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65 articles found for “Idolatry; Ephod; Levites”
Idolatry
[Bible]Idolatry is the worship of gods other than God or of images made by human hands. Scripture forbids it in the Ten Commandments and treats it as a fundamental sin that breaks the covenant.
Idol
[Bible]An idol is an image of a deity made to be worshiped in place of God or to represent God, or any object treated in that way. Scripture forbids making and worshiping idols, beginning with the Ten Commandments.
Jeremiah 8
[Bible]Jeremiah 8 indicts Judah for its idolatry and refusal to repent, announces the coming judgment, and then laments deeply over the wounded people.
1 Corinthians 10
[Bible]First Corinthians 10 warns against idolatry, holding up the failures of Israel in the wilderness as an example. It then declares that believers cannot partake of both the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, and on the question of food offered to idols, it sets forth the conscience of one's neighbor and the glory of God as the guiding standards.
Ancestral Rites and Memorial Services
[Controversies]The question of whether ancestral rites should be forbidden as idolatry or regarded as a cultural expression of filial piety. Korean Protestant churches have prohibited ancestral rites and have instead held memorial services.
Hosea 8:7
[Bible Verses]A verse that indicts the Northern Kingdom of Israel for idolatry and futile political dependence, pronouncing judgment through the agricultural image of sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. It is often quoted to mean that wrong choices bring even greater calamity.
Generational Curse Theory
[Controversies]Generational curse theory is the teaching that curses pass down to descendants because of their ancestors' sins or idolatry and must therefore be broken through prayer. Several Korean denominations have judged it unbiblical.
Hosea 9
[Bible]Hosea 9 is a prophecy of judgment declaring that, because of the idolatry of the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim), the joy of harvest and the feasts will come to an end, the people will be scattered to Egypt and Assyria, and their offspring will be cut off.
Romans 1:26–27
[Bible Verses]Romans 1:26–27 is the passage in which Paul, describing humanity's turning from God to idolatry, refers to same-sex sexual activity as having "changed the natural use into that which is against nature." It is the New Testament text most frequently cited in discussions of the church's position on homosexuality, and the traditional interpretation stands in contention with readings that seek to reinterpret it.
Manasseh
[People]Manasseh was an Old Testament king of Judah and the son of Hezekiah. He reigned for fifty-five years and is recorded as a wicked king who promoted idolatry on a large scale. Second Chronicles reports that he repented after being taken captive.
1 Samuel 15:23-24
[Bible Verses]In this passage the prophet Samuel tells King Saul, who had disobeyed God's command, that rebellion is comparable to divination and idolatry and that Saul has been rejected from the kingship. Saul then confesses his sin, saying that he feared the people. The passage is frequently cited in discussions of obedience and repentance.
Asherah
[Bible]Asherah is the name of a Canaanite goddess mentioned in the Old Testament. The word also refers to the wooden pole or carved image used in her worship. It often serves as a representative term for Israel's idolatry.
Demon
[Bible]In the Bible, demons are evil spiritual beings that oppose God, torment people, and work behind idolatry and false teaching. They appear especially often in the New Testament Gospels.
Teraphim
[Bible]Teraphim are household idols mentioned in the Old Testament, generally thought to have been venerated in the home or used for divination. They appear in the accounts of Rachel and Michal and are condemned as a form of idolatry in the prophetic and legal traditions.
Works of the Flesh
[Bible]The works of the flesh are a catalog of sins that the apostle Paul lists in Galatians 5:19–21 in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit. The list includes sexual immorality, idolatry, strife, and drunkenness, among other items, and closes with "and such like." The New Korean Revised Version renders it as fifteen items.
Zechariah son of Jehoiada
[People]Zechariah son of Jehoiada was a member of a priestly family during the reign of King Joash of Judah. After rebuking the people for idolatry, he was stoned to death in the temple court at the king's command (2 Chronicles 24).
Queen of Heaven
[Bible]The Queen of Heaven is a title used in the Book of Jeremiah for a goddess whom the people of Judah worshiped by burning incense and offering cakes. Jeremiah condemned this worship as idolatry and a departure from God.
Covetousness
[Doctrine & Theology]Covetousness is an excessive desire to possess what belongs to another or what one has not been granted. The last of the Ten Commandments forbids it, and the New Testament regards covetousness as a sin equivalent to idolatry.
Josiah's Reform
[Bible]Josiah's Reform was the religious reform in which Josiah, king of Judah, renewed the covenant and removed idolatry after the Book of the Law was found in the temple. It is recorded in 2 Kings 22–23 and 2 Chronicles 34–35.
Zechariah (Son of Jehoiada)
[People]Zechariah, son of the priest Jehoiada, lived during the reign of Joash, king of Judah. He rebuked the people for idolatry and, at the king's command, was stoned to death in the court of the temple (2 Chronicles 24).