Idolatry
The building and worshiping of the Golden calf would be considered idolatry. It was done to bind the people together politically and economically. This was a form of the One purse prohibition in Proverbs 10 which warns us against and it also became a system of Corban which would eventually 'make the word of God to none effect'. Aaron was setting up a system with the Golden calf that would bring the people back into the bondage of Egypt. God's plan like The Way of Christ was The Blessed Strategy of righteousness.
Seeking Answers
These idols of old like the Golden calf were not just superstitious mumbo-jumbo of people dancing around a statue, but they were a part of systems in paganism with a purpose. The statues were at least symbols for social systems created by the hand of men to unite communities. How those systems functioned was often more important than the image itself. To bow down to an idol was to make yourself subject to the system it represented. The men who held authority in those social system were the ruling judges of those system and they made choices for the members who were often bound within those systems. Bowing down and serving those systems was often called idolatry.
You were told to "Let no man deceive you with vain words…" The Bible is full of metaphor and symbols, allegories and parables. Unmooring the symbols from their meaning is a recipe for delusion. The Pharisees had distorted the meaning of words in the Old Testament and turned wisdom into fables[1] and superstitions. Christ did not change the nature of God, His Creation nor what our relation to God should be or not be.
Altars of Clay and stone were not just piles of stones piled up so that men could kill sheep and set them on fire to make God happy. That was a fable. The Essenes, one of the most popular religious groups at the time of Christ, saw the interpretation of the Pharisees concerning animal sacrifice to be a fiction and a fraud. They read the Torah, knew Hebrew, but did not participate in their animal sacrifice. They did make sacrifices but it was to take care of the social welfare of the needy of society through Pure Religion.
- "Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant." Psalms 143:9-12
We must be led by the tree of life, by the Holy Spirit of God and not by the tree of knowledge nor the Sophistry of men. If we seek and strive and persevere in walking in the ways of Jesus the Christ according to the character of His name He will show mercy and grace. We must forgive to be forgiven, we mus give to be given to, we must serve to be served and in the sacrifice of our life He will give us life more abundant.
Sometimes the inconsistencies in the translation of words in the Bible can reveal a clear agenda, a conspiracy of the spirit to deceive and mislead. Often modern Greek English dictionaries have already been altered by men with an agenda that was contrary to Christ and even the Holy Spirit. The Bible has been used to bring a strong delusion into the minds of the people so that they might believe a lie.
The purpose of these writings is to make you uncomfortable with the lie in hope that you would repent and confess.
If we carved a tree into an image of our own imagination and held it up as something sacred we would say that it was an idol. We allow men to carve the written accounts of men who walked with Jesus into what we call the Bible and then look at it through the glasses given by dictionary writers and call it sacred too. That is idolatry also.
Everyone has an imagination. It is the screen upon which we project our thoughts... But what is the source of those thoughts? Is it the spirit and will of God the Father or is it our own will or the will of sophists and spirit of demons?
What is the answer?
The way most people use the Bible and churches is to make themselves comfortable with the lie. The ministers are hired to tickle our ears and scratch our back and justify our sins. This eventually leads to the defense of the deception mentally if not physically. This leads to attacks, that lead to wars and murder. In order to maintain our own vanity and pride we must reverence those things that are not true and the images that represent that lie whether they are physical or only mental images and perceptions and put down or even destroy and kill those who point to or merely know the truth. All because men make a thing sacred which is idolatry.
What most people call the Bible did not exist until a few centuries ago. The early texts of what was translated into the Bible did not exist as a book until centuries after Christ, so it is true that Jesus never quoted from the Bible. He did quote from books that were eventually included in the original source for the Bible but also quoted and referred to books that were not included in the Bible. Some of His very same parables and metaphors are also found in the writings of Buddha.
I believe that the word of God is not found in a book or even in the words that I say or write to you. That is not for any reason than words are finite and cannot impart the infinite nature of the truth because they are inadequate by their nature. The truth is a spiritual thing, a thing not only of another dimension but a thing at the core of all dimensions. It can not be heard by the ears on the side of your head or read by your eyes or deciphered by the brain by which they function and interpret. The spiritual truth is not subject to private interpretation.
