“If a woman conceives and bears a man child, then she shall be unclean for seven days … And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised, and she shall continue in her purifying for three and thirty days. She shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, untilContinue reading “God Placed a Boundary Between Sex, Children, and Worship. Leviticus 12:2-4.”
Category Archives: Idols
Observing the Idol Worshipper in His Native Habitat. Isaiah 44:12-20.
Image: Long-Billed Curlew, by John James Audubon, one of 435 life-sized, realistic watercolor paintings in his BIRDS OF AMERICA, 1838, a staggering masterpiece of documentation. A naturalist is a kind of hybrid scientist-reporter-artist-categorizer, such as John James Audubon, John Muir, and Jane Goodall. They publish their findings in books with simple titles like THE REDContinue reading “Observing the Idol Worshipper in His Native Habitat. Isaiah 44:12-20.”
Each Biblical Plague Rebuked a Specific Egyptian Idol. Exodus 12 and 13.
When Moses returned from Midian–the 80-year-old prophet who had been raised in Pharaoh’s palace, then fled a murder charge at the age of 40–the Hebrews were pleased. At first. But then Pharaoh told his task masters to make the Hebrews build bricks just as before, but with no straw supplied to them. The bricks wereContinue reading “Each Biblical Plague Rebuked a Specific Egyptian Idol. Exodus 12 and 13.”
LUST = IDOLATRY. Ezekiel 16.
Over the years, I have heard several news reports about babies that have been found in dumpsters. Someone taking out the trash lifts the heavy lid and hears the muffled cry of a baby. Can you imagine that? The babies were adopted and went on to have good lives—but what an origin story! Imagine knowingContinue reading “LUST = IDOLATRY. Ezekiel 16.”
Pork, Port, and Potions: What’s So Tempting About Idolatry? Psalm 135:15-18.
Few things are more surprising to a first-time Bible reader than the constant presence of idol worship in a book about the One True God. God called Abram out of idol worship. His grandson Jacob married Rachel—who stole her father’s idols as a wedding present to herself. After Moses brought the nation out of Egypt,Continue reading “Pork, Port, and Potions: What’s So Tempting About Idolatry? Psalm 135:15-18.”
What are Your Goals? What Are You Chasing? 2 Kings 17:15.
Did you know there is a connection between the pursued and the pursuer? One will take on the traits of the other. Remember playing tag? All the children darting this way and that? Remember being “IT” and trying to anticipate the moves people would use: you tell yourself, if he pivots left, I’ll be ready,Continue reading “What are Your Goals? What Are You Chasing? 2 Kings 17:15.”
What’s So Bad About Idol Worship?
What’s so bad about idol worship? Some idols are believed to be inspired by demons, thus idol worship is demon worship. And idol worship involved “temple prostitutes” of both sexes. When babies were born to them, the girls joined their mothers as sex slaves, and the boys were killed. Idolatry also involved child sacrifice. WhenContinue reading “What’s So Bad About Idol Worship?”
Have You Been Influenced by Idol Worshippers? Deuteronomy 13:6-10.
Do you have lost friends? Yes. Do you admire personal heroes who happen to be lost? Yes. Do they influence you? Yes. Anytime you like or admire someone, their choices influence you. It’s as if you were two sheep wandering across a field. If you like or admire another sheep and he takes a certainContinue reading “Have You Been Influenced by Idol Worshippers? Deuteronomy 13:6-10.”
Judgment of the Gods.
We expect God to judge people. He punishes evil people throughout the Bible. He punished Cain by banishment. He punished the pagan world with a flood. He punished Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven. He punished idolatrous, treasonous Israelites when the earth swallowed them in an earthquake. But did you know God also judgesContinue reading “Judgment of the Gods.”
Household Words: 