Thematic Bible: Images
Thematic Bible
Idolatry » Objects of » Images
and you have seen their detestable acts and their [repulsive] idols of wood and stone, [lifeless images] of silver and gold, which they had with them),
The idols [of the nations] are silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
Images » False gods and Goddesses » General references to
They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
You know that when you were pagans, you were led off after speechless idols; however you were led off [whether by impulse or habit].
“Has a nation [ever] changed gods
Even though they were not gods [but merely man-made objects]?
But My people have exchanged their Glory (the true God)
For that [man-made idol] which does not benefit [them].
Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.
Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
But at that time, when you did not know [the true] God and were unacquainted with Him, you [Gentiles] were slaves to those [pagan] things which by [their very] nature were not and could not be gods at all.
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
Images » Other objects of worship » Devils worshipped
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, for the satyrs (goat demons) and calves (idols) which he had made.
So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.”’
“They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers never feared.
On the contrary, the things which the Gentiles (pagans) sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [in effect], and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons [by eating at feasts in pagan temples].
They fell down and worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like (as great as) the beast, and who is able to wage war against him?”
Images » Other objects of worship » The golden calves of jeroboam, set up in dan and bethel
They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; and they made an Asherah [idol] and worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served Baal.
The people of Samaria will fear and tremble
For the [idolatrous] calf of
Indeed, its people will mourn over it
And its idolatrous priests will cry out and wail over it,
Over its glory, because the glory [of their calf god] has departed from it.
However, Jehu did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, that is, [led them to worship] the golden calves which were at Bethel and Dan.
“And now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord which is in the hands of the sons of David, since you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves (idols) which Jeroboam made for you as gods.
Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, for the satyrs (goat demons) and calves (idols) which he had made.
So the king took counsel [and followed bad advice] and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go [all the way] up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
Images » Other objects of worship » Teraphim, images, household gods
And Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes.
Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag and sat on them. Laban searched through all her tent, but did not find them.
When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel [went inside the house and] stole her father’s household gods.
Now the man Micah had a house of gods (shrine), and he made an ephod and teraphim and dedicated and installed one of his sons, who became his [personal] priest.
Then the five men who had gone to scout the country of Laish said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, an image [of silver-plated wood], and a cast image [of solid silver]? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).
Images » Other objects of worship » The golden calf made by aaron
And he took the gold from their hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf (idol). You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you.
“Even when they had made for themselves
A
And said, ‘This is your god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies,
They made a calf in Horeb (Sinai)
And worshiped a cast image.
In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.
Images » Other objects of worship » Men deified and worshipped
And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voices, shouting in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
But they stood watching and expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began saying that he was a god.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Ashtaroth » Ashtaroth or ashtoreth, a Goddess of the phoenicians
Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him.
The king desecrated the high places which were opposite [east of] Jerusalem, which were on the right (south) of the mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the repulsiveness of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the repulsiveness of Moab, and for Milcom the repulsiveness of the sons (descendants) of Ammon.
because they have abandoned Me and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways and followed My commandments, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances as did his father David.
So they abandoned the Lord and served Baal [the pagan god of the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth.
Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth (pagan goddesses) from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only; and He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”
And they put Saul’s weapons and armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth (female goddesses), and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Baal-peor » Baal-peor, a God of the moabites
So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship]. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor; for all the men who followed [and participated in the worship of] Baal of Peor, the Lord your God destroyed them from among you,
They joined themselves also to [the idol] Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness [an unexpected and refreshing delight];
I saw your fathers (ancestors) as the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shamefulness [the worship of Baal],
And [because of their spiritual and physical adultery] they became as detestable and loathsome as the thing they loved.
Is the wrongdoing (idolatry) of Peor not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, even though the affliction [in which twenty-four thousand died] came on the congregation of the Lord,
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Molech, moloch, or milcom, a God of the ammonites
You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the Lord.
They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.
You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun [your man-made gods of Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [but you brought Me none of the appointed sacrifices].
You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’
Josiah also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire [as a burnt offering] for Molech.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Chemosh » Chemosh, a God of the moabites
The king desecrated the high places which were opposite [east of] Jerusalem, which were on the right (south) of the mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the repulsiveness of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the repulsiveness of Moab, and for Milcom the repulsiveness of the sons (descendants) of Ammon.
“For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God],
Even you yourself will be captured;
And
Together with his priests and his princes.
Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And everything that the Lord our God dispossessed before us, we will possess.
“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh!
Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle],
And his daughters into captivity
To Sihon king of the Amorites.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Dagon » Dagon, a God of the philistines
Now the Philistine lords gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,
“Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands!”
They took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside [the image of] Dagon [their chief idol].
They put Saul’s armor in the house of their gods and nailed up his head in the house (temple) of Dagon.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Diana » Diana, a Goddess of the ephesians
Now a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [the goddess] Artemis (Diana), was bringing no small profit to the craftsmen.
After the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of that [sacred stone image of her] which fell from the sky?
When they heard this, they were filled with rage, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”