What Is Idolatry?

1Co 10:14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 

If I tell you to flee from something I'm in essence telling you to run away from something, not walk, but run. FLEE! Move as fast as you can from that thing. Do not hesitate, just run! So when we are told to flee from idolatry we are being told to run away from idolatry as fast as we can.

But what is idolatry?  I looked it up online, and then in a few Bible dictionaries, that are on my Bible app and all that information was incredibly informative so I've copied it here. By the grace and will of God we will discuss what we read here tomorrow.  May God bless us, and enlighten us with His truth so we may not live in the darkness of seemingly acceptable sins. May we not be deceived into believing we are above idol worship, that is does not affect our lives, that it does not try to seep into our way of life pulling us away from God.

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Idolatry-

Dictionary definitions-the worship of idols or false gods, excessive admiration or love shown for somebody or something.

IDOL'ATRY, n. [L. idololatria. Gr. idol, and to worship or serve.]

1. The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not God.

Idolatry is of two kinds; the worship of images, statues, pictures, &c. made by hands; and the worship of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars, or of demons, angels, men and animals.

2. Excessive attachment or veneration for any thing, or that which borders on adoration.

Idolatry

Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom_1:21-25 : men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (Rom_1:28).

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 

Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 

Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 

The forms of idolatry are,

(1.) Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc.

(2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as the supposed powers of nature.

(3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of heroes.

In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin, and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact with heathen nations. The first allusion to idolatry is in the account of Rachel stealing her father's teraphim (Gen_31:19),

Gen 31:19  And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. 

which were the relics of the worship of other gods by Laban's progenitors “on the other side of the river in old time” (Jos_24:2).

Jos 24:2  And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 

During their long residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it was long before they were delivered from it (Jos_24:14; Eze_20:7).

Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 

Eze 20:7  Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. 

Many a token of God's displeasure fell upon them because of this sin.

The idolatry learned in Egypt was probably rooted out from among the people during the forty years' wanderings; but when the Jews entered Palestine, they came into contact with the monuments and associations of the idolatry of the old Canaanitish races, and showed a constant tendency to depart from the living God and follow the idolatrous practices of those heathen nations. It was their great national sin, which was only effectually rebuked by the Babylonian exile. That exile finally purified the Jews of all idolatrous tendencies.

The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual offender was devoted to destruction (Exo_22:20).

Exo 22:20  He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. 

His nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punishment (Deu_13:2-10),

Deu 13:2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 

Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

Deu 13:4  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 

Deu 13:5  And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 

Deu 13:6  If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 

Deu 13:7  Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 

Deu 13:8  Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 

Deu 13:9  But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 

Deu 13:10  And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 

but their hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deu_17:2-7).

Deu 17:2  If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 

Deu 17:3  And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 

Deu 17:4  And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: 

Deu 17:5  Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 

Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 

Deu 17:7  The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you. 

To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity (Deu_13:6-10).

An idolatrous nation shared the same fate. No facts are more strongly declared in the Old Testament than that the extermination of the Canaanites was the punishment of their idolatry (Exo_34:15, Exo_34:16; Deut. 7; Deu_12:29-31; Deu_20:17), and that the calamities of the Israelites were due to the same cause (Jer_2:17). “A city guilty of idolatry was looked upon as a cancer in the state; it was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were put to death.” Jehovah was the theocratic King of Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, and therefore to an Israelite idolatry was a state offense (1Sa_15:23), high treason. On taking possession of the land, the Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of the existing idolatry of the Canaanites (Exo_23:24, Exo_23:32; Exo_34:13; Deu_7:5, Deu_7:25; Deu_12:1-3).

In the New Testament the term idolatry is used to designate covetousness (Mat_6:24; Luk_16:13; Col_3:5; Eph_5:5).

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 

Eph 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 

Idolatry

Idolatry. Idolatry, strictly speaking, denotes the worship of deity in a visible form, whether the images to which homage is paid are symbolical representations of the true God or of the false divinities, which have been made the objects of worship in his stead.

I. History of idolatry among the Jews. — The first undoubted allusion to idolatry or idolatrous customs in the Bible, is in the account of Rachel's stealing her father's teraphim. Gen_31:19.

During their long residence in Egypt, the Israelites defiled themselves with the idols of the land, and it was long before the taint was removed. Jos_24:14; Eze_20:7.

In the wilderness, they clamored for some visible shape, in which they might worship the God, who had brought them out of Egypt, Exo_32:1, until Aaron made the calf, the embodiment of Apis and emblem of the productive power of nature.

