Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. Verse ConceptsGod, As SpiritMaking Idolsethics, personalClaimsMaterialism, As An Aspect Of SinUnfaithfulness, To GodIdolsPolytheismObelisksBowing To False GodsIdol WorshipNot Like IdolsThe Lord Is GodIdolatryAvoiding IdolatrySelf Imageadorationstatuesimage

And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them]. Verse ConceptsDeafnessFalse ReligionEatingGod, Uniqueness OfIdolatry, Objections ToNosesResponseSmellsStonesUnreliabilitySpiritual DeafnessIdols Not SeeingUnhearingWorshiping GodServing Godatheismstatues

and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not [real] gods but [only] the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they [could destroy them and] have destroyed them. Verse ConceptsCreativityStonesWoodBurning Idolatrous ThingsWood And Stone

and have cast the gods [of those peoples] into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. Verse ConceptsMonotheismStonesWoodBurning Idolatrous ThingsWood And Stonestatues


They each help his neighbor
And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
Verse ConceptsBraveryCourageEncouragementCourage And StrengthEncouraging One AnotherEncouraging Othersencouraging

The carpenter stretches out a line, he marks it out with a pencil or red ocher; he fashions [an idol] with planes and marks it out with the compasses; and he shapes it to have the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, that it may dwell in a house. He hews for himself cedars, and takes the holm tree and the oak and lets them grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest; he plants a fir tree or an ash, and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn; a part of it he takes and warms himself, yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. [Then out of the remainder, the leavings] he also makes a god and worships it! He [with his own hands] makes it into a graven image and falls down and worships it! read more.
He burns part of the wood in the fire; with part of it he [cooks and] eats flesh, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire! And from what is left [of the log] he makes a god, his graven idol. He falls down to it, he worships it and prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my god! They do not know or understand, for their eyes God has let become besmeared so that they cannot see, and their minds as well so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in his mind, nor has he knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], I have burned part of this log in the fire, and also I have baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. And shall I make the remainder of it into an abomination [the very essence of what is disgusting, detestable, and shamefully vile in the eyes of a jealous God]? Shall I fall down and worship the stock of a tree [a block of wood without consciousness or life]?

What comes into your mind will never happen, when you say, ‘We will be like the [pagan] nations, like the tribes of the [Gentile] countries, serving [idols made of] wood and stone.’ Verse ConceptsWoodNeverLike The NationsUnfulfilled WordWood And Stone