Idolatry is Insanity
The one proof of God from the Bible we do not discuss is actually something many regard as reason for disbelief.
We don't see Him.
The Hebrew scriptures are clear: You do not make an image of Jehovah. Why? Because NO IMAGE we could make would do Him justice.
The religions of the ancient world worshipped scads of images. Paul is vexed by them in Athens in Acts 17. They even had an image to the "unknown" god just in case they missed one. There is something inherent to the human heart regarding idolatry. We want to create God according to our own likeness and image.
Israel struggled with this temptation from day one. They made a golden calf as Moses was getting the second commandment from the finger of God on tablets of stone! Remember that Aaron did not call them to worship some false deity but rather called the people to regard the calf as an image of the God who brought them out of Egypt. The human heart loves to recreate God according to our own ideas.
So today in Western Culture we want to recreate God according to our designs. What we are left with is a "god" far below the Immutable King of heaven!
Psalm 115 explores the folly of Idolatry:
Psalm 115:4–8 (ESV) Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
About this Psalm Augustine said that such idols were of less intelligence than the brute beasts for at least the beast can move it legs!
Notice the Psalmist words, "Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them."
Idolatry is fashioning a god we desire to worship according to our plans and purposes for him. We are left not only in sin but totally deranged as what we have made is our own imagination! And what a horrible and unreliable "god" our imaginations make! One day we are up, the next we are down. No wonder we become incapacitated in our self-induced worship.
No. The God worthy of worship is beyond our comprehension. He has been made known by His only begotten Son: John 1:18 (ESV) No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
We worship what we do not see, because He is beyond our ability to comprehend.
And to me, that's proof of His reality.
We don't see Him.
The Hebrew scriptures are clear: You do not make an image of Jehovah. Why? Because NO IMAGE we could make would do Him justice.
The religions of the ancient world worshipped scads of images. Paul is vexed by them in Athens in Acts 17. They even had an image to the "unknown" god just in case they missed one. There is something inherent to the human heart regarding idolatry. We want to create God according to our own likeness and image.
Israel struggled with this temptation from day one. They made a golden calf as Moses was getting the second commandment from the finger of God on tablets of stone! Remember that Aaron did not call them to worship some false deity but rather called the people to regard the calf as an image of the God who brought them out of Egypt. The human heart loves to recreate God according to our own ideas.
So today in Western Culture we want to recreate God according to our designs. What we are left with is a "god" far below the Immutable King of heaven!
Psalm 115 explores the folly of Idolatry:
Psalm 115:4–8 (ESV) Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
About this Psalm Augustine said that such idols were of less intelligence than the brute beasts for at least the beast can move it legs!
Notice the Psalmist words, "Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them."
Idolatry is fashioning a god we desire to worship according to our plans and purposes for him. We are left not only in sin but totally deranged as what we have made is our own imagination! And what a horrible and unreliable "god" our imaginations make! One day we are up, the next we are down. No wonder we become incapacitated in our self-induced worship.
No. The God worthy of worship is beyond our comprehension. He has been made known by His only begotten Son: John 1:18 (ESV) No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
We worship what we do not see, because He is beyond our ability to comprehend.
And to me, that's proof of His reality.
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