Bible Dictionary: Idolatry Idol

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Idolatry Idol

The word idol signifies literally a representation or figure. It is always employed in Scripture in a bad sense, for representations of heathen deities of what nature soever. God forbids all sorts of idols, or figures and representations of creatures, formed or set up with intention of paying superstitious worship to them, Exodus 20:3,4 34:13 De 4:16-19 7:25,26. He also forbids all attempts to represent him by any visible form, Exodus 32:4,5 De 4:15 Nehemiah 9:18.

The heathen had idols of all sorts-paintings, bas-reliefs, and all varieties of sculpture-and these of many kinds of materials, as gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, potters earth, etc. Stars, spirits, men, animals, rivers, plants, and elements were the subjects of them. Scarcely an object or power in nature, scarcely a faculty of the soul, a virtue, a vice, or a condition of human life, has not received idolatrous worship. See STARS. Some nations worshipped a rough stone. Such is the black stone of the ancient Arabs, retained by Mohammed, and now kept in the Caaba at Mecca.

It is impossible to ascertain the period at which the worship of false gods and idols was introduced. No mentioned is made of such worship before the deluge; though from the silence of Scripture we cannot argue that it did not exist. Josephus and many of the fathers were of opinion, that soon after the deluge idolatry became prevalent; and certainly, whenever we turn our eyes after the time of Abraham, we see only a false worship. That patriarch's forefathers, and even he himself, were implicated in it, as is evident from Joshua 24:2,14.

The Hebrews had no peculiar form of idolatry; they imitated the superstitions of others, but do not appear to have been the inventors of any. When they were in Egypt, many of them worshipped Egyptians deities, Ezekiel 20:8; in the wilderness, they worshipped those of the Canaaites, Egyptians, Ammonites, and Moabites; in Judea, those of the Phoenicians, Syrians, and other people around them, Numbers 25:1-18 Jud 10:6 Am 5:25 Acts 7:42. Rachel, it may be, had adored idols at her father Laban's, since she carried off his teraphim, Genesis 31:30. Jacob after his return from Mesopotamia, required his people to reject the strange gods from among them and also the superstitious pendants worn by them in their ears, which he hid under a terebinth near Shechem. He preserved his family in the worship of God while he lived.

Under the government of the judges, "the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. They forsook the Lord God of their fathers, and served Baal and Ashtaroth," Jud 2:11,12. Gideon, after he had been favored by God with a miraculous deliverance, made an ephod, which ensnared the Israelites in unlawful worship, Jud 8:27. Micah's teraphim also were the objects of idolatrous worship, even till the captivity of Israel in Babylon, Jud 17:5 18:30,31. See TERAPHIM.

During the times of Samuel, Saul, and David, the worship of God seems to have been preserved pure in Israel. There was corruption and irregularity of manners, but little or no idolatry. Solomon, seduced by complaisance to his strange wives, caused temples to be erected in honor of Ashtoreth goddess of the Phoenicians, Moloch god of the Ammonites, and Chemosh god of the Moabites. Jeroboam, who succeeded Solomon, set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel, and made Israel to sin. The people, no longer restrained by royal authority, worshipped not only these golden calves, but many other idols, particularly Baal and Ashtoreth. Under the reign of Ahab, idolatry reached its height. The impious Jezebel endeavored to extinguish the worship of the Lord, by persecuting his prophets, (who, as a barrier, still retained some of the people in the true religion,) till God, incensed at their idolatry, abandoned Israel to the kings of Assyria and Chaldea, who transplanted them beyond the Euphrates. Judah was almost equally corrupted. The descriptions given by the prophets of their irregularities and idolatries, of their abominations and lasciviousness on the high places and in woods consecrated to idols, and of their human sacrifices, fill us with dismay, and unveil the awful corruption of the heart of man. See MOLOCH. After the return from Babylon, we do not find the Jews any more reproached with idolatry. They expressed much zeal for the worship of God, and except some transgressor under Antichus Epiphanes, the people kept themselves clear from this sin.

As the maintenance of the worship of the only true God was one of the fundamental objects of the Mosaic polity, and as God was regarded as the king of the Israelitish nation, so we find idolatry, that is, the worship of other gods, occupying, in the Mosaic law, the first place in the list of crimes. It was indeed a crime, not merely against God, but also against the fundamental law of the state, and thus a sort of high treason. The only living and true God was also the civil legislator and ruler of Israel, and accepted by them as their king; and hence idolatry was a crime against the state, and therefore just as deservedly punished with death, as high treason is in modern times. By the Jewish law, an idolatrous city must be wholly destroyed, with all it contained, De 13:12-18 17:2,5.

