Exodus 20:3-5
“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”
INSIGHT
-An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed. The Lord gave the ten commandments on mount Sinai, at a time when the Israelites were surrounded by nations that worshipped foreign gods. God’s character inspires loyalty to Him since we are created in His own image and likeness, and should remain in His nature of love. As believers, God calls us to demonstrate loyalty and faithfulness by worshipping Him alone. God forbids the creation of any image in His likeness either literally or conceptually. Even though the Israelites were unique among their neighbors, they periodically missed the mark and were lured into idol worship. Aaron led the Israelites into the worship of a golden calf when Moses took longer to come back from mount Sinai (Exodus 32:4). The Lord instructed Moses to go down and see the corruption that the Israelites had brought to themselves. This was a great disaster, and three thousand men died that day. We then see Moses pleading with God that His wrath may not burn hot against His people. Moses prayed that the people may return to the Lord and repent of their sins. Ezra also proclaimed a fast that the people may humble themselves and return to the Lord (Ezra 8:21-23). Likewise Joel called the people to mourning and repentance for their idolatrous ways (Joel 2:12-13). Fasting and prayer is not just an outward practice, but a process that leads to inner transformation. Fasting and repentance strengthens us spiritually when we choose to do evil and leads us to stand on God’s Word through faith.
PRAYER
Thank You Abba Father for You are our great God, our great I AM, our great High Priest, our Sure Foundation. Thank You for enabling us to see this new week, we count our blessings and name them one by one. Lord You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in kindness, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Even though our sins are as red as scarlet; Your made us as white as snow, thank You Jesus for loving us and for dying on the cross for our sins. May You forgive us for any form of idolatry we have harbored in our hearts and minds, and that has been practiced by our forefathers, family members and nation. Your hand is upon all those who seek You, but Your wrath is against all those who forsake You, forgive us all our sins and lead us all to the way of salvation. We humble ourselves before You Lord, heal our hearts and our land. We humbly implore You to remove any accusation against us, our families, and nation in the courts of heaven by Your precious blood. Thank You for reconciling us to the Father and giving us new life. We worship You dear Jesus for Your redemption, mercy and grace. You are awesome Lord in power and might, our hope and trust is in You Lord our God. Thank You for granting us victory so that we may live forever with You, all our hope and trust is in You Lord. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive all those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from all evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen
Further reading: 2 Chronicles 7:14
1 Samuel 5:1-4 NIV
“After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.”
INSIGHT
–The Philistines stole the ark of God and brought it to Dagon their god. They recognized Dagon as their god who was said to be the father of Baal. They crafted his head, arms and torso like that of a man, and the lower body as a fish. Dagon could not stand before the Lord. He did not only fall and break, but was dismembered. What the Philippines though to have been god, was humiliated to their catastrophe in his own sanctuary and they could not step into that threshold. Who can stand against the Lord our God? God struck them with tumors and they gave glory to God (1 Samuel 6:5). Likewise, when Goliath the Philistine giant exulted himself and humiliated the Israelites, God won victory for them. Goliath appeared to be like a god to the Philistines, and when he called for a conquest against the Israelite armies, they were dismayed and terrified. David took account of God’s salvation, rescuing him from the paw of the lion and bear, and was confident that He will rescue him from the hand of the Philistine. Upon hearing these words, king Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you” (1 Samuel 17:37). David was not afraid of Goliath, but he put His trust in the Lord. Psalm 20:7 says that, “some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God”. It is catastrophic to put one’s trust in idols made by human hands, and believe in one’s own power, size, wealth and connections, but to trust in the Lord in all things. Further, God has won victory for us, and cautions us from being afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but reminds us to only be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).
