Other gods

[jaybird]

There are only two sources of such power: God and Satan. The Egyptian sorcerers used demonic power to do what they did. God showed he was superior by having Aaron's staff swallow the others.

i think the egyptians used powers of darkness. possibly demons but demons seem to be different, dark spirits that can possess people but no power in themselves to act on their own.
the 2nd commandment commands us not to have other gods, who are these other gods?

 

[Free]

i think the egyptians used powers of darkness. possibly demons but demons seem to be different, dark spirits that can possess people but no power in themselves to act on their own.
the 2nd commandment commands us not to have other gods, who are these other gods?

They're idols made of wood, stone, gold, etc. Anything that one puts before God; anything that one worships. They have no power since they're manmade.

 

[jaybird]

They're idols made of wood, stone, gold, etc. Anything that one puts before God; anything that one worships. They have no power since they're manmade.

if the gods are non existent, then it makes the 2nd commandment sound like over kill. why would the Most High have so much concern over something that did not exist? also of all the commandments this one dealing with other gods carries a specific judgment that can be passed down to your kids and grandkids. thats an awful lot of punishment for something that doesnt exist in the first place.
and what of the other gods that are mentioned by name? they dont exist as well?

 

[Free]

if the gods are non existent, then it makes the 2nd commandment sound like over kill. why would the Most High have so much concern over something that did not exist? also of all the commandments this one dealing with other gods carries a specific judgment that can be passed down to your kids and grandkids. thats an awful lot of punishment for something that doesnt exist in the first place.
and what of the other gods that are mentioned by name? they dont exist as well?

You're not understanding. A "god" is anything that a person places above God. If God isn't first in someone's life, something else is. A god's only power is the ability to cause us to worship them but it isn't an inherent power, it is a power we confer on them.

God is the only living God. All other so-called gods are those of made of human hands that have no life and no inherent power.

What gods are mentioned by name?

 

[jaybird]

You're not understanding. A "god" is anything that a person places above God. If God isn't first in someone's life, something else is. A god's only power is the ability to cause us to worship them but it isn't an inherent power, it is a power we confer on them.

God is the only living God. All other so-called gods are those of made of human hands that have no life and no inherent power.

the Father is called the Most High G-D. most high compared to gods that dont exist? you also have in deuteronomy and psalms "God of gods". why would He compare Himself with nonexistent gods or man made materiel objects.

What gods are mentioned by name?

Jeremiah 46 25
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him
1 Kin 11:5
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Solomon had divine wisdom, you would think he would know these gods did not exist but apparently he didn't.

 

[Free]

the Father is called the Most High G-D. most high compared to gods that dont exist? you also have in deuteronomy and psalms "God of gods". why would He compare Himself with nonexistent gods or man made materiel objects.


Jeremiah 46 25
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him
1 Kin 11:5
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Solomon had divine wisdom, you would think he would know these gods did not exist but apparently he didn't.

Never mind. What the Bible says about other gods is very straight forward and simple. I think you have a lot of study to do yet on the matter.

 

[jaybird]

Never mind. What the Bible says about other gods is very straight forward and simple. I think you have a lot of study to do yet on the matter.

yes its pretty straight forward, dont worship them, the Most High acknowledges them by name, and of all these gods the Father is above them all. and yes i do study these things, i ask myself if they are still around today. maybe the best way to be prepared to deal with such evil is to bury my head in the sand and make believe they dont exist.

 

[jaybird]

You're not understanding. A "god" is anything that a person places above God. If God isn't first in someone's life, something else is. A god's only power is the ability to cause us to worship them but it isn't an inherent power, it is a power we confer on them.

God is the only living God. All other so-called gods are those of made of human hands that have no life and no inherent power.

if these gods are man made material things, can you give me an example of this in today's world?

 

[reba]

Moving this thread 'indoors'

 

[Mike]

if these gods are man made material things, can you give me an example of this in today's world?

Free explained very well that the gods cited in the 2nd Commandment are not gods in a spiritual sense. They might not necessarily be physical in nature either. The pursuit of fame can be a god. The need to be admired at work can be one too. Money can be a god. A car can be a god.

Anything that someone places in higher importance to pursuing the One True God is the god that we are commanded against in the 2nd Commandment. And as with all 10 of them, as well as every desire God has for our living, is for our own good. There is the One True Triune God, and everything else cloaks itself. They are false gods. They are diversions.

