There are some who say that the Bible is full of inconsistencies which they call lies. Then, they use Circular Reasoning and tell others that the Lord God is not true, because the Bible is full of lies. I felt led to do research on whether the Bible is consistent about the Lord God saying to Have no other gods before Him?
In order to do this Biblical Research Project, I will use the New King James Version of the Bible [a.k.a. NKJV], biblegateway.com/ and other internet resources, as needed. Special note: Any time I use a capital “G” in God, I am referring to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and I will capitalize pronouns referring to Him . I will use lower case letters for all other references to god. I will use yellow to highlight God, His compassion, mercy, etc. . I will highlight passages in orange that say that the Lord God is the only God. Or there is no other God. I will highlight in green when the Bible talks about other references to god.Since it made it difficult to differentiate between all the false gods, idols, and other things people worshiped in the Bible, I tried to make a little spot with no highlighting to make it easier to identify them. Additionally, I will highlight the consequence for following false gods in blue.
You may read this Biblical Research Project, as well as others in their entirety on either of these two blogs I felt led to create: Biblical Proof! at https://BiblicalProof.blogspot.com/ or Do Biblical Inconsistencies Really Matter? at https://Biblicalinconsistencies.blogspot.com/
Sometimes Bible passages have the word “he” and “him” within them. I will put within brackets who is speaking and who is spoken to anytime I determine it is beneficial for clarity. Additionally, I will put my analysis, evaluation, comments, and opinions within brackets, as well. Although I will make comments on many of the passages, I won’t on those that are pretty straight-forward.
Genesis 1:1 says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Exodus 8:10 says: So he said [Moses said to the Egyptian Pharaoh], “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to our word, that you may know that there is no one Like the Lord our God.”
Exodus 20:3-6 says: “You shall have no other gods before Me. 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 generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” 20:23 goes on to say: ‘You shall not make anything to be with Me-gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.’
Exodus 22:20 says: “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.”
Exodus 23:13 says: “And in all that I [the Lord God] have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.”
Exodus 23:24-25 says: “You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you” 23:32-34 goes on to say: “You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” [God warns the Israelites that when they go through other countries, they are NOT to bow down, serve, or make a covenant with their gods or they could get led astray.]
Exodus 32:8 when God tells Moses: “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ``This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 32:35 goes on to say: So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. [It doesn’t sound like God took kindly to the Israelites creating and worshiping a false god when Moses was on Mt. Sanai with Him.]
Exodus 34:13-17 says: “But you shall destroy their [Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzite, Hivites, and Jebusites] altars break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.” [God doesn’t want them to date or intermarry with those who worship false gods, because they may lead the Israelites astray.]
Leviticus 19:4 says: ‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God.’
Leviticus 20:4-8 says: ‘And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech [a Canaanite false god and they sacrifice children to him], and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech. And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.’ [God will set His face against those who worship the false god, Molech, or sacrifice their children to him or those who use mediums (fortune tellers or those who contact the dead.)
Leviticus 20:26-27 says: ‘And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine. A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ [The Lord God goes to great lengths to try to encourage the Israelites to not mingle with those of other countries who might lead them astray and keep them from inheriting their land He is going to give them.]
Leviticus 26:1 says: ‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.’
[Note: Both of the passages in Exodus 34:13-17 and Leviticus 2-:4-8 and other passages in the Bible, talk about the Israelites playing the harlot or prostituting themselves to other gods, mediums and those with familiar spirits. I went through 30-40 different online resources to try to find one that would easily explain why God uses this analogy so often in the Bible. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one that easily explained it, but I will try to combine the best of what I read.]
[The Lord God wanted the Israeltites to worship only Him, the One True God, who freed them from the oppression of the Pharaoh in Egypt. Although they know this and have seen how the Lord God miraculously provided manna, meat and water for them while they wandered in the wilderness, they still were led astray by those in other countries who worshiped false gods, used mediums, worshiped the sun and the stars, contacted the dead, had child sacrifice, and walked through fire, etc. The comparison is connected to how some people have been unfaithful going from person to person, just as the Israelites were unfaithful to the Lord God and went from god to god and turned their backs on the Lord God.]
[Some even led other Israelites astray so the Lord God had to have serious consequences for their choices to worship false gods as a deterrent. Sometimes, there was the consequence of death to stop others from continuing to be led astray. Other times, they were taken captive, so they could contemplate their choices and have the opportunity to turn back to worshiping the Lord God. It’s so amazing that when they would sincerely choose to turn back to the Lord God, He would forgive them and take them back.]
Numbers 25:1-5 says: Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
Numbers 33:52 says: …’then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places;...
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 says: “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire , lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure; the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven [Zodiac], you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 4:23-25 goes on to say: Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 4:27-31 yet says: And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nation where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you see Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. 4:35 still says: “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” 4:39 further says: Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”[Moses is Warning the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land that if they choose to turn to false gods what will happen and if they turn back to God with their whole heart, He will be merciful to them.]
Deuteronomy 5:6-10 says: He [God] said: ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. 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, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” [Moses tells the Israelites that God doesn’t want them to have false gods and is jealous, but is merciful to those who love Him and keep His commandments.]
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6:13-15 goes on to say: “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of this earth. [The Lord God doesn’t want us to go after the gods of other peoples, but wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength and to teach our children daily about Him and His love for us.]
Deuteronomy 7:16 says: “Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.” 7:25 goes on to say: “You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver of gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 8:19-20 says: “Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.” [God does not take kindly to people who don’t heed His warnings and will get destroyed along with the nations who worship the false gods.]
Deuteronomy 9:12 says: Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 says: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.”
