Now behind that is, correctly, the second commandment:
So I think he’s right that in the Bible there’s this distinct focus on a manmade object or something from nature, rather than just this strong craving and desire for stuff. You don’t find the word idolatry used to describe excessive love for your wife, or your lands, or your money, or your pocketbook. Now, our friend who sent this question in is right, I think, that in the Bible the word idol is uniformly used for an actual object from nature or, more often, made by human hands. What makes all of those idols is that we are looking away from a wholehearted reliance upon the true and living God through Jesus Christ, and we are looking at the rabbit’s foot, or the relic, or the picture for some special protection, or blessing, or guidance, or help that we don’t think we could get by just looking to God. So you can see that would cover, for example, a rabbit’s foot in your pocket, or a picture of a saint hanging on your wall, or a relic from some sacred shrine sitting on your mantle, or the more forthright images taken from Hindu or Buddhist temples, or the golden calf that Aaron made while Moses was on the mountain. I think to cover all the cases, we should probably define an idol (and I think this is a biblical definition) as anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance in the place of a wholehearted reliance on the true and living God. Can you explain both forms of idolatry and how they’re connected?” In fact, when I look at Old Testament idols of tumors and mice, I don’t really understand those either. I don’t understand the link between statues and heart-idols. How did this come to be? Idols used to be carved things now they are heart obsessions. They seem to be desires of the heart for money, sex, power, and things like that. Sometimes it seems idols were talisman-like items to ward off bad things - trinkets in the form of golden tumors or golden mice. There I find that idols were statues or figurines, worshipers bending down to ‘gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone’ (Daniel 5:4). What exactly is an idol? Christians use the term all the time, especially in sermons. The year begins with a question over idolatry, of all things. I had no idea we were launching something that would last a decade. Welcome to 2022 and to the first episode in our tenth year on the podcast.
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