 

[Free]

yes its pretty straight forward, dont worship them, the Most High acknowledges them by name, and of all these gods the Father is above them all. and yes i do study these things, i ask myself if they are still around today. maybe the best way to be prepared to deal with such evil is to bury my head in the sand and make believe they dont exist.

I am not burying my head in the sand and pretending that they don't exist. I am going by Scripture which very clearly lays out just what these gods are. This is very straight forward and simple. Looking at what the Bible says:

Isa 43:10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

Isa 43:11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.

Isa 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Isa 44:8 Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any."

Isa 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,

Isa 45:6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 45:18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 45:21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Isa 45:22 "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Isa 46:9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
(All ESV)

And from Paul:

Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (ESV)

1Co 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
1Co 8:5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"— (ESV)


Clearly then, there is no other living god besides the one true God. If you want to continue telling God that he is wrong, that is up to you. Paul calls them "so-called gods" because they are not real gods, they have no power other than what man confers on them. That they have been given names by man is irrelevant. The Greeks named and worshipped their gods, even building temples to them. But their gods were fiction.

To repeat:

A "god" is anything that a person places above God. If God isn't first in someone's life, something else is. A god's only power is the ability to cause us to worship them but it isn't an inherent power, it is a power we confer on them.

God is the only living God. All other so-called gods are those of made of human hands that have no life and no inherent power.

 

[jaybird]

Free explained very well that the gods cited in the 2nd Commandment are not gods in a spiritual sense. They might not necessarily be physical in nature either. The pursuit of fame can be a god. The need to be admired at work can be one too. Money can be a god. A car can be a god.

Anything that someone places in higher importance to pursuing the One True God is the god that we are commanded against in the 2nd Commandment. And as with all 10 of them, as well as every desire God has for our living, is for our own good. There is the One True Triune God, and everything else cloaks itself. They are false gods. They are diversions.

so money, car, material man made objects. i know lots of people that do this. i have yet to see any of them build temples, alters, burn incense, make sacrifices, bow down, worship, and pray to these things. and in the ancient days there were no temples or alters built for money, chariots, precious stones, etc. they were built to honer beings, that they called gods. that the bible commands not to worship.

 

[jaybird]

I am not burying my head in the sand and pretending that they don't exist. I am going by Scripture which very clearly lays out just what these gods are. This is very straight forward and simple. Looking at what the Bible says:

Isa 43:10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

Isa 43:11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.

Isa 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Isa 44:8 Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any."

Isa 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,

Isa 45:6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 45:18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 45:21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Isa 45:22 "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Isa 46:9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
(All ESV)

And from Paul:

Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (ESV)

1Co 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
1Co 8:5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"— (ESV)
Clearly then, there is no other living god besides the one true God. If you want to continue telling God that he is wrong, that is up to you. Paul calls them "so-called gods" because they are not real gods, they have no power other than what man confers on them. That they have been given names by man is irrelevant. The Greeks named and worshipped their gods, even building temples to them. But their gods were fiction.
To repeat:
A "god" is anything that a person places above God. If God isn't first in someone's life, something else is. A god's only power is the ability to cause us to worship them but it isn't an inherent power, it is a power we confer on them.

God is the only living God. All other so-called gods are those of made of human hands that have no life and no inherent power.

just so there is no confusion. i am talking about gods with a small "g" not with a big "G" there is one G-D and no more. gods are lesser and the bible speaks of many.
most all the passages you posted teach there is only one G-D. i agree
Isa 44 6 says "other than me there is no god" the ESV seems to be the only one that translate this as god as most all the others use big G signifying the Most High.

1Co 4:6
5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
paul says tyhat there are many gods but we are to only serve the one Most High, the Father.

 

[WIP]

so money, car, material man made objects. i know lots of people that do this. i have yet to see any of them build temples, alters, burn incense, make sacrifices, bow down, worship, and pray to these things. and in the ancient days there were no temples or alters built for money, chariots, precious stones, etc. they were built to honer beings, that they called gods. that the bible commands not to worship.

