had no power. Abba warned Yisrael to NOT mix with them and they were not to even wonder after, or ask how those peoples served their false gods!

Transcription

1 Idolatry One of the biggest, recurring themes in scripture, is idolatry. YHVH hates idolatry, yet people continue to build up idols for themselves and worship them. Idolatry is more prolific today, than it ever has been before. There are many different kinds and types of idols and people are inventing and putting new idols into place all of the time. There are world idols, national idols, personal idols; possessions that are idols, relationships that are idols and people can even become their own idols. It is a weakness of the flesh and the flesh is naturally inclined towards idolatry! We have to be honest and the fact is we can easily fall into a pattern of idolizing something, or someone. People hang on every word, or action of certain celebrities. They imitate actors, singers, sports figures and even political figures. Men understand that and they take advantage of it. Man promotes and encourages idolatry! People seek after things that they can touch and see and put a face on. It takes faith to believe in YHVH and to believe that He is there and that He hears when we call on Him. How much faith does it take to believe in an idol? Think of all the wasted time and effort people put into worshipping their false gods, that cannot do anything for them. People are inventing new religions all the time with false gods and false doctrines to worship. The religious world is a huge area of idolatry, yet people do not discern and recognize that. What is an idol? It is anything that takes the place of Abba in our lives. It is anything that comes between us and our Father. That includes a very big list. In the materialistic society and world that we live in, idolatry is promoted and celebrated. Advertising and marketing relies on the weakness of people to make idols out of goods and possessions. We are constantly being bombarded with advertising that tells us what we need to be happy, how we should look, what we should think, what we should hear, what we should see and what we should say. People have many gods, not just one or even two. Exodus 20: And Elohim spoke all these Words, saying, 2 I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. 3 You have no other mighty ones against My face. 4 You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, 5 you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands. 7 You do not bring the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave the

2 one unpunished who brings His Name to naught. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. 9 Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart. When YHVH brought the B nai Yisrael out of Egypt, He warned them against idolatry and the worship of false gods. They had all seen how He had made a mockery out of the false gods of Egypt and how the Egyptians were helpless and powerless before Him. Abba will NOT put up with idols in our lives; He wants all of our attention and affection. As long as you have an idol in your life, you cannot have Abba in your life. He will not accept being second best. He wants us to look to Him alone. He is the one who provides for us, watches over us and protects us and He is the one who offers us the gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of Elohim. Is there anyone who can offer and provide those things other than Abba? Leviticus 26:1 1 Do not make idols for yourselves, and do not set up a carved image or a pillar for yourselves, and do not place a stone image in your land, to bow down to it. For I am יהוה your Elohim. That is very clear and easy to understand there is no mistaking Abba s meaning and intent! Do NOT make idols for yourselves! There are a lot of people who do not set out to make idols, but it happens over a period of time, or they just do not realize how much value they place on something they do not realize the level of importance that something has taken over in their lives and how much time and attention they are devoting to it. Leviticus 26: And I shall destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-pillars, and put your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. And My being shall loathe you. 31 And I shall turn your cities into ruins and lay your set-apart places waste, and not smell your sweet fragrances. 32 And I shall lay the land waste, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 And I shall scatter you among the gentiles and draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desert and your cities ruins, YHVH warned Yisrael not to serve, or seek after other gods when they entered into the land He was giving them to possess. The people who inhabited the land that was given to Yisrael as an inheritance were idolaters. They worshipped false gods that

3 had no power. Abba warned Yisrael to NOT mix with them and they were not to even wonder after, or ask how those peoples served their false gods! Deuteronomy 12: When יהוה your Elohim does cut off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones, saying, How did these nations serve their mighty ones? And let me do so too. 31 Do not do so to יהוה your Elohim, for every abomination which hates they have done to their mighty ones, for they even burn their יהוה sons and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones. These people were sacrificing their children to Ba al and Molech. It was a detestable thing and an abomination in the sight of YHVH. He sent Yisrael in to wipe them out to utterly destroy them. They were pagan nations steeped in idolatrous worship. Why is it that man will invent and come up with all sorts of different idols to worship, in place of the one true Elohim? Man wants something that He can put his hands on something that he can see and touch and look upon even if it is made with his own hands! How can a man manufacture a god? Yet men follow after gods made by other men shaped, carved and put into place to be worshipped by other men! Jeremiah 10:1-5 1 Hear the word which יהוה speaks to you, O house of Yisra ĕl. 2 Thus said Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs,יהוה of the heavens, for the gentiles are awed by them. 3 For the prescribed customs of these peoples are worthless, for one cuts a tree from the forest, work for the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold, they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it does not topple. 5 They are like a rounded post, and they do not speak. They have to be carried, because they do not walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, nor is it in them to do any good. Every year people drag an idol into their homes and worship it. They decorate it and adore it. It is so important to them that they place in front of a window so that everyone who passes by can look on it. They place presents underneath it and they feast and celebrate before it. No one will admit that they are practicing idolatry, or that the object they bring into their homes is an idol no they will not be honest with themselves. They make up all kinds of excuses and come up with all sorts of explanations to justify what they are doing, but it is idolatry! It is only when we begin to be honest with ourselves and admit that we have been wrong, that we can begin to correct the things that we are doing that are in error and not pleasing to Abba. We cannot continue to do the things that He warns us about

