I think God gave them this commandment because they were entering a land where these things were being done. God did not want His people to fall into their idolatry. I don't think many people in our day worship idols like that so I believe those things to be a non issue. The idols we should avoid in our day are things like tv, money, sex, drugs/alcohol. What occupies your mind more than God. That might be your idol.
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Bible Study Idolatry
- Thread starter Boyce
- Start date
ReginaForbes
Member
my views are pretty standard on this topic but when my husband and I discussed it he said "its like worshipping action figures" 
I just imagine someone bowing before a hulk hogan toy LOL!
I just imagine someone bowing before a hulk hogan toy LOL!
the gods baal, astart, chemoth, adonais all had sex, drugs, money and power in their form of faith.
Malachi
Member
1. No crafting of images of any kind whatsoever.
2. No worship of any kind to any images whatsoever.
The reason:
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24 KJB).
TOG
Member
The man who sits at the next desk to mine at work is an idolater. He's Hindu, as are about one billion other people in the world. And, although many people don't realize it, yoga is as closely tied to Hinduism as the Lord's Prayer is to Christianity, and is therefore an idolatrous practice. Still think idolatry is uncommon today?
The TOG
Obadiah
Member
So then according to your #1 you are sinning by looking at your computer screen as you typed that. That's an image on the screen afterall and your point says "images of any kind" and does not separate out only those images that you are tempted to worship. The avatar that you purposely added to your profile and you post here is also an image. So I have to assume you admit that for you that is sin as well, and I wonder why you haven't repented of it? I must also assume you have no photographs of family or friends, or pets, or anything else. Those too are images afterall and if you have them and also actually believe what you said here, and didn't post it only as a "do as I say not as I do" kind of statement than you are sinning in your heart by having them and you need to destroy all of them. And of course you somehow manage to deal with no money at all, as money is full of images and we all know some people certainly idolize money in our day and age. So if you deal with money in any shape or form and actually believe what you typed above, you are sinning and in serious need of repentance. Did you finger paint or draw any pictures in school when you were a kid? You crafted an image! You sinned according to your statement above! The list goes on and on but I have serious doubts that you or anyone else is able to live by the standard you have set.
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Malachi
Member
The list goes on and on but I have serious doubts that you or anyone else is able to live by the standard you have set.
In Scripture context is critical. The context of Exodus 20:1-17 is the Ten Commandments and the context of verse 4 is verses 1-6 which pertains to worship. It is in the context of worship that we are commanded to craft no images whatsoever, neither to worship any of those images.
As you examine all false religions as well as false Christianity, you will note that they all practice idolatry -- the worship of idols or images made with hands. That is an abomination to God, and even Israel, with all its relationship to YAHWEH, worshipped images and was severely punished for idolatry.
In Scripture context is critical. The context of Exodus 20:1-17 is the Ten Commandments and the context of verse 4 is verses 1-6 which pertains to worship. It is in the context of worship that we are commanded to craft no images whatsoever, neither to worship any of those images.
As you examine all false religions as well as false Christianity, you will note that they all practice idolatry -- the worship of idols or images made with hands. That is an abomination to God, and even Israel, with all its relationship to YAHWEH, worshipped images and was severely punished for idolatry.
Obadiah
Member
Ah, then perhaps that would have been more clear had you left out your point #1 stating "No crafting of images of any kind whatsoever" and simply stated "No worship of any kind to any images whatsoever". Those are two very different things and I certainly agree with your point #2 about not worshiping them! However I've never been in any Christian church that worshiped any kind of image. I know some churches do from what I've heard from some other people, but not the ones I would go to. I also know some individual Christians (and I might question if they actually are Christians in more than name only) worship images too, but that doesn't necessarily reflect on the doctrine of the church if the doctrine isn't teaching this.
jeff77
Member
I had an experience about a year ago that I think fits in this thread. Concerning images of Jesus. First of all whenever I read or hear a story from the Bible that has Jesus in it my imagination will "picture" what is being said. It's kind of hard not to think of what Jesus may have looked like when you hear the preacher telling the story of him healing the lame man or walking on water. The image of Jesus in my mind was always something that was kind of based on a painting or drawing I had probably seen many of, many different times. It was never anything that stood out or seemed important....until I saw The Bible Series on the History channel. I kind of liked the show at least at that time, but after seeing the actor that played Jesus (a real human being) This actor was now what my mind "pictured" when I heard or read a miracle performed by Jesus. This started to bother me because whenever I thought of Jesus I thought of this real man instead of something more random from my imagination. I have to be careful from now on this kind of thing. Does this make sense? It's kind of hard for me to explain it exactly.
Is this kinda the area of your thoughts?
If the renewed mind ( mind of Christ) is in us, then the following fits:
II Corinthians 10:5
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
And so
Romans 7:25
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
If we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we do not want to set up a vain imagination in our mind . A vivid imagination is pretty much like engraved in our thoughts.
eddif
I think these verses address the fight inside the believer who wants to avoid the lusts of the flesh and do the works of the spirit.
jeff77
Member
I'm not sure eddif. When you read a story in the Bible do you picture the setting, place, people and things you are reading about? If so, what does Jesus look like when you are reading about him? Is it considered to be idolatry if one has a set figure like a statue, real person from a movie that played the part of Jesus, or anything else fixed in their mind every time they think of Jesus?
Gary
Member
We think in pictures. That's just how our brain works. For instance, if I say car, your brain pictures a car. If I say clown car, your brain conjures up a different image, but it's still a car. Same thing with Giraffe. Anyone who reads this will automatically see a picture of a giraffe in their head.....just like you did just now.
This works the same way when reading the bible. We see the name Jesus and that image we all grew up with comes to the forefront of our thoughts. There's really nothing we can do about it, it's just how our brain works.
But there's good news. The Lord understands and knows your heart on this issue. He knows your reasons for rejecting these images. He sees that you understand what these things really are. You have an understanding of idolatry and He sees that.
The Lord searches the inner being and gets to the root of the matter. An image of Jesus pops into our head. The Lord doesn't just sit back and go "Hmmmm". He digs deeper and searches out the reasons for that image being there.
That being said, I have to admit that it still bothers me that I can't banish that thing into never never land.
.
jeff77
Member
You nailed it Gary! That is what I was trying to explain.We think in pictures. That's just how our brain works. For instance, if I say car, your brain pictures a car. If I say clown car, your brain conjures up a different image, but it's still a car. Same thing with Giraffe. Anyone who reads this will automatically see a picture of a giraffe in their head.....just like you did just now.
This works the same way when reading the bible. We see the name Jesus and that image we all grew up with comes to the forefront of our thoughts. There's really nothing we can do about it, it's just how our brain works.
But there's good news. The Lord understands and knows your heart on this issue. He knows your reasons for rejecting these images. He sees that you understand what these things really are. You have an understanding of idolatry and He sees that.
The Lord searches the inner being and gets to the root of the matter. An image of Jesus pops into our head. The Lord doesn't just sit back and go "Hmmmm". He digs deeper and searches out the reasons for that image being there.
That being said, I have to admit that it still bothers me that I can't banish that thing into never never land.
.
I suppose I lean toward the midrash / Madrasah interpretation system. I had a Jewish person point out that was what I was doing. He actually looked for a Jewish reason to allow what I was saying.
Deuteronomy 25:4 talks of not muzzling an ox
I Corinthians 9:9 (passage area) talks of comparing a bishop to an ox.
The kingdom of God is in us. A vain Imagination in our mind (IMHO) would be worse than a graven image sitting in a house.
Look up Madrasah (Wikipedia maybe), and see if that helps. Sometimes we think differently.
eddif
Gary
Member
The Lord looks at intent.
jeff77
Member
Let me see if I am understanding you correctly. First of all when we read scripture that has Jesus in it, it is just natural that we are going to imagine the setting and what the people look like including Jesus. Most of the times that I can recall, the picture that popped in my head when I thought of Jesus was not anything in particular that I had seen. It was probably based on a drawing or painting or just a combination of different descriptions of Jesus that I have seen or heard over the years. Until I watched the Bible series I had not attached Jesus' identity to something or in this case someone in particular. That is what I felt was wrong. I started to place an importance on what Jesus really may look like, where as before it was just something random and not important.