Deuteronomy 12:31-32 says: “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 says: “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’- which you have not known- ‘and let us serve them, “you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.” 13:6-8 goes on to say: “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’, which have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him;” 13:13-15 when they hear: “Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods”’ - which you have not known- then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock- with the edge of the sword.’ 13:17-18 yet says, “So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.” [Moses warns the Israelites if anyone serves false gods or takes the accursed things, they need to permanently remove them, so that God’s mercy and compassion will be with them, so they flourish.]
Deuteronomy 16:21-22 says: “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image [idol], near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. You shall not set up a sacred pillar [relates to idols], which the Lord your God hates.
Deuteronomy 17:2-5 says: “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man of woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.” [Sure, there are some who really get into their Horoscope and Zodiac signs and think it’s fun, but it doesn’t sound like God takes it lightly when people lead others astray by worshiping the sun, moon, Zodiac or any of the hosts of heaven.]
Deuteronomy 18:9-15 says: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. [God wants those removed who try to lead others astray through walking through fire, witchcraft, soothsaying, being a spiritist, or a medium who calls up the dead. Additionally, God will provide a Prophet that we shall hear, speaking of foretelling the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who saves believers from the consequence of their sins.]
Deuteronomy 18:20 says: ‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ [According to God, not everyone who professes to be speaking in God’s name really is, and some speak in the name of false gods. Both should have serious consequences for trying to lead others astray. You should prayerfully contemplate and check out those you listen to regarding your faith, because not all who say they are of God, really are!]
Deuteronomy 20:17-18 Moses says: “... but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord you God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.” [God wants them not to spare those in other nations who worship false gods, because they will lead the Israelites astray.]
Deuteronomy 27:14-15 says: “And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: ‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and set it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’”
Deuteronomy 28:14 says: “So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I [Moses] command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” 28:36-37 continues to say: “The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods- wood and stone. And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.”
Deuteronomy 29:16-18 Moses says: “...(for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them- wood and stone and silver and gold); so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;...” 29:20 goes on to say: “The Lord would not spare him [who turns away from the Lord]; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven. 29:24-26 yet says: “All nations would say, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ “Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them.”
Deuteronomy 30:17-18 says: “But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 says: “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 31:18 God tells Moses to write this song: “And I [God] will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.” 31:20-21 God further says: “When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and even serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against the, as a witness: for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”
Deuteronomy 32:11-12 says: “As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, So the Lord alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him. 32:16-21 goes on to say: They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you. And when the Lord saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith. They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation. 32:36-39 goes on to say: “For the Lord will judge His people And have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, bond or free. He will say: Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you, And be your refuge. Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. [Before the death of Moses, God instructed him to share this song with the Israelites, so they know what their options are and if they stray from God and turn back to Him- He will accept them again.]
Joshua 23:6-8 says: “Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.” 23:16 goes on to say: “When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.” [Joshua reminds the Israelites that God does not want them to worship any other gods.]
Joshua 24:14-16 says: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 24:20-23 goes on to say: “ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good. And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” [Joshua reminds the Israelites again that God will turn from them if they serve other gods and the Israelites agree to serve God]
Judges 2:11-15 says: Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them they were greatly distressed. 2:16-22 goes on to say: Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way. Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, “I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” [God turned His back on the Israelites, because they chose to worship idols, and He took pity on them and gave them judges. In spite of that, they still chose to turn back to the false gods.]
Judges 3:6-9 says: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 3:11-12 goes on to say: So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 3:14-15 yet says: So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. [The Israelites went astray 2 times in this passage, but when they prayed, God had someone deliver them from their enemies both times ]
Judges 10:6-7 says: Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon. 10:10-16 goes on to say: And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!” So the Lord said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians and the Amelekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. [God asks the Israelites why they have turned to false gods, in that He has delivered them from oppression so many times. Maybe they should cry out to the false gods instead of to Him. Then, they turned back to focus on the true God.]
Judges 17:3-5 says: So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image, now therefore, I will return it to you. Thus he returned the sliver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah. The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols, and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. ” [According to All of this research, they are mistaken in thinking the Lord God would be pleased with a carved image or a molded image or household idols being made for Him.]
Judges 18:30-31 goes on to say: Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manassh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
1 Samuel 2:2 says: “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.”
1 Samuel 5:2-8 says: And when the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon [a false god] and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priest of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god. Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. [This is pretty amazing! The Philistines took the ark of the Lord God from the Israelites. They put it in front of their false god and overnight the false god fell on its face in front of the ark of the Lord God. They put the false god back in its place and the next morning, not only had their false god fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord God, but the head of the idol and both its hands were broken off and only the trunk of the idol's body was left. The Philistines knew when to cut their losses, and took the ark of the Lord God back to the Israelites!]
1 Samuel 7:3-5 says:Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 7:8 goes on to say: So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the Hand of the Philistines.” 3:10-13 further says: Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. [Samuel told them that if they put away foreign gods and turn to serve the Lord, He would deliver them from the Philistines, which He did.]
1 Samuel 8:6-10 says: But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you , but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day- with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods- so they are doing to you also.”
1 Samuel 12:8-11 Samuel reminds the Israelites and says: “When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought our fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. And when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. Then they cried out to the Lord and said, 'We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. 8: :14 goes on to say: “If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.” [When the Israelites ask for a king to rule over them, Samuel reminds them what has happened in the past when they had turned to false gods, and what will happen if the Israelites and their king focus on following the Lord God and what will happen if they don’t.]
2 Samuel 7:22 says: “Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
1 Kings 8:59-60 says: “And may these words of mine [Solomon’s words], with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God: there is no other.”
1 Kings 9:6-7 God warns Solomon and says: “But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.” [After Solomon finished building the temple, God reminds Solomon that if the Israelites follow His commandments and statutes, He will establish Solomon’s throne forever with future generations. If they start serving other gods, God will turn His back on them.]