The Bible speaks of the truth, alludes to it, references the preachers of the truth but to know the truth requires the anointed Spirit of Christ dwelling in us.
Only those who have ears to hear and eyes to see can receive the word of God. Those are a gift of grace. There were those who stood around Jesus and listened to him speak but still did not hear the word of God. How do we believe that a written translation after sophists have had access to dictionaries and scripts that we could have the word of God in our hand.
That is vain thinking because it ultimately depends upon us to interpret it. If it requires the spirit to tell us what it means then the Spirit must be independent of the text.
I believe that the Bible as we have it is a valuable book but it may not be sacred as in holy. Holiness cannot reside in dead stones or the printed words of a book. It listeth where it will[2] and dwells in the living souls of men. You can not receive the word of God from books or magic lamps. Nor can men give it to you for men and the things they make are not the source of truth nor of life. To make them the source is to make them the god of your understanding which is to make the things men make your god before the God of heaven and earth.
Again this is idolatry to reverence a thing or its image, even in your own mind. It does not matter that the idol is the KJV or Peshitta or Black's Law dictionary or the Constitution our loyalty must be to the Spirit that giveth life. [3]
Although one might call the Bible a gift or testimony so also are the trees and creatures of earth and the stars of heaven. Even our own sin and the products of devastation and destruction they wrought in the world is the testimony of God and His righteous truth.
How do we know what is true?
Can we decide the good and evil, the right and wrong, in our own mind?
Is that eating of the tree of knowledge?
Most idols are constructed in our private imagination because we care about our self more than God or others. Our selfish nature lets us think we know more than God and can figure things out our self. These IMAGES in our mind are often formed of our ideas about things we imagine to be true. Doctrines constructed by men by taking pieces of the gospel are often used to form images of God which people believe in which is a form of idolatry.
Is our own attempt to make such decision the very sin that brought us to this desperate chaos?
The answer is determined by our exousia, our right of choice. We choose to accept the Truth or not. To eat of the tree of life or not. We may choose to project good and evil in our own imagination to our own egotistical advantage or not.
Shall we hide from the light of truth or seek that light and the whole truth and provide for it?
We may pretend what we have done or allowed is good but that requires vanity, pride selfishness and a willingness to accept a lie. If we do that we must use something to project this lie upon our imagination. We need a source other than the spirit. We can easily use the bible to do this or other books, music, philosophies or philosophers.
You must shut off these other sources that are not spirit. You must let them go, see past their imaginary imagery.... You must still your own ambition, your own lust, desires of self. You cannot do this with will but you can do it with humble repentance and a truthful confession.
Christ gives us a way to go to help us in this journey to the light. You must forgive others, you must give up what you once coveted, you must set aside your own pride and will to seek that will of the Father... you must be still and know that He is God.
The problem is not that we have imagination but that our imagination has us and someone or something else has the control of that imagination. This is the essence of delusion. To make a thing "sacred" takes you away from things of the spirit. It is a falling of the mind to the flesh and the things of the flesh and the Bible can do this the same as any other book or source. It is the way of evil to take the words, written or spoken, and turn them to his own will. This is the power of Babble. The only defense against this adversary is the Spirit of God which is the word or vibration of God.
You will not return to the Father until you let go of that which is not compatible with God and receive that which is. Reading, hearing with your ears will not make this happen. Only repentance, forgiveness and walking with the Spirit of God.
Concerning Idols
- miphletseth תצלפמ = horrid thing[4]
- eliyl לילא= “worthless”[5]
- gilluwl לולג=Idol, images[6]
- ‘aven ןוא = iniquity [7]
- cemel למס = image, idol [8]
- atsab בצע = hurt, grieve, toil[9]
- Eidolon εἴδωλον= idol[10]
- Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol <Eidolon >, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Most of the idolatry and adultery mentioned in the Bible has to do with national fornication and the worshiping of false gods.
