Idol, Grove, High Place
Idol, Grove, High Place
Man is essentially an image-maker. his best works in art and mechanics are imitations of nature. his music is an attempt to present, not indeed to the eye, but to the ear, what may be called a picture of the varied feelings that occupy his heart. this tendency also shows itself in his religious worship, which he is inclined to make as symbolical as possible. way, he seeks to make a sensible representation even of God Himself, and gradually to transfer to the work of his own hands that reverence and dependence which properly belongs to the one living and true God. There is a strange fascination in exaggerated religious symbolism; it engrosses and excites the mind, but is by no means of a healthy character. It tends little by little to supplant the simplicity of spiritual worship, and to turn man into an idolater. Idolatry in its first stage is a sort of symbolism; some object is selected to represent the unseen Deity or to set forth one of his attributes; little by little the material image takes the place of the spiritual reality for which it stands, and idolatry ensues, bringing in its train that sensuality which is the sure attendant of every form of materialism; the highest functions of human nature are thus abnegated, and human life is debased. The first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans tells the story of idolatrous degradation with painful vividness, and fully accounts for the oft-repeated admonitions given by Moses on this special point, and for the severe penalties which God inflicted up on the people in order to break through the evil fascination and to deliver them from the snare of materialism.
Idols
Twelve different Hebrew words are represented by the English word ‘idol.’ Some of them point to the fact that an idol is a thing of nought; others are significant of the terr or with which the worshipper of false gods is inspired, or of the aversion with which the living and true God regards such objects; others, again, refer to the shape of the idol, to the material of which it is made, or to the position in which it is placed.
In Isa 66:3 the idol is Aven (, Ass. annu), iniquity, or a thing of nought. Compare Beth-Aven, i.e. the house of idolatry, which is referred to in Hos 4:15; Hos 5:8; Hos 10:5; Hos 10:8 in Amo 5:5 we read, Beth-Elshall come to Aven (A. V. to nought). Here there is evidently a play on the word. See Jos 7:2.
The word Alil (), which is supposed to have the same meaning, is used in several places, i.e. Lev 19:4; Lev 26:1; 1Ch 16:26; Psa 96:5; Psa 97:7; Isa 2:8; Isa 2:18; Isa 2:20; Isa 10:10-11; Isa 19:1; Isa 19:3; Isa 31:7; Eze 30:13; Hab 2:18; Zec 11:17.
The nothingness of idolatry is brought out by St. Paul, who reminds the Corinthians that ‘an idol is nothing in the world’ (1Co 8:4), that the gods of the heathen are ‘vanities’ (Act 14:15), and ‘no gods’ (Gal 4:8).
In Jer 50:38, where we read, ‘They are mad up on their idols,’ the word Imah () is used, which implies that the idol was an object of terror. The same idea is probably represented by Miphletseth (, the designation of the idol which Maachah made [David Miller considers that this was Pluto, the president of the infernal regions, whom he also identifies with Beelzebub the prince of flies, of nuisances, and of the power of the air. He thinks that Ashara or Astarte was Hecate or Luma, and that Chiun (Amo 5:26) was Saturn. But see Sayce, Hibbert Lectures,] (1Ki 15:13, also in the corresponding passage, 2Ch 15:16) in 2Ch 15:8 idols are called ‘abominations,’ Shakuts (), a word which is often used to testify to God’s hatred of the whole system of idolatry, and which answers to the Greek .
The connection of abomination () with idolatry is brought out in Rom 2:22, ‘Thou who abominates idols, dost thou rob temples?’ in Rev 21:8, the ‘abominable,’ that is, those who worship idols, are coupled with the fearful [The word here rendered fearful probably signifies unstable, in which sense it is used in the O.T.] and the unbelieving in Tit 1:16, St. Paul speaks of some who profess to know God, but by their works deny Him, and are abominable, i.e. practically on a level with idolaters. The falsehood of idolatry is brought out in Rev 21:2`, where to make an abomination and to make a lie are put side by side. Probably the cup containing abominations and whoredom, referred to in Rev 17:4,represents the various forms of idolatry which ‘the woman’ shall promote. St. Paul tells us that covetousness is idolatry, and in accordance with this truth our Lord tells the covetous Pharisees that what is lifted up among men is regarded as an abomination in the sight of God (Luk 16:14-15).
Reference has now been made to all the passages in which the word occurs in the N.T., with the exception of our Lord’s reference to ‘the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet’ (Mat 24:15; Mar 13:14; Dan 9:27), which signifies that the desolation of Jerusalem was to be caused by an idolatrous power.
There is a word which is found several times in the O.T. which is rather ambiguous, namely, Etsev (). It is supposed to mean that which causes labour; either in the making of the idol or in the worshipping it. The Greek rendering is sometimes , grief, but usually . Scripture always conveys to us the idea that true worship is not wearisome to the child of God, where as the worship of idols is hard labour without profit.
This word is used with reference to the false gods of the Philistines in 1Sa 31:9; 1Ch 10:9; 2Sa 5:21; in 2Ch 24:18 and Psa 106:36; Psa 106:38, it refers to the objects of Canaanitish worship by which the Israelites were ensnared, see also Psa 115:4; Psa 135:15 in Isa 10:11, whilst alil is used of Samaria’s idols, etsev is used of Jerusalem’s idols; in Isa 46:1 it is applied to Bel and Nebo, which were ‘a burden to the weary beast;’ see also Jer 50:2, where these same idols are described as broken in pieces; in Jer 22:28, Coniah is described as ‘a despised broken idol’ (where some would translate the word ‘vase,’ but unnecessarily); it is also used of the idols of Israel or Canaan in Isa 48:5; Hos 4:17; Hos 8:4; Hos 13:9; Hos 14:8; Mic 1:7; Zec 13:2.
Another word for idol is derived from Galgal (), to roll, and signifies a trunk of a tree or a log of wood, or perhaps in some places a round stone. The word only occurs in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, the Kings, and Ezekiel. The LXX usually renders it , an idol, but sometimes , a custom; twice , an abomination; and in other passages , , and , words which would point to the tendency of the heart to idolatry rather than to the object of worship itself It occurs in the following passages:–Lev 26:30 (‘the carcasses of your idols’); Deu 29:17 (marg in ‘dungy gods’); 1Ki 15:12; 1Ki 21:26; 2Ki 17:12; 2Ki 21:11; 2Ki 21:21; 2Ki 23:24; Eze 6:4, al.
The word is the only word used of idols in the N.T., whether these idols are outward and visible objects of worship, or whether they are more subtle influences which attract the heart.
Idolatry is joined with pharmacy or witchcraft in Gal 5:20; it is identified with covetousness in Eph 5:5, and is classed with murder in Rev 22:15.