PRAYER
Who can stand against You Lord our God. No one can, no one will. Only You are victorious, only You are able. All creation bow down before You Lord. All other gods fall before Your presence. Dagon has fallen we exult Your holy name Jesus. All other gods are idols, and cannot save. Only You are the true God and none can be likened to You. Only You deserve all worship, honor and praise. May You deliver us from all plans of the devil and grant us victory in this day, and the days to come. May You cancel and cleanse us from every evil and demonic covenant and altar planted against us. May You remove every accusation against us dear Jesus. Some trust in horses, others trust is chariots but we put our trust in You Lord our God. May Your revival be established in this nation and all the nations of the world. Grant that many may know You and believe in You. Your hand is not too short to save nor ear too dull to hear, may You hear our prayers and hearts desires. May You grant the gift of salvation to us, our family members, and friends, our Asian, Chinese and Muslim brothers and sister, and deliver us from eternal death. May You save us dear Jesus from eternal condemnation. May You strengthen us and empower us dear Jesus to do that which You have called us to do. May You train us to rely on You in all things dear Jesus. Teach us to consult You and pray to You in all circumstances. Draw us nearer to You that we may always fellowship at Your presence. May You fill us Holy Spirit with Your fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. We have victory in Your blood Jesus, we put all our trust in You. We praise You and exult Your holy name now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Proverbs 3:5-6
1 Corinthians 10:7-9 NIV
“Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.”
INSIGHT
-It is common for people who worship idols to eat, drink and offer libations to their gods. As such worship takes place, dancing, sexual immorality and other canal desires please their souls. Luke 17:27 reveals that, during the day of Noah, people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day he entered the ark that the flood came and destroyed them all. Also, during the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, people indulged in sexual immorality and were oblivious of fact that there was looming judgement. Ezekiel 23:17-20 links the sexual immorality of Babylon to idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, also reveals that sexual immorality is a form of idolatry since our bodies are members of Christ Himself. When we participate in sexual immorality, we unite the members of Christ with a prostitute, for two become one flesh. Since we are not our own as Christ purchased us at a price, we are called to flee from sexual immorality since our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER
Merciful Savior we appreciate You for loving us and caring for us. Thank You for laying Your life for our salvation. May You deliver us from any form of idolatry and sexual immorality, show us Your way of truth. May You forgive us, our family members, the youth, our society, churches, leaders, and nation from all our sins and wash us with Your precious blood merciful Savior. May You train our hearts seek You first and have an intimate relationship with You Holy Spirit. May You cleanse us from all unrighteousness and forgive us for the many times that we have grieved You Holy Spirit. May You enlighten our steps and guide us in our coming in and going out. Make all our plans succeed according to Your will and Your promises upon our lives and generations. We are more than conquerors in You Jesus Christ. We shall prosper and be of good health. May You heal all those who are sick in our families and among us loving Savior. No plan of the devil fashioned against our lives shall prosper and no tongue raised against us shall prevail in Jesus name. We are victorious in You Jesus because Babylon has fallen. May You be our ever present help in times of need, and provide rain and food to those who are affected by drought. May You help the citizen of Taiwan who have been affected by Earthquakes. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
Further reading: Revelation 18:3
Matthew 6:24 NIV
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
INSIGHT
-There has been great insights, revelations and at the same time controversies about this verse. It is evident that money is important and God wants us to prosper, but the limiting factor is the love of money that leads the heart to despise God. Of-course we cannot discriminate against any just discourse provided about the subject of money as the Lord communicates different messages and in assorted situations, to diverse individuals and groups. 2 Timothy 3:16, reveals that all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Jesus in the main verse discloses that it is impossible to serve Him and the same time serve money. Going back to the definitions, an idol is an object or anything that takes the first place of God in our lives, associations, dealings, societies and nation. According this scripture, it is possible to love money and give it prominence in our hearts that it takes the position of God, therefore becoming an idol. Jesus instructed the rich young ruler who kept the Ten Commandments to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor and follow Him so as to have treasures in heaven, but he got extremely sad for he had great wealth (Matthew 19:17-22). He thought he had the money but the money had him. The rich man in Luke 16:19-31 neglected the needs of Lazarus and he was condemned in hell as Lazarus went to heaven. We have seen instances of individuals who have grown in wealth but fail to see the importance of God and other people in their lives. We have also been gradually cultured to believe that it is impossible to operate without practicing corruption in our country. God is calling us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto us.