What was the story of the golden calf really about?
What was the purpose behind making it?
Was it about the statue or was it about the institution the statue represented?
To think that the idea of a Graven images is about carving statues is to unmoore the meaning of the Bible from its godly principles, from the Spirit of God Himself. Was it the statue itself or ways and systems those statures represented?
- Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols <Eidolon >, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
- Why is the pollution of idols associated with fornication?
- Fornication was a metaphor for idolatry. [11]
- What are "things strangled, and from blood"? [12]
- Is it adultery and sacrilege to say you love Christ but seek the benefits of men who through an exercising authority provide those benefits by force. Is that remaining faithful to the Bride of Christ?[13]
- 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol <Eidolon > is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
- 1 Corinthians 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol <Eidolon > unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
- What are "things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols"?
- And why should we not eat them?
- Who are these gods many?
- What do they have to do with those strangled bloody sacrifices?
- What does it mean "lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak"? [14]
- So are you drinking and eating at the table of devils?
- Psalms 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
- Romans 11:9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
- Proverbs 23:1 ¶ When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
- 4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
- 6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
- 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
- 10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
- Who are the fatherless and what is the fields of the fatherless?
- 1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols <Eidolon >, even as ye were led.
- How are we carried away'?
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols <Eidolon >? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- What agreement?
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols <Eidolon > to serve the living and true God;
- What does it mean to serve the living and true God"?
- Is this the meaning of Pure Religion?
- 1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols <Eidolon >. Amen.
- How do we keep ourselves from idols?
- The context begins 1 John 5:18 ¶ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
- Revelation 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols <Eidolon > of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
eliyl לילא= “worthless” Aleph-lamed-yod-lamed
- Aleph-lamed powerful one
- aleph-lamed yod My God
- aleph-lamed yod My God
gilluwl לולג=Idol, images Gimel-lamed-vav-lamed
- Gimel Lamed cause to teach or learn
- Gimel-lamed-vav-lamed to cause to teach and learn
- aleph-lamed-hey an oath
- Aleph-lamed-vav-hey god or one who yokes to another
Gods
Galatians 4:8 "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
There are gods many.
- 1 Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
Who are these gods many and what is a god? http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/godsmany.php
Creating a false god can be done by the use of stone, clay, wood or forms of wood like paper.
But it is not the images that we use to represent those gods but what those gods represent in our failure to do what God has desired to write upon our hearts and minds.
We create these gods many by making covenants with them, by praying to them, which means by application to them, usually for benefits offered by them in exchange for your loyalty, service and allegiance and thereby offering and bowing down to them in service to them.
- Exodus 23:32 "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods."
- Exodus 34:15 "Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;"
These false gods are sometimes represented by images like lions, bears and eagles or even statues of men or by flags but the sin is in giving them power over our choices through covetous and pride. This is, again, done often by application and participation to and with these 'men who call themselves benefactors but who exercise authority' over us and our neighbors.
- Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so..."
Seeking the Kingdom is about learning to pray to God rather than coveting your neighbor's goods through the use of contracts, covenants and constitutions which involve coercing your neighbor into contributing to your personal welfare.
- Psalms 69:22 "Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap."
- Romans 11:9 "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:"
We have gone so far from the simplicity of the Gospel of the Kingdom at hand that we have forgotten or no longer believe that communities and nations may live as free people without a coercive state to force us to care for our neighbor.
Striving to seek the liberty of the Kingdom and the righteousness of God is about learning to live in a society entirely dependent upon faith, hope, and charity and the perfect law of liberty. This is what Christ came to teach us. It is His sacred doctrine and it is the purpose of the Church to help bring all men who will go the way of Christ closer to His Kingdom.
- Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
We are trapped in a system of the unrighteous mammon through at least some fault or neglect of our own. But God is forgiving and we may be friends with the unrighteous mammon as we began to seek more righteous habitation.
