What Is An Idol?

In the Bible, an idol is typically defined as an image or object that is worshipped or venerated as a god, often replacing the true worship of God. Idolatry, the act of worshiping idols, is considered a serious sin in both the Old and New Testaments.

Here are some key concepts regarding idols in the Bible:

Physical Representations of Gods: An idol often refers to a physical object, like a statue or image, that represents a false deity. The Israelites, for example, were forbidden to create or worship idols, as seen in the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:3-5 (NIV): "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters below the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them..."

False Worship: Idols are often associated with false worship of gods other than the one true God of Israel. Many ancient cultures, including the Canaanites and Egyptians, practiced idol worship. The Bible repeatedly warns against the worship of these false gods and their idols:

Deuteronomy 5:8-9 (NIV): "You shall not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything... You shall not bow down to them or worship them."

Spiritual Idolatry: In a broader sense, idols in the Bible can refer to anything that takes the place of God in a person’s life. This can include material wealth, power, or even personal desires. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul connects idolatry with covetousness or greed:

Colossians 3:5 (NIV): "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry."

Condemnation of Idolatry: Idolatry is condemned as a form of rebellion against God. In the Old Testament, Israel's repeated lapses into idol worship led to divine judgment, including exile and destruction. God is portrayed as a jealous God who demands exclusive worship.

Isaiah 44:9-20 describes the folly of idolatry, where a person cuts down a tree, uses part of it to build a fire, and then makes the remaining piece into an idol to worship.

In summary, in biblical terms, an idol is not just a physical object of worship but anything that diverts a person's devotion away from the one true God. Idolatry is often linked to sin, spiritual adultery, and disobedience to God’s commandments.

I think to cover all the cases, we should probably define an idol (and I think this is a biblical definition) as anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance in the place of a wholehearted reliance on the true and living God. That’s my working definition of idol. So you can see that would cover, for example, a rabbit’s foot in your pocket, or a picture of a saint hanging on your wall, or a relic from some sacred shrine sitting on your mantle, or the more forthright images taken from Hindu or Buddhist temples, or the golden calf that Aaron made while Moses was on the mountain.

What makes all of those idols is that we are looking away from a wholehearted reliance upon the true and living God through Jesus Christ, and we are looking at the rabbit’s foot, evil eye braclet, or the relic, or the picture for some special protection, or blessing, or guidance, or help that we don’t think we could get by just looking to God.

The evil eye is self is a popular thing where must people who wear it really don't understand. The so called "Evil Eye" is a classic example of spiritual syncretism (Different religions or cultures you would see this practice).

It's origin is neither Christian nor Muslim yet the belief system that it stands for has through long proximity been partially assimilated by adherents to both of of those religions.

It goes several names, but for example in Turkey it is usually known as Nazar. It is simply a symbol, usually a concentric pattern of circles in blue and white, that is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The symbol is so universal in Turkey that it is almost impossible to avoid. Even as a Christian with no interest in having them around I am constantly finding the things floating around my house. They are printed on receipts, dropped as tokens into shopping bags and boxes, woven into clothing, left behind by wary guests, and generally come out of the woodwork like dust bunnies.

The Nazar or Evil Eye symbol is actually just the most visible of many Animistic beliefs.( Which is the belief that objects, places,and creature all possess a disctinct sprirtual essence. Animism perceives all things- animals, plants, rocks, weather systerms human handiword, and in some cases words.)

Animism encompasses beliefs that all material phenomena have agency, that there exists no categorical distinction between the spiritual and physical world, and that soul, spirit, or sentience exists not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features (such as mountains and rivers), and other entities of the natural environment.

The use of this symbol is actually fundamentally incompatible with Islam, but the two beliefs are widely practiced side by side and people are generally unaware of the conflict of interest they pose to each other.

In addition to being incompatible with Islam, belief in the Evil Eye to ward off evil spirits is almost universally seen as incompatible with the core doctrines of Christianity (as are almost all other incarnations of Animism). If some of our trust for safety is placed in something other than Christ, that thing becomes an idol that detracts from our focus on our Savior. The one who is able to protect us from all evil Spirits is the one who Himself triumphed over them:

God is so jealous for our direct, personal dependence on him, and reverence for him, and adoration of him, that he disapproves not only of competing so-called gods represented with idols, but even the creation of idols presuming to represent him — not just false gods being turned into statues, but himself being represented with some manmade object that we look to.