4 and think that He is pleased with us, because He is not! How many different ways does He have to tell us before we understand! He is the only Elohim that we should recognize and give any attention too. Isaiah 44: Those who make an idol, all of them are emptiness, and their delights do not profit. And they are their own witnesses; they neither see nor know, so that they are put to shame. 10 Who would form a mighty one or cast an idol that is of no value? 11 See, all his companions are ashamed, and the workmen, they are but men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up, let them fear, let them be put to shame, altogether. 12 The craftsman in iron with the tools works one in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he shall be hungry, and has no strength; he drinks no water and is weary. 13 The carpenter stretches out his rule, he outlines it with chalk; he fashions it with a plane, and he outlines it with the compass, and makes it like the figure of a man, according to the comeliness of a man, to remain in the house. 14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes cypress and oak, which he raised among the trees of the forest. He has planted a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 And it shall be for a man to burn, for he takes some of it and warms himself. He also kindles it and shall bake bread. He also makes a mighty one and bows himself to it has made it a carved image and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he shall burn in the fire; with this half he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. 17 And the rest of it he makes into a mighty one, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships, prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my mighty one. 18 They do not know nor understand, for He has smeared their eyes from seeing, and their hearts from understanding. 19 And no one recalls it to his heart, nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned half of it in the fire, and I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Should I fall down before a log of wood? 20 Feeding on ashes, a deceived heart turns him aside, and he does not deliver his being, nor says, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Think about all the time people waste building up their idols, instead of building up their relationship with YHVH and spending time in His word studying and learning. The majority of the people in this world, spends countless hours, waste their efforts and waste their attention, on worthless things and that wasted time, effort and attention can never be gotten back it is time that is gone forever! That is sad people are wasting precious time and there is not much time left for us to get those important relationships established and to draw close to YHVH. It is time to put away the idols! It is time to make Elohim first in your life and to remove anything that stands in the way of that anything!

5 Ezekiel 20: And it came to be in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that certain of the elders of Yisra ĕl came to inquire of,יהוה and sat before me. 2 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying, 3 Son of man,,יהוה speak to the elders of Yisra ĕl, and say to them, Thus said the Master Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, I am not being inquired of by you, declares the Master.יהוה 4 Judge them, son of man, judge them! Make known to them the abominations of their fathers. 5 And you shall say to them, Thus said the Master,יהוה On the day when I chose Yisra ĕl and lifted My hand in an oath to the seed of the house of Ya aqo, and made Myself known to them in the land of Mitsrayim, I lifted My hand in an oath to them, saying, I am יהוה your Elohim. 6 On that day I lifted My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the splendour of all lands. 7 And I said to them, Each one of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Mitsrayim! I am יהוה your Elohim. 8 But they rebelled against Me, and would not obey Me. All of them did not throw away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Mitsrayim. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them to complete My displeasure against them in the midst of the land of Mitsrayim. 9 But I acted for My Name s sake, that it should not be profaned before the eyes of the gentiles among whom they were before whose eyes I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim. 10 So I took them out of the land of Mitsrayim, and I brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them My laws and showed them My right-rulings, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. 12 And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, to know that I am יהוה who sets them apart. 13 But the house of Yisra ĕl rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My laws, and they rejected My right-rulings, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. And they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I acted for My Name s sake, not to profane it before the gentiles, before whose eyes I had brought them out. 15 And I Myself also lifted My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, not to bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the splendour of all lands, 16 because they rejected My right-rulings and did not walk in My laws, and they profaned My Sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols. 17 And My eye pardoned them, from destroying them. And I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the laws of your fathers, nor observe their rulings, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am יהוה your Elohim. Walk in My laws, and guard My right-rulings, and do them. 20 And set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am יהוה your