1 Kings 9:59-60 says: “Any may these words of mine, which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant [Solomon] and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.”
1 Kings 11:4 says: For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. 11:9-13 goes on to say: So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.” [Solomon’s wives turned him to false gods, so God is going to take most of the kingdom from his son.]
1 Kings 11:33-34 God’s Prophet, Ahijah, says to Jeroboam about Rehoboam Solomon’s son: … ‘because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreh the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 11:38-goes on to say: Then it shall be, if you [Jeroboam] heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.” [Because they have worshiped false gods, Jeroboam is told that if he walks in God’s ways and follows His statutes, He would give Jeroboam Israel and build him an enduring house.]
1 Kings 12:27-33 as Jeroboam decides how to ensure his position as king: “If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.” Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he [Jeroboam] set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He [Jeroboam] made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eight month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense. [Jeroboam goes to great lengths to ensure his position as king! He devises a plan in his heart and makes two golden calves and tells the Israelites they are their gods that rescued them from Egypt. He says it’s too far for them to go all the way to Jerusalem to worship the Lord God, so they should worship these golden calves on either of the two altars he has put for them. Then, Jeroboam makes priests for the false gods and makes rituals and holy days for the false gods similar to those honoring the Lord God of heaven.]
1 Kings 14:8-10 God has Jeroboam told: “...and [I, God] tore the kingdom away front the house of David, and gave it to you [Jeroboam]; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back- therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone.” 14:15 goes on to say: “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger.” 14:22-23 further says: Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images [idols] on every high hill and under every green tree. [God has Jeroboam told that He [God] put Jeroboam over Israel, but he has caused them to worship false gods, so God is going to take the land from the house of Jeroboam, and He is going to turn His back on Israel since they chose to do such wickedness.]
1 Kings 16:2-3 God has Jehu tell Baasha: “Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” 16:12-13 goes on to say: Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. 16:25-26 further says: Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. Then, 15:31-32 says: And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he [Ahab] took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. [These kings got the consequence from God for choosing to lead the Israelites to worship idols.]
1 Kings 18:17-40 says: Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” And he [Elijah] answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him [Elijah] not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.” Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” so all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” Then with the stones he [Elijah] built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” Then he [Elijah] said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, He is God~” And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there. [Elijah has Ahab and all the prophets of the false gods prepare a bull as a sacrifice and they are to pray to their false god to cause the fire to burn the bull, which never happens. Elijah does the same with a different bull and has them completely douse the wood three times with water and he even has a trench filled with water around it. Elijah prays to the Lord God in Heaven and fire came down and consumed the bull and dried all the rocks and the trench. Then they knew that the Lord God is the True God, and Elijah made sure the prophets of the false god were executed.]
In 1 Kings 21:24-26 God tells Elisha what to say to King Ahab: “The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.” But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 21:28-29 further says: And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.” [Since Jezebel had Natboth killed for a vineyard and she and Ahab led the people to worship idols, God wants Elijah to tell King Ahab that dogs will lick the blood of his family members when they die. Ahab humbled himself before God and our gracious Lord God said that instead, Ahab would have the consequence when his son is ruler.]
1 Kings 20:23 says: Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. [It is interesting that they thought that the false gods of those who live in the hills are stronger than their false gods of the plains and that they think they will have an advantage over them if they fight in the plains near their false gods.]
1 Kings 22:51-53 says: Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done. [Ahaziah comes from a long line of kings who worshiped idols and turned their backs on God, so God removed them from being kings.]
2 Kings 1:2-4 says: Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Edron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is not God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.”’ So Elijah departed. [Ahaziah sent to ask a false god whether he was going to get better, therefore the Lord God said that because of his choice to ask a false god instead of the True God, Ahaziah would not get well.]
2 Kings 1:16 says: Then he [Elijah] said to him [the messenger of King Ahaziah], “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but shall surely die.’” [Ahaziah fell and was injured and sent his messenger to ask an idol if he was going to get better, but the Lord had Elijah tell him that since he asked an idol instead of the true God of Israel, he would die and not get better.]
2 Kings 5:17 says: So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offerings or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. [After the Lord God allowed Elijah to heal Naaman of leprosy, Naaman chose to no longer worship false gods.]
2 Kings 10:21-22 says: Then Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. So they came into the temple of Baal, and the temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. And he [Jehu] said to the one in charge of the wardrobe, “bring out vestments for all the worshipers of Baal. So he brought out the vestments for them. 10:25-28 goes on to say: Now it happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in and kill them; let no one come out!” And they killed them with the edge of the sword; then the guards and the officers threw them out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal. And they brought the sacred pillars out of the temple of Baal and burned them. Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump to this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. [God had Jehu kill those who worshiped the false god, Baal, so that Israel would turn from their wicked ways.]
2 Kings 15:9-10 says: And he [Zechariah] did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. Then Shallum the son of Jabest conspired against him, and struck and killed him in front of the people; and he reigned in his place.15:24-25 goes on to say: And he [Pekahiah] did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,who had made Israel sin. Then Pekah the son of Remaliah, an officer of his conspired against him and killed him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, along with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place.[Zechariah and Pekahiah were both kings who led the Israelites to sin/worship idols and were killed for doing so.]
2 Kings 17:7-8 says: For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they [Israel] feared other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 17:10-12 goes on to say: They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. There they burned incense on all the high places. Like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, ``You shall not do this thing.” Further 17:13-15 says: Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. 17:16-18 further says: So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone. 17:21-23 says more: For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day. 17:27-29 further explains: Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.” Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places with the Samaritans had made every nation in the cities where they dwelt. 17:33-37 says even more: They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods-according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away. To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, with whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve then nor sacrifice to them; but the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods.” 17:39-41 ends with: “But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their father did, even to this day. [God had the Israelites taken to another land as their consequence, because they worshiped idols. This happened generation after generation, even when God provided someone to teach them the Lord’s rituals, they believed in God, but also worshiped false gods, as well, against the Lord’s many warnings.]
