DEFINTION OF ‘IDOL’.
An idol is a man made image or REPRESENTATION WORSHIPPED as deity; any natural or MANUFACTURED OBJECT worshipped as deity; ANYTHING receiving WORSHIP other than the ONE TRUE GOD. Idolatry is the spiritual worship of an idol.
SEMITIC RELIGIONS & IDOLATRY.
Idolatry is condemned by all the Semitic religions as well as Sikhism (due to the influence of Islam). Since the prohibition of idolatry is not of Indian origin or context, a little background will help. To do this, detailed information from the Bible will be presented.
Abraham, the father of the Semitic religions came from Mesopotamia. Archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia have revealed the images of numerous deities and Mesopotamian religious literature reveals the gross polytheism out of which Abraham came. At the time that God called Abraham out of this system, the entire planet was engrossed in the darkness of polytheistic idolatry. According to an extra-biblical story, Abraham’s father was an idol-maker. One day after a confrontation by God, Abraham destroyed every image in his father’s shop except a lovely little deity seated on a pedestal. In the hands of this cute god, Abraham placed the hammer with which he had destroyed the others. When his angry father demanded to know who had destroyed the gods, Abraham pointed to the little god. ‘Ask him. He has a hammer.’ When the father replied that the god could not speak, Abraham drove home his point. ‘That’s exactly what I’m trying to show you. A Living God is not one fashioned into an image, but One who can speak, and whom we must heed.’
- THE OLD TESTAMENT & IDOLATRY.
The Bible clearly prohibits bowing down to anything or any one that is created. The very first and second Commandments prohibit this, showing what a serious and heinous sin it is. The prohibition of idolatry is explicitly stated in the second commandment:
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; (Exodus 20:3-5).
‘You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar (shivalingam?), nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 26:1).
Man seems to require an external aid to worship, so he manufactures a visible god. Even as Moses was descending Sinai with the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) which forbade the worship of graven images, the Israelites were dancing around a golden calf (Exodus 32). This commandment is an extension or auxiliary of the first, for it seeks to preserve God’s uniqueness and to protect his glory. Incidentally the Ten Commandments is the only literature in the world which claims to have been written supernaturally by the hand (metaphorically speaking) of God on solid stones and was kept by Israel in the ark of the covenant. The prohibitions against idolatry are too numerous to list, but a few will do. God is speaking (in the first person unlike in any other religious scriptures) and He says:
“I will cut off your carved images and your sacred pillars (shivalingams?) from among you, So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands. (Micah 5:13).
“Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake’. To a dumb stone, ‘Arise!'” (Habakkuk 2:19).- IDOLATRY AND THE JEWISH CAPTIVITY.
God sent many prophets to Israel, to warn them not to get entangled in the idolatry of the surrounding nations but to worship the One True God. At one time the situation was so bad that only 7000 citizens had not bowed the knee to the god Baal (1 Kings 19:18). Instead of being a beacon of light to the world, they sank into the abyss of idolatry and in about 600BC, God finally pronounced judgement on them and allowed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Iraq) to take the Jews into slavery which lasted 70 years.
- DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS REFUSE TO BOW DOWN.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image and gave orders for all to bow down and worship it. If one did not comply they would be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. Three Jews refused to do it, and Nebuchadnezzar says to them:
DAN 3:15b-18 “…and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?’ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king,’O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But, even if He does not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
After 1300 years of disobedience to God, the Jews finally learned to worship the one true God and not to worship idols. Never again did they make or bow down to idols. In fact ancient people thought Jews were atheists, because their Temple had no idols!
- IDOLATRY AND THE JEWISH CAPTIVITY.
- THE NEW TESTAMENT & IDOLATRY.
- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Apostolic preaching condemned idolatry. Paul’s mission at Ephesus gradually destroyed the silversmiths’ lucrative business of making the Diana goddess replicas (Acts 19:23-27). The exclusion of images continued for three centuries till Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity the state religion in A.D. 325. This opened the door to an influx of unconverted idolaters who introduced pagan customs into the church, among them the adoration of idols. Though some early councils condemned the use of images in church worship, the Nicene council of AD 787 not only permitted image veneration, but also pronounced a curse on all opposing the practice. That policy then flourished till the Reformation.
- THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW:
In the NT the concept of idolatry is extended to include covetousness, Paul writes:
‘Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.’ (Colossians 3:5).
Paul mentions greed, or covetousness, last because it is the evil root from which all the previous sins spring. It is also mentioned last in the Ten Commandments. (cf. Exodus 20:17; Deut 5:21). Because it places selfish desire above obedience to God, greed amounts to idolatry. Covetousness is the root cause of all sin. When people sin, it is at its basis their doing what they desire, rather than what God desires. That is, in essence, to worship themselves instead of God, and that is idolatry. Somebody quite rightly said that an idol is ‘I-doll’ haumai if you wish.
Speaking of the idolatrous world, Paul says:
‘For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures…For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 1:21-25).
When saint John was taken to Heaven he bowed down to a holy sinless angel, but was told by the angel that only God is to be bowed down to and worshipped!
To kneel, pray, or burn incense before any statute, whether saint or angel or image of Christ, is hard to reconcile with the command, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.” Those who use a crucifix to recall the sufferings of Christ should beware lest it become an object of superstitious adoration, thus confusing symbol with reality.
Even the worship of the true God with the aid of images is forbidden, because God is infinite and cannot be circumscribed by lines. God is spirit and invisible and cannot be represented adequately. The likeness of a creature or created object is not the likeness of its Creator and thus God cannot be anthropomorphized nor bibliomorphized (as might be the case of the Guru Granth Sahib (for some). Any such representation corrupts the glory of God.
Idolatry may be external or internal. From God’s point of view, an idol is not just something you make with your hands. It can be something in your mind! Furthermore, the Bible not only condemns worship of anything made by man’s hands, but also of idols of the mind. Multitudes in the western world who would never think of crassly bowing to gods of wood and stone (external idolatry), nevertheless give allegiance to gods, just as lifeless and empty, which they set up in their hearts (internal idolatry). An idol is anything we put before God. Dr. Andrew W. Blackwood, professor emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary wrote: ‘In America today false gods abound. They call for perversion of things ideally good: self, pleasure, sex, romance (as in marriage), amusements (commercial), sports (professional), and education (secular).’ So many of our energies these days are devoted to the false gods of status: impressive homes, furniture, hobbies, and money. Some people live solely for a good time, pursuing an endless round of fun. Self-gratification is their deity. How easy it is to crowd God off His throne as some secondary interest eases into His place, but God will not play second fiddle. He says in the first commandment ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Exodus 20:3).
How up-to-date is John’s concluding advice in the final verse of his first epistle. ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols’. (1 John 5:21).
The Bible says anything which prevents you worshipping the Living and True God, is an idol. It can be your family, your mother, father, daughter, son, rasm, rawaaj, smaaj, sansar, i.e your culture and tradition, etc. It can be money, cars, houses, jewels, expensive clothes, the latest fashions, brand names, parties, movies, soap operas, alcohol, etc. Anything that you spend your time, money and energy on that prevents you from worshipping the true and Living God is your idol! Time, money and energy that you should be spending on serving God and fellow man is wasted on the idol that you create in your heart. All the above things are good, but when they become an idol, then they are bad and sinful. According to the Bible America is NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION, AND FALSE gods abound.
Pride can be an idol, e.g. Our pride is hurt when it leads us to think of what people will think of us! It is a very subtle form of pride when one refuses to acknowledge truth, because of what people will think of them. For example if one were to hear the truth of Christianity and know it to be true, yet refused to become a Christian because of the social consequences.
Self-centeredness is idolatry. A person can become an idol, family can become an idol. Pleasure can become an idol. Legitimate amusement is fine. But there is a god of pleasure, and the pujaris (worshippers) go by the 1000’s to arenas, stadiums, movies, nightclubs, etc, and crowd out God. The Bible says these people are:
“Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” (2 Timothy 3:4)
- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
- THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB & IDOLATRY:
- IS BOWING DOWN TO GGS MERELY SHOWING RESPECT?
For the Sikh, the Guru Granth Sahib (GGS) is the one enduring guru. There is no other religion that even comes close to worshipping a book as does Sikhism. The Muslims respect the Koran and Christians respect the Bible but they do not bow down to their scriptