Idolatry

From: Answers to Correspondents By: John Thomas Mawson

• 2 min. read • grade level: 12

Yet as you point out the worship of the calf “Thy gods, O Israel” is not made prominent in 1 Corinthians 10:7⁷Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. (1 Corinthians 10:7), but the fact that “the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” The fear of Moses, which doubtless had had a restraining effect upon their evil tendencies was removed, and they gave rein to their passions, and made themselves merry in his absence.

There is certainly in this a warning for us, and to this end it is quoted in Corinthians. The Lord is absent from this earth, it is our privilege and responsibility to remain true to Him and to watch for His return, and in this way all Israel ought to have acted as regards Moses. But we need to seek grace from God, that we may be kept in true heart separation from the world, lest we fall into this snare, and we be found like the one in Matthew 24:48-49⁴⁸But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; ⁴⁹And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; (Matthew 24:48‑49), “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” This is idolatry. It is those who have professed loyalty to a rejected and absent Lord, turning again to the world that rejoices at His absence (John 16:20²⁰Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20)) and making themselves merry with it.

Covetousness is also spoken of as idolatry (Col. 3:5⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5)). Whether it be the using of things possessed in self-gratification, or the lust for things not possessed, the heart is in bondage to something other than God, and it is idolatry.