The Problem With Idols
Week #5
Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
“I can do all things through Him(Christ)who strengthens me.”
We live in an increasing liberal society with decaying morals and blatant rebellion. What was called “wrong” a few years ago is now deemed “acceptable.” Many people now want to believe that truth is relative. Some even profess that there are no absolutes. People smugly state, “What is wrong for you may not be wrong for me.” This is a clear indication of a civilization of people who are attempting to candy coat their sin and excuse their wrongs. The result is a people barreling off course and now heading at lightning speed away from God and head on into destruction. The Psalmist, referring to those who worship idols, wrote inPsalm 16:4 (ESV) “The sorrows of those who run after another god shallmultiply…”
Yet idolatry is not only acceptable but it is also encouraged in today’s world. It is interesting that one of the most viewed reality television shows in recent years in the United States has been “American Idol.” We have become a nation that no longer recognizes there is a Creator and He deserves and commands our worship. Instead of worshipping God as God we have constructed our own false gods who offer us a bogus sense of security and well-being. These idols are not restricted to the United States of America. Idols are everywhere. They are also nothing new. There have been idols as long as there has been sin in the world. Idols have always been a spiritual problem between man and His Creator. We were created to worship God. The Bible declares this to betrue.
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
God declares as recorded inIsaiah 43:7 (ESV) “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” There is an undeniable internal urge within mankind to worship. People attempt to satisfy that urge with activities, things, or people other than the God who created us. When this happens, idols are constructed and erected within the heart. Those idols begin to control and steer that person’s life who now becomes an idolater and ultimately even a slave to their own falsegod.
There are many things that can become idols. In ancient days the Hebrews, who were under Aaron’s leadership, melted down their precious metals and formed a golden calf that they began to worship. Once Moses came down off the mountain, with the Ten Commandments in hand, he was outraged that God’s people would be guilty of such flagrant idolatry. Moses in his burning anger threw down the two stone tablets breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain. He then commanded that the golden calf be burned and crushed into powder. In an attempt to teach the people a lesson Moses had the powder deposited into their drinking water (Exodus 32). It is astounding that even under the great leadership of Moses and Aaron, God’s people were still pulled toward idolatry. We will indeed worship someone or something asgod.
Again, as recorded in 2 Kings 18:4, God’s people desired to worship the bronze serpent that Moses had erected for their deliverance from a plague of snakes (Numbers 21). Time and time again we find recorded on the pages of the Holy Bible the problem with idols even among God’s people. Idols have always been a problem. They were not simply a problem a thousand years ago but they remain a real and serious problem today. We are created to worship. We need to understand that God is serious concerning His people worshipping only Him. When the Israelites were about to enter into the Land of Canaan God commanded them concerning the pagan and idolatrous people they wouldencounter.
Exodus 34:13-14 (ESV)
“You shall tear down their altars