People worship, bow down, and make sacrifices for money, fame, fortune, wealth, power, drugs, jewels, etc. all the time. How many people are killed every year for the sake of personal gain? How many children are fatherless or motherless for the sake of personal happiness or gain? How many babies are aborted every minute for the sake of personal selfishness? According to this report, the compiled summary for the reasons for 98% of all abortions in the United States are as follows.

elective
--too young/immature/not ready for responsibility
--economic
--to avoid adjusting life
--mother single or in poor relationship
--enough children already
--sex selection
--selective reduction

These are the gods of people.

 

[Mike]

if these gods are man made material things, can you give me an example of this in today's world?

This was the post I was responding to. You were asking for examples of man-made gods. So, I responded to your request, and you replied with this.

so money, car, material man made objects. i know lots of people that do this. i have yet to see any of them build temples, alters, burn incense, make sacrifices, bow down, worship, and pray to these things. and in the ancient days there were no temples or alters built for money, chariots, precious stones, etc. they were built to honer beings, that they called gods. that the bible commands not to worship.

I thought I was responding to an honest question. My mistake. I believe scripture is clear that there are no other true God's. People, objects, and motivations of man can all be lumped into one category. They are gods with a lower case g that people have made more than they actually are.

 

[jaybird]

People worship, bow down, and make sacrifices for money, fame, fortune, wealth, power, drugs, jewels, etc. all the time. How many people are killed every year for the sake of personal gain? How many children are fatherless or motherless for the sake of personal happiness or gain? How many babies are aborted every minute for the sake of personal selfishness? According to this report, the compiled summary for the reasons for 98% of all abortions in the United States are as follows.

elective
--too young/immature/not ready for responsibility
--economic
--to avoid adjusting life
--mother single or in poor relationship
--enough children already
--sex selection
--selective reduction

These are the gods of people.

people do not bow down, worship and make sacrifice to money in the sense that money is a being with its own self awareness.
your talking about wealth and worldly possessions that take over your life, Jesus teaches on this, He never refers to them as gods.

 

[WIP]

people do not bow down, worship and make sacrifice to money in the sense that money is a being with its own self awareness.
your talking about wealth and worldly possessions that take over your life, Jesus teaches on this, He never refers to them as gods.

"I am the LORD your God,...You shall have no other gods before me." We shall have none whatsoever.

"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth...." A graven image could be a carved image but another definition is idol. Anything that we might idolize is an idol. We are to have no idols whatsoever in heaven or earth.

"You shall not covet..." To covet something is a form of idolatry and in so doing we actually break both commands.

 

[Free]

just so there is no confusion. i am talking about gods with a small "g" not with a big "G" there is one G-D and no more. gods are lesser and the bible speaks of many.
most all the passages you posted teach there is only one G-D. i agree
Isa 44 6 says "other than me there is no god" the ESV seems to be the only one that translate this as god as most all the others use big G signifying the Most High.

There is no confusion. It is irrelevant as to whether translations use "god" or "God"; the point doesn't change. In ancient Hebrew there are no capital letters, so it's all the same word (see Ex. 20:3--it's not capitalized in a lot of versions). There are no other living, breathing Gods or gods, period. That is what Isaiah, among others, makes clear. There is only one living God that has inherent power, and that is, of course, God.

1Co 4:6
5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
paul says tyhat there are many gods but we are to only serve the one Most High, the Father.

You are divorcing the bolded section from the context of the passage and the greater context of Scripture, some of which I have provided.

1Co 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
1Co 8:5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"—
1Co 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (ESV)

There are many "gods," no one in here would deny that, but as has been stated several times, they can be anything--money, sex, power, fame, animals, trees, oneself, another person, etc., etc., etc.; anything material or immaterial, manmade or created. These are "so-called gods" (Paul's words; see also 2 Th. 2:4), because they are not living, breathing gods with any power except that which we confer on them when we elevate them above God--when we give more time to them and they are more important than God.

And these:
Act 19:26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. (ESV)

Gal 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
Gal 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (ESV)

Php 3:18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Php 3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. (ESV)


And you don't seem to fully understand worship either. It isn't just about outward actions and rituals, although it can and often does include those things, but it doesn't have to; it's also a state of one's heart.

Psa 51:16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (ESV)

 

[JPPT1974]

Gods may not be like with idols like Buddha or Hindu. But it can be like cars, money, house, etc. If you stop and look at it that way.

 

[Free]

your talking about wealth and worldly possessions that take over your life, Jesus teaches on this, He never refers to them as gods.

Close enough that it is most certainly implied:

Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (ESV)

Mat 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (ESV)