1. Idolatry
All NKJV unless otherwise specified
Oxford Dictionary
Idolatry – Noun 1) Worship of Idols 2) adulation (excessive admiration)
Regard with respect or warm approval; look at with pleasure
God’s commandment against Idolatry
Exodus 20 v1-7
1
And God spoke all these words, saying: 2
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. 3
“You shall have no other gods before Me. 4
“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; 5
you shall not
bow down to them nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6
but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me
and keep My commandments. 7
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.
 Let’s translate verse 2 in a slightly different way – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the slavery
which you were in because of your sin”
 We used to live in slavery to sin. But now that we have been brought out, we are no longer to be slaves to sin, but
slaves to righteousness. We owe all of ourselves to Him.
 Verse 3 – God is to be our number one. He is to be first and foremost in our lives. Anything which we put before
God in our lives is Idolatry.
 Verse 7 – God’s name is the name above all names. It is not to be taken lightly, or used flippantly. Neither is it to be
used in speech in a way which conveys bringing God down to our level. It is not to be used as a cuss word (swear
word).
 Imagining God to suit our beliefs of who He is, is idolatry. God is God, and He is the great “I AM”. If we want to
know who He is, we get to know Him through the Word (the Bible) and in prayer.
 Speaking “Thus saith the Lord” where God has not spoken is also taking His name in vain. God will not hold such a
false prophet guiltless.
1 John 5v21
21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
There are dire consequences for Idolatry
1 Corinthians 6v9
9
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Revelation 21v8
8
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Idols are worthless
Revelation 9v20
20
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should
not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
 Idols may be perceived to have a natural/earthly value, but as for spiritual value, they are worthless.
1 Corinthian 8v4
4
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no
other God but one.

2. Idolatry is not limited to Old Testament graven images
1 John 2v15-17
15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16
For all that
is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17
And
the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
 The sin of idolatry originates in the heart
 People set up these idols in their hearts by their lusts.
Ezekiel 20v7
7
“Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with
the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
 Let’s use some examples of Idolatry, to give some modern day perspective:
o Lust for persons of the opposite sex (or maybe even the same sex!)
o Lust for a better/flashier car, house, boat, jewelry, furniture, job, IPOD, etc,etc.
o Lust for power.
o Love of money, looks, prestige, pride.
o Having or bowing to images or statues of Jesus, the Saints, or Mary, Buddha, etc,etc.
o Living for Self. Your wants. Your desires.
o Stubbornness (see 1 Sam 15v23)
o Any and all other religions (see Exodus 20 v3-5 above)
2 Corinthians 10v5
5
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ,
 Since idolatry originates in the heart, it manifests in your thoughts.
 These thoughts have to be brought under control into capitivity to the obedience of Christ.
 Any and every thought which arises to try lead your minds astray need to be passed through the knowledge you have
of the Word of God. Immediate obedience to the word of God will cast down all of these idolatrous arguments and
lusts.
Ezekiel 14 v1-8
1
Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me (Ezekiel). 2
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
3
“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble
into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? 4
“Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the
Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble
into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his
idols, 5
“that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’
6
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces
away from all your abominations. 7
“For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who
separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into
iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself. 8
“I will set My
face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you
shall know that I am the LORD.
 The people who came to Ezekiel were elders – they knew the word of the law. Yet they lived in sin by the idols set up
in their hearts. The above word states that they put before themselves that which causes them to stumble. They “put
before them” these idols.
 God is not simply talking about unbelievers or heathens here, He is referring to His own people. A sure message for
every Christian of today to take note of!!!!
2 Corinthians 6v14(b)
For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

3. Idolatry in the Temple
Ezekiel 8 v1-18 and Ezekiel 9v1-7
1
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of
Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2
Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the
appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the
appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. 3
He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and
the Spirit lifted me (Ezekiel) up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of
the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was (idol), which provokes to jealousy. 4
And
behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. 5
Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift
your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of
jealousy in the entrance. 6
Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great
abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you
will see greater abominations.” 7
So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.
8
Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. 9
And He said to me,
“Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” 10
So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of
creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11
And there
stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan.
Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12
Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen
what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does
not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’ ” 13
And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that
they are doing.” 14
So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting
there weeping for Tammuz (other ‘god’). 15
Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see
greater abominations than these.” 16
So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the
temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the
LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. 17
And He said to me, “Have you
seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here?
For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to
their nose. 18
“Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My
ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” 1
Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who
have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2
And suddenly six men came from the direction
of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had
a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up
from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the
writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4
and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and
put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” 5
To the others He
said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6
“Utterly slay old
and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin
at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. 7
Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and
fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.
 This above passage has significant spiritual meaning for any believer of today.
 Whilst God showed Ezekiel what was happening in his temple in those days, we must realize that we ourselves are
now the temple of the living God.
2 Corinthians 6 v16-18
16
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will
dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17
Therefore “Come out from among
them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18
“I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
 Just as it was possible that idolatry crept into the Old Testament Temple, it is just as possible that it can creep into the
new temple, the born-again believers. We must guard against this happening.