2 Kings 19:15 says: Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
2 Kings 21:2-3 says: And he [Manasseh] did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 21:7-9 further says: He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his sons, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers- only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 21:14-16 yet says: ‘So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.” Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 21:20-23 goes on to say: And he [Amon] did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. He forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house. [Manasseh led Israelites to worship idols, as did his son, Amon, so God turned His back on them.]
2 Kings 22:15-20 says: Then she [Huldah the prophetess] said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Tell the man who sent you to Me, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants- all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read-because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.”’ “But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall spoke to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard- because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” So they brought back word to the king. [The people who turned their back on their Lord God when they worshiped idols and burned incense to them, will have the consequence for their choice. The King who tore his clothes and humbled himself before the Lord God when he heard this will not have this consequence during his lifetime.]
2 Kings 23:4-6 King Josiah vows to keep the Lord’s commandments, testimonies, and statutes: And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal [an idol], for Asherah [an idol], and for all the host of heaven [Zodiac], and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven [Zodiac]. And he brought out the wooden image [idol] from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 23:10 still says: And he defiled Topheth [idol], which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech [false god.]23:13 goes on to say: Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 23:15 further says: Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 23:24 yet says: Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists [those who talk to the dead], the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. [King Josiah was sincere in his vow to God and removed the false gods, idols, Zodiac, weavings, priests, etc.]
1 Chronicles 5:18-20 says: They [Some of the Israelites] went to war with the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him. 5:25-26 goes on to say: And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Havor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day. [The sons of Reuben, the Gadites and half the tribe of the Manasseh went to war and prayed and God rescued them, but later they turned away from God and were taken captive.]
1 Chronicles 14:12 says: And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.
1 Chronicles 16:25-26 says: For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
2 Chronicles 7:12-14 says: Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 7:17-22 goes on to say: “As for you, if you [Solomon] walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your fathers, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’ But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods,and worship them, then I will uproot them from MY land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for MY name I will cast out of My sight and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them, therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’”[The Lord tells Solomon he and the Israelites will be blessed if they follow Him and His statutes, but if they turn their back on God to follow false gods, He will turn His back on them.]
2 Chronicles 11:8 says: “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.” [Jeroboam tried to lead them astray with golden calves he made as false gods.]
2 Chronicles 13:8-10 where Abijah says: “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.” 13:12-16 goes on to say: “Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. 13:18 says: Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers. [Jeroboam led the Israelites astray to worship god idols, but God saved those from Judah who were ambushed by the wicked Israelites.]
2 Chronicles 15:3-4 says: “For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.”
2 Chronicles 24:2 says: Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 24:17-21 goes on to say: Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 24:22-24 further says: Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and repay!” So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. [Under Jehoiada the people followed the Lord, but when he died, they served idols & they wouldn’t listen to the prophets God sent to warn them & they killed Zechariah who was also sent to warn them, so they were turned into the hands of the Syrians.]
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 says: And he [Amaziah] did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart. 25:14-16 goes on to say: Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?” Then the prophet ceased, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.” 25:27 further says: After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. [Amaziah followed the Lord in the beginning, but after slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back their false gods and worshiped them & when warned by a prophet of God, he did not turn back to the Lord and had the consequence of this.]
2 Chronicles 28:2-3 says: For he [Ahaz] walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals. He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 28:5 goes on to say: Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. 28:9 further says: But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven 28:19 even further says: For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. 28:22-25 yet says: Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, ``Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of Israel. So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the Lord and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of His fathers. [Because they had forsaken God and worshiped idols and did other abominations, the people were captured and Ahaz was delivered into the hand of the king of Israel.]
2 Chronicles 33:2-3 says: But he [Manasseh] did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 33:6-7 goes on to say: Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I [God] will put My name forever;” 33:10-13 further says: And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his father, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty [request], heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. 33:15-18 yet says: He [Manasseh] took away the foreighn gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. [Manasseh worshiped idols and was involved in witchcraft, sorcery, sought soothsayers and put an idol in the Lord’s temple, but he wouldn’t listen when God tried to get him to change his evil ways, so God allowed him to be captured and tortured. Then Manasseh humbled himself and prayed to God and got his request and started worshiping God.]
2 Chronicles 33:22-24 says: But he [Amon] did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. Then his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house. [Amon worshiped idols and did evil in the sight of the Lord and his servants killed him.]
2 Chronicles 34:2-3 says: And he [Josiah] did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge the Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down: and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 34:16-18 goes on to say: So Shaphan carried the book [Early Bible] to the king, bringing the king word , saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. And they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest had given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 34:23-24 further says: Then she [prophetess] answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will bring calamity on their place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’” 34:26-27 still further says: “But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ”Concerning the words which you have heard- because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have also heard you, “ says the Lord. Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” So they brought back word to the king. [Josiah did right in the eyes of the Lord and removed the idols and collected money to fix the Lord’s temple. Shaphan read an early Bible to Josiah. Prophetess told the king that God was going to bring calamity on the people, because they still worshiped idols, but because Josiah humbled himself before God, it would happen during his life.]
Psalm 50:1 says: The Mighty One, God the Lord, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down.
Psalm 78:58 says: For they provoked Him [the Lord God] to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
Psalm 81:8-9 says: “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreighn god.”
Psalm 97:7 says: “Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him [the Lord God], all you [false] gods.
