Photo by John-Mark Burkholder, 2011, Ubud, Bali

Living in Indonesia brought me face to face with idols for the first time. Actual idols—carved manmade images of gods with bulging eyes, giant teeth, bulbous stomachs—grotesque, scary creatures stationed inside and outside homes and temples. Carried on poles high above the crowd during parades. Daily offerings spread over the sidewalks with tiny streams of incense. Artwork, dances, and colorful depictions of gods, gods, and more gods. Idol worship is indeed alive and well in the world.

Idolatry takes up a lot of space in Isaiah’s message. Told to not make idols or set up images or sacred stones to bow down to (Lev 26:1), God’s people disobeyed and adopted the gods of their neighboring nations, breaking their covenant with him.

Isaiah emphasizes over and over how useless and foolish it is to trust in idols. Why? Because idols…

• are crafted by ignorant, spiritually blind, deluded, disgraced humans (37:19; 44:9–11,18,20; 45:16, 20)
• are made out of ordinary material that has no supernatural power (44:15, 19)
• dwell in household shrines (44:13)
• have to be nailed down to keep them from toppling over (40:20; 41:7; 46:7; Jer 10:4)
• cannot give counsel or answer questions (41:28; 46:7)
• are false liars (41:29; 44:20)
• can’t do anything (41:24, 44:10)
• can’t save (45:20)
• can’t foretell the future (41:22–23, 48:14)
• are powerless to lift burdens; instead are burdensome (46:1–2)
• cannot speak, hear, see, walk, smell, or feel (Ps 135:15–18; Ps 115:4-8; Jer 10:5)
• are dead, lifeless (Hab 2:19)

An idol is typically defined (see footnotes) as anything that draws our attention and worship away from God, or that we value above God, or that we expect will give us what only God can. But I think Jonah explains it best:

Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.

Jonah 2:8

While we may admit the idiocy of expecting a carved statue to help us, we recognize that other idols still turn us away from God’s love:

• Self, security, approval, success, relationships, health, food, intellect, comfort
• No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money. (Mat 6:24)
• Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Col 3:5, Eph 5:5)
• Their god is their stomach. Their mind is set on earthly things. (Phil 3:19 NET)

Like the Israelites (Lev 26:1), we are also told to reject these idols:

• Dear children, keep yourselves from idols (1 Jn 5:21; 1 Cor 10:14).

Instead we remember God. He is everything manmade idols are not and can do all the things they cannot (44:21; 46:9).

• We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Cor 8:4–6)
• Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. (2 Tim 2:8)

Then, we return to him (44:22, 45:22).

• Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. (Acts 3:19)
• For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Pet 2:25)

Finally we receive his love and support (30:21–22; 46:3–4).

• Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Pet 5:6–7)
• Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Mat 11:28–30)
• It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1)

What has turned you away from God’s love?

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, this thing I’m holding onto is a lie. It cannot answer my questions, cannot give me advice, or tell me what my future holds. You alone are God. You can carry me and lift my burdens. Please recapture my heart.

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Easton’s Dictionary defines idolatry as “image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object” and offers three forms of idolatry: Fetishism or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones etc; Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, stars, as the supposed powers of nature; and Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors or heroes.

Jennifer Slattery adds, “Whatever we treasure more than God, whatever drives our thoughts and actions, becomes an idol, and these idols dull our spiritual hearing and harden our hearts to things of God.”

Tim Keller, in Counterfeit Gods, says an idol is “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.”

Pete Briscoe defines an idol as anything you are drawing life from apart from Christ.

Idols demand so much of you that the only way to satisfy them is to exploit others. That’s why idolatry and injustice are connected in scripture.—Kaitlyn Schiess

At first idols give you everything and ask nothing, but at the end, idols ask for everything and give you nothing.—David Brooks

Idols demand that we carry them but God wants to carry us. —Scott Dickson, Daily Grace Blog

All scripture is from the New International Version (unless otherwise noted) with emphasis added.