During the lives of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, they kept true to their allegiance; but the generation following, who knew not Jehovah nor the works he had done for Israel, swerved from the plain path of their fathers and were caught in the toils of the foreigner. Jdg_2:1. From this time forth, their history becomes little more than a chronicle of the inevitable sequence of offence and punishment. Jdg_2:12; Jdg_2:14. By turns, each conquering nation strove to establish the worship of its national God.

In later times, the practice of secret idolatry was carried to greater lengths. Images were set up on the corn-floors, in the wine-vats, and behind the doors of private houses, Isa_57:8; Hos_9:1-2, and to check this tendency, the statute in Deu_27:15 was originally promulgated.

Under Samuel's administration, idolatry was publicly renounced, 1Sa_7:3-6, but in the reign of Solomon, all this was forgotten, even Solomon's own heart being turned after other gods. 1Ki_11:14. Rehoboam perpetuated the worst features of Solomon's idolatry, 1Ki_14:22-24, erecting golden calves at Beth-el and at Dan, and by this crafty state' policy, severed forever the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. 1Ki_12:26-33.

The successors of Jeroboam followed in his steps, till Ahab. The conquest of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser was, for them, the last scene of the drama of abominations, which had been enacted uninterruptedly for upwards of 250 years.

Under Hezekiah, a great reform was inaugurated, that was not confined to Judah and Benjamin, but spread throughout Ephraim and Manasseh, 2Ch_31:1, and to all external appearances, idolatry was extirpated. But the reform extended little below the surface. Isa_29:13.

With the death of Josiah, ended the last effort to revive among the people a purer ritual, if not a purer faith. The lamp of David, which had long shed but a struggling ray, flickered for a while, and then went out in the darkness of Babylonian Captivity.

Though the conquests of Alexander caused Greek influence to be felt, yet after the captivity, better condition of things prevailed, and the Jews never again fell into idolatry. The erection of synagogues had been assigned as a reason for the comparative purity of the Jewish worship after the captivity, while another cause has been discovered in the hatred for images acquired by the Jews in their intercourse with the Persians.

II. Objects of idolatry. — The sun and moon were early selected as outward symbols of all-pervading power, and the worship of the heavenly bodies was not only the most ancient, but the most prevalent system of idolatry. Taking its rise in the plains of Chaldea, it spread through Egypt, Greece, Scythia, and even Mexico and Ceylon. Compare Deu_4:19; Deu_17:3; Job_31:20-28. In the later times of the monarchy, the planets or the zodiacal signs received, next to the sun and moon, their share of popular adoration. 2Ki_23:5.

Beast-worship, as exemplified in the calves of Jeroboam, has already been alluded to of pure hero-worship among the Semitic races we find no trace. The singular reverence with which trees have been honored is not without example in the history of the Hebrew. The terebinth (oak) at Mamre, beneath which Abraham built an altar, Gen_12:7; Gen_13:18, and the memorial grove planted by him at Beersheba, Gen_21:33, were intimately connected with patriarchal worship.

Mountains and high places were chosen spots for offering sacrifice and incense to idols, 1Ki_11:7; 1Ki_14:23, and the retirement of gardens and the thick shade of woods offered great attractions to their worshippers. 2Ki_16:4; Isa_1:29; Hos_4:13. The host of heaven was worshipped on the house-top. 2Ki_23:12; Jer_19:3; Jer_32:29; Zep_1:5.

(The modern objects of idolatry are less gross than the ancient, but are none the less idols. Whatever of wealth or honor or pleasure is loved and sought before God and righteousness becomes an object of idolatry. — Editor).

III. Punishment of idolatry. — Idolatry to an Israelite was a state offence, 1Sa_15:23, a political crime of the greatest character, high treason against the majesty of his king. The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code.

The individual offender was devoted to destruction, Exo_22:20, his nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punishment, Deu_13:2-10, but their hands were to strike the first blow, when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned. Deu_17:2-5.

To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity. Deu_13:6-10.

IV. Attractions of idolatry. — Many have wondered why the Israelites were so easily led away from the true God, into the worship of idols.

(1) Visible, outward signs, with shows, pageants, parades, have an attraction to the natural heart, which often fail to perceive the unseen spiritual realities.

(2) But the greatest attraction seems to have been in licentious revelries and obscene orgies with which the worship of the Oriental idols was observed. (This worship, appealing to every sensual passion, joined with the attractions of wealth and fashion and luxury, naturally was a great temptation to a simple, restrained, agricultural people, whose worship and law demands the greatest purity of heart and of life. — Editor).

1Co 10:14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.