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If jealousy is sin... yet why does God get jealous when we worship not just him but also other so called gods or idols? He commanded in Exodus 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God..." Seemingly, He has the right to get jealous because He created and redeemed us.
Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself a carved 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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
Well if you read a little further , later on they had to bow down to an idol that was a snake for healing. That is one pretty fubar god when he makes and edict then a short while later (as the story goes) does a complete 180. Neither the idol snake nor the angry god in the sky could do anything.
The same thing has grown with the churches where there are icons one should relate to, whether these be a crucifix like the orthodox churches do, and empty cross like the protestants do, the menorah in Judaism. Nothing really has changed. When you invent an invisible god, somewhere along the line you are going to have to provide the flock with something tangible to relate to. As for the Christian side, if say he was executed by madame guillotine, would xians wear miniatures of that around their neck, would churches have this emblazoned on their walls and alters? Would they have perhaps a beheaded Jesus head?
All religions have icons of their pretend gods whether in paintings or sculptures and as much as evangelicals would like to claim they do not do this, I am sure I could walk into any church and show them just how wrong they are. Even the church building is an idol and as the story goes he does not dwell in temples made of hands yet most churches have a "temple" of sorts. That in itself is idolatry and in essence it is the "church" that is the item first and foremost in their lives.
The old adage of build the temple, the people will come still holds true in the modern era. Really it is the building and all the side entertainment that accompanies that building that keeps the concept of belonging alive. In the real world, people cannot relate tangibly to pretend stuff if there is not an icon of sorts.
The last church I was at, they wanted to install a 10 pin bowling alley, a dance club (for the youth) they built a coffee shop that no one attends in the week. But I guess that is doing teh lawds wurk no?
The church with the best band in town usually attracts more people. I know as a P&W leader, when I was doing the church hopping thing looking for god, I never sat in the pews for more than two Sundays (usually only one) before I was in the P&W team. I play a mean bass and can make any crap band that can keep a beat sound good. I also did may solo "items" in these churches as the chord sets I play on guitar most of the musicians were 3 chord genies and had not clue of scales, transposing and even minor chords were a huge challenge.
So yeah the church band is also pretty much an idol too.
The last church I was at, they wanted to install a 10 pin bowling alley, a dance club (for the youth) they built a coffee shop that no one attends in the week. But I guess that is doing teh lawds wurk no?
The church with the best band in town usually attracts more people. I know as a P&W leader, when I was doing the church hopping thing looking for god, I never sat in the pews for more than two Sundays (usually only one) before I was in the P&W team. I play a mean bass and can make any crap band that can keep a beat sound good. I also did may solo "items" in these churches as the chord sets I play on guitar most of the musicians were 3 chord genies and had not clue of scales, transposing and even minor chords were a huge challenge.
So yeah the church band is also pretty much an idol too.
Whoah! Those you mentioned here as idols of the modern era are legit and must be given much thought so as not to break the 2nd Commandment and break the jealous heart of the GOD who wrote His will on those tablets of stones... you hit it man...
Well if you read a little further , later on they had to bow down to an idol that was a snake for healing. That is one pretty fubar god when he makes and edict then a short while later (as the story goes) does a complete 180. Neither the idol snake nor the angry god in the sky could do anything.
Here is the account of what you mentioned above...
Num 21:8-9 "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived[/i]."
And here is what happened afterwards:
2Ki 18:4 He (King Hezekiah) removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and [i]he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
During the time of Jesus He mentioned about this:
John 3:14-18 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness[, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God."
There are things which GOD Himself had willed to be made, but can be made into an idol too and must be destroyed... but in Christ, everything may be redeemed...
Last edited by june 7th; 10-19-2012 at 08:23 AM..
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I think the Jews are right in this regard (as far as their myth goes) in that Jesus become the new idol and reeks too much of paganism. The odd thing is, although Jesus is supposed to be the centre attraction, he is not. Well I suppose if you can wrap your head around funny arithmetic of 1+1+1=1 then it is all good. The question to be asked is why if he came to fulfil the law, did he break so many of them? Pretty easy when you simply say "he is god and can do what he likes". This is a common apologetic of theists as really no one with two functioning braincells can read the OT and come away with the concept that that god was anything to be venerated.
These and many others suggest to me that the whole Jesus story is fabricated and very heavily embellished. The change from the old to the new was just too radical and Paul's (alleged) teachings negates the bits where Jesus (apparently) was very emphatic about keeping the commandments.
As a theist I to glazed over these inconsistencies initially but ultimately I had to do further research on my own as no one in the church were schooled enough to answer them even though the pastor had a PhD. Who can blame them, they were merely doing what they had learned.
Even the aspect of invoking the anointing of the holy spirit goosebumps is an idol. People NEED to feel something to validate that it is real. Eventually people learn how to invoke this at will and join the invisible dots to either fervent prayer or praise and worship. It is neither, merely an association. The goosebumpie thingie, is just the brain releasing endorphins that give this feeling of euphoria and making the hairs on your neck and arms stand on edge. Folk even go as far to "sense" good vs. bad anointings and if the sensation is top to bottom it is the hs and the bottom to top is the devil. This begs the question, how the hell does the devil or demons make it in through the doors of the sanctuary. It is after all a "holy place" (well we all know it is just a building).
The scriptures state emphatically that signs and wonder shall follow those that believe. Folk take this literally and instead of signs and wonder following them, they chase after them. Remember the recent Todd Bentley debacle in Florida? Just look how many evangelical woos said "this is THE next move of god like the Azuza street revival" till he went and bonked his secretary. There sure as hell were no atheists in attendance at these meetings, only the gullible sheep. The same goes for the Benny Hinn crusades and now he and Paula White are having and affair and he got divorced.
All of these folk are supposed to be "led" by the holy spirit and are supposed to stand out as leaders of the faith. How people cannot see that this is all smoke and mirrors beats me. None of these pastors demonstrate anything remotely resembling the kind of stuff Jesus apparently taught. It is and remains the greatest con in history.
Oh but they will tell you that man is fallible and god is not. BS.
If there were any truth to a holy spirit, then stuff like this would never happen. You are supposed to bury the old man when you get baptised yet nothing changes, absolutely nothing.
Outside of the church setting, the religious are EXACTLY just like everyone else.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
This was 270 year before the advent of the alleged Jesus fella.
The only place god or gods exist is in the meat between peoples ears called a brain.
GOD does not only punish the idolaters but also bless those who truly worship and obey HIM...
Deu 5:9-10 "Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, for I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws."
All human is to worship GOD not with the aid of idols or anything that limits but by the SPIRIT of GOD and the TRUTH revealed in the BIBLE...
John 4:20-24 "My ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship." Jesus said to her: Believe me, the time is coming when you won't worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans don't really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world. But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth."
It's always seemed to me that only a weak, insecure god would fear and forbid competition.
A strong, secure, omnipotent god would only smile at the wannabes.
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