Idols

[Angelina]

Deuteronomy 5
7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

In the OT, God made it clear to Israel about making idols and worshiping them. An idol and idol worship was clearly distinguishable... but what does that look like In today's society?

An idol can be anything that you spend the majority of your time pursuing or indulging in rather than God. An example of idols in our lives can be found in sports, relationships, money, work, our home, socializing, television, the internet, cell phones and so much more...Our society is so motivated towards gratifying the desires of the soul that idols have become a natural part of today's modern lifestyle. One way that we can keep ourselves from idol worship is to spend time in the word of God...making it a daily habit...

When Jesus went off alone to pray to the Father, he prayed [John 17]
15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.


So...would we be fooled into worshiping the "image" of the beast when that period of time comes?

Revelation 13:15
He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

I hope not but you can be sure that this beast image will not be something like a statue like the OT believers had...
IMO it would be something that we would easily accept and the way in which it is introduced into our society, would be welcoming because this "image" would benefit the worlds self desires and gratify us personally.

1 John 5
[sup]19[/sup] We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
[sup]20[/sup] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
[sup]21[/sup] Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

PS: Here's an exercise you may want to try out for today...

Note down, everything you have thought about or have spent time in today that did not involve God. At the end of the day...evaluate what you have noted...you can guarantee...that the thing you've spent your day thinking about and/or participating in...is an idol in your life. The following day...if it is possible, replace those things with reading or meditating on the word of God... :lol:

Shalom!

 

[FHII]

Deuteronomy 5
7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

In the OT, God made it clear to Israel about making idols and worshiping them. An idol and idol worship was clearly distinguishable... but what does that look like In today's society?

An idol can be anything that you spend the majority of your time pursuing or indulging in rather than God. An example of idols in our lives can be found in sports, relationships, money, work, our home, socializing, television, the internet, cell phones and so much more...Our society is so motivated towards gratifying the desires of the soul that idols have become a natural part of today's modern lifestyle. One way that we can keep ourselves from idol worship is to spend time in the word of God...making it a daily habit...

When Jesus went off alone to pray to the Father, he prayed [John 17]
15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.


So...would we be fooled into worshiping the "image" of the beast when that period of time comes?

Revelation 13:15
He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

I hope not but you can be sure that this beast image will not be something like a statue like the OT believers had...
IMO it would be something that we would easily accept and the way in which it is introduced into our society, would be welcoming because this "image" would benefit the worlds self desires and gratify us personally.

1 John 5
[sup]19[/sup] We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
[sup]20[/sup] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
[sup]21[/sup] Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

PS: Here's an exercise you may want to try out for today...

Note down, everything you have thought about or have spent time in today that did not involve God. At the end of the day...evaluate what you have noted...you can guarantee...that the thing you've spent your day thinking about and/or participating in...is an idol in your life. The following day...if it is possible, replace those things with reading or meditating on the word of God... :lol:

Shalom!

Pretty good post. I agree on many things in it. I have some comments about your Revelation quote. What is the "beast"? From my understanding it's government. What do you think it is?

The exercise you suggested is a good one, and one I have done in the past. It's quite enlightening when you do it. And helpful... When you start thinking about it, you change. Those that are reading this for the first time might do better to log everything they did today or yesterday first. We do spend a lot of time on things that aren't for God. But then when you realize it, you change.

Even going to work is not really for God (at least that's what you may think). But when you understand that you go there for the purpose of making money and to be a giver with that money (along with paying bills and having your own "fun"), you start going to that job for God's purpose!

Good post.

 

[Israelsson]

Pretty good post. I agree on many things in it. I have some comments about your Revelation quote. What is the "beast"? From my understanding it's government. What do you think it is?

The exercise you suggested is a good one, and one I have done in the past. It's quite enlightening when you do it. And helpful... When you start thinking about it, you change. Those that are reading this for the first time might do better to log everything they did today or yesterday first. We do spend a lot of time on things that aren't for God. But then when you realize it, you change.

Even going to work is not really for God (at least that's what you may think). But when you understand that you go there for the purpose of making money and to be a giver with that money (along with paying bills and having your own "fun"), you start going to that job for God's purpose!

Good post.

To me an idol can be seen in nearly every aspect of life today. Houses, cars, salaries, women... These lists can go on and on, in my mind, idolatry is putting ANYTHING before God. Final. He is to be first in all things, how can He lead us in our paths if we don't submit to His will?

