In the Bible, idolatry – worshiping false gods instead of the one, TRUE God – was often a big problem for God’s people, the Israelites. Time and again they witnessed all of the wonderful things He did for them. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt, protected them from their enemies, fed them manna in the wilderness, and provided capable leaders to guide them. Through Moses, God gave them the Law, including the Ten Commandments, important rules to follow regarding the correct behavior towards God and the proper treatment of others.
In fact, the First Commandment says, “You are to have no other gods besides me.” (Exodus 20:3, ISV) The Second Commandment says, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” (Exodus 20:4, NLT)
Despite these two very clear commandments, they were often influenced by people from other regions who worshiped wooden (Isaiah 44:13-15), stone (2 Kings 19:18) or metal images (Exodus 32, 1 Kings 12:28). These made up, fake gods couldn’t do anything, because, in reality, they were NOTHING – they didn’t exist!
When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God, the people grew restless (Exodus 32). Instead of patiently waiting for Moses to return, they told Moses’ brother, Aaron, to make them a god to worship. Shockingly, Aaron collected all of their gold earrings and formed a golden calf. They danced and bowed down to a useless piece of metal. God and Moses were understandably angry with this betrayal. We are specifically told in 1 Corinthians 10:6,7, NIV: “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; …”
Of course, it’s easy to look back at the Israelites’ behavior and say, “Well, I don’t worship idols. There are no golden calves in MY house! ” But in our day, we DO have idols, although they may not look like the ones that the people of the Bible worshiped. Today, an “idol” means anything that takes our focus away from God. Examples might be money, power, our appearance, acquiring possessions or influencing others. Are we focused too much on ourselves? On our “stuff”? On our friends? On social media? These can all be “idols,” leading us into idolatry. The prophet Isaiah 44:9, NLT sums it up well: “How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame.”
So, what is idolatry? Worshiping anything other than the one true God. In the Bible, idols were images of made-up, fake gods that didn’t exist. Today, an idol can be anything that occupies too much of our time or focus, removing God from being first in our lives. 1 Corinthians 10:12, NLT warns us: “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” There is only ONE true God, the Creator of all, and nothing should come before Him.