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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | why are we prohibited from making idols | Ex 20:4 | Cindilee | 199851 | ||
I am doing a bible study on the book of Exodus and I am a fairly new Christian. One of the questions is why are we prohibited from making idols | ||||||
2 | why are we prohibited from making idols | Ex 20:4 | BradK | 199852 | ||
Hello Cindilee, Welcome to the Forum! You ask a great question. First, the obvious answer is: because God Commanded it (Ex. 20:4-5). Second, because an idol is something that takes the worship due and proper respect away from God and it gives it to something/someone else. Imagine in a marital relationship having one of the spouses spend or give more time to work, friends or other leisure activities instead of their mate- which is a common happening. Even more so with God. He desires our fellowship and wants His creation to worship Him (Rev. 4:11). Tyndales Bible Dictionary offers some usefuil insight. may it be of benefit to you: "IDOLS, IDOLATRY - Man-made images or natural representations worshiped as deities; anything receiving worship other than the one true God. Idolatry is the spiritual worship of an idol. Many idolaters literally serve idols: in ancient Egypt statues of gods were regularly and ritually clothed and fed. Some concept of the worship of a false god, Baal, is given in the account of the contest on Mt Carmel: the priests of Baal cried aloud, they “limped” (rsv) around the altar, they cut themselves with swords and lances (1 Kgs 18:26–29). Baal worship was widely followed by Israel during the period of the monarchy. In the Old Testament Abraham’s ancestors were worshipers of idols in Mesopotamia (Jos 24:2). Archaeological excavations in that area have revealed the images of numerous deities, and Mesopotamian religious literature reveals the gross polytheism out of which Abraham came. The tendency of the Israelites toward idolatry was in part the expression of the universal human longing for a god one can see and know through the physical senses. Most of the idolatry of the Israelites was borrowed from their neighbors. During the more than 400 years that the descendants of Jacob spent in Egypt, they were exposed to polytheistic idolatry, which influenced their religious mind-set. At Sinai, while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments from the Lord, the people were demanding that Aaron make gods for them (Ex 32:1–6). He fashioned a golden calf, following an Egyptian form, for the whole bovine family was worshiped in Egypt—the Apis bull, the Hathor cow, and the Mnevis calf. It was after his stay in Egypt (1 Kgs 11:40) that Jeroboam became king of Israel and set up golden calves, one at Bethel and one at Dan (12:26–33), an action that earned him the label as being the one who made Israel sin (2 Kgs 3:3). Already in patriarchal times there are references to the teraphim, or household gods. Examples of these idols have been found at Ur of the Chaldees, Nuzi, and other sites, and are referred to in the cuneiform tablets. The teraphim that Rachel stole from Laban could be hidden in her camel’s saddlebag (Gn 31:34). It seems, however, that in the time of David such idols were larger, for when Saul’s men came to kill David, Michal, David’s wife and the daughter of Saul, helped David to escape and then took such an image and placed it in a bed to make the men think that David was sick (1 Sm 19:11–16). The prohibition of idolatry is explicitly stated in the second commandment (Ex 20:4–5, nlt): “Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!” (cf. Ex 34:17; Lv 19:4; 26:1, Dt 4:15–19; 27:1–5). This commandment is an extension or auxiliary of the first, for it seeks to preserve God’s uniqueness and to protect his glory. The definition of idolatry was broadened during the time of Samuel, who confronted King Saul with the charge that stubbornness is the same as idolatry (1 Sm 15:23). Previous to the conquest of Canaan, the Lord kept warning Israel against marrying members of the native populace, which he had ordered Israel to annihilate. This measure was intended to prevent the weakening of moral life in Israel (Ex 34:16; Dt 7:3–4). This principle is again expanded in the NT (cf. 1 Cor 15:33; 2 Cor 6:14). The history of Israel demonstrated the practicality of the prohibition against such marriages, for they inevitably led to apostasy. Perhaps the saddest example is Solomon (1 Kgs 11:1–8). When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart to other gods, so that he was not wholly true to the Lord his God (v 4)." [Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary] I hope this helps, BradK |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Ex 20:4 | Author | ||
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otahuti | ||
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Cindilee | ||
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BradK | ||
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blue.eyes | ||
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shofar | ||
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Sigismond | ||
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M3 Minister |