Psalm 106:12-21 says: Then they believed His [the Lord God’s] words; They sang His praise. Then soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the Lord, The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt. 106:28-31 go on to say: They joined themselves also to Baal [false god] of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead. Thus they provoked Him [the Lord God] to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped. And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore. 106:39 yet says: Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds.
Psalm 115:3-8 says: But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them. [David praises the Lord God of heaven, while he draws attention to those who worship idols made from men’s hands that appear to have features they are incapable of using, because they are just idols, that someone formed, totally incapable of anything except leading people astray!]
Psalm 135:15-18 says: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.
[It was important logic that God had it on David’s heart to write it twice, so people would realize how ridiculous it was to worship false idols made from man's hands.]
Isaiah 2:8-9 says: Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made, People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them. 2:18 goes on to say: But the idols He [the Lord God] shall utterly abolish. 2:20-21 further says: In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each for himself to worship, To the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty, When He [the Lord God] arises to shake the earth mightily.
Isaiah 10:10-11 says: As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?
Isaiah 14:12-15 says: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol [Hell], To the lowest depths of the Pit.” [Although we all have choices, the Lord God doesn’t take kindly to Lucifer/Satan/Devil trying to become more powerful than the Lord God and he shall be cast into Hell at the appointed time.]
Isaiah 17:7-8 says: In that day a man will look at his Maker [the Lord God], And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel, He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images [idols] nor the incense altars.
Isaiah 21:9 says: And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”Then he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He [the Lord God] has broken to the ground.”
Isaiah 30:22-23 says: “You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing: You will say to them, “Get away!” Then He [the Lord God] will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful, In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures.” [When they get rid of all their molded images and idols, the Lord God will stop the famine and bring back the rain and crops and livestock will be plentiful again!]
Isaiah 31:6-7 says: Return to Him [the Lord God] against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold- sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.
Isaiah 37:16 says: O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.37:18-19 go on to say: “Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands- wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone.”
Isaiah 40:18-20 says: To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare Him? The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. [Isaiah is trying to draw attention to how ridiculous it is for them to make idols and carved images and say it’s for the Lord God, who considers these false gods an abomination!]
Isaiah 41:29 says: Indeed they are all worthless, Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion.
Isaiah 42:8 says: “I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” 42:17 goes on to say: “They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, ‘You are our gods.’
Isaiah 43:3 says: For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, Your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
43:10-12 further says: “You are My witnesses, says the Lord, And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God.”43:15 goes on to say: “I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.”
Isaiah 44:6 says: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.’ 44:8-10 go on to say: “Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one. Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses;They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?” 44:15 further says: “Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 44:17 still says: And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 44:24 yet says: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb; “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself:”
Isaiah 45:5-8 says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me. That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and created darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. 45:12 goes on to say: I have made the earth, And created man on it. I- My hands- stretched out the heavens, 45:14-18 yet says: Thus says the Lord: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ``Surely God is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.”’ Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever. For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” 45:20-22 still goes on to say: “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save. Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no others.”
Isaiah 46:5-10 says: “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver on the scales; They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it And set it in its place, and it stands; From its place it shall not move, Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer Nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ 46:12-14 goes on to say: “Listen to Me, you stubborn- hearted, Who are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, For Israel My glory.”
Isaiah 47:12-15 says: “Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth- Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators [try to foretell the future using astronomy] Stand up and save you from what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before! Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.” [The consequence for turning to enchantments, sorceries, astrologers, stargazers, those who try to tell the future with astrology instead of the Lord God, will be the eternal consequence for their choices and the loss of the opportunity to join Jesus Christ in heaven, that is, unless they turn from their ways and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.]
Isaiah 48:5 says: Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded imaged Have commanded them.” 48:12-13 goes on to say: “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, They stand up together.” 48:17 further says: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.”
Isaiah 51:12-13 says: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid Of a man who will die, And the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day Because of the fury of the oppressor, When he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?”
Isaiah 54:5 says: For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
Isaiah 55:5 says: Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has gloried you.”
Isaiah 57:3-6 says: “But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot! Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth And stick out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, Offspring of falsehood, Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, Slaying the children in the valleys, Under the clefts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the stream Is your portion; They, they, are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, You have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these? 57:13 goes on to say: When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.” [The Lord God is saying to those who believe in false gods and idols, when you have troubles, do you really think your false gods and idols are going to save you? Only those who trust in Me, the Lord God, will inherit salvation!]
Isaiah 60:9 says: “Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the Lord your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you.”
Isaiah 64:4-5 says: For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned- In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved.
Isaiah 66:17 says; “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:16 says: I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burned incense to other gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands.
Jeremiah 2:5 says: Thus says the Lord: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters?” 2:8 goes on to say: The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit. 2:11 further says: Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit.” 2:13 yet says: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns - broken [worthless] cisterns that can hold no water.” 2:23 still goes on to say: “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals”? See your way in the valley; Know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,” 2:28 says: “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.” [The Lord God lets the Israelites know that their choice to worship false gods and idols is counter-productive and they won’t be able to help them in their times of trouble the way the Lord God, their fountain of living water can.]
Jeremiah 3:12-13 says: “Go proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the Lord, I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God, And have scattered your charms To alien deities under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.”[The Lord God will forgive the Israelites who turned astray to alien deities/false gods when they admit their error and turn back to the Lord God.]
Jeremiah 4:1-2 says: “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.”
Jeremiah 5:7 says: “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlot’s houses.” 5:18-19 goes on to say: “Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I will not make a complete end of you. And it will be when you say, ‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.”
Jeremiah 7:5-7 says: “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.” 5:9-10 further says: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 7:18 still says: “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven [false gods]; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.” 7:30-32 goes on to say: “For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart. Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room.”