If you have a big house, or an expensive car, or a huge bank roll, I doubt that God has blessed you with it. Treasures are not to be stored on earth but in our hearts, so for Him to advocate wealth in the form of money would be hypocritical, and that He is not! When you want the things of the world more than you want the Kingdom of God, you are in essence putting man in general as a 'god'. Sure, man sure can achieve great things, but where did we get that capacity? Who gave His spirit to Adam when he was formed?

People idolize themselves and others around them, and pay little attention to the fact that they do so. Just think of the TV series, "American Idol". The word 'idol' is right in front of you, and many nights out of the week, leading on into a few months, millions of people around the world sit and worship their favorite singer. During that hour or more of time that they are baking like potatoes in front of the jewtube, having their brains turned to mush, they could be studying scripture, helping the kinsman, caring for the weak and establishing Gods Kingdom here. Being intolerant of evil is not bad, and we must only allow God to determine what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. Man will make things fit to his own needs, not fit himself to the needs of Yahweh God.

 

[Prentis]

Pretty good post. I agree on many things in it. I have some comments about your Revelation quote. What is the "beast"? From my understanding it's government. What do you think it is?

The exercise you suggested is a good one, and one I have done in the past. It's quite enlightening when you do it. And helpful... When you start thinking about it, you change. Those that are reading this for the first time might do better to log everything they did today or yesterday first. We do spend a lot of time on things that aren't for God. But then when you realize it, you change.

Even going to work is not really for God (at least that's what you may think). But when you understand that you go there for the purpose of making money and to be a giver with that money (along with paying bills and having your own "fun"), you start going to that job for God's purpose!

Good post.

I agree! It's so easy to turn our eyes away from him... We must learn faithfulness!

We are to do all things as unto the Lord!

May the Lord open our eyes and bless us with understanding in this, and may he keep us from idols.

 

[mjrhealth]

There are 3 idols that christians may have in there lives , yet wont see them as such

Church
The cross
The bible.

Why? simply, they have found a place of more importance then Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit.

In His Love

 

[Templar81]

I must admit this frightens me because it means that a Christian, a truly sincere Christian can become an idolator without even being aware of it. It is easy to look at the 10 commandments and to think about physical things like statues of pagan gods and carvee images. This is the most direct and obvious form of idolatry but the devil is more subtle than that and he will use anything he can to put a barrier between you and God and often without you even knowing it.

 

[THE Gypsy]

There are 3 idols that christians may have in there lives , yet wont see them as such

Church
The cross
The bible.

Why? simply, they have found a place of more importance then Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit.

In His Love

One of the biggest idols I see in the body is that of country.

I must admit this frightens me because it means that a Christian, a truly sincere Christian can become an idolator without even being aware of it. It is easy to look at the 10 commandments and to think about physical things like statues of pagan gods and carvee images. This is the most direct and obvious form of idolatry but the devil is more subtle than that and he will use anything he can to put a barrier between you and God and often without you even knowing it.

I do not believe that is possible. A "truly sincere Christian" is being directed by the Holy Spirit and God has promised IF we are being directed by the Spirit, it is not possible to fall into these types of traps. Where we get into trouble is when our sincerity falls and we take our eyes off God.

 

[Israelsson]

There are 3 idols that christians may have in there lives , yet wont see them as such

Church
The cross
The bible.

Why? simply, they have found a place of more importance then Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit.

In His Love

Deeply true. Although the heart may feel like it is in the right place, often times these individuals fail to do Gods work on this earth. It seems to many aren't responsible for their actions, only waiting for something to occur that will take them away from any form of suffering.

 

[Angelina]

Thank you for all your comments everyone! I'm glad that this subject has generated a lot of food for thought and hope that we all may realize how important it is to be diligent when it comes to how we utilize our time, while here on earth...not as the world does in their fruitless desire of pleasure [idolatry] because the world is passing away...and as Paul says:

Philippians 3
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Be Blessed!

 

[Comm.Arnold]

Great responses I concur with everyone.

 

[mjrhealth]

I do not believe that is possible. A "truly sincere Christian" is being directed by the Holy Spirit and God has promised IF we are being directed by the Spirit, it is not possible to fall into these types of traps.

Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

It is because christians" think", it cant happen to them, that it does. We are forever on alert.