At the present day, idolatry, prevails over a great portion of the earth, and is practiced by about 600,000,000 of the human race. Almost all the heathen nations, as the Chinese, the Hindoos, the South Sea islanders, etc., have their images, to which they bow down and worship. In some lands professedly Christians, it is to be feared that the adoration of crucifixes and paintings is nothing more nor less than idol-worship. But when we regard idolatry in a moral point of view, as consisting not merely in the external worship of false gods, but in the preference of, and devotion to something else than the Most High, how many Christians must then fall under this charge. Whoever loves this world, or the pursuits of wealth or honor ambition, or selfishness in any form, and for these forgets or neglects God and Christ, such a one is an idolater in as bad sense at least as the ancient Israelites, and cannot hope to escape an awful condemnation, Colossians 3:5.

Greek

1495. eidololatria -- image worship
... Definition: service (worship) of an image (an idol). Word Origin from eidolon and
latreia Definition image worship NASB Word Usage idolatries (1), idolatry (3 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1495.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

8655. teraphim -- (a kind of idol) perhaps household idol
... uncertain derivation Definition (a kind of idol) perhaps household idol NASB Word
Usage household idol (2), household idols (10), idolatry (1), teraphim (2). ...
/hebrew/8655.htm - 6k

8441. toebah -- abomination
... properly, something disgusting (morally), ie (as noun) an abhorrence; especially
idolatry or (concretely) an idol -- abominable (custom, thing), abomination. ...
/hebrew/8441.htm - 6k

Library

Idolatry Condemned by Baptism. To Make an Idol Is, in Fact, to ...
... Chapter VI."Idolatry Condemned by Baptism. To Make an Idol Is, in Fact,
to Worship It. If no law of God had prohibited idols to ...
/.../tertullian/on idolatry/chapter vi idolatry condemned by baptism.htm

Idolatry: Origin and Meaning of the Name.
... For since even without an idol idolatry is committed, when the idol is there it
makes no difference of what kind it be, of what material, or what shape; lest ...
/.../tertullian/on idolatry/chapter iii idolatry origin and meaning.htm

Idols not to be Made, Much Less Worshipped. Idols and Idol-Makers ...
... For this cause"the eradicating, namely, of the material of idolatry"the divine law
proclaims, "Thou shalt make no idol;" [179] and by conjoining, "Nor a ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tertullian/on idolatry/chapter iv idols not to be.htm

Connection Between Covetousness and Idolatry. Certain Trades ...
... odours; the frankincense-seller is a something even more serviceable even toward
demons, for idolatry is more easily carried on without the idol, than without ...
/.../tertullian/on idolatry/chapter xi connection between covetousness and.htm

Other Arts Made Subservient to Idolatry. Lawful Means of Gaining a ...
... an idol indeed and with the things which are appropriate to an idol; since, moreover ...
often used, I think we are not free of the contagion of idolatry, we whose ...
/.../tertullian/on idolatry/chapter viii other arts made subservient.htm

Whether Idolatry is Rightly Reckoned a Species of Superstition?
... But idolatry, apparently, is nothing: for the Apostle says (1:Cor.8:4): "We know
that an idol is nothing in the world," and further on (1:Cor.10:19): "What then ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether idolatry is rightly reckoned.htm

Concerning Idolatry in Words.
... that is, in an idol. [327] Whoever, therefore, honours an idol with the
name of God, has fallen into idolatry. But if I speak of ...
/.../tertullian/on idolatry/chapter xx concerning idolatry in words.htm

On Idolatry
... 3:5; Ephesians 5:5.) But so far is that opinion or knowledge (by which he does not
esteem the idol as a god) from acquitting him of idolatry, who adores ...
/.../arminius/the works of james arminius vol 1/disputation 23 on idolatry.htm

On Idolatry
... Chapter V. --Sundry Objections or Excuses Dealt with. Chapter VI.--Idolatry Condemned
by Baptism. To Make an Idol Is, in Fact, to Worship It. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tertullian/on idolatry/

Spiritual Idolatry
... me thy heart!" And to give our heart to any other is plain idolatry. Accordingly,
whatever takes our heart from him, or shares it with him, is an idol; or, in ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 78 spiritual idolatry.htm