I think if we ask why — that is, why is he so jealous for that kind of direct, personal dependence of reverence and adoration? — then part of the answer is found in Psalm 96:5: “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”

In other words, one of the problems with idols is that they contradict the transcendent nature of God as Creator. Any representation of God made with human hands leads to the misunderstanding of God’s transcendence. It gives the impression, if not the direct assertion, that God is somehow in our power — we can carve him, or paint him, or put him in our pocket or on our shelf, or carry him on a cart. And so the psalmist says, “No! The Lord made the heavens.” In other words, he’s absolutely transcendent, and you can’t carve him or control him in any way.

Another reason why God is so averse to images, either of so-called gods or of his very self, is found in, I think, Psalm 115:4–8:

Their idols are silver and gold,      the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak;      eyes, but do not see, They have ears, but do not hear;      noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel;      feet, but do not walk;      and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. (Psalm 115:4–8)

“Not only do images misrepresent the nature of God, they destroy the nature of man.”

In other words, not only do images misrepresent the nature of God, but they destroy the nature of man. They turn human beings into mindless, powerless clumps of unspiritual flesh. We become like those statues. The nothingness of idols turns human beings into nothingness.

today’s idols,” he says, “are very different. They seem to be desires of the heart or for money, sex, power, things like that. How did this come to be? Idols used to be statues, not just heart obsessions.”

this change of focus in defining idolatry is owing to the fact that we live, in the West, in cultures where outright use of images for religious worship is less common than in some other cultures. So the question then arises, Well, do these biblical teachings about idolatry have any relevance for those of us who live in cultures where the use of statues before which people actually bow down and worship is less common? Is there any relevance to it at all?

The answer is yes. I don’t think the use of the term idolatry to refer to God-demeaning love of money, sex, power is a misuse of the term idolatry when one presses into the essence of what is really going on with an idol in the Bible. Here are a couple of New Testament pointers in that direction to show why I think it’s okay to use idolatry the way he says modern people tend to use it.

First, Romans 1:21–23 refers to people who don’t have direct knowledge of the gospel, but they do have general revelation in nature, so they can know God that way and be held responsible to glorify him and thank him. Here’s what it says:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Now, I think this text points to the essence of the problem beneath the outward display of idolatry; namely, we exchange the glory of God for images. The first kind of image that Paul mentions is images resembling man, and I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that the foremost image of man that threatens to replace God is the image we see in the mirror. We are lovers of self-exaltation, which threatens continually our love of God-exaltation. I think it’s right to call this exchange a form of idolatry.

Keep Yourselves from Idols

So, back to my broad definition. It went like this: anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance, in the place of wholehearted reliance on the true and living God. If we come to crave, love, depend upon, and trust for a blessing people’s praise to enhance our self-exaltation, or money, or power, or sex, or family, or productivity, or anything else besides God himself for the greatest blessing, help, guidance, and satisfaction, then in essence we are doing what idolatry has always done.

“Anything in the world that successfully competes with our love for God is an idol.”

Let me give you one more passage from 1 John 5:21. It’s the very last verse of John’s letter, and it says this: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Why does John in his letter end that way? He had never even referred to idols in the whole book. He never referred to idols in his whole Gospel. Out of the blue comes this closing sentence with the very word idol that ordinarily means a statue of something that we use to replace God with. “Don’t give in to idols; keep yourselves from idols.”

So why did he end that way? Here’s my closing suggestion. He had said in 1 John 2:15–16, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.”

Now, John the apostle may have had literal material images in mind when he said, “Keep yourselves from idols.” But I think he is also thinking of the more general deadly problem that anything in the world that successfully competes with our love for God is an idol. So keep yourselves from idols — that is, love God and all that he is for us in Christ more than you love anything. Give an example of how video games could be a form of Idol.

Some say that video games can consume your life, and that you can redirect your drive toward the game instead of your real responsibilities. (SHOW THE STUDY ABOUT VIDEO GAMES)

Now Go into scripture “LIVING AS THOSE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST” Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 2:15 (ESV) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.