Sin of Worshipping Other Gods

The second commandment, also about how man is to relate to God:

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or 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; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the father upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

When there are things that man cannot comprehend, he tends to try to bring them down to his level, something that is more easily defined by man. The concept of God is one of the things that man wants to bring down to man's level in order to have intellectual superiority over it. Yet, God is not a concept, He is a being….an infinite and eternal being far above anything we can comprehend. But even though we cannot understand His being, He has graciously revealed to us His character an continues to do so with each of us who seeks Him, displaying His great love and care of us, while at the same time confirming that He is a mighty and fearsome God to those who reject or revile Him.

The heathen or pagans as the Bible calls them, fashioned their gods out of whatever they determined in their evil imaginations their god should look like and consist of. The Chaldeans worshipped fire as a god. Others worshipped idols of gold or silver or other precious metals. Some worshipped a god that looked like a frog (the Egyptians), some worshipped the stars (and some still do today).

"Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves...lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, [even] all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." (Deut. 4:19)

Listen to this prophetic warning from Romans:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:18-32 NIV)

How many in the world today serve the creature rather than the Creator? We have groups that have been formed to protect animal "rights". We have groups that are formed to protect "the earth". We have groups that are formed to protect men and women who have "exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones". In all of this and so much more, the creature is being served, not the Creator. Those who serve in groups such as these and even those who serve those in real need often do so out of all sorts of "good" motives, but "good" motives can often be very far from what God views as good. If He is not being worshipped, if we are not following Him in obedience, then He is being "hated" by us, says His Word. And often those who serve the creature and not the Creator join together in their practices that do not include God, approving of others like them who practice "godlessness and wickedness".

If you're not sure what "godlessness and wickedness" I'm referring to, read again Romans 1:18-32. If any of those things are in our lives, we are not living holy lives representative of our Holy God. We have broken both the first and the second commandments.

You might not belong to a group that practices outright "godlessness and wickedness", but yet do you serve the Creator? If so, how? According to your own imagination or according to His voice, His Word?

"And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish." (Deut. 8:19)

"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." (Deut. 4:24)

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice, (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God) He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee…" (Deut. 4"29-31)