What Does The Bible Say About Idols? Idolatry is a subject matter worth understanding by all followers of Christ. If you’ve ever wondered what is idolatry in the Bible or questioned yourself about its true meaning, you are at the right place. Our write-up is aimed at pouring more light on this subject matter. Reaching out to answer the question of what is idolatry, we can say that it is the worship of an idol or cult image, being a physical image, like a statue, or a person in the place of God Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth. In simple terms, idolatry is the worship of anything in the place of God Almighty who describes Himself as “I AM that I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
The Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines idolatry as “image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object.” It is a practice that undermines the place of God. We’ve been cautioned across the Bible to stay away from the sin of idolatry. Still, on what the Bible says about idols, God has warned His children not to create any image in the name of a god for worshiping sake. If you’ve ever done such, Sincerely Repent and start obeying the Key Teachings of Jesus Christ. In this way, you’ll be saved from the Fire of Hell and offered Eternal Life. Below are some forms of idolatry:
- Nature worship (worship of the sun, moon, and stars)
- Fetishism (worship of trees, rivers, stones, hills, etc)
- Hero worship (the worship of deceased ancestors, or of heroes)
What Does The Bible Say About Idolatry?
What the Scriptures say about Idols
In the Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin, and as being imported into the midst of the Hebrews through their contact with nations who were ignorant about the existence of the One True God. Idolatry is mentioned for the first time in the Bible in the account of Rachel stealing her father’s teraphim (Genesis 31:19). These were the relics of the worship of other gods by Laban’s progenitors “on the other side of the river in old time” ( Joshua 24:2 ). During their stay in Egypt which lasted for long, the Hebrews were introduced to idolatry. It was long before they were delivered from these evil practices which they picked from other nations ( Joshua 24:14 ; Ezekiel 20:7 ). They also suffered much from God’s anger due to this sin.
The first and second commandments speak against idolatry in all forms. Both individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code. As we can read from Exodus 22:20, the individual offender was devoted to destruction. Behold, his nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and set him up for punishment ( Deuteronomy 13:20-10 ), but their hands were to strike the first blow. If the individual offender’s practice was witnessed by at least two people, he was stoned ( Deuteronomy 17:2-7 ). Attempting to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal intensity (Deuteronomy 13:6-10). Idolatrous nations also shared the same fate. The Old Testament strongly holds to the fact that the extermination of the Canaanites was the punishment for their idolatry ( Exodus 34:15 Exodus 34:16 ; Deuteronomy 7 ; 12:29-31 ; 20:17). Jeremiah 2:17 says that the calamities of the Israelites were due to the same cause.
What The Bible Says About Idols
Exodus 20:23 – “Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.”
Ephesians 5:11-12 – “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Deuteronomy 13:4 – “It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.”
1 John 5:21 – “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Joshua 24:15 – “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:11 – “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Deuteronomy 4:39 – “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.”
Colossians 3:5 – “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Group 1 – What The Bible Says About Idols
Psalm 34:14 – “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”
John 17:15 – “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
1 Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.
Hosea 13:4 – “But I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me.”
Exodus 20:4 – “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”
Exodus 20:3 – “You shall have no other gods before me.”
1 Corinthians 15:56 – “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”
Jeremiah 10:3-5 – “For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold, they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”
Group 2 – What The Bible Says About Idols
Habakkuk 2:18 – “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!”
Hebrews 13:5 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Jonah 2:8 – “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.”
Psalm 135:15-17 – “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak, they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths.”
Isaiah 37:19 – “And have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.”
Isaiah 44:9-12 – “All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint.”
Group 3 – What The Bible Says About Idols
Psalm 115:4-8 – “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”
1 John 5:21 – “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Leviticus 26:1 – “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.”
Colossians 3:5 – “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Ezekiel 20:32 – “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’”
Romans 1:21-23 – “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
1 Chronicles 16:26 – “For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
Group 4 – What The Bible Says About Idols
1 John 4:1 – “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Acts 19:25 – These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.”
Isaiah 30:22 – “Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”“
Isaiah 44:13-19 – “The carpenter stretches a line, he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass, He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest, He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. …”
Group 5 – What The Bible Says About Idols
1 Kings 18:25-29 – “Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. …”
Isaiah 44:17 – “And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!””
Exodus 23:13 – “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.”
Isaiah 40:19 – “An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.”
Psalm 115:4-7 – “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.”
Group 6 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Leviticus 19:4 – “Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.”
Psalm 96:5 – “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
Isaiah 31:7 – “For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.”
Isaiah 2:20 – “In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,”
Acts 15:29 – “That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
Isaiah 42:8 – “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
Luke 9:25 – “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?“
Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
1 Corinthians 10:14 – “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
Luke 12:34 – “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Exodus 34:17 – “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.“
2 Kings 19:18 – “And have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.“
Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Job 22:22-24 – “Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,“
Exodus 32:4 – “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!””
Colossians 3:1-25 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...”
Ephesians 5:5 – “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Isaiah 16:12 – “And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.”
Hosea 8:4 – “They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.“
Isaiah 40:20 – “He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.”
Acts 19:24 – “For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.”
Acts 15:20 – “But should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.“
Deuteronomy 7:25 – “The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.”
2 Kings 18:4 – “He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).“
1 Samuel 15:23 – “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
1 Peter 4:3 – “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.”
Colossians 3:2-6 – “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
2 Peter 2:15 – “Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,”
Genesis 19:1-38 – “The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ...”
Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Deuteronomy 4:15-16 – “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,”
Colossians 2:18 – “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,”
Psalm 16:4 – “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.”
Job 22:23-28 – “If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. …”
Exodus 20:5 – “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,”
Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
James 4:3-4 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Revelation 2:14 – “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”
2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Exodus 20:3-6 – “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Galatians 1:6-9 – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: …”
Revelation 9:20-21 – “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Revelation 11:1-19 – “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. …”
Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Acts 20:24 – “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
Jeremiah 11:12 – “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Daniel 5:22-24 – “And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed.”
1 Corinthians 12:2 – “You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.”
Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Isaiah 2:8 – “Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.”
Jeremiah 11:12 – “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble.”
Jeremiah 2:18-19 – “And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.”
Isaiah 44:6-20 – “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people, Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? …”
Group 15 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 – “Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:18 – “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
Isaiah 42:17 – “They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.””
Exodus 32:20 – “He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.”
Psalm 97:7 – “All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!“
Ecclesiastes 1:18 – “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
Psalm 106:38 – “They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.”
Psalm 97:7 – “All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!”
Group 16 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
1 Thessalonians 1:9 – “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,”
Genesis 31:19 – “Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.”
Revelation 21:8 – “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Deuteronomy 27:15 – “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’“
Exodus 19:1-20:26 – “On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; ...”
Group 17 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Revelation 9:1-21 – “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ...”
Acts 17:16 – “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.“
Galatians 5:19-21 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Group 18 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Jeremiah 10:1-11:23 – “Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” …”
Jeremiah 17:1-27 – ““The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. ...”
Group 19 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
1 Corinthians 10:19 – “What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?”
2 Corinthians 6:16 – “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.““
Isaiah 44:9-20 – “All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ...”
Group 20 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
1 Corinthians 10:1-16:24 – “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. …”
1 Corinthians 10:7 – Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
1 Timothy 2:4 – “Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Psalm 135:15 – “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.“
Psalm 115:4 – “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.”
Group 21 – What Does The Bible Say About Idols?
Exodus 32:1-34:35 – “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” …”
Judges 17:1-19:30 – “There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. …”
