Understanding the contagious nature and severity of Idolatry and God’s fierce anger at the setting up and worshiping of other god’s before Him. The Word of God explains the sin of idolatry and its severe consequences, now and in eternity, in the following verses.
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Bible Verses on Idol Worship
Genesis 31:30-32,34 (Rachel commits the sin of Idolatry and sadly incurs a curse and suffers the consequences later in life)
30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.
Genesis 35:2-3 (Repentance necessary. Idolatry incompatible with the service of God)
So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Genesis 35:4 (Idols and objects of idolatry described as strange gods)
So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.
Exodus 12:12 (Objects of idolatry: gods of Egypt)
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
Exodus 20:3-6 (Idolatry consists of bowing down to images. All forms forbidden by the Law of Moses)
“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
20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.”
Exodus 23:13 (Idolatry consists of swearing by other gods)
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.
Exodus 23:24 (Forbidden to practice idolatry)
24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
Exodus 30:9 (Idolatry consists of unauthorized practices)
You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.
Exodus 32:1-35 (Mixing idolatry and worship of God. Worship by an image and burnt offerings)
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!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”…
Exodus 34:12 (Idolatry is contagious)
“Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.”
15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice
and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.
Exodus 34:17 (Idolatry: worshiping a physical object as a representation of a god)
17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
Leviticus 10:1-3 (Idolatry consists of unauthorized customs of worship at the Altar)
10 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective fire pans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.
Leviticus 18:21 (Wicked practices of idolatry: human sacrifice)
‘You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:28 (Wicked practices of idolatry: piercing, cutting, body art)
28 You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 26:1 (Idolatry consists of setting up idol altars)
26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you.
Numbers 16:35 (Idolatry consists of unauthorized customs of worship)
And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab! You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh! Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle], and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Numbers 22:40 (Sacrificing to objects of idolatry)
Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
Numbers 22:41 (Objects of idolatry worshiped in high places or hills)
Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people.
Numbers 25:1-3 (Following the Moabites into idolatry)
While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.
Numbers 33:52 (Objects of idolatry consists of pictures)
then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places
Deuteronomy 4:15 (Warning against idolatry)
15 “So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire
Deuteronomy 4:19 (Idolatry consists of worshiping the host of heaven or led by them – horoscope, astrology)
19 And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or the stars, the whole heavenly host, do not be led astray into bowing down to them and serving them. These the Lord, your God, has apportioned to all the other nations under the heavens;
‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (Contagious nature of Idolatry through intermarriage with those who practice it)
“Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
Deuteronomy 7:25 (Idolatry is an abomination to God)
“The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 7:26 (Owning, acquiring, possessing, displaying objects of idolatry in private houses)
“You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.
Deuteronomy 8:19 (Idolatry consists of turning away and walking with other gods)
“It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Deuteronomy 14:1 (Practices of idolatry relate to the dead: Spiritism and trying to contact the dead, New Age Channeling, Mediums, Psychics, Occult, Witchcraft, Palm Reading, Tarot Cards, Ouija Boards, Fortune Tellers, Séances, Paganism, Halloween, Sorcery, Divination, Necromancy, Exorcism, Soothsayers, Enchantments, Augury, Wicca, Piercing etc.)
“You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. “
Deuteronomy 16:22 (Idolatry is hateful to God)
“You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.
Deuteronomy 17:3 (Horoscope, Star Divination, Astrology)
and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded
Deuteronomy 18:20 (Idolatry consists of speaking in the name of other gods)
‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
Deuteronomy 27:15 (Consequence of idolatry)
‘Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret ‘ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.
Deuteronomy 30:17 (Consequence of idolatry)
17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish.
They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.
so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.
Judges 2:11-13 (Provoking the Lord with Idolatry)
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
Judges 5:8 (Idolatry objects: New gods)
“New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.
Now on the same night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.
They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him.
When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
Judges 10:14 (Idolatry unprofitable)
“Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”
Judges 16:23 (Custom of praise in idolatry)
Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.”
Judges 17:4-5 (Objects of worship in private houses)
So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.
5 Then the Philistines took the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to [a]Ashdod. 2 They took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside [the image of] Dagon [their chief idol]. 3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
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.”
1 Samuel 28:14-15 (Idolatry consists of consulting departed spirits – Spiritism)
He said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe ” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage. Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.”
