What is Idolatry? Idolatry is anything that monopolizes our attention away from God. It doesn’t have to be a stone statue or a wooden figure. It’s anything that moves God out of His rightful place in our lives. Henry Blackaby said, “An idol is anything you turn to for help when God told you to turn to Him for help.” Augustine said, “Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.”
And the Bible has a lot to say against idolatry! Leviticus 19:4 warns us not to turn to idols or make idols, because God declares, “I am the LORD your God.” 1 Kings 21:26 is a strong word against following idols. Leviticus 26:1 warns us not to bow down to idols. In Isaiah 45:20, the LORD condemns those “who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save.” Hosea 13:2 warns against sacrificing to idols. There are so many other OT verses that we could reference, but the bottom line of the issue is found in the second of the Ten Commandments—“You shall not make for yourself an idol…” (Exodus 20:4).
“Pastor, doesn’t all this just show that idolatry was an Old Testament issue?” Not at all! We find the same kinds of prohibition in the New Testament, as well.
The Apostles commanded Gentile Christians to abstain from the pollution of idols in Acts 15:20, 29. The Apostle Paul warned Christians in 1 Corinthians 5:11 “not to associate with…an idolater…not even to eat with such a one.” Idolatry is listed among the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20. And in the final words of 1 John…in 1 John 5:21, John says, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
The prohibition against idolatry is not an OT or a NT issue; it’s a biblical issue! Scripture clearly forbids the people of God to be involved in idolatry!
And, as we’ve read in Ezekiel 14, idolatry doesn’t require a stone statue or a wooden figure. You see, there is a throne in each of our hearts. God put it there, because He designed us to be worshippers. That throne belongs to Him. Idolatry happens when we substitute something else—anything else—for God in our lives…when we allow an imposter to sit upon God’s throne in our lives.
Louie Giglio wrote along these lines when he wrote:
“I think that all music—not just Christian music but all music—is worship music, because every song is amplifying the value of something. There's a trail of our time, our affections, our allegiance, our devotion, our money. That trail leads to a throne, and whatever's on that throne is what we worship. We're all doing a great job of it because God has created us to be worshipers. The problem is that a lot of us have really bad gods.”
Back to Ezekiel 14…these Jewish leaders were caught in two powerful cross-currents. On one side, they wanted to hear a word from God; but on the other side, their hearts were captured by some idolatrous affection. And God said, “I don’t think so.”
On the heels of Exodus 20:4—“You shall not make for yourself an idol,” God says in the very next verse, “You shall not worship [idols] or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” God doesn’t share His throne with anybody or anything. He sits in a peer group of one!
And at the heart of the offense described in Ezekiel 14 is the artificial attempt to seek God while their hearts were inclined toward idols. These leaders were playing a good game on the outside, making everyone believe they were genuine in their faith…but God could see through their hypocrisy!
And, by the way, it’s not just that God is a jealous God… that’s not the only reason God takes such a dramatic stance on the issue of idolatry. Notice in Ezekiel 14:3—“These men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity.” In other words, “They’ve set up idols in their hearts…and have embraced the very things that will make them fall into sin.” It’s actually the mercy of God toward us that says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
And the Bible has a lot to say against idolatry! Leviticus 19:4 warns us not to turn to idols or make idols, because God declares, “I am the LORD your God.” 1 Kings 21:26 is a strong word against following idols. Leviticus 26:1 warns us not to bow down to idols. In Isaiah 45:20, the LORD condemns those “who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save.” Hosea 13:2 warns against sacrificing to idols. There are so many other OT verses that we could reference, but the bottom line of the issue is found in the second of the Ten Commandments—“You shall not make for yourself an idol…” (Exodus 20:4).
“Pastor, doesn’t all this just show that idolatry was an Old Testament issue?” Not at all! We find the same kinds of prohibition in the New Testament, as well.
The Apostles commanded Gentile Christians to abstain from the pollution of idols in Acts 15:20, 29. The Apostle Paul warned Christians in 1 Corinthians 5:11 “not to associate with…an idolater…not even to eat with such a one.” Idolatry is listed among the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20. And in the final words of 1 John…in 1 John 5:21, John says, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
The prohibition against idolatry is not an OT or a NT issue; it’s a biblical issue! Scripture clearly forbids the people of God to be involved in idolatry!
And, as we’ve read in Ezekiel 14, idolatry doesn’t require a stone statue or a wooden figure. You see, there is a throne in each of our hearts. God put it there, because He designed us to be worshippers. That throne belongs to Him. Idolatry happens when we substitute something else—anything else—for God in our lives…when we allow an imposter to sit upon God’s throne in our lives.
Louie Giglio wrote along these lines when he wrote:
“I think that all music—not just Christian music but all music—is worship music, because every song is amplifying the value of something. There's a trail of our time, our affections, our allegiance, our devotion, our money. That trail leads to a throne, and whatever's on that throne is what we worship. We're all doing a great job of it because God has created us to be worshipers. The problem is that a lot of us have really bad gods.”
Back to Ezekiel 14…these Jewish leaders were caught in two powerful cross-currents. On one side, they wanted to hear a word from God; but on the other side, their hearts were captured by some idolatrous affection. And God said, “I don’t think so.”On the heels of Exodus 20:4—“You shall not make for yourself an idol,” God says in the very next verse, “You shall not worship [idols] or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” God doesn’t share His throne with anybody or anything. He sits in a peer group of one!
And at the heart of the offense described in Ezekiel 14 is the artificial attempt to seek God while their hearts were inclined toward idols. These leaders were playing a good game on the outside, making everyone believe they were genuine in their faith…but God could see through their hypocrisy!
And, by the way, it’s not just that God is a jealous God… that’s not the only reason God takes such a dramatic stance on the issue of idolatry. Notice in Ezekiel 14:3—“These men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity.” In other words, “They’ve set up idols in their hearts…and have embraced the very things that will make them fall into sin.” It’s actually the mercy of God toward us that says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
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