4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
15 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.
18 To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? 19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 20 A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple. 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. 20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
4 We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
“We easily fall into idolatry, for we are inclined to it by nature; and coming to us by inheritance, it seems pleasant.” Martin Luther
“The truth and beauty of the gospel expose our idol-myths as feeble substitutes and garish counterfeits. And the power of the gospel enables us to break free from their enslaving and destructive grasp. Indeed, as our deliverer and liberator, Jesus is freeing us for the great adventure of living as characters in and carriers of God’s archetypal Story of all stories. It’s like being taking from starring in your own self-produced, 8 mm black and white home movies to playing one of the hobbits in the grand production of The Return of the King.” Scotty Smith
“The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be; help me to tear it from Thy throne, and worship only Thee.” William Cowper
“We can make idols out of anything – our work, our family, our friends, our hobbies, our adoring audiences, our wealth, even our ‘perfect’ children or our wonderful meals or our clean and ordered houses. We can make “Delilah’s” out of anything. Idols are whatever we have a tendency to hold on to with a grip that we will not let go. None of these things are bad in and of themselves – it is the priority we place on them that’s askew. If they become our “god’s” it is wrong. If anything or anybody takes Christ’s rightful position on the throne of our lives it is an idol and must be removed for the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Live your life with open hands.” BHY
“Idolatry is an attempt to use God for man’s purposes, rather than to give oneself to God’s service.” C. F .D. Moule
“There is nothing so abominable in the eyes of God and of men as idolatry.” Blaise Pascal
“God promises us redemption, but His sacred path leads us away from safety, predictability, and comfort. Any attempt to fly over the dangerous terrain or make a detour to safer ground is doomed because it will not take us to God. Instead, it leads to a host of other idols that can’t provide us with the confidence of faith, the dynamic of hope or the passion of love we so deeply crave. Each day we either live for God or for other gods. In each moment of hardship we fear either God or man. When we choose to worship gods and fear men our lives will suffer an emptiness and turmoil that is not much different than trying to fill our bellies with dirt. At first we may feel full, but in short order our violation of God’s plan will lead to torment.” Dan Allender
“Scripture permits us to broaden the definition of idolatry so that includes anything on which we set our affections and indulge as an excessive and sinful attachment. Therefore, the idols that we can see are certainly not the whole problem. Idolatry includes anything we worship: the lust for pleasure, respect, love, power, control, or freedom from pain. Futhermore, the problem is not outside of us....the problem is in us....the heart’s instinctive plotting in this idol construction is amazing. We know we are called to imitate God. This means we are to live for His glory, not our own. We are to make Him famous, not ourselves....the purpose of all idolatry is to manipulate the idol for our own benefit.....but (we) need the power of God, the message of Christ crucified and risen. Other therapies can offer sobriety, but only this good news is powerful enough to liberate the soul.” Ed Welch
“Since we are made to worship, we are always centering our lives on something whether we realize it or not. It is like a fire hose that is stuck in the ‘on’ position and shooting water out endlessly with great force. We must decide where we aim the hose as the focus of our worship. The idols of our modern world are not necessarily the hand-carved statues of the ancient world. In our autonomous self-seeking ways, people have instead come to serve or worship the self-erected idols of approval, comfort, and security. We must ruthlessly inspect the sin in our heart for these idols... so it is vital that [we] get to the heart. As Tim Keller puts it, ‘The solution to our sin problem is not simply to change our behavior, but to reorient and center our entire heart and life on God.’ Therefore, we must go after the nature of the sin by going after its root and not just the fruit of the sin. Oftentimes people repent of sin that is simply the fruit of the idols in their hearts. We must find out the why of the behavior and not just the what”. Tom Wood & Scott Thomas
“Whatever a man seeks, honors, or exalts more than God, this is the god of idolatry.” William Ullathorne