Three Definitions of an idol: 1. An “idol” can refer to either an object worshipped as a deity or a person who is greatly admired….. 2. 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 ….. 3. someone who is admired and respected very much.
Comment: There are above images of three types of idol. The first one although a carved image really fits into the third definition above. ‘Buddha was a real person, although long dead. Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.’ (Wikipedia) – If you are following the teachings of Buddha (a dead man) then you are trying to earn your way in a series of steps to eventually reach Nirvana when you are perfect! The Bible says in Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, no, not one”; and Rom 6: 23 says “For the wages of sin is death” Buddhism assumes that ultimately you will reach perfection but has no answer to the past! 2. If you are praying to the idol it is the same as praying to the next god, Molech. Moloch, as a god, was an idol, made resembling a man with a bull’s head. inside was a furnace which was heated. Worshippers placed their children in the idol’s hands. The children would die an agonizing death! Those sacrificing were worshipping a god about whom the scripture says the following. Isa 46: 5-7 – “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.”
The third definition above has some good qualities. There are people to be admired and are a good example to be followed but it can certainly become godlike worship. If God gets displaced from the throne of your life (central place) of your life then he she or it becomes an idol! Narcissism is idol worship of self; deep constant commitment to pedophilia is idol worship; commitment to free sex is an idol; obsession with global warming can become idolatry (God is in control); intrauterine ‘murder’ is similar to worshipping Molech with the ‘prayer’ of getting a more fulfilling self-life! etc.
Some consider that the story of Adam and Eve was an example of displacing God by themselves and the first example of idol worship; Certainly there is a clear referrence in Gen 35: 2 – “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves…..” You may be interested to look at all that the Bible says about displacing God from the throne of human lives by idol worship.
Proverbs 28: 26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
Prayer: Help me to discern clearly and help me correct where, when or if I displace You from the ‘centre’ of my life.
As I read it! 