PRAYER
I will bless You Lord at all times; Your praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in You Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. You are God and nothing can be compared to You. Nothing can take Your place in our lives and nation, may You deliver us merciful Savior from any form of idolatry. May you forgive us dear Jesus for the times we have idolized money and wealth, and wash us with Your precious blood. Lord You are the one who give us the ability to make wealth, may that ability abound in us, our families and nation. May You bless the work of our hands and prosper us, like You prospered our father Abraham. May You grant us the grace of increase and open new doors of opportunity for us. May You help us to remain meek and humble at heart even as You bless us and our descendants. Lord everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You, may You take all the glory and praise. May You increase in us wisdom and faith, together with our leaders and fellow country men and women, that we may be strong and do exploits according to Your merciful love. May You give us the grace of forgiveness that we forgive one another as You have forgiven us. May You increase in us the grace of love, that we may love You Lord and one another as ourselves. We praise You dear Jesus and worship You now and forever. Amen
Further reading: 1 Timothy 6:10, Luke 16:19-31
Daniel 3:1-5 NIV
“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.”
INSIGHT
–King Nebuchadnezzar created a statue of gold for himself and ordered all the inhabitants of Babylon to worship him. Shadrack, Meshack and Abed-Nego could not worship the statue and believed that their God should save them, and still if He would not save them due to His Sovereignty, they would still defile the kings orders. Some leaders who hold seats in government, have such tendencies of seeking praise from their citizens. Other individual who are famous also act in such a manner and require the followers to worship them. In other instances, some participants of programs like “American idol”, idolize their talent and famous people can be viewed as gods. Like Daniel’s friends who were charged for not worshiping idols responded and said, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). Let us be awake in the spirit to realize the schemes of the enemy to lure us into worshipping idols and making others worship our images out of pride, in one way or another.
SUMMARY
By definition, an idol is an image, form or representation, usually of a man or other animal, consecrated as an object of worship or a pagan deity. Idols are usually statues or images, carved out of wood or stone, or formed of metals, particularly silver or gold. The gods of the nations are idols (Psalms 96:5). Also an idol can be defined as a person loved and honored to adoration. The prince was the idol of the people. It is also anything on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment. An idol can be anything which usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures. Worship can be defined as to adore; pay divine honors to; reverence with supreme respect and veneration. Idolatry can be first viewed as the act of creating and forming images in the human beings, animals and other designed structures that are purposed for worship as a god(s). The Lord cautioned the Israelites against the worship of images first in Exodus 20:3-4, and later Leviticus 26:1 saying, “Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.” Secondly, we have seen idol worship through the eyes of sexual immorality. The pagans used to eat, drink and perform sexual immorality like fornication, orgies, masturbation, incest, lesbianism, homosexuality etc. These forms of idolatry consumes one’s soul, time and resources, and often times they replace the position of God in our lives. Thirdly, idolatry can be inform of the love of money which is the root of all evil. God says that we can serve both God and money, we have to either hate one and love the other. Fourthly, power and fame when misused can be viewed as objects and subjects of idolatry. Like King Nebuchadnezzar who sculptured a golden image of himself and ordered the inhabitants of Babylon to worship him, individuals in positions of power or fame may feel more important that others and sort to be worshipped due to pride. We note that behind every idol there is a demon who is worshipped from an altar which serves it, and we should be careful to worship God alone.
PRAYER
Dear God, we thank You for Your amazing grace that works indiscriminately in our lives. Your grace is sufficient for us and Your power is made perfect in weakness. We thank You for Your goodness and blessings over us. Thank You for Your great love and care. Thank You for Your sacrifice so that we might have freedom and life in You. May You forgive us for every sin of idolatry committed by us, our forefathers, families, societies, leaders and nation, and cleanse us with Your precious blood. May You break every chain and altar in our bloodlines that causes us infirmity, diseases, pain, delay, poverty, lack, anxiety and other undesirable situations. May You deliver us from all evil and renew our hearts. May You help us to set our eyes and hearts on You afresh. May You renew our spirits, fill us with Your peace and joy. We love You and need You dear Jesus today and every day. We give You praise and thanks, for You alone are worthy. May You bless and keep us. May You make Your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. May You lift up Your countenance upon us and give us peace. We pray this believing and trusting in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
Further reading: Revelation 13:12-18, Colossians 3:5