false worship

Pixabay, free to use

Worshiping false gods has always been a problem for mankind. God is one, there is but one God. (Isaiah 46:9, 1 Corinthians 8:6). Yet mankind insists on creating idols and gods made of stone and wood, idols which can do nothing. (Isaiah 41:29).

I am reading through Genesis. Because human nature is displayed honestly, there are many parts which sadden me. However, there is one which saddens me more than the others. When Jacob prepared to leave his father-in-law Laban, Rachel stole and hid the household idols to bring with her. The fact that household idols existed in a house of a man and his family who worshiped the one true God is a terrible thing. Had Jacob been lax in his duty to God in leading his family? Had Rachel become so enamored of the false god idols that she could not bear to leave them behind? Apparently so. Worse, when Laban came looking for his idols, knowing they had been stolen, Rachel pretended to be in the throes “of the way of women” so that she would not be asked to rise from her saddle so Laban could check her saddle bags. And of course that is where Rachel had hidden them. Her theft prompted a lie which devolved into a contention between her husband that in order to conclude, required a ritual covenant and witnessing of their relationship not to harm each other again.

Worshiping false gods never, ever leads to a betterment of the human spirit. It always leads to a worsening.

Here is a list of False gods that people in the Old Testament worshiped, sources MacArthur Study Bible and Bible Gateway.

Rachel’s household gods. (Genesis 31:19).
The golden calf at Sinai. (Exodus 32)
Nanna, the moon god of Ur, worshiped by Abraham prior to his salvation. (Joshua 24:2)
Asherah or Ashtaroth, the chief goddess of Tyre,referred to as the Lady of the Sea. (Judges 6:24-32).
Dagon, the chief Philistine Agriculture and sea god, father of Baal. (Judges 16:23-30; 1 Samuel 5:1-7).
Ashtoreth, a Canaanite goddess another consort of Baal. (1 Samuel 7:3-4).
Molech, the god of the Ammonites and the most horrible idol in the scriptures. (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Chronicles 28:14; 33:6).
The two golden images made by King Jeroboam, set up at the shrines of Dan and Bethel. (1 Kings 12:28-31).
Baal, the chief deity of Canaan. (1 Kings 18:17-40; 2 Kings 10:28, 11:18).
Rimmon, the Syrian god of Naaman the leper. (2 Kings 5:15-19).
Nisroch, the Assyrian god of Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:37).
Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom and literature. (Isaiah 46:1).
Merodach, also called Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon. (Jeremiah 50:2).
Tammuz, the husband and brother of Ishtar (Asherah) goddess of fertility. (Ezekiel 8:14).
The golden image in the plain of Dura. (Daniel 3).
Amon god of Thebes. (Jeremiah 46:25)
Baal-Zebub, a popular deity of the Philistines. (Mt 12:24, Lk 11:15; 2Ki 1:1-6, 16-17)
Chemosh, the chief god of Moab (1 Kings 11:7).

There is another idol that was brought to my mind. Moses was told by God to make the brazen serpent and lift it up, that anyone looking upon it would be saved from death by poisonous snake bite. The pole with the brazen snake was originally a good thing, a true God-given miracle. However, given the nature of humankind to transfer worship from the true God to false idols, by the time we read of Israel’s history in 2 Kings 18:4, the Israelites had made an idol of it and burned incense to it. The bronze snake had become an object of idolatrous worship, having transferred their affection from God in heaven to a bronze statue.

We remember the very first idol of all. The root-idol from which all OT idols flow (And NT idols) is self and that self-worship is expressed in pride. Pride- an evil which originated in heaven, and was transferred down to earth by the serpent. (Ezekiel 28:15; Genesis 3:1). Pride is the worship of one’s self, one’s ways, ideas, decisions. It is reliance on one’s self and not upon God. All idols are man-made and therefore all idol worship is really worship of self. (Psalm 115:4).

Pride is defined as “inordinate self-esteem.” Yet our esteem should be totally upon God, His Son and His Spirit. What have we to commend ourselves that we should esteem our selves so highly? Sin? Deceit? Perversion? Depravity? That is what is in us, without God. No, these things are not commendable at all, but condemnable.

Pride is viewed as a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belong rightly to God alone. The sinfulness of pride is condemned as evil 1Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16 See also Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16. Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes

One day our Holy God will destroy all idols and false gods!

And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:2).

and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; (Micah 5:13).

The LORD will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations. (Zephaniah 2:11)

And in the time of the end of the end, when all the world is folded under the umbrella of one religion, worshiping the final false god through the whore of Babylon, God will destroy it.

For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. (Revelation 18:8)

We are grateful for His deliverance to us His Son, the means by which we can and do believe which is the Spirit, and for the Father who is sovereign over all. We worship the one true God. May it never be so that we transfer our faith in Him even an inch, not even for an hour, to any man-made idol. Worshiping Him in righteousness is so much sweeter than tasting our own pride, depravity, and sin, which is always bitter. The sweetness of belief in God is unimaginably wonderful. Not that it’s easy, But trusting in and worshiping our One True God is sweet, because it is life itself!

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31).

Well, this is just gross. Newsweek calls Obama’s next presidential term, The Second Coming.

I’ve discussed before that the Messianic language and pictorial representations of Obama abound. They have been foisted on us since 2007 when Obama first ran for President. He has been called Pharaoh (in the nicest, most king-y way), Messiah, and The National Groom. He has been depicted with halos, in crucified pose, as part of nativity scenes, and ministering to his adoring proselytes. He’s been called the New Hope, the Last Hope, and Hope and Change. He even discovered a likeness of himself on an Egyptian tomb. He’s been called the Healer-In-Chief. He has been proclaimed savior outright. You can see many, many of the Obama halos here.

One accidental depiction, OK. One wayward artist, fine. One lapdog photographer, I understand. But please note that the media has purposely and constantly presented this man as Messiah for five years. It is not an accident.

Obama says these things himself about himself. His campaign slogan was “Believe”. He said in NH in 2008, ““… a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany … and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama” (Barack Obama, Lebanon, New Hampshire, Jan. 7, 2008)”

OK, so those were the facts. The media, whose power to influence and reflect a skewed reality is immense, has for years shown us and told us Obama is a messianic figure here to save us. What does all this language and Obama-idols mean?

It means America (and parts of the world) are deep into idolatry. It also means that America (and parts of the world) have a monumental gullibility that satan will monumentally exploit. First, our nation’s gullibility.

The unsaved population is under satan’s sway. They will believe anything. The bible says that deception in the last days will abound.

–“while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13)
–“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” (2 Timothy 2:16)
–“and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” (Matthew 24:11)
–“and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10)

It’s clear, deception abounds to all those who refuse to believe the truth.

All the unsaved believe satan’s lie. The bible shows us that they are the most gullible people in the world, ever. That gullibility will find its final expression by the time Revelation 13 comes to pass:

“One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:2-4).

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

Aside from the gullibility of the unsaved, at eternal risk from satan, the second meaning of all this Obama-worship involves idolatry. Credible watchmen and mature pastors recognize and preach Romans 1 in terms of the biblical statement on the downward progression of a society. Sexual sins and homosexuality/lesbianism are the benchmarks by which it is written that judgment comes.

However, let’s not forget the sin of idolatry. Idolatry will kill a society faster than you can say “Barak Obama”.

GotQuestions deals with the topic of idolatry: “The definition of idolatry, according to Webster, is “the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.” An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God.”

And wouldn’t you know it, we’re right back to Romans 1 and read that the Omniscient Lord knew that our tendency is to worship the created and not the Creator.

Holman Standard says it well:

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:23)

When people worship a person, whether it be Lance Armstrong sports star, or Oprah Winfrey media darling, or Hitler the political genius, or Obama the savior, they’re engaging in a most dangerous practice. When the majority of a society idolizes something or someone besides God and gives it worship, Romans 1 comes into play. What that means is, judgment looms.

Deluded Americans dangerously heap Godly worship unto Obama, who gladly accepts this false glory. What can one expect of a nation and/or an individual who do these things? Well, when Herod accepted Godly worship unto himself, he died.

“Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.” (Acts 12:20-23)

Nebuchadnezzar took the glory that was God’s and put it onto himself. And the judgment came and was swift:

“All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you,…” (Daniel 4:28-31).

It is a dangerous thing for a society to replace the one True God with any idol, whether it be persons living or dead, image or animal.

We are living in the Age of Grace. How wonderful to have a Savior who bestows so much grace to us while we are still sinners! Who even replace Him with craven images and sinning men! The Age of Grace is upon us!

Jesus is so wonderful. His grace abounds. You don’t have to believe the damnable lie, but bask in His grace and believe the truth. We worship the ONE God and no other. And with a God as glorious as He is, why would we need another?

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10).

Category: false worship

Rachel’s household gods, and worshiping idols

Newsweek depicts Obama’s second inauguration as the Second Coming of Christ