6 Elohim. 21 But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My laws, and My right-rulings they did not guard to do them, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. They profaned My Sabbaths, so I resolved to pour out My wrath on them to complete My displeasure against them in the wilderness. 22 But I held back My hand and acted for My Name s sake, not to profane it before the eyes of the gentiles, before whose eyes I had brought them out. 23 Also, I Myself lifted My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, to scatter them among the gentiles and disperse them throughout the lands, 24 because they had not done My right-rulings, and they rejected My laws, and they profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were on their fathers idols. 25 And I also gave them up to laws that were not good, and right-rulings by which they would not live. 26 And I defiled them by their own gifts, as they passed all their first-born through the fire, so that I might stun them, so that they know that I am.יהוה 27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Yisra ĕl, and you shall say to them, Thus said the Master,יהוה In this your fathers have further reviled Me, by committing trespass against Me. 28 When I brought them into the land for which I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, they offered their slaughterings there and provoked Me with their offerings there. And they sent up their sweet fragrance there and poured out their drink offerings there. 29 And I said to them, What is this high place to which you go? So its name is called High Place to this day. 30 Therefore say to the house of Yisra ĕl, Thus said the Master,הוהי Are you defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you whore after their abominations? 31 For when you lift up your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Yisra ĕl? As I live, declares the Master,יהוה I am not being inquired of by you. 32 And what comes up in your spirit shall never be, when you say, Let us be like the gentiles, like the tribes in other lands, serving wood and stone. There are consequences when we ignore the word of YHVH and follow our own path and live in opposition to what He tells us to do. Even though we may say that we are living by His word and that we belong to Him, our actions can and do say otherwise. If we love Him and we belong to Him, we will do as He asks. If we are not living our lives the way that He wants us to and if we are not living by every word of YHVH, He will not hear us! If we are giving our attention and affection to an idol Abba will not help us! He will leave us to beg and plead to our idols that they help us and protect us! Ezekiel 36: Therefore say to the house of Yisra ĕl, Thus said the Master,יהוה I do not do this for your sake, O house of Yisra ĕl, but for My set-apart Name s sake, which you have profaned among the gentiles wherever you went. 23

7 And I shall set apart My great Name, which has been profaned among the gentiles, which you have profaned in their midst. And the gentiles shall know that I am,יהוה declares the Master,יהוה when I am set-apart in you before their eyes. 24 And I shall take you from among the gentiles, and I shall gather you out of all lands, and I shall bring you into your own land. 25 And I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols I cleanse you. 26 And I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh, 27 and put My Spirit within you. And I shall cause you to walk in My laws and guard My right-rulings and shall do them. Yisrael has squandered and wasted the opportunity and the incredible blessings that YHVH offered to her. Yisrael was punished for that and is still suffering because of it. Because of her idolatry, YHVH cast Yisrael off and scattered them all over the world, but He will bring them back and gather them to Him and cleanse them He will make them over into a people who will serve Him and who will recognize Him as the ONE and ONLY true Elohim. Avraham faced a supreme test, because YHVH had to know if He occupied the number one place in Avraham s life. He had to know if Avraham recognized Him as the one true Elohim and if Avraham truly trusted in Him. He was testing Avraham to see if he had any idols in his life. Genesis 22: And they came to the place which Elohim had commanded him, and A raham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Yits aq his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And A raham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son, 11 but the Messenger of יהוה called to him from the heavens and said, A raham, A raham! And he said, Here I am. 12 And He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy, nor touch him. For now I know that you fear Elohim, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. 13 And A raham lifted his eyes and looked and saw behind him a ram caught in a bush by its horns, and A raham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering יהוה place, instead of his son. 14 And A raham called the name of the Yireh, as it is said to this day, On the mountain יהוה provides. That was a very severe test for Avraham, but YHVH had to know where Avraham really stood and where his heart was. Abba had great plans for Avraham and he had to know that Avraham could do what what YHVH required of him, no matter what it was without question. Are we prepared to do that? Are we ready to follow Abba and only Him, or is there something standing in the way? Is there something between you and

