Topical Bible: Idolatry: They Who Practise: Forget God

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Idolatry, in the biblical context, refers to the worship of idols or the elevation of anything above the one true God. It is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures, where the practice is consistently condemned as a grave sin. Those who engage in idolatry are often depicted as having forgotten God, turning away from His commandments and His covenant.

The Bible provides numerous examples of how idolatry leads individuals and nations to forget God. In Deuteronomy 8:19 , the Lord warns the Israelites, "If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish." This passage highlights the direct correlation between idolatry and the act of forgetting God, emphasizing the severe consequences that follow.

The prophet Jeremiah also addresses this issue, lamenting the spiritual amnesia of the people. In Jeremiah 18:15 , it is written, "Yet My people have forgotten Me; they burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk on byways, not on the highway." Here, the act of burning incense to idols is equated with forgetting God, leading to a departure from the righteous path.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul speaks to the folly of idolatry in Romans 1:21-23 : "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." This passage illustrates how idolatry results in a willful ignorance of God, replacing His glory with created things.

The spiritual forgetfulness associated with idolatry is not merely a lapse in memory but a deliberate turning away from God. In Hosea 8:14 , the prophet declares, "For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels." The construction of palaces and fortified cities symbolizes self-reliance and pride, further distancing the people from their Creator.

Throughout Scripture, idolatry is portrayed as a betrayal of the covenant relationship between God and His people. In Judges 3:7 , it is recorded, "And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs." This pattern of forgetting God and serving idols is a recurring cycle in the history of Israel, leading to periods of oppression and divine judgment.

The practice of idolatry is not limited to the worship of physical idols but extends to any form of devotion that supplants God in one's life. In Ezekiel 23:35 , the Lord says, "Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.'" This metaphorical language underscores the spiritual adultery inherent in idolatry, where God is cast aside in favor of other allegiances.

In summary, idolatry is a profound act of forgetting God, characterized by the worship of created things rather than the Creator. It is a sin that leads to spiritual blindness, moral decay, and ultimately, divine judgment. The biblical narrative consistently calls for repentance and a return to the worship of the one true God, who alone is worthy of honor and praise.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Deuteronomy 8:19
And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Jeremiah 18:15
Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
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Library

The Temper of Christ
... is just as fond as it ever was of idolatry, and superstition ... and grudge at, those
who do not practise them; for ... by insisting on things against which they have a ...
/.../kingsley/the good news of god/sermon xxxii the temper of.htm

section iii.
... 59] Superstition, and so easily seduced to the Idolatry of their ... betrayed, are able,
and do emperically practise without his advice, they both proceeding ...
//christianbookshelf.org/browne/religio medici/section iii.htm

The Treatise
... do not keep this Commandment, and practise real idolatry ... God, the other only makes
worse idolatry and the ... of God's commandment only, that they shall diligently ...
//christianbookshelf.org/luther/a treatise on good works/the treatise.htm

Prayerlessness in the Pulpit
... real, true and loyal those who practise it ought ... propose to disciple all nations,
destroy idolatry, crush the ... and earnestly contend for it after they have lost ...
/.../bounds/the weapon of prayer/viii prayerlessness in the pulpit.htm

Faustus Asserts that Even if the Old Testament could be Shown to ...
... If any among this people fell into idolatry or demon ... He would see many who do not
practise the required ... to believe, I see no reason why they should continue ...
/.../faustus asserts that even if.htm

The Lame Man Cured by Peter and John.
... license, in which the ancient systems of idolatry indulged their ... imitation of the
Apostles, who gave what they had; and ... Let us then go forth and practise in the ...
/.../dick/lectures on the acts of the apostles/lecture iv the lame man.htm

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
... the most High God, to observe and practise what we ... guilty of, it is in plain terms
Idolatry; and therefore ... For thus they are expresly commanded to honour the ...
/.../private thoughts upon a christian life/thoughts upon worldly-riches sect ii.htm

The Form of Sound Words
... if it be, my brother commits a sin who does not practise it ... Why, pure idolatry. ... Teach
your children; bring up your old catechisms again, for they are after all ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856/the form of sound words.htm

The Order of Thought which Surrounded the Development of Jesus.
... by the separation of the northern tribes, they dreamt of ... of theocracy and the worship
of Jehovah over idolatry. ... maintain that we must not practise virtue like ...
//christianbookshelf.org/renan/the life of jesus/chapter iv the order of.htm

CHAP. II. 4-25 (2-23).
... only to excite to it, and to practise it. ... of Jehovah with heathenism, according to
which they called the ... Baal; the other was still grosser"was pure idolatry. ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/chap ii 25-apr 2-23.htm