Idolatry: It Still Flourishes, Even Without Statues!

Suppose you found a friend carving a small statue out of a piece of wood. “What are you going to do with that?” you ask. “I’m going to worship it,” he says. “I’ve got a nice spot in my bedroom where I can kneel down and ask it for things.” Or imagine people on a suburban street pooling their wedding rings and other jewelry to make a statue they can put in the park. They plan to kill animals and leave the meat out in front of the statue. To moderns, idolatry is as weird as cannibalism; we’re not tempted to try it. But since a great part of the Old Testament is concerned with idolatry, we need to get some idea of what people saw in it—and why God condemned it.

“They have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods.”  Jeremiah 19:4

Mixing Religions

In Jeremiah’s day, practically everybody practiced idolatry. Israelites had a hard time seeing that a few statues interfered with their relationship with the one true God. They worshiped the God of Abraham, but mixed in the gods of countries surrounding them. They had idols right in the Jerusalem temple (Jeremiah 7:30). They could go to worship God right after burning incense to Baal (Jeremiah 7:9-10). They had built shrines on top of many hills, the “high places” and under the tallest trees so that worship could be carried out conveniently, without a trip to Jerusalem. They ignored the prophets’ warnings that God hated this “mixed” religion. Judah’s neighbors believed in many gods, each having its sphere of influence. The Jews themselves had begun to wonder: Why should their God be so different? Why should he want to knock out all competition? If idols were a fraud, mere carvings (Jeremiah 10:4), why should God worry about them?

Idol by AseemGkujur

The Evils Idols Stood For

Idols were far from innocent, however. They stood for vile, angry gods who could hurt you unless you bartered for peace. The highest sacrifice? Slaughter your own son. The Israelites had adopted this practice (Jeremiah 10:5). According to these idol-worshiping religions, success came through the fertile power of nature and the gods. You could tune in to such power by having sex with temple prostitutes, either male or female. The Israelites also borrowed this (2 Kings 23:7). These ideas disgusted the God of Israel. By mixing such practices with their devotion to him, God’s people were becoming confused about his true character.

Idolatry Today

The New Testament broadens the definition of idolatry so that it applies to us, even though we worship no statues. Paul said that greed is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). The things people get greedy for money, sex, power, even food can function as little gods. When we feel depressed we turn to them for comfort. When we’re happy, we give them the credit. We gradually become their slaves. But this is exactly the place for God in our lives, and God alone. If something else takes his place, we are as guilty of idolatry as the people of Jeremiah spoke to. God cannot share us. He is either the only God, or he is not God at all.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but in some situations it is the only appropriate response. A father is jealous of his children; he will fight never to give them up to another family. A husband is jealous of his wife; he will not share her most intimate love with anyone else. So God feels about his people. They belong to him, and to him alone.

Life Questions: Where do you turn when you’re troubled? Does money, success, popularity, or other factors serve as substitutes for God?