Galatians 5:19-21 Works of the Flesh ~ Idolatry

This week in our series of studies on the "works of the flesh" we look at idolatry.

These verses tell us that if we are operating in the works of the flesh, certain things will become manifest, one of which is idolatry. So much can be said about this one word; the Bible is full of warnings against the practice of idolatry.

What exactly is idolatry?

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for idols is elil.  When Isaiah prophesied to the house of Jacob in Isaiah 2, he exhorted them to come and walk in the light of the Lord.  He went on to say that God had forsaken His people because they were going after the gods of the Philistines and had filled the land with their idols [elil].

This was true in the day of Isaiah when he wrote this, and is also a prophecy of what modern day Israel would be like. No longer do we have chariots, yet we do have automobiles which are modern day chariots. As for the things that our own fingers have made; this could stand for anything that men could build with their own hands, and anything that men could devise by their own ingenuity and intelligence; including all the modern day conveniences and technology that Isaiah could never have imagined in his day.

There is so much that can be written about this subject, the Bible is full of different ways that we can make things into idols. Idolatry can take many forms and can be anything, either physical or invisible, that we put before God by worshiping something that is not God, and serving and obeying it over and instead of serving and obeying Him. The Bible warns repeatedly that anyone that worships idols will not be in God's Kingdom. 

James has covered many aspects in his posts on TheShiningLight blog on idols, especially as it relates to the many COG organizations and their leaders and how we need to come out from making these things and people into our idols, and obey God rather than men. 

This post is addressing a subject that relates to the idea of thinking it is okay to have claimed pictures of Christ, which is very prevalent among the major religions in our day and age, and has been throughout the history of the past two thousand years.  

Those of us who are part of the Ekklesia do see that it is clearly wrong. But for some who are just beginning to learn about seeking God and the keeping all of His commandments, there still may be misunderstanding about the fact that pictures of Jesus are also a form of idolatry; just as much as looking to the pagan objects that people used in worship in ancient times.

We see this false long haired, sentimental looking type Jesus image everywhere, it seems; in religious magazines, books, study materials, cartoons, children's books, in illustrations, on Facebook posts, billboards, etc. It shows up in the Christian music videos that some watch and listen to; and there are now movies being made and presented to the public that depict the actors as looking like this "Jesus".

Sometimes we may think that we can glean the inspiration from otherwise good material and at the same time overlook the things that are considered to be non-Christian.  But if we are not careful, and not guarding our minds, these images can be imprinted into our minds of what the world thinks of as a true representation of God.  The world tries to tell us that we can look to a picture of Jesus and use it as an aid to worship Him; or that we can actually worship the image itself since it is supposedly a picture of Jesus when He was a man on earth.

But even if we don't do that, all these images that are portrayed so frequently in our media, presented as statues and pictures in public places, or hanging on the walls in hallways, can affect us and can subtly place that image into our mind without us realizing it. It is good to reflect on what we really should be focusing on as to what our image of God should be.

In truth, these are not pictures of Christ at all, but stylized images of Jupiter Olympus the sun god [A physical symbol of Satan] worshiped by the people of Rome.

Should a Christian Look to False Supposed Pictures and Statutes of Jesus?

The second commandment prohibits the making of graven images or pictures to represent anything that we would worship. We are told not to bow down to anything nor to serve anything as if it were a god and not to have any false images to serve as "aids" to worship as symbolic of a god, or even of the TRUE God.

Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

Since we know that Jesus Christ is God, this commandment prohibits any picture, image or likeness of His person as well. In the following verse, God the Father called His Son [Jesus] "God".

Hebrews 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Paul identifies the spiritual rock, which depicts strength and permanency, as symbolic of the LORD of the Old Testament as Christ. So the God of the Old Testament was Christ.

1st Corinthians 10:3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 

Most pictures that claim to be pictures of Jesus depict Him as a man with long hair, with somewhat feminine features, and with a sentimental, sanctimonious expression on his face. This image that has been foisted onto the world, and especially the so-called Christian world, is most certainly not what Jesus looked like at all.

As to having long hair; Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 11:14 "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" If Paul wrote under the inspiration of God [and we know that he did] then it does not make sense and would be a contradiction if Jesus Himself wore His hair long. 

The society that both Jesus and Paul lived in during the first century frowned upon men having long hair. The cultural tradition of men having short hair is also attested to by the many statues, busts and historical paintings from that era showing men with short hair; not long flowing hair.

Not much is recorded in Scripture about the life of Jesus before His ministry, but we are told that He was a carpenter and the [foster] son of a carpenter. (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3) So we can glean some things just from knowing these historical facts. Jesus could not have been weak bodied nor the least bit effeminate in any way as pictures of Him frequently depict.

Jesus was most likely trained in the carpentry trade of His foster father, Joseph, from the time that He was a very young boy. He would have been physically and mentally conditioned by the strenuous hard work that was required of a carpenter in the times of which He lived.

This is the Bible's definition of carpenter:

The Hebrew word for carpenter is charash (Strong's #2796) and means: artificer, carpenter, craftsman, engraver, maker, mason, skilful, smith, a fabricator or any material -- artificer, (+) carpenter, craftsman, engraver, maker, + mason, skilful, (+) smith, worker, workman, such as wrought.

