

3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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.

Here in verse 3 we see the command not to have any other gods before Yahweh the one true God. The Hebrew expression “before me” means in preference to me, or in my presence, or in competition with me. This command forbids any personal loyalty or relationship with any deity other than Yahweh. This is the core idea behind monotheism, the belief in only one God. This is one of the commandments that carries over into the New Covenant, and therefore a valid command for us today. There is only one god and that is Yahweh.

Verse four talks about carved images or likenesses, this is something that may seem foreign to us because it is not a common today as it was in biblical times. the core idea behind idolatry was to provide a tangible representative of the deity on earth and to maintain the favor of that deity through caring for its idol. Yahweh is not to be depicted the way other deities were by means of an idol. He is the Creator and deserving of our praise and worship, not the creation made by mankind. God demands exclusive covenant loyalty, He cannot and will not tolerate the worship of any other gods.

Exodus 22:20 (ESV)

20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

Here we see how serious God takes idolatry. Remember when we see LORD in capital letters this is in place of Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the one true God.

Exodus 23:13 ESV

13 “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

Again, it is important that we understand the seriousness of this. God knew the temptation it was for the nation of Israel and He did not even want them to mention these other gods names. Now what does the New Testament have to say.

Is There Anything Wrong With Wealth?

The next portion of Scripture we are going to look at is found in Matthew 19, we are going to look at it backwards, we are going to start at the end and work to the beginning.

Matthew 19:23–24 ESV

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Is there anything wrong with wealth?

Matthew 19:25–26 ESV

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The disciples were thinking well then whats the point, there is no way we can be saved. Now lets look at why Jesus said this.

Matthew 19:16–18 ESV

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,

This man that came up to Jesus was a rich man, he wanted to know how to have eternal life. this describes life in the kingdom of the Messiah which had started then and extends forever. We live in the here and now of God’s kingdom, looking forward to the next part of His kingdom the part that is forever. Jesus give him a list of the commands he is to follow.

The Most Important Relationship

Matthew 19:19–22 ESV

19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jesus knows the attachment this man has to his possessions. So He commands him to get rid of them in order to be perfect (complete or mature). However the man has obviously not kept the first command “have no other gods” now this is where I believe that this commandment gets deeper for us today. We are often time just like this man, our possessions or remember the definition from earlier Admiration, or love for something or someone. Now I want us to think about this for a minute. If there is anything in our life that we put in a place that takes away from what God deserves (our time, our attention, our admiration, our love) then that thing is an idol, whether it is a person or a possession.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

We cannot devote ourselves to two things, if we do only one will get the proper amount of attention.

Luke 14:26 ESV

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Here Jesus shows us what it takes to be one of His followers, a true disciple. He is not telling us we must hate our family, what He is saying is our relationship with Him is the most important and it should take priority. It takes complete commitment.

It is important that we understand there is a balance. We are commanded to love our families, and care for them, but Christ should be the center of all our relationships. Our relationship with Christ is the most important one we will ever have.

Spouse, TV, Work, Money, Music, Games, Boyfriend, Girlfriend.

Anything in our lives that gets put in the place where Christ belongs is an idol. Well here are my two questions, and I hope we have gotten the answers through what we have looked at today in God’s Word.

Who Deserves our Full Undivided Attention?

Are we Giving God the Time He Deserves?

Remember what the phrase means “before me” in competition with. Is there something in our lives that is competing for God’s place, for the attention and time He deserves. What can we do to make a change. Are there areas we are willing to sacrifice to honor God, remember everything good takes sacrifice. We often find time for the things we want, but what about God’s time. Are we trying to serve two master, or three or four. As Jesus told us this is impossible, we will love the one and hate the other, now I don’t think we hate God, but if we are not following His commands and we are trying to serve two masters, one will not get the attention deserved. Christ gave Himself for each one of us, I think it is the least we can do to make some sacrifices and put Him first. God should not and will not compete for our time.