Avoiding Idolatry

Leviticus 26:1 ~ "You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God."

The worship of an idol is an abomination to the LORD. And the history of the world is replete with mankind setting up false gods all around. But how easily does idolatry creep into the activities of God's people today?

Let's think about the nation of Israel for just a moment. With a mighty hand, God delivered a nation from captivity in Egypt and called them to be His very own. The Almighty exacted judgment upon every idol set in Egypt, from the Nile River which was worshiped by the Egyptians, to Pharoah who was considered a deity. The LORD proved that there is no other God but Him, and then led them away from their enslavement into the land He promised to Abraham. 

Not long after, the Divine hand carved His laws into the stone tablets, and established for the people the governing truths that would mark them as His own people. Of those commands, the command to not worship an idol, or set up an image to portray the LORD was near the top. However, it did not take long before the people violated that very command and set a golden calf to be the image the wanted to worship (see Exodus 32:1-6). 

Now, let us journey to the end of the book and discover that the world will engage in the idolatrous worship of the evil one. In the midst of judgment from the Almighty, the enemy of God will have men set up an image, an idol, and all who do not belong to Christ will worship the image. Revelation 13:8 says, "And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." This great abomination of idolatry will ultimately bring the full retribution of the LORD.

So we see what was then... we gaze upon what will come... but what about now? Are there idols among the people of God? Do you have any "household gods" (see Zechariah 10:2)?

Let's set the parameters of an idol. There are two: First, it is an image or creation of man-made origins that holds a valued place of equal or greater worth than the LORD God Almighty. Second, it is anything made by man or of creation that is meant to portray the Living God. Both are a wicked attempt to either worship a false god or worship the true God in a false way. And both, my friends, must be avoided.

The first is to proclaim that there are more gods than the One True God. And if you do that, then there are sets of standards that are not from the LORD whereby a man may live in the observance of them. And though we may not see many carved images today, there are false religions that set standards contrary to the revealed will of God.

The second is to say that man can determine for himself the means by which God will be honored and glorified. It makes God less than absolutely authoritative and sovereign. Worshiping the LORD in a way that is false is to diminish God and elevate man to a position superior to the One who created him.

The list of idolatrous activities is too long to pursue in this brief reading. But I want to provide you two questions to use as the means to evaluate your own worship of the LORD. First, is your worship of God informed by His word or by your imagination or opinion? Only God's word can give you clarity on how you are to worship the LORD. Second, does your worship of God look to the Almighty as of greater worth than all other considerations or does God sit in your heart as one of many considerations and all of them of equal worth to you as Christ? 

How you answer these two questions, I pray, will help you better understand if you have any idols still remaining. If so, surrender them all to Christ. In order to worship the LORD with reverence and awe (see Hebrews 12:28), let us avoid all idolatry.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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