In His Love

 

[THE Gypsy]

Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

It is because christians" think", it cant happen to them, that it does. We are forever on alert.

In His Love

Nonsense. It is because Christians do not hold tight to their faith and allow the Holt Spirit to lead them.

That's a pretty weak savior ya got there if you are saying God does not have the power to keep his children from being deceived.

Did you read the Scriptures you quoted?

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

 

[lawrance]

Would it be wrong to idolise the Jews and the state called Israel.

 

[THE Gypsy]

Would it be wrong to idolise the Jews and the state called Israel.

Any form of idolatry is wrong.

You bring up a very interesting point. I put it in the same category as "country". I have seen this form of "idolatry" from people for both Israel and the United States. The old "God and country" concept, only they've reversed it - "Country and god".

 

[lawrance]

Gypsy i would have to say we all should love our country but if we don't put Christ first and foremost we will not have a country in the end and that is why the Jews were vomited out of the land.
I don't see how one could come back in to the land and be worshiping idols, with Gods approval.

Many people i come across believe their inheritance is or will be from the parents moneytery wealth left to them but they can not see the big picture that we as a nation could be a inheritance and if that country has God in its true place we will bare fruit. so i think we need countries with borders.

 

[THE Gypsy]

Gypsy i would have to say we all should love our country but if we don't put Christ first and foremost we will not have a country in the end and that is why the Jews were vomited out of the land.
I don't see how one could come back in to the land and be worshiping idols, with Gods approval.

Many people i come across believe their inheritance is or will be from the parents moneytery wealth left to them but they can not see the big picture that we as a nation could be a inheritance and if that country has God in its true place we will bare fruit. so i think we need countries with borders.

Perhaps you misunderstood my comment....Sometimes I tend to express ideas with certain things being taken for granted (ie...I'm a Believer. I love my country. etc) I agree we should "love our country". I also believe it is possible to let that "love" get out of balance...Thus my comment on idolatry. I have seen so many say "Oh no! We can't say anything negative about Israel! They're God's chosen people!" While I understand the "chosen people" concept, I do not believe we should turn our back on wrong doing for the sole reason that it is Israel. The same is true for what I've run in to concerning the United States. "Oh no! We can't challenge our leaders or say anything negative!" I just don't see the extremes of blind support, regardless of how wrong they are, as being Scriptural. In fact I do indeed see it as a form of idolatry....immoderate attachment or devotion to something.

Does that make a little more sense?

 

[Israelsson]

Nonsense. It is because Christians do not hold tight to their faith and allow the Holt Spirit to lead them.

That's a pretty weak savior ya got there if you are saying God does not have the power to keep his children from being deceived.

Did you read the Scriptures you quoted?

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

and it is possible through the deception found in the world today. People worry more about NFL teams and smartphones than pay attention to the things in the world so that they wouldn't be. The elect being spoken of here are those given eyes to see and ears to hear, thus they see the players in the world and are able to recognize evil while the rest of Christendom sits back and waits

also, if its nonsense, why is it written in scripture? It seems pretty straightforward to me, no need for private interpretation with those verses.

 

[aspen]

computers......the internet

 

[Israelsson]

also, if its nonsense, why is it written in scripture? It seems pretty straightforward to me, no need for private interpretation with those verses.

 

[THE Gypsy]

and it is possible through the deception found in the world today. People worry more about NFL teams and smartphones than pay attention to the things in the world so that they wouldn't be. The elect being spoken of here are those given eyes to see and ears to hear, thus they see the players in the world and are able to recognize evil while the rest of Christendom sits back and waits

also, if its nonsense, why is it written in scripture? It seems pretty straightforward to me, no need for private interpretation with those verses.

More nonsense.

You show me ONE place where the Scriptures say it is possible for a ""truly sincere Christian" to be mislead "without knowing it". By "truly sincere" I'm not talking about the "People [who] worry more about NFL teams and smartphones than pay attention to the things in the world", or "the rest of Christendom [that] sits back and waits". Nowhere in the Scripture are those definitions applied to a "truly sincere Christian", in fact, those would be more along the lines of definitions of Pharisees. THOSE people are not the "truly sincere". It is not possible for "those given eyes to see and ears to hear" to "become an idolator without even being aware of it"

On the contrary...We are promised...IF we WILL...HE WILL.