- Luke 13:24 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
Footnotes
- ↑ 1 Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: [so do].
- 1 Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness.
- 2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
- 2 Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- ↑ John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
- ↑ John 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
- ↑ 04656 ^תצלפמ^ miphletseth \@mif-leh’- tseth\@ from 06426; n f; AV-idol 4; 4 1) horrid thing, horrible thing
- ↑ 0457 ^לילא^ ‘eliyl \@el-eel’\@ apparently from 0408 לא ‘al meaning nothing; adj m; AV-idol 17, image 1, no value 1, things of nought 1; 20 1) of nought, good for nothing, worthless 1a) of physicians, a shepherd, a divination 1b) of false gods
- ↑ 01544 ^לולג^ gilluwl \@ghil-lool’\@ or (shortened) ^ללג^ gillul \@ghil-lool’\@ from 01556 ^ללג^ galal 1) to roll, roll away, roll together; n m pl; AV-idol 47, image 1; 48 1) idols
- ↑ 0205 ^ןוא^ ‘aven \@aw-ven’\@ from an unused root perhaps meaning properly, to pant (hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain; n m; AV-iniquity 47, wicked(ness) 8, vanity 6, affliction 3, mischief 3, unrighteous 2, evil 1, false 1, idol 1, mourners 1, mourning 1, nought 1, sorrow 1, unjust 1, vain 1; 78 1) trouble, wickedness, sorrow 1a) trouble, sorrow 1b) idolatry 1c) trouble of iniquity, wickedness
- ↑ 05566 ^למס^ cemel \@seh’- mel\@ or ^למס^ cemel \@say’- mel\@ from an unused root meaning to resemble; n m; AV-image 2, idol 2, figure 1; 5 1) image, statue, idol
- ↑ 06089 ^בצע^ ‘etseb \@eh’- tseb\@ from 06087; n m; AV-sorrow 3, labour 2, grievous 1, idol 1; 7 1) pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, labour, hardship 1a) pain 1b) hurt, offense 1c) toil, hardship 2) vessel, creation, object 3) (TWOT) idol
- ↑ 1497 ~εἴδωλον~ eidolon \@i’-do-lon\@ from 1491; an image (i.e. for worship); n n AV-idol 11; 11 1) an image, likeness 1a) i.e. whatever represents the form of an object, either real or imaginary 1b) used of the shades of the departed, apparitions, spectres, phantoms of the mind, etc. 2) the image of a heathen god 3) a false god
- ↑ 4202 ~πορνεία~ porneia \@por-ni’-ah\@ from 4203; TDNT-6:579,918; {See TDNT 654} n f AV-fornication 26; 26
- 1) illicit sexual intercourse
- 1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
- 1b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; #Le 18:6-23
- 1c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; #Mr 10:11,12
- 2) metaph. the worship of idols
- 2a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols
- See as metaphors: 4202 n porneia "worship of idols", 4203 v porneuo "given to idolatry", 4204 n porne "Idolatry", 4205 n pornos from v piprasko 4097 a bribed to become the merchandise of another.
- Benson Commentary states : "The original word, πορνεια, implies criminal conversation of any kind whatever; and is used by the LXX., and by the writers of the New Testament, in the latitude which its correspondent word hath in the Hebrew language, namely, to denote all the different kinds of uncleanness committed, whether between men and women, or between men, or with beasts. Accordingly it is used in the plural number, chap. 1 Corinthians 7:2. Here the word signifies incest joined with adultery, the woman’s husband being still living, as appears from 2 Corinthians 7:12. In the Old Testament whoredom sometimes signifies idolatry, because the union of the Israelites with God as their king being represented by God himself as a marriage, their giving themselves up to idolatry was considered as adultery."
- 1) illicit sexual intercourse
- ↑ Romans 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols <Eidolon >, dost thou commit sacrilege?
- ↑ Revelation 21:9 ¶ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
- ↑ 1 Corinthians 10:19 What say I then? that the idol <Eidolon > is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
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