IDOL, IDOLATRY
IDOL, IDOLATRY
The word idol signifies literally a representation or figure. It is always employed in Scripture in a bad sense, for representations of heathen deities of what nature soever. God forbids all sorts of idols, or figures and representations of creatures, formed or set up with intention of paying superstitious worship to them, Exo 20:3,4 34:13 De 4:16-19 7:25,26. He also forbids all attempts to represent him by any visible form, Exo 32:4,5 Deu 4:15 Neh 9:18 .The heathen had idols of all sorts-paintings, bas-reliefs, and all varieties of sculpture-and these of many kinds of materials, as gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, potters earth, etc. Stars, spirits, men, animals, rivers, plants, and elements were the subjects of them. Scarcely an object or power in nature, scarcely a faculty of the soul, a virtue, a vice, or a condition of human life, has not received idolatrous worship. See STARS. Some nations worshipped a rough stone. Such is the black stone of the ancient Arabs, retained by Mohammed, and now kept in the Caaba at Mecca.It is impossible to ascertain the period at which the worship of false gods and idols was introduced. No mentioned is made of such worship before the deluge; though from the silence of Scripture we cannot argue that it did not exist. Josephus and many of the fathers were of opinion, that soon after the deluge idolatry became prevalent; and certainly, whenever we turn our eyes after the time of Abraham, we see only a false worship. That patriarch’s forefathers, and even he himself, were implicated in it, as is evident from Jos 24:2,14 .The Hebrews had no peculiar form of idolatry; they imitated the superstitions of others, but do not appear to have been the inventors of any. When they were in Egypt, many of them worshipped Egyptians deities, Eze 20:8 ; in the wilderness, they worshipped those of the Canaaites, Egyptians, Ammonites, and Moabites; in Judea, those of the Phoenicians, Syrians, and other people around them, Num 25:1-18 Jdg 10:6 1Sa 5:25 Mal 7:42 . Rachel, it may be, had adored idols at her father Laban’s, since she carried off his teraphim, Gen 31:30 . Jacob after his return from Mesopotamia, required his people to reject the strange gods from among them and also the superstitious pendants worn by them in their ears, which he hid under a terebinth near Shechem. He preserved his family in the worship of God while he lived.Under the government of the judges, “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. They forsook the Lord God of their fathers, and served Baal and Ashtaroth,” Jdg 2:11,12 . Gideon, after he had been favored by God with a miraculous deliverance, made an ephod, which ensnared the Israelites in unlawful worship, Jdg 8:27 . Micah’s teraphim also were the objects of idolatrous worship, even till the captivity of Israel in Babylon, Jdg 17:5 18:30,31. See TERAPHIM.During the times of Samuel, Saul, and David, the worship of God seems to have been preserved pure in Israel. There was corruption and irregularity of manners, but little or no idolatry. Solomon, seduced by complaisance to his strange wives, caused temples to be erected in honor of Ashtoreth goddess of the Phoenicians, Moloch god of the Ammonites, and Chemosh god of the Moabites. Jeroboam, who succeeded Solomon, set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel, and made Israel to sin. The people, no longer restrained by royal authority, worshipped not only these golden calves, but many other idols, particularly Baal and Ashtoreth. Under the reign of Ahab, idolatry reached its height. The impious Jezebel endeavored to extinguish the worship of the Lord, by persecuting his prophets, (who, as a barrier, still retained some of the people in the true religion,) till God, incensed at their idolatry, abandoned Israel to the kings of Assyria and Chaldea, who transplanted them beyond the Euphrates. Judah was almost equally corrupted. The descriptions given by the prophets of their irregularities and idolatries, of their abominations and lasciviousness on the high places and in woods consecrated to idols, and of their human sacrifices, fill us with dismay, and unveil the awful corruption of the heart of man. See MOLOCH. After the return from Babylon, we do not find the Jews any more reproached with idolatry. They expressed much zeal for the worship of God, and except some transgressor under Antichus Epiphanes, the people kept themselves clear from this sin.As the maintenance of the worship of the only true God was one of the fundamental objects of the Mosaic polity, and as God was regarded as the king of the Israelitish nation, so we find idolatry, that is, the worship of other gods, occupying, in the Mosaic law, the first place in the list of crimes. It was indeed a crime, not merely against God, but also against the fundamental law of the state, and thus a sort of high treason. The only living and true God was also the civil legislator and ruler of Israel, and accepted by them as their king; and hence idolatry was a crime against the state, and therefore just as deservedly punished with death, as high treason is in modern times. By the Jewish law, an idolatrous city must be wholly destroyed, with all it contained, Deu 13:12-18 17:2,5.At the present day, idolatry, prevails over a great portion of the earth, and is practiced by about 600,000,000 of the human race. Almost all the heathen nations, as the Chinese, the Hindoos, the South Sea islanders, etc., have their images, to which they bow down and worship. In some lands professedly Christians, it is to be feared that the adoration of crucifixes and paintings is nothing more nor less than idol-worship. But when we regard idolatry in a moral point of view, as consisting not merely in the external worship of false gods, but in the preference of, and devotion to something else than the Most High, how many Christians must then fall under this charge. Whoever loves this world, or the pursuits of wealth or honor ambition, or selfishness in any form, and for these forgets or neglects God and Christ, such a one is an idolater in as bad sense at least as the ancient Israelites, and cannot hope to escape an awful condemnation, Col 3:5 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
IDOL, IDOLATRY
Gods law-code given to Israel expresses in writing the timeless truth that Yahweh alone is God; there is no other. No image of any sort should be an object of worship, whether used as a symbol of the true God or as the representative of some other (false) god (Exo 20:4-5; Exo 34:17; Isa 42:8).
