What are the consequences of idolatry? They are numerous and active in all areas of life. The consequences of idol worship today are as real and dangerous as we think. Do you know? Indeed, for God, when we practice idolatry:
– We are dethroning him by removing him from the first place of our life and our heart. We banish the fact that it must be the only center of our life. We are not making him, our one and only God; yet he must be. (According to Exodus 20: 3)
– We are making it small, to belittle it, to deteriorate its image, its size. How absurd to compare God with an object! That it is absurd to consider statues, idols, objects to offer them cults, adorations: by prostrating and serving them! How horrible to think that God is like our idols, our statues! It’s disgusting to have the idea of carving out carved images and making them our gods. (According to Exodus 20: 4-6)
– We hate him, instead of loving him. This is his jealousy. He is jealous of the fact that we are idolaters. And this jealousy is healthy because it is for our own good that He has given us these commandments. The Law of God (the Ten Commandments) is good, holy, and just. It has been given to man for his physical and spiritual well-being. This Law demonstrating morality is worthy of consideration by humanity. It is the only remedy for society to be peaceful, calm, prosperous far from suffering, calamity, human depravity, violence, and hatred, etc.
From then on, we understand that idolatry destroys man and attracts the curse, the suffering, the pain, the misery of humanity. But the main problem is that you can see idol worship today, even in our known world.
Idol Worship Today: An Obstacle to Real Happiness
In view of the passages from Jeremiah 2: 20, and Hosea 2: 15 we understand that in the eyes of the Lord as his prophets say: idolatry is seen as an act of adultery, prostitution. In other words, it means that in the eyes of the Lord, idolatry is a sign of infidelity to God.
The love that God has for us makes him do not like to see us go to other gods, other idols. God’s wish is that we walk in His ways, so that we may be happy. Happiness and salvation are only in God. “A life without God is like an ocean without water. (Thomson Dablemond)
Idolatry Takes Us Away from God
By the passage of Hosea 4: 12, the Lord shows us that idolatry, in addition to misguiding us, takes us away from God. The idolaters are misguided because they refuse the way and the will of God. When we practice idolatry, we are led into darkness. God dwells in the light. Satan holds idolaters in darkness. Idolatry keeps the idolater in chains and under the control of the evil spirit.
Idolatry is an abomination in the eyes of the Eternal God. Idolatry takes us away from God. Idolatry makes us unhappy and captive. Idolatry opens the door to human depravity. Idolatry is dangerous for our spiritual life. Idolatry is a sign of infidelity to God. Idolatry is a rebellion against God. Idolatry is proof that we hate God. Idolatry is a means of making God little, of making fun of God, of comparing him to his creature (to a man or an object, or a thing, or to some other being) … This is one of the consequences of idolatry spiritually.
Idolatry Is an Obstacle to Salvation in Jesus Christ
In the book of Exodus 34: 14, 17, he is still forbidden to worship another god. God hates idolatry. Through idolatry (regardless of form and type), Satan receives worship. An idolater is, therefore, a worshiper of Satan. When we approach the subject of the consequences of idol worship today, we must never lose sight of the fact that idolatry is an obstacle to salvation in Jesus Christ.
This is why the Apostle Paul asks us to flee idolatry because it is incompatible with God (see 1 Corinthians 10: 14, 19-22).
If we have truly accepted and known Jesus Christ, then we will keep idols, for they are false gods, for there is one true God in whom we have eternal life, as we underline in the passage of 1 John 5: 19-21. To crown it all, let us know that idolaters will not have eternal life (Revelation 22: 15; 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10; Galatians 5: 20-21).