1 Kings 11:4 (Contagious nature of idolatry)
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
1 Kings 11:5-8 (Idolatry adopted by Solomon)
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.
1 Kings 12:27-28 (Encouraging idolatry)
“If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
You also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—
He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made.
1 Kings 18:26 (Worshiping idols with singing and dancing)
Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made.
So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.
1 Kings 19:18 (Customs of worship by kissing the idol, bowing down)
“Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.
He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.
And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.”
Then he said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron–is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?–therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'”
“In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”
2 Kings 10:20 (Idolatry accompanied by feasts)
And Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal ” And they proclaimed it.
Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “The one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange.”
And they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.”
2 Kings 17:14-18 (Captivity caused by idolatry)
But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.
2 Kings 17:30 (Wicked practices of idolatry: Human Sacrifice)
The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
with whom the LORD made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.
2 Kings 18:4 (Object of idolatry: Brazen serpent)
He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger.
“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols
He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.
2 Kings 22:17 (They who practice forsake God)
“Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”‘
2 Kings 23:5 (Objects of idolatry consists of heavenly bodies)
He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.
2 Kings 23:11 (Custom of tithes and gifts in idolatry)
He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
2 Kings 23:12 (Objects of idolatry worshiped on the tops of houses)
The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.
Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 5:25 (Following the Canaanites into idolatry)
But they acted treacherously against the God of their fathers and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.
And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah, and Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.
He took great pride in the ways of the LORD and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.
2 Chronicles 19:2-3 (They who practice idolatry hate God)
Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD and so bring wrath on yourself from the LORD? “But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.”
And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel.
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.
2 Chronicles 33:6 (Divination connected to idolatry)
He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.
he also tore down the altars and beat the Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Job 31:27 (Objects of idolatry worshiped)
And my heart became secretly enticed, And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth
Psalm 16:4 (Idolatry consists in libations of blood)
The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.
For they provoked Him with their high places and aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
“Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. “
A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. …
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Psalm 97:7 (Boasting of idolatry)
Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, Who boast themselves of idols; Worship Him, all you gods.
They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.
They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
Psalm 106:37 (Wicked practices of idolatry: Human Sacrifice)
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons
And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood.
Psalm 106:28 (Idolatry consists in worshiping the dead)
They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 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.
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. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made.
Isaiah 2:16 (Carvings of idolatry)
Against all the ships of Tarshish and against all the beautiful craft.
20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship…
Behold, you are of no account, and your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
Isaiah 42:8 (Worship belongs only to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Isaiah 44:6-8 (God alone is able to declare the end from the beginning, idols cannot)
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.”
Isaiah 44:9-20 (Ignorance of God leads to idolatry, which leads to changing the truth of God into a lie)
9 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. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 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.
12 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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 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!”
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Isaiah 45:20 (Objects of idolatry cannot save anyone)
“Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.
Isaiah 46:5 (God would be the first to tell you if there was another God besides Him)
“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
Isaiah 46:6-10 (Objects of idolatry carried in a parade or procession)
Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Isaiah 57:5 (Idolatry consists of worshiping nature, worshiping so called spirits of nature, human sacrifice)
Who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter the children in the ravines, under the clefts of the crags? The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; indeed, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In view of all this, should I relent?
Isaiah 57:6 (Idolatry consists of building altars and sacred statues in high places such as hills for worship)
You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
Isaiah 57:8 (Idolatry consists of worshiping objects by displaying symbols of the Devil on walls, T-shirts or hand signs. Viewing images in secret places or in private homes such as Pornography)
Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
Isaiah 65:3 (Provoking God to His face)
A people who continually provoke Me to My face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Jeremiah 2:9-13 (Idolatry: is swapping God. A christian nation that worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then turns secular, all inclusive or apostate)
“Therefore I will yet contend with you,” declares the LORD, “And with your sons’ sons I will contend. “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe closely And see if there has been such a thing as this! “Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.
Jeremiah 2:20 (Idolatry: is prostituting yourself with other gods)
“For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your bonds; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill And under every green tree You have lain down as a harlot.
Jeremiah 3:9 (Idolatry: is playing the harlot by mixing worship with other gods)
“Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
“Why should I [overlook these offenses and] forgive you? Your children have abandoned (rejected) Me and sworn [their oaths] by those who are not gods. When I had fed them until they were full [and bound them to Me by a promise], they committed [spiritual] adultery, assembling in troops at the houses of prostitutes (idols).