8 Father that will prevent you from following wherever He leads you? It may cost you your life your eternal life! Luke 18: And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit everlasting life? 19 So יהושע said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One Elohim. 20 You know the commands, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Respect your father and your mother. 21 And he said, All these I have watched over from my youth. 22 And hearing this, יהושע said to him, Yet one you lack: Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me. 23 But when he heard this, he became intensely sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And when יהושע saw that he became intensely sad, He said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the reign of Elohim! 25 For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle s eye than for a rich man to enter into the reign of Elohim. 26 And those who heard it said, And who is able to be saved? 27 And He said, What is impossible with men is possible with Elohim. 28 And Kĕpha said, See, we have left all and followed You. 29 And He said to them, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the reign of Elohim, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come everlasting life. Yeshua offered this rich man a chance to become one of his talmidim (taught ones, disciples), but he had idols in his life and could not face the thought of giving all of them up. This man lost the opportunity of a lifetime he gave up something that was worth more than all the riches and wealth that he could possibly have in this life, for worthless material possessions. Do you know people like this? Do you know people who value material possessions above anything else, even above people? It is sad very, very sad. We must serve our Elohim first and He must be first in our lives! Acts 17: And having stood in the midst of the Areopagus Sha ul said, Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every matter. 23 For passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN MIGHTY ONE. Not knowing then whom you worship, I make Him known to you: 24,יהוה who made the world and all that is in it, this One being Master of heaven and earth, does not dwell in dwellings made with hands. 25 Nor is He served with men s hands as if needing any Himself giving to all life, and breath, and all else. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having ordained beforehand the times and the boundaries of their dwelling, 27 to seek the Master, if at least they would reach out for

9 Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and are, as also some of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. 29 Now then, since we are the offspring of Elohim, we should not think that the Elohim is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by the skill and thought of man. 30 Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Elohim now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has set a day on which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed, having given proof of this to all by raising Him from the dead. 32 And hearing of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked, while others said, We shall hear you again concerning this. 33 And so Sha ul went out from among them. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among them Dionusios the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Athens was a place of great idolatry. There were so many gods that had been invented there, that they ran out of names for all of them! They built temples where they went to worship their pagan gods. They practiced idolatrous, pagan rites and rituals in those temples. There were temples to Ishtar everywhere throughout the middle-east. The people defiled themselves. They mocked Sha ul and only a few of them were willing to hear and turn from their idolatry. That same attitude is very prevalent in this world today. Men love their idols more than the Elohim who made them. They worship things made the hand of man. YHVH will not accept that! We have to be His and His alone! Why should He listen to those who will call upon Him only when they are in trouble? When they spend all their time worshipping worthless things, why should Abba hear their cries for help? Do you want Abba to turn a deaf ear to your cries? Do you want Him to turn His eye from seeing your condition and stay His hand from helping you? If not, then it is time to search out the idols in your life ALL of the idols and tear them down and destroy them for good! Colossians 3: If, then, you were raised with Messiah, seek the matters which are above, where Messiah is, seated at the right hand of Elohim. 2 Mind the matters above, not those on the earth. 3 For you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in Elohim. 4 When the Messiah, who is our life, is manifested, then you also shall be manifested with Him in esteem. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: whoring, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and greed of gain, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these the wrath of Elohim is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you also once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now, also put off all these: displeasure, wrath, evil, blasphemy, filthy talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have put off the old man with his practices, 10 and have put on the new one who is renewed in

10 knowledge according to the likeness of Him who created him, 11 where there is not Greek and Yehu ite, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, Scythian, slave, free, but Messiah is all, and in all. We need to really understand what Abba considers idolatry. It is a violation of our relationship with Him it is being unfaithful and destroying a trust and bond with Him it is desecrating and rejecting the covenant that we made with Him and breaking our word. Ezekiel 6:1-7 1 And the word of יהוה came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Yisra ĕl, and prophesy against them. 3 And you shall say, O mountains of Yisra ĕl, hear the word of the Master!יהוה Thus said the Master יהוה to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys, Look, I Myself am bringing a sword against you, and I shall destroy your high places. 4 And your altars shall be ruined, your sun-pillars shall be broken in pieces. And I shall make your slain fall in front of your idols, 5 and lay the corpses of the children of Yisra ĕl in front of their idols, and scatter your bones all around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be destroyed and the high places deserted, so that your altars are broken and bear their punishment. And your idols shall be smashed and made to cease, and your sun-pillars cut down, and your works blotted out. 7.יהוה And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am We should take this as a warning there are idols all around us and we need to constantly be on guard against idolatry and letting something creep in and take the place of Abba in our lives. The world is deeply involved in idolatry and it is everywhere in our midst. We must remain committed to our Abba and remain set-apart and faithful to Him in every way. Flee from idolatry and look to Abba and Him alone He is a jealous El and will not share His place in our lives with anyone or anything else Copyright 2012 Jeff L Mills