GOD IS NO IDOL

         God is no idol. He’s not made by the hands of man; He made man. He is not cold and indifferent, without feelings. He is a warm, tender, caring Heavenly Father. He no longer requires sacrifices because He made the sacrifice for us. He doesn’t ask us to supply His needs; He supplies ours.
         All He desires is that we love Him, and receive the many blessings He showers on His children daily. He is not a Taker…but a Giver.
         What idol can breathe life into a human being? What idol can carry on a conversation with people, other than through the voice of deceiving demons? What idol can reproduce itself and create children in His likeness?
         “The heathens’ or pagans’ idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not:  neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like them; so is every one that trusts in them.” (Psalms 115:4-8).
         The Lord and I took an interesting trip through the Bible this morning. As I’ve always admired the wisdom of Solomon who God used to write most of the Book of Proverbs, I was sad about the fall of such a great man.
         In 1 Kings 11, we read about the cause of his fall. It was idols. And the idols came into his life through his 700 wives which the Lord had told him not to take to himself. This is even more depressing to me as a woman since I have learned the importance of doing good to my husband…not evil.
         But these women were idol worshippers and they turned Solomon’s head away from God. In one sense he had begun to “idolize” his wives.
         Soon they had him building altars to their gods. Can you imagine 700 women ganging up on Solomon? Oh, the “power of persuasion” that women have…to be used for good or evil.
         I’m not saying that all of his wives were evil, but one woman can do enough damage; let alone 700. There were at least 4, who with their friends in Solomon’s harem (har`em), (Women’s part of a house; the separate private quarters reserved for wives and concubines. 2. group of women: the wives and concubines who live in a harem.) got together and coerced him into building temples for their gods. The four gods I found listed are: Astoreth, (goddess of the Zidonians), Chemosh (god of the Moabites), Milcom (god of the Ammonites), Molech (abomination of Ammon). It would be interesting to do a study on these idols and their spiritual significance and relevance to the idols people worship today.
         I can just hear one of Solomon’s wives saying to him, “Well, you built a temple for her god. It’s only fair that you build a temple for mine.” And so on and so on it multiplied. One god would have been one too many, for our God says: “I will have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3).

FLASH-BACKS

         My first flash-back takes me again to KingwoodHigh School; the elaborate two level construction that was often referred to as the Taj Mahal of Kingwood, Texas. I was standing on one of the walk ways overlooking the commons area below. While leaning against the railing, observing the students during their lunch hour, a student of mine Shelly Kern, walked up behind me and said, “Mrs. Watkins, do you know what God hates the most?”
         I was caught off guard and I really didn’t know. “What?”, I asked.
         She said, “He hates idols.”

     

         Shelly was attending a study group at Evangelistic Temple North and their youth director Big Jim Tucker, was teaching the youth some very important things that I did not know. I was impressed and greatly pleased.
         The Holy Spirit imprinted that message on my heart that day. Thank you Lord! Thank you Shelly. Thank you Big Jim.
         FLASH-BACK 2 also occurred in Kingwood, but not in the school building. This time I had a different experience with an idol created by the hands of my friend Patsy, an art teacher. I went to her modern home to visit and show her some of the original Angel Food Cards; also hoping to talk to her about the Lord.

         As we sat in her den visiting, I noticed a statue of Buddha sitting on her fireplace. I cringed. I had just learned that God does not like idols. In fact, He hates them.
         Each time I tried to talk to her about God, my eyes kept going back to the idol. I was so distracted that I finally said, “Patsy, can you put that idol in another room, or can we go to another room?” 
         She just laughed and said, “Oh, Gwen, it’s just a work of art.”
         Then she told me something very interesting. She said the statue had fallen and broken its arms off and maybe its head. I can’t remember exactly, but she had put it back together.
         At that point, I tried to tell her the story in the Bible about an idol that had fallen and broken off it’s head and hands. I asked her to get it out of her house. You can read this story about Dagon, the god of the Philistines in I Samuel 5:2-5).
         When she resisted, I changed the subject, but there is more to this story.
         As I continued to think about that Buddha idol, I was listening to the 700 Club one morning at home and I heard Ben Kinchloe say, “Someone has a Big Buddha in their house. They need to get rid of it.”
         I stood frozen, thinking of Patsy. I couldn’t help but return to her house and try to warn her once again. But, still she would not listen.
         Some time later, after I had moved from Kingwood and returned for a visit, Patsy and I were having coffee and she said, “You don’t know what happened to me after you left, do you?”
         “No. What?”, I asked.
         “I nearly died.”, she said. “I was in the hospital for a long time and at one point, I saw the dark hole. I nearly went through it.”
         I don’t think I mentioned the Buddha idol at this time and neither did she. But I believe we both “knew”.
         Well, enough on idols for today. I just hope this will stir your interest to do a search on your own. Their rituals are strictly satanic and you can see them in the cults of witchcraft today. 
         One point I would like to encourage you about, is that some Christians know so little about idol worship that they nit pick themselves to pieces. They begin to accuse themselves, saying every thing in their lives is a form of idol worship. Things like money, work, sports, children, spouse, church, education, science, politics…and people in general.
         Check it out for yourself and be honest and fair to yourself. Do not receive condemnation that you are an idol worshipper when you are NOT. Satan would really get a kick out of that.
         If something or someone becomes more important to you than God and you bow down and begin to worship them, then God says, they are idols.
         I admit that my husband seemed like an idol to me because I wanted to please him so much. But God never allowed him to become more important to me than God.
         I’ve thought often of women who made idols (little gods) of their husbands. Of course they were always disappointed because the poor guys could never measure up. But until today, I never thought much about men making idols of their wives. Poor Solomon did. He had 700 idols, and it cost him. As priest of his home he turned his authority over to his wives and lost nearly everything that God had given him in abundance.
         If you will study what true idol worship was in the Old Testament, more than likely you are NOT an idol worshiper. If you were, you would not be serving God today.
         Jeremiah says in 10:5b, “Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.” Again, it is the worship of them that God hates.

           

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:8).