The Greek word for carpenter is tektón (Strong's #5045) and means: From the base of timoria; an artificer (as producer of fabrics), i.e. (specially), a craftsman in wood - carpenter.

 In "All the Trades and Occupations of the Bible" by Herbert Lockyer we are told:

Elsewhere in the Old Testament carpenter (also Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3) probably surpassed in variety those of any other craftsman, for they comprised not only those of the modern carpenter and cabinet-maker, but also of the ploughwright, woodcarver and other specialized arts and crafts of today." Like any other Jewish lad of His time, Jesus would leave school at the age of fifteen and, according to custom, being the oldest in the family, would follow the trade of the home."

The work of a typical carpenter of Jesus day would involve the making of doors and shutters, laying beams and floors of houses, fashioning yokes for the oxen, and plows for the farmers, fixing the villagers' broken instruments such as yokes and wooden plows, and doing any other kind of work involving wood.

A carpenter was not only highly skilled in building, fashioning, fixing things, but the workd was also very strenuous labor. All the work was done without the help of electrical tools that we are accustomed to in our day. This means that Jesus, from the time He was about fifteen until He was thirty years old, did very heavy manual labor, working with hammers, chisels, hand saws, axes, planes, and had to lift very heavy beams and wood products.

Most pictures of Jesus do not show this side of Jesus, the image of a very hard working, muscular young man tanned or sunburned from working outside, possibly dripping with sweat from working in the hot temperatures that were normal for the region where He lived.

Jesus was physically fit enough that during His ministry, He walked many miles on His journeys to and from towns, where He preached the gospel. He most likely slept outdoors without the comforts that most of us are accustomed to. Twice he chased money changers out of the Temple, overturning the tables and using whips to drive them and all the animals out. Jesus was a strong able-bodied young man, and the truth of what He was like when He was a man on earth, is tainted by the images we see touted everywhere in churches, books, magazines, paintings, videos, statutes, children's books, cartoons, etc. etc.

Most of us in the Ekklesia have been taught and know that the typical pictures of Jesus are not accurate and that we are not to use them in worshiping Him. But most of us come from backgrounds that do promote the long-hair, sensitive looking kind of a man and that tends to subconsciously make us think that this was what He was really like. 

This image can be so ingrained into our minds, not just from our backgrounds, but by this depiction being everywhere, even now adays by actors playing the part of a so-called Jesus in videos that have been made about Him. 

We may begin to think of it as being a small matter because we are so accustomed to others who are not aware that this is idolatry endorsing these kinds of pictures. From personal experience, I have even seen this kind of a picture hanging on the wall in the home of a COG member.  I frequently see pictures of Jesus in posts on FaceBook, sometimes from well meaning friends and family members, who are posting inspirational sayings along with this kind of illustration.

Even if we would never knowingly display a picture of this kind, we as the children of God, need to strive to root this totally false image out of our hearts because it is directing our minds to a false Jesus, which is in fact another god; an idol of a false god.

When we look for music videos to post for the Special Sabbath Music, we can usually find songs and beautiful music that is Scriptural and inspiring, but most of the videos will feature a picture of this sort or numerous other icons and symbols that originate from other false religions. If a video contains such images we just cannot use it, even though we may be tempted to think that we can just overlook the icons to enjoy the music. But the images taint the message of the song and we set ourselves and others up to view things that are not true, nor Scriptural, and do in fact lead to the breaking of the second commandment.

As to what Jesus really looked like; there was never anyone that ever photographed Jesus nor were there any real life paintings of Him; so therefore no one knows what He looked like in real life. Any picture that tries to depict what he looked like is a lie and would not be close to being accurate. If we look to a picture, no matter how He is depicted, it would only be a likeness of someone that a person conjured up in his own mine, which is exactly what the so-called pictures and statutes that we see today are. Even if someone was to create a picture of a more realistic idea of what Jesus looked like, with short hair, strong manly features, and a muscular build, it still would not be completely accurate and would not really show exactly what He looked like; so therefore would still be false.

He is saying that Jesus looked like an ordinary Jewish man, and there wasn't anything extraordinary about His physical appearance. Any pictures, statutes, images of Christ give a false impression of what He actually looked like when He was a man living on earth. They are all false and direct us to worship a false impression of Him, and therefore in reality we are worshiping a false Christ.

Any images or pictures of Christ, along with any crosses and crucifixes; are only paper and ink or pieces of wood or metal and have no power whatsoever to save us or protect us from any danger. They are in fact idols that when used as aids in our worship of God, cause us to diametrically break this second commandment; and because we are putting the physical idol before God, we also at the same time are breaking the first commandment.

1st Corinthians 10:19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 20 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. 

Paul teaches quite a bit on this subject, stating that idols are nothing and that we must not think of them as being anything even close to the one true God who is over all.

1st Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6 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.