Jeremiah 8:2 says: “They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven [Zodiac], which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor bruised; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.” 8:19 goes on to say: Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of my people From a far country: “Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger With their carved images- With foreign idols?”
Jeremiah 9:13-15 says: And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them, therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.”
Jeremiah 10:3-16 says: For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it [idol] with silver and gold; They fasten it [idol] with nails and hammers So that it [idol] will not topple. They [idols] are upright, like a palm tree, And they [idols] cannot speak; They [idols] must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves, Do not be afraid of them [idols], For they [idols] cannot do evil, Nor can they [idols] do any good.” “Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord (You are great, and Your name is great in might), Who would not fear [worship] You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.” “But they [idols] are altogether dullhearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. Silver is beaten into plates; It is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman And the hands of the metalsmith; Blue and purple are their [idol’s] clothing; They [idols and their clothing] are all the work of skillful men.” But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them [idols]: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.’ “He [the Lord God] has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. When He [the Lord God] utters His voice, There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He [the Lord God] makes lightning for the rain, He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image [idol]; For his molded image [idol] is falsehood, and there is no breath in them [idols]. They [idols] are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He [the Lord God] is the Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The Lord of hosts is His name.” [Jeremiah contrasts an idol made with human hands with the Lord God who created everything!]
Jeremiah 11:9-13 says: And the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.” 11:17 goes on to say: “For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal [a false god].”
Jeremiah 12:16-17 says: “And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people. To swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people. But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 13:9-10 says: “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’”
Jeremiah 14:22 says: Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all these.
Jeremiah 16:10-11 says: “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ``Then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me, and not kept My law.” 16:13 goes on to say: Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’ 11:18 “And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance witht he carcassees of their detestable and abominable idols.”
Jeremiah 18:7-10 says: “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.” [I like that the Lord God gives us all choices and if those who chose to do wickedly, turn to the Lord God and follow His statutes, they will no longer have the consequence for their wickedness. But, if those who had followed the Lord God get led astray and start following idols and false gods, they will have the consequence for the wicked choices they are making.]
Jeremiah 19:2-6 says: “And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle. Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents ‘(they have also built the high place of Baal [idol], to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.” 19:12-13 goes on to say: “Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven [Zodiac, etc.], and poured out drink offering to other gods.”’
Jeremiah 22:8 says: “And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.”’
Jeremiah 25:6 says: ‘Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands, and I will not harm you.’
Jeremiah 32:29-30 says: ‘And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. 32:34-35 goes on to say: ‘But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin.’ [Besides worshiping Baal, a false god, they made their children go through the fire of Molech, a false god, which God would never have thought of asking us to do.]
35:15 says: “I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.”
Jeremiah 44:2-3 says: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘You have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they did not know, they nor you nor your fathers.” 44:5 goes on to say: ‘But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods.’
Jeremiah 48:13 says: Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh [a false god], As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
Jeremiah 50:38 says: A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols.
Jeremiah 51:15-19 says: He [God] has made the earth by His power’ He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. When He [God] utters His voice- There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image [idol]; For his molded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name. 51:47 goes on to say: Therefore behold, the days are coming That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; Her whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain shall fall in her midst. 51:52 yet says: “Therefore behold, the days are coming.” says the Lord, “That I will bring judgment on her carved images, And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.” [God is the Maker of the world and all in it, why would anyone worship a false god, anything made by man’s hand?]
Ezekiel 6:4-10 says: “Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”
Ezekiel 8:9-10says: And He [the Lord God] said to Me, “Go in [the temple], and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” So I went in and saw, and there- every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 8:12 goes on to say: Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.”’8:16-18 further says: So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. “Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” [God wanted Ezekiel to see the abominations the priests were doing behind closed doors and worshiping the sun and idols, so they will get the consequence for these things.]
Ezekiel 11:17-21 says: Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ “And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in MY statutes and keep My judgements and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.” [God is going to have them delivered into the hands of strangers and many slain, to know He is the Lord, but will bring those back who stop their abominations and worshiping idols and He will give them a new heart to follow God’s statutes. Those who don’t stop these abominations will have the consequence of their choices.]
Ezekiel 12:21-25 says: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’? Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For no more shall there by any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord God. [They seemed to have a philosophy like some today, “Why become a Christian now and give up my worldly ways? Why not enjoy myself while I can and later, I will consider living the life of a Christian. The thing is, we never know if we will have a tomorrow to change our actions, so it’s better to take those actions sooner than later like them.]
Ezekiel 14:3-7 says: “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all of your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets us his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself.
Ezekiel 16:36 says: ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,... 16:62-63 go on to say; “And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’” [This passage is pretty amazing! The Lord God lets them know how terrible it is that they flit back and forth between false gods, when He is their Lord God. Although they will consequences, the Lord God will not forget the covenant that He made with them years before, and the atonement that He is going to provide is His Son, Jesus, who freely gave His life as a substitute for all our sinful choices, so that those who believe in Him as their Savior can go to heaven some day when He calls us!]
Ezekiel 18:5-10 says: “But if a man is just And does what is lawful and right; If he has not eaten on the mountains, Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife, Nor approached a woman during her impurity; If he has not oppressed anyone, But has restored to the debtor his pledge; Has robbed no one by violence, But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing; If he has not exacted usury [interest] Nor taken any increase, But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity And executed true judgment between man and man; If he has walked in My statutes And kept My judgments faithfully- He is just; He shall surely live!” Says the Lord God. 18:25-32 goes on to say: “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgression which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” [This is an amazing Bible passage, because it tells us that even if we have done terribly sinful things in our lives, but choose to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, He will forgive us all we’ve done in the past. On the other hand, it also says that if we followed the Lord God in years past, but choose to turn away from the Lord God and do wicked things, we will be judged on the Last Day according to the wickedness we chose to do instead of following the Lord. He lets us know that He takes no pleasure in the death of one who dies and warns all of us to turn to Him, our Savior, and live!]