Jeremiah 5:19 (Israels tragedy brought about by idolatry)
“It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
Jeremiah 7:18 (How God views the customs of idolatry)
“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me.
Jeremiah 8:3 (Banishment caused by idolatry)
3 And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the Lord of hosts.
Jeremiah 8:5 (They who practice idolatry hold on to their deceit)
Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.
Jeremiah 10:1-25 (God contra Idols)
10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 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.”
6 No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple — all made by skilled workers. 10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”
12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. 16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance— the Lord Almighty is his name.
Coming Destruction
17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land, you who live under siege. 18 For this is what the Lord says: “At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured.”
19 Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, “This is my sickness, and I must endure it.” 20 My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My children are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter. 21 The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered. 22 Listen! The report is coming— a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.
Jeremiah’s Prayer
23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. 24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure — not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. 25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.
“Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. “For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.
“Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.
Jeremiah 18:15 (Objects of idolatry worshiped with incense. They who practice forget God)
‘For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway,
Jeremiah 19:13 (Objects of idolatry worshiped with libations)
“The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
Jeremiah 32:34 (Idolatry: mixing worship)
“They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.”
Jeremiah 41:5 (Customs of idolatry consists of cutting the flesh in religious discipline such as flagellation and cuts to bring out the blood)
that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD.
Jeremiah 44:4 (God hates idolatry)
‘Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.”
Jeremiah 44:17 (Worshiping the Queen of Heaven idol)
But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune.
Jeremiah 44:25 (Much tragedy, sorrow and pain caused by the sin of idolatry on Israel and on anyone who practices it)
thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her ” Go ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’
“And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god.”
Declare and proclaim among the nations Proclaim it and lift up a standard Do not conceal it but say, ‘Babylon has been captured, Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered; Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.’
I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in Babylon and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere]. The nations will no longer flow to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!
Ezekiel 5:11 (Defiling the Sanctuary of God with idolatry and its tragic consequence)
Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.
Ezekiel 8:10 (Pictures, images, icons on walls as objects of idolatry)
10 I went in and looked—figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts, all the idols of the house of Israel, pictured around the wall.
Ezekiel 13:23 (Practicing idolatry)
23 therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 13:17 (Practicing idolatry)
17 “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them’
Ezekiel 14:1-9 (Setting up idols in the heart results in being estranged. Idolatry blocks prayers from being heard)
Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. …
Ezekiel 14:6 (Purging idolatry: Repentance required)
Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.”
Ezekiel 16:15-21 (Descent into darkness caused by idolatry)
15 “But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations]. 16 You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colors and prostituted yourself on them—things which should never have come about and taken place. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels and beautiful vessels made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men so that you could prostitute yourself with them; 18 and you took your embroidered clothing and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. 19 Also My bread which I gave you, [made from the] fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you even offered it before idols [no better than cow dung] as a sweet and soothing aroma; so it happened,” says the Lord God. 20 “Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter? 21 You slaughtered My children and offered them up to [worthless] idols, forcing them to pass through the [hideousness of the] fire.
Ezekiel 16:28-30 (Following Assyrians into idolatry)
You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.
Ezekiel 16:36 (Wicked practices of idolatry: human sacrifice)
Thus says the Lord GOD, “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols
Ezekiel 18:5-9 (Righteousness consists of not practicing idolatry)
” If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 20:7 (Result of idolatry: defiling and corrupting yourself)
“I said to them, ‘Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.’
Ezekiel 20:16 (They who practice idolatry go after it with their heart)
“…because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.”
Ezekiel 20:39 (Idolatry pollutes the name of God)
Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.
Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors, who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. “She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.
Ezekiel 23:39 (Wicked practices of idolatry: bloody, human sacrifice)
9 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house.
Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
Daniel 3:5 (Nationalized Idolatry)
5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Daniel 3:18 (Idol worship refused)
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
Daniel 5:4 (Praising idols and drinking the wine of false teaching, lies and confusion. The wine of Babylon)
They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
Daniel 11:38 (Customs of tithes and gifts in idolatry)
He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
Hosea 4:12 (They who practice idolatry have fellowship with devils and ask counsel of their idols)
My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning.
