BUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH IDOLS?
When you worship idols or other gods . . .
1. Are you not ignoring Creator God who does everything for you ?
You did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
Daniel 5:23
2. Can you even compare an idol to Creator God?
Their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
Isaiah 46:1-2
They don't carry you – you carry them!
[Creator God says:] "To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold…[and] hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles. …I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, …what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. …What I have said that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do."
Isaiah 46:5-7, 9-11
3. Creator God is a spirit and has no visible form.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
You [Israel] saw no form [of God] of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at [Mount] Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
Deuteronomy 4:15-18
[Moses climbed up Mount Horeb/Mount Sinai, which was covered with a cloud, smoke and fire, to meet with Creator God and receive from him the 10 Commandments and the rest of God's Law.]
4. Isn’t it disrespectful to worship something God has created, instead of Creator God himself?
When you look up at the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars––all the heavenly array––do not be enticed into bowing down to them.
Deuteronomy 4:19
They are nothing more than God's amazing but temporary artwork!
The heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe. …But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
Hebrews 1:10-12
5. Why would you want to worship something that is false?
His [God’s] worshipers must worship…in truth.
John 4:24
[A craftsman] makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it. …No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “…Is not this thing…a lie?”
Isaiah 44:17, 19, 20
6. What benefit is it to pray to a lifeless thing that someone made with their own hands?
Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, “Come to life!” Or to lifeless stone “Wake up!” Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. But the Lord is in his holy [heavenly] temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
Habakkuk 2:18-20
All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. …The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of a man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars. It is man’s fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roast his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself. …From the rest he makes a god his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” They [who make and worship idols] know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood? He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Isaiah 44:9-20
7. Idols can do nothing:
The customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 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.
Jeremiah 10:3-5
8. You become like what you worship:
Whether idols –
The idols of the nations are silver and gold made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
Psalm 135:15-18
Or whether Christ, the Son of God –
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. …For…God…predestined [them] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Romans 8:28-29
9. Behind idols and man-made gods are demons:
Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy.
I Corinthians 10:19-22
Creator God has very strong feelings about whom you worship.
10. Demons intentionally deceive:
[God’s] Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
I Timothy 4:1
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars.
I Timothy 4:2
Satan uses people to spread these lies.
These lies come from deceiving spirits and demons.
[God’s] Spirit of truth…will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13
There is only one Spirit of truth – which is God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.
But Satan (the father of lies) and his demons are very skillful at deceiving.
I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
Colossians 2:4
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 5:6
Practical Advice:
So watch out who you listen to!
Be careful what you watch or read! Don’t believe everything that you read or hear.
Many very intelligent-sounding people with impressive PhD degrees express wise-sounding opinions that are the opposite of what Creator God tells us in his Word, the Bible. “Smart” people are always expressing new ideas about relationships, love, marriage, child raising, business, etc. that sound very intelligent. But 5, 10, or 30 years later, when you realize that they were mistaken, it may be too late for you or for your children. Instead, trust the guidance of the Father in Heaven who made you and knows what is best for you.
He wrote the Owner’s Manual for your life!
If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt.
James 1:3
All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:8 / I Peter 1:24-25
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Do you need wisdom from God for daily living?
Read Proverbs (in the Old Testament):
It has great advice about money, marriage, child raising, sex, business, friendship, dealing with fools, developing good character, etc.
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II Timothy 3:15-17
The benefits of relying on the living God are great.
I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then...the Lord your God will bless you.
Deuteronomy 30:16