Ezekiel 20:15-16 says: “So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands, because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths for their heart went after their idols. 18-20 goes on to say: “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. “I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'' 20:31-32 yet says: For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you. What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, seving wood and stone [idols].’ 20:39 still says: “As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God: “Go, serve every one of you his idols- and hereafter- if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no with your gifts and your idols.” [God had warned them to follow His statutes, hallow His Sabbaths, but instead they chose to worship idols and to have their children walk through fire to a false god, but they chose not to listen, so they won’t be inheriting the Promised Land.]
Ezekiel 22:3-5 says: “Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. Those near and far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.”
Ezekiel 23:7 says: Thus she committed her harloty with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself. 23:30 goes on to say: “I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.'' 23:37-39 yet says: “For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.” [The Lord God has a consequence for them, because of their continued choice to worship idols and make their children walk through the fire as an idolatrous ritual, and have slain their children as offerings to idols, profaned the Lord’s Sabbaths, and still come into the Lord’s house, as if nothing had happened.]
Ezekiel 28:2 says: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god.” 28:6-9 goes on to say: ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god, Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor. They shall throw you down into the Pit [hell], And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas. Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god’? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.” [The Lord God tells of the consequence for the prince of Tyre who said that he is a god, but when he has his consequence, he will die as a man, not a god, in the hand of the person who slays him.]
Ezekiel 30:13 says: ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will also destroy the idols, And cause the images to cease from Noph; There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt; I will put fear in the land of Egypt.’
Ezekiel 33:25 says: “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?”
Ezekiel 36:18 says: “Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.” 36:24-28 goes on to say: “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all counties, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” [After all their choices to worship idols, the Lord God will still bring them back and give them a new heart to follow Him, His statutes and be His people.]
Ezekiel 37:23 says: “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
Ezekiel 44:10-12 says: “And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity.” [The Levites had been especially selected to be the ministers to the Israelites, but chose to teach them to worship idols, so they will no longer have positions of status and will only take care of the menial positions for caring for the church and sacrifices for doing so.]
Daniel 3:29 says: “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap, because there is no other God.” [When the 3 Israelites who had been thrown into the burning hot furnace for failing to worship false gods, came out alive, King Nebuchadnezzar realized that the Lord God is the only God.]
Daniel 4:8 King Nebuchadnezzar says: But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying:… 4:28-33 goes on to say: All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. 4:34 still goes on to say: And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding return dto me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 4:37 yet says: Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” [Prior to this, Daniel had told the meaning of the king’s dream that predicted this would happen, but he didn’t listen. The king was giving himself the credit for his kingdom instead of the Lord God, and that’s when his consequence came to pass. After he finally came to his senses, he realized that the Lord God is the One True God and there is no other!]
Hosea 2:13 says: “I will punish her For the days of the Baals [false gods] to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me [the Lord God] she forgot,” says the Lord. [The Lord God says there will be a consequence for turning from worshiping Him and worshiping false gods. This continues the analogy, comparing going after lovers with worshiping false gods.]
Hosea 8:4-6 says: “They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves- That they might be cut off. Your calf [idol] is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them- How long until they attain to innocence? For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf [idol] of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.”
Hosea 9:10 says: “I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor [a false god], and separated themselves to that shame; They became an abomination like the thing they loved.”
Hosea 10:5-8 says: The inhabitants of Samaria fear Because of the calf [idol] of Beth Aven. For its people mourn for it, And its priests shriek for it- Because its glory has departed from it. The idol also shall be carried to Assyria As a present for King Jarb. Ephraim shall receive shame, And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. As for Samaria, her king is cut off Like a twig on the water. Also the high places of Aven [a place dedicated to worship a false god], the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” 10:12-13 goes on to say: Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity, You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way. In the multitude of your mighty men.
Hosea 11:1-2 says: When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called my son. As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to carved images. [The first part of this passage foretold of an event in baby Jesus’ life, 100s of years before the Son of God was born to the virgin Mary about when Joseph was warned to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod’s mandate to kill all baby boys 2 years and under. Matthew 2:14-15 says: When he [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child [Jesus] and His mother [Mary] by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”]
Hosea 12:10-11 says: “I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.” Though Gilead has idols- Surely they are vanity- Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.
Hosea 13:1-4 says: When Epharaim spoke, trembling, He exalted himself in Israel; But when he offended through Baal worship, he died. Now they sin more and more, And have made for themselves molded images, Idols of their silver, according to their skill; All of it is the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves [idols]!” Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud And like the early dew that passes away, Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor [the waste part of the grain] And like smoke from a chimney. “Yet I am the Lord your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; for there is no savior besides Me.”
Hosea 14:1-4 says: O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you, And return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifice of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. 14:8-9 goes on to say: Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I [God] am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.” Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. [Hosea warns Israel to turn back to the Lord God and no longer make and worship idols. Ask the Lord to forgive you, He will, but those who still choose to transgress and follow idols will stumble because of them.]
Joel 2:27 says: Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.”
Jonah 2:8-9 says: “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. But I [Jonah] will sacrifice to you With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
Micah 1:7 says: All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”
Micah 3:6-8 says: “Therefore you shall have night without vision. And you shall have darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them. So the seers [fortune tellers] shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God.”
Micah 5:12-14 says: “I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands; I will push your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy your cities.”
Micah 7:18-19 says: Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. [This passage is pretty significant if you think of all the times in this research that God’s people have chosen to go astray to false gods, but still has compassion on them to bring them back to Him.]
Nahum 1:14 says: The Lord has given a command concerning you: “Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image, I will dig your grave, For you are vile.”
Habakkuk 1:12 says: Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction. [The everlasting Lord God will have a judgment day, but corrects us so that we have a chance to choose to follow Him instead of things that lead us astray.]
Habakkuk 2:18-19 says: “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols [idols that can’t talk]? Woe to him who says to wood, ’Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all.” [It never ceases to amaze God that people would spend their time making and worshiping the idols they made who do not breathe or talk and are nothing but wood or metal or both.]
Zephaniah 1:4-7 says: “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests- Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom [false god]; Those who have turned back from following the Lord, And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” Be silent in the presence of the Lord God; For the day of the Lord is at hand, For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. [The sacrifice the Lord God prepared was the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross as a substitute for the consequence we deserve for our sins. His death and resurrection set us free from our consequence and the Lord God invites people who believe in Jesus to join Him, because the day of the Lord is drawing closer.]
Zephaniah 2:11 says: The Lord will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the nations.
Malachi 2:10 says: Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
Malachi 3:5-6 says: And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien- Because they do not fear Me,
Says the Lord of hosts. “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” 3:16-18 continues to say: Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him [God] For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.” Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked. Between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. [These passages speak of Judgment Day when the Lord God will choose between His jewels, who worshiped Him, and those who not only worshiped false gods, but also those who exploited women and orphans, and who turn away the alien. Something to think about in our current time!!!]
Matthew 26:63-64 says: But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Matthew 27:54 says: So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Mark 12:29 says: Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” 12:32 goes on to say: So the scribe said to Him [Jesus], “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Mark 14:60-62 says: But He [Jesus] kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him [Jesus], saying, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” But He [Jesus] kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Mark 15:39 says: So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him [Jesus], saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
Luke 22:70 says: Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He [Jesus] said to them, “You rightly say that I am.”
John 3:33 says: “He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.”
John 5:44 says: “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
John 17:3 says: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Acts 4:24-26 says: So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’” [The Apostles are quoting a prediction in Psalm 1:1-2. made 100’s of before the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God and our Lord and Savior.]
Acts 7:41 says referring to the time the Israelites talked Aaron into making them an idol in the wilderness: “And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.”
Acts 17:16 says: Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
Acts 19:17-20 says: This became known to the Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. 19:26-27 Demetrius, a silversmith for the goddess Diana, yet says: “Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade [of making idols] of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.19:35 goes on to say: And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? [Although there were many who chose to turn from their sorceries and chose to worship the Lord God, there were silversmiths who were fearful of losing their jobs and tried to dissuade people otherwise.]
Romans 1:20-25 says: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 3:29-30 says: Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. [This is a very significant Bible passage, because it verifies that our Lord God is not just for the Hebrews, but is for everyone who believes in Him.]
Romans 15:5-6 says: Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:11 says: But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner- not even to eat with such a person.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 says: Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.”
1 Corinthians 10:6-7 says: Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 10:14 goes on to say: Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 10:19-21 yet says: What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
1 Corinthians 12:2 says: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
2 Corinthians 6:16 says: And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
Galatians 3:20 says: Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
Galatians 4:7-8 says: Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
Ephesians 4:4-6 says: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. [This Bible passage tells of God the Father, Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, all of one God. Additionally, it briefly addresses our salvation through the grace of Christ, who gave His life the ransom for many.]
Ephesians 5:5 says: For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. [Any of those people, who are idolaters, will not go to heaven. Remember that those who turn to worship Christ as their Savior, will join Him some day.]
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 says: For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the Living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. [This passage is pretty significant, because it notes Salvation is also for those who used to worship false gods, but turned around and chose to worship the Lord God. It also mentioned how Jesus Christ is the one who delivers us from the wrath of the judgment we deserve as sinful human beings. He paid the price for our sin in His death on the cross and Resurrection, so that all who believe in Him as their Savior can someday have Salvation with Him when He calls us to join Him in heaven.]
1 Timothy 2:5-7 says: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle- I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying- a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
James 2:19 says: You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe- and tremble!
1 John 4:9 says: In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten son into the world that we might live through Him. [This is a powerful Bible verse telling how God loved us so much, that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to live, be betrayed, mocked, beaten, spit upon, crucified on a cross, died, was buried, and rose again according to what Jesus had predicted...All that those who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior could some day join Him in heaven, when He calls us.]
1 John 5:20-21 says: And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. [Again, this clarifies that Jesus Christ is part of the One True God.]
Jude 1:4 says: For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. [This Bible verse also includes Jesus Christ as part of God.]
Revelation 9:20-21says: 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. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality of their thefts. [Even though they were warned and had many opportunities to change their choices, many still worshiped idols, demons, and did not repent and follow the Lord God.]
Revelation 11:17 says: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.”
[In conclusion, after analysis of all these Bible passages, the Bible is very consistent about the Lord God saying to have no other gods before Him. Deuteronomy 4:39 says: Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other”. He went to great lengths to include this in the Ten Commandments and had many prophets throughout Biblical times that would warn the people to not worship other gods. The Lord God even had consequences like famine, captivity, and death to help them to turn from their evil ways and turn back to faith in the Lord God. When they genuinely turned back to worshiping the Lord God and no longer worshiped idols, images, the sun, moon, stars, and host of heaven [Zodiac], witchcraft, sorcery, turned to mediums and spiritists, no longer followed evil rituals to sacrifice their children to their idols or to make them walk through fire for their idols, the Lord God would forgive them and welcome them back.]
[No matter what we’ve done in our lives before, the Lord God welcomes all who come to Him and believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, even those who come doubting, but are open to knowing the Lord.]
In John 3:16-21 Jesus says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him [Jesus Christ] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the lights, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
[My advice, Follow Jesus, the Light of the World!]