When Jesus encountered the woman at the well He actually had much to say Himself about this kind of thing, for He told her:

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 

And then He added further a profound statement that almost no one really understands or pays attention to! If they did, they would most defiantly not incorporate the aid of pictures or physical things in their worship of the true God. In this verse Jesus tells us that we MUST worship God [which would include His Father and Himself] in SPIRIT and in TRUTH [not in lies].

When the apostle John was exiled on the Island of Patmos, he saw in a vision Jesus in His glorified state of what He looks like now as our Savior and soon coming King. In these passages, John saw Jesus Christ as God and not as the physical man that he had come to know when he was one of His disciples being taught by Him. No matter what Jesus looked like when He lived as a man here on earth, He no longer looks like that. If we are to think of any kind of image of Him, the description that John gave is now more accurate than any kind of human being that we could imagine Him to have looked like.

Revelation 1: 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 

When Moses ask Christ if he could see His glory, God granted him his request, but only in a very limited way, denying him a view of His face.

Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. 

But what Christ did as a way of showing Moses of Himself was to proclaim His spiritual attributes; that He was a God of abundant mercy, longsuffering, goodness and truth.

God wants us to have an image integrated into our minds and hearts of all of His attributes, His character, and who He is, rather than what He looks like. In past issues of Glorious Living, we have studied the fruit of the Spirit and how these components are the very essence of what He is like. (If you are new to our Newsletter, please refer back to those issues which are posted in the archives and are being posted on A Shining Light). 

God is the epitome of what it is like to have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: and He is all of these things in all their essence.

We studied the introduction to the sermon on the mount as recorded in Matthew 5:1-16, which teaches about the Beatitudes.  These are attributes that Jesus exemplified for us as a man when He was here on earth. And these too, are the things that we are to grow in, for they make up the character traits of our Great God.  He wants us to become like He is, which is to emulate the qualities that He has and to grow to be in His likeness rather than to be concentrating on physical images of Him.

The World's Way is to Look to Appearances

Satan, on the other hand, directs us to judge others by their outward appearances. People are valued and held up in high esteem and as role models because they are physically attractive or to be deemed important because of what they have, money and power, which is again directing our value system to outward appearances.

Appearances are deceptive, and Satan the unseen ruler of this present evil world, deceives people about what is important and tries to diverts our focus on material things, rather than focusing on things that would bring lasting peace and fulfillment to ourselves and others. He wants our attention focused on our physical attributes; and while we spend all our time on these things, we don't think to spend time seeking the things of God that are invisible and spiritual in nature.

Those who strive for the spiritual things of God will eventually be able to see God in all of His glory at the resurrection of the saints. Anything else that we put into our mind as a physical image will only serve to distort the mind from the truth of what God wants us to know about Him. It is misleading and takes us back down to what is earthly and demonic.

Looking to and worshiping appearances is part of what having idols is about. But God says to set our hearts and minds on things above, heavenly things that will develop the inner man into a thing of beauty. In fact it is holiness, that is what God defines as true beauty, not a picture of a lovely man with long hair that most want to ascribe as to being their "Jesus".

1st Chronicles 16:29 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 

2nd Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endure for ever. 

We Must Worship God in Spirit and in Truth

Why is it wrong to make images? The reason is found in the truth that the worship of God was and is to be spiritual, not material. Notice what Jesus said, that we "must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." A picture can never truly represent the truth about Christ so it therefore by necessity misrepresents what Scripture teaches about Him. Though Jesus came down from heaven to became a man of flesh and blood, He was at the same time, still God. Having statutes or pictures of Jesus or God result in two things, both of which are wrong. They constitute what it means have a form of idol worship and they misrepresent the truth. There is no way anything made by man could even begin to properly represent the full essence and character of God. As such, anything that we would try to use as a representation of Him would dishonor His infinite Godhead and essence.

Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 

Isiah 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 

What we can be exuberant about is that whatever God looks like in His glorified state, we too, if we belong to Him and have remained faithful thereby qualifying for the resurrection of the just, will someday bear that image just as we have borne the physical image of what He looked like as a man when He lived on earth.

1st Corinthians 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

Philippians 4:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

This is what God is calling us to be; sons of God made in His image, if we have been forgiven and are now seeking to obey Him in every way, keeping all of His commandments. This includes the command to not make any graven image nor to bow down to any thing that we think of as representing who His is; which is idolatry. If we obey Him in keeping all His commandments, we will have the right to the Tree of Life and live forever with Him in all its fullness.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 

The prophet Habakkuk asks: how does looking to an idol profit us? and he goes on to vividly describe how senseless it is to think that a piece of wood or metal is a god that will do for us what only God can do.  

Habakkuk 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

God proclaims through Isaiah, that He alone is LORD and that there is no other god beside Him.

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me..."  (Isaiah 45:5)

Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and Master, along with His heavenly Father, are the only Gods that we are to serve and pay reverence to, not any dumb idol! 

Constance

Hosea 1

1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

4 And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.

6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Scripture Summary 

Psalm 96 :4-9

4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: 

he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 

6 Honour and majesty are before him: 

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, 

give unto the Lord glory and strength.

8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: 

bring an offering, and come into his courts.

9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: 

fear before him, all the earth.