Idolatry is one of the many abominable things that God hates among His people. It is part of the past of early Christians.
I PETER 4:3
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
Their idolatries were described as abominable, hence clearly unacceptable to God. Generally, there are seven abominable things in the sight of the Lord: 1) A proud look, 2) A lying tongue, 3) Hands that claim innocent lives, 4) Heart that devised wicked imaginations, 5) Feet that run to do mischief, 6) False witnessing, and 7) Sowing discord among brethren.
PROVERBS 6:16-19
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Of the seven mentioned, idolatry falls into “heart that deviseth wicked imaginations.”
From Strong’s Dictionary -
G1495
εἰδωλολατρεία
eidōlolatreia
i-do-lol-at-ri'-ah
From G1497 (eidōlon) and G2999 (latreia); image worship (literally or figuratively): - idolatry.
Idolatry in the biblical sense constitutes kneeling, praying, gazing or seeing an idol. But idolatry from the context of the entire Bible itself is not only kneeling down or seeing or gazing unto an idol but also keeping within oneself sentiments - against the will of God.
EPHESIANS 5:3-5
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Paul further emphasized unto the church in Colossae what constitutes idolatry: covetousness. A covetous man is a greedy man that cannot have what he wants. He is an idolater in that the person devotes much time thinking of his object of desire more than he should.
COLOSSIANS 3:5-6
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
The damage to the soul caused by idolatry is not limited to just directly kneeling down, praying, gazing unto an idol of wood, metal, stone, and the like. It extends far beyond the presence of an idol including eating foods offered to it - before the idol or without.
Here are what the Bible warns about idols: 1) Idols can pollute the mind; 2) Offerings like meat are being offered to idols; 3) Conscience can be inhabited by the idol as allowed by man; 4) Conscience can be defiled by the idol; 5) Food sacrificed to idols can defile the one eating it - when eaten knowingly.
THE ACTS 15:19-20, 28-29
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well, Fare ye well.
I CORINTHIANS 8:7
Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
I CORINTHIANS 10:27-28
27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof:
In the last situation, there stands the restricting clause, “but if any man say unto you.” You are free to eat; there is no information of food being offered to an idol. But… Remember, you are to consider your brother offering you a feast. If told that the food was offered to an idol, you must not eat it. It is plain to see here the relationship between conscience and idols.
God condemns respecters and keepers of idols! Incidentally, in some residences, gods of all sizes and all constitutions whether stone, wood, metal or ceramics can be found. Some are encased in glasses, some merely standing, and some placed visibly where a garland of fresh flowers is placed from time to time. Of course, such gods are made by the hands of men, which is why they are mere idols.
GENESIS 31:30-34
30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longest after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
Precious metals offered and used in idolatry or adoration of idols are equally evil with the idol itself that may cause snare of the soul of any person keeping it.
DEUTERONOMY 7:25
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
This is why God condemned the household of Achan. They were idolaters. They coveted the material things of unbelievers that they were told to destroy.
JOSHUA 7:19-26
19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
But what are idols?
PSALMS 115:4-8
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
This Catholic priest accepts that kneeling down to pray before graven images is idolatry. But he does not consider that those images in the Catholic Church are mere wood or metal or stone, mere idols. Why couldn’t he when carpenters fool them by placing chemicals inside the idol that can drop in slow trickles as blood so that Steve Shott and his likes can claim miracle afterwards? (Some “religious” people enjoy being fooled and that explains why there are carpenter fools).
Neither the idol (statue) nor any thing used in making it - be it precious like gold, silver, or stone - should be kept by a Christian! But Roman Catholics keep them all - complete with devotion and prayers being offered unto them.
THE ACTS 17:29
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
Dr. Paul M. Elliott, a writer, wrote about the Roman Catholic Church as “The Historic Champion of Counterfeit Worship.” In his article of the same title, he said -
Vatican teaching alleges a distinction between what it calls dulia (venerating saints and bowing before statues and human remains) and latria (worship directed toward God). Veneration is not the same as worship, they say. We are only venerating saints, relics, Mary, and popes past and present. However, they are making a distinction between veneration and worship that does not stand up under the light of Scripture. When man gives the adoration to other persons and objects that is to be reserved for the one true and living God alone, that is nothing less than counterfeit worship. When man gives the love, reverence, devotion, adulation - and yes, the veneration - to other persons and to other things when that love, reverence, devotion, adulation, and veneration rightfully belongs to God alone - Rome may call it by whatever Latin name it likes, but it is still counterfeit worship. Moreover, when man makes images and prays to them it is idolatry…. (Ref: teachingtheword.org).
LET US DIG DEEPER.
Catholic Faith Apologetics reason that God ordered Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant. In this ark, the two tablets of stone with the (genuine) ten commandments written on them should be kept.
II CHRONICLES 5:10
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
And upon it are the images of cherubs made with gold.
EXODUS 25:18
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
A quick look at the verses and a deep analysis of them reveals that it is not a commandment for all people, nor to any catholic, but to one particular person who is Moses.
HEBREWS 8:5
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
Catholics do not have the same stature as that of Moses. God showed Moses heavenly things which things were not shown to any Catholic from its inception up to now. When I mentioned the Ten Commandments, I said, “the genuine Ten Commandments.” Why? Because the Catholic Church had intentionally restructured the genuine into their own crooked version!
Let us read the genuine version:
EXODUS 20:2-17
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Now let us read this photo reference indicating how the Catholic “formula” is arrived at. Second commandment is deleted!
Ref: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm
The Catholic Church removed the second commandment that is, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”
Outrageous! Take note of the Bible verses on the left. Moving to the right, they have what is called a “formula” but now the injunction about images is not reflected (Commandment 2 or “You shall have no other gods before me.” [Deuteronomy 5 for short form and Exodus 20 for longer form]). Towards the end, what happens is a splitting of the ninth commandment to serve as the 9th and 10th.
What could be their intention in removing that? Isn’t removal an indication that they understood what graven images mean yet refuse to follow? This is an utter disregard for the word of God, a very obvious foolhardiness of Catholic authorities striking out a very important portion of the Ten Commandments.
The clear objective is to cosmeticize their practice of profane, recklessly open, vulgar, and abominable idolatry! This is unspeakable, beastly, horrendous!
Read what is written in the Bible, and compare again and again the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments and you will discover that their disobedience of the Lord is scandalously evil and intended!
The second commandment of the genuine version (those reflected on the left portion) is missing in the “formula;” can you see that? (The “formula” is the one they teach to their people). Instead, the commandments that are supposed to follow are raised up higher and the last one is split in two. Would God need to split coveting when he has to declare it a sin?
But the Catholic Church did not just diminish a word but took away the entire second commandment!
DEUTERONOMY 5:7-9
7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
JEREMIAH 26:2
Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
The question with Catholics is that they are not advised by their priests to read the Bible, contrary to the customs and traditions of real Christians!
Here’s what a Catholic priest said. He sounds assertive but the assertion more than displays his ignorance. To him, there is no injunction about reading the Bible. How sad for a priest – a supposed teacher of people!
What will he teach his people if he doesn’t know his Bible? The Catechism is not the Bible. Meanwhile, the Bible is teeming with verses advising God’s people to read it.
It is now being affirmed that Catholics are not God’s people especially their priests. As exemplified by Steve Shotts, they do not know this particular will of God! Sadly, there are many Steve Shotts in the world, in fact, beginning with their present Pope whom we criticized for his pronouncements about Jesus Christ.
ISAIAH 34:16
Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
COLOSSIANS 4:16
And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
I THESSALONIANS 5:27
I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
There is discipline in reading the Bible. Two are outstanding and these are – First, not to think of men above that which is written.
I CORINTHIANS 4:6
And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
No purgatory, no limbo, no rosary. More yet, no Mary that appears and appears and speaks, no Catholic saints that start religious orders.
Second, not to add to nor take away from or deduct anything from what one is reading.
REVELATION 22:18
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
All these things are not only being disregarded by Catholic authorities but also being dreadfully transgressed!
The fact is, a minister of Christ must always read the Bible. He needs to do it.
I TIMOTHY 4:13
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
But what will Timothy read?
II TIMOTHY 3:15-17
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
What obtains is that Catholic priests read fairy tales like apparition of Mary, the papal encyclicals, and the likes that lead them and their members away from the truth!
But God’s people from its kings down to the least of them are commanded by God to always read the Bible.
DEUTERONOMY 17:18-19
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
JOSHUA 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
In spite of their folly, Catholics have the gall to claim that they were the ones who canonized the Scriptures. What a shame!
Now, does it pay to read the Bible? Definitely, YES! One gets blessed.
REVELATION 1:3
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
I am appealing to all Catholics who hate me. Continue hating me. I am blessed anyway by your hatred but please read your Bible and do your souls a favor!
MATTHEW 5:11
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
As for me and my household, we will continue reading the Bible!
More to come.
Truly yours,
Brother Eli Soriano