Hosea 11:2 (Objects of idolatry consists of graven images)
The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.
13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror.
He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel;
But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation].
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them],
All of them the work of the craftsmen.
They say of these [very works of their hands], “Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!”
4 “Come to Bethel [where the golden calf is] and transgress;
In Gilgal [where idols are worshiped] multiply transgression;
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days!
5 “Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them.
For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!”
Says the Lord God.
Amos 5:26-27 (Idol objects carried in procession)
26 You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun [your man-made gods of Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [but you brought Me none of the appointed sacrifices]. 27 Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
8 “Those who regard and follow worthless idols, turn away from their [living source of] mercy and loving kindness. 9 “But [as for me], I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I shall pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is from the Lord!”
“I will cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you, So that you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands.
Habakkuk 1:16 (Objects of idolatry: Net and drag)
Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net And burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food is plentiful.
Habakkuk 2:18-20 (Objects of idolatry are teachers of lies)
18 “What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it?
It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies.
For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god]
When he makes speechless idols.
19 “Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’
And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
20 “But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth hush and be silent before Him.”
Zephaniah 1:2-6 (God’s fierce anger at idolatry)
2 “I will completely consume and sweep away all things
From the face of the earth [in judgment],” says the Lord.
3 “I will consume and sweep away man and beast;
I will consume and sweep away the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks (idols) along with the wicked;
And I will cut off and destroy man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off and destroy the remnant of [c]Baal from this place,
And the names and remembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,
5 And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] [d]on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
6 And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
2 “In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
Matthew 4:8-10 (Idolatry consists of worshiping demons)
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Luke 16:13 (Idolatry consists of worshiping something else in place of God)
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
John 4:23 (Idolatry forbidden. Worship belongs to God alone)
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
43 You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’
Acts 10:25-26 (Receiving celebrity status and worshiped as an idol refused)
25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
Acts 14:13 (Idol sacrifices often decorated with garlands)
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.
Acts 14:15 (Accepting godlike celebrity status and worshiped as an idol refused)
15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
Acts 15:20 (Idolatry led to abominable sins)
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.
Acts 16:16-18 (Idolatry: seeking out other gods for personal gain)
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
“Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
Acts 17:22-31 (Idolatry described as irrational)
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place…
Acts 19:24 (Idol worship of Diana)
For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen;
Acts 19:26-27 (Profiting from idolatry)
“You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”
Romans 1:21-22 (Idolatry described as irrational)
21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools
Romans 1:23-25 (Idolatry: changing the glory of God into an image)
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Romans 1:26-28 (Idolatry leads to abominable sins)
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
1 Corinthians 5:11 (Believers are not to associate with people practicing idolatry)
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (Consequence of idolatry: exclusion from Heaven)
9 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
1 Corinthians 10:7 (Worshiping idols with singing and dancing)
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.”
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 12:2 (Carried away by practicing idolatry)
You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.
18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you [to a meal at his home] and you want to go, eat whatever is served to you without asking questions [about its source] for the sake of your conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This meat has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience’s sake—
Galatians 4:8 (Consequence of idolatry)
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
Galatians 5:19-21 (Idolatry is a work of the flesh)
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.
Ephesians 5:5 (Consequence of idolatry)
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.
Philippians 3:19 (Idolatry consists of sensuality)
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Colossians 2:18 (Angels as objects of idolatry)
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
Colossians 3:5 (Idolatry consists of covetousness)
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (Idolatry renounced on conversion)
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
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (Core of modern idol worship: worshiping at the altar of the god Self)
3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Hebrews 10:26 (Consequence of continuing in idolatry)
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
1 John 3:16 (Modern form of idol worship: worshiping at the altar of the god of Self)
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 5:21 (Be cautious of false worship)
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Revelation 9:20-21 (Idolatry consists of worshiping demons)
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 14:9-11 (The eternal end-result of idolatry)
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Rev 17:2, 18:2-3 (Idolatry consists of drinking the wine of Babylon, the harlot: false teachings, lies, false gospel, mixed with Spiritism, Gal 1:8-12. Result: disoriented, benumbed, confused, spiritually drunk)
17 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
18 2 …She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.3For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.
Revelation 21:8 (Eternal consequence of idolatry)
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.”
Revelation 22:8-9 (Angel refuses to be a celebrity and receive idol worship)
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”