Since images of human creation can be true representations of God, such images cannot possibly lead to an increased appreciation of God (Isa 40:18; Isa 55:8-9). They dishonour God through hiding his glory, and mislead people through giving them wrong ideas of God (Deu 4:15-18; Rom 1:21-23).
Idolatry in Israel
Abraham, the father of Israel, came from a land of idol worshippers, but he renounced idols when he came to know the one true God (Jos 24:2; Jos 24:15). Some of Abrahams relatives, however, who did not share Abrahams faith, continued to have private household gods (Gen 31:19).
The penalty that Israelite law laid down for idol worship was death (Exo 22:20; Deu 13:2-5; Deu 17:2-5). Yet the people of Israel repeatedly fell into idolatry through copying the practices of the people around them (Jdg 2:12; Jdg 10:6; Jdg 17:3-6; Jer 44:15-19). Because they did not know what Yahweh looked like, they copied the forms of the gods of other religions (Exo 32:4; Deu 4:12; 1Ki 12:28; Hos 13:2). The form of idolatry that Israel most frequently fell into was Baalism (2Ki 17:15-16; see BAAL). In addition the people sometimes took objects that had played an important part in Gods dealings with Israel and wrongfully made them into objects of worship (Jdg 8:27; 2Ki 18:4).
At different times the kings of Judah carried out reforms in which they destroyed all the idols in the land (2Ch 31:1; 2Ch 34:4). But idolatrous tendencies were so deeply rooted in the lives of the people that they were never entirely removed. In the end they were the reason why God destroyed the nation and sent the people into captivity (2Ki 17:7-18; 2Ki 21:10-15). The period of captivity broke the peoples association with the idols of Canaan, and when the Jews later returned from captivity, idolatry ceased to be a major problem (Eze 36:22-29; Eze 37:23; Hos 2:16-19).
Idolatry in other nations
Gods messengers condemned idolatry not only among Israelites, but also among Gentiles. As people observed the created world they should have recognized that there was a Creator, and responded by offering him thankful worship. Instead they turned away from the Creator and made created things their idols (Rom 1:19-23). Gods prophets mocked these lifeless idols and denounced both those who made them and those who worshipped them (Psa 115:4-8; Isa 2:8; Isa 40:18-20; Isa 41:6-7; Isa 44:9-20; Isa 46:1-2; Isa 46:5-7).
The reason for the prophets condemnation of idols was not just that idols were lifeless pieces of wood or stone, but that behind the idols were demonic forces. Idols were enemies of God and were disgusting and hateful in his sight (Deu 7:25; Deu 29:17; Deu 32:16-17; Eze 36:17-18; 1Co 8:4; 1Co 10:19-20).
Warnings to Christians
When people turn to believe in the true and living God, they automatically turns away from their idols (1Th 1:9). Any refusal to turn from their idols shows that they have not really repented (Rev 9:20).
A common tendency among those who worship idols is a feeling that they are free to practise all kinds of sins, since a lifeless idol is unable to punish them (Rom 1:23-32; Eph 4:17-19). The self-satisfaction that comes from performing some act of idol worship produces a moral laziness and a relaxing of control over lustful desires. This is no doubt why the Bible often links idolatry with immorality (1Co 5:11; 1Co 10:7-8; Gal 5:19-20; Rev 9:20-21; Rev 21:8; Rev 22:15; cf. Num 25:1-2) and because immorality is a form of covetousness, idolatry is linked with covetousness (1Co 5:11; Eph 5:3; Eph 5:5). People may give so much attention to what they covet that the coveted thing takes the place of God and so becomes an idol (Col 3:5; see COVET).
Idolatry is linked also with wrong beliefs concerning Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for sinners, is the true God who gives believers eternal life. The substitutes invented by false teachers are false gods, and therefore believers must keep away from them (1Jn 5:20-21).
Food offered to idols
In a society where the worship of idols is widespread, Christians sometimes face the problem of whether to eat food that others have previously offered to idols. This concerns food eaten in feasts at an idolatrous temple and food eaten in meals at home.
Some Christians may feel free to eat such food, for they know that the idol is only a piece of wood or stone and that it cannot in any way change the food. Others, having once worshipped idols as if they really had life, feel it would be wrong for them to eat such food. They could easily be led into sin through doing what they believe to be wrong. Christians who feel they have the right to eat idol food should therefore limit their personal freedom, so that they do not risk damaging another believers life (1 Corinthians 8; 1Co 10:23-24; 1Co 10:31-33; cf. Act 15:20; Act 15:29; Rom 14:13-23).
Another consideration is that eating together signifies fellowship. In the Lords Supper, those who eat the bread and drink the wine are united together with Christ, spiritually sharing in him. Similarly, those who join in idol feasts are having fellowship with the idol or, worse still, with the evil spirit behind the idol (1Co 10:14-22; cf. Exo 32:4-6; Dan 5:1; Dan 5:4).
The refusal of Christians to take part in idol feasts is because of this element of fellowship, not because the food itself is changed. When they buy food at the market or eat at the house of pagan friends, they have no need to ask whether the food has been offered to idols. If the food has no obvious idolatrous associations, they should eat it and be thankful to God for it (1Co 10:25-27). If, however, someone tells them the food has been offered to idols, they should not eat, because others might misunderstand and, thinking Christians may join in idol worship, fall into sin (1Co 10:28-30).
Towards the end of the first century AD, certain false teachers actually encouraged Christians to eat food that they knew had been offered to idols. They claimed this demonstrated the Christians freedom from rules and regulations, but in practice it led to immorality (Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20). God promises a special reward to those who overcome such temptations (Rev 2:17; Rev 2:26-28).