LESSON #1: “NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME”
God gave ten commandments to the children of Israel. The first of these commandments is, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) Idolatry is the sin against this commandment, because idolatry is having another god before God. If we have someone or something in our lives other than God as though it were God, we commit idolatry. Idolatry always provokes God to jealousy. Moses wrote, “for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)
LESSON #2: BREAKING A JEALOUS GOD’S HEART
What is sin? John the apostle wrote, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) Sin is breaking God’s law or commandment. But, for us as God’s people, sin is not only a matter of the law but a heart as well. It means if we sin, we do not only break His commandment but His heart as well. Idolatry is a very serious and personal sin against God. It grieves His heart so much that it provokes Him to jealousy and anger. When God is jealous, He is a consuming fire. Moses wrote, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24)
LESSON #3: MAKING A CARVED IMAGE AND WORSHIPING FOREIGN GOD
How did the children of Israel commit the sin of idolatry? God said in the second commandment of His ten commandments, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,” (Exodus 20:4-5) He also said, “There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.” (Psalm 81:9) The children of Israel committed the sin of idolatry by making carved images for themselves and bowing down to them and serving them. They worshiped foreign gods, which are the gods of other nations.
LESSON #4: COVETOUSNESS IS IDOLATRY
How do we as God’s people commit the sin of idolatry? We may not make carved images, bowed down and serve them as the children of Israel did. Nor do we worship foreign or other gods as the children of Israel did. We commit idolatry by being covetous, because covetousness is idolatry. Paul the apostle wrote, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5) “You shall not covet,” is the last commandment of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:17). So, we break God’s first commandment by breaking His last commandment.
LESSON #5: ENVYING OTHER PEOPLE’S POSSESSIONS
What is covetousness? Covetousness is actually a strong desire for the things that other people have. God said in His tenth commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17) When we say in our hearts that we have to have what others have while we have no right to have them, then we are covetous. Thus, covetousness arises in our hearts when we envy other people’s possessions.
LESSON #6: CRAVING FOR MORE POSSESSIONS
The Lord Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15) The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.” (Hebrews 13:5) If we are not content with such things as we have but always crave for more possessions, then we are covetous. King Solomon wrote about a covetous man, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
LESSON #7: SERVING GOD AND MAMMON
The Lord Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:10) Many believers try to serve both God and mammon. They try to love God while they still have the love of money in their hearts. But, that is impossible because they are both masters. Mammon is the god of this world. If we try to serve both God and mammon, then we commit the sin of idolatry because we have another god before God.
LESSON #8: STUBBORNNESS IS IDOLATRY
We also commit the sin of idolatry by being stubborn. Samuel the prophet said to Saul the king, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:23) He said this because Saul rejected the word of the Lord. Saul did not fully perform what was commanded to him. He did according to what was right in his own eyes and insisted that he had obeyed the Lord. He pushed away the word of the Lord by his stubbornness. If we do what is right in our own eyes and assume that we do the word of God, then we are stubborn. We commit idolatry.
LESSON #9: MAKING OURSELVES GOD
What is being stubborn? It is written that God said, “But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So, I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.” (Psalm 81:11-12) When we refuse to fully heed the word of God, when we choose to walk in our own counsels rather than God’s counsel because we think we know better than God, then we are stubborn. By being stubborn we commit idolatry because we make ourselves God instead of God. We have another god before God and that god is ourselves.
LESSON #10: THE ULTIMATE IDOLATRY
Idolatry will be the most rampant sin in the world at the end of the age. The first four characteristics of men in the last days are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, and proud (2 Timothy 3:1-2). They are covetous and stubborn people. They worship demons and all kinds of idols. John the apostle wrote, “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.” (Revelation 9:20) In the end, the world will worship Satan and the Antichrist. John the apostle wrote in another place, “So, they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4) As God’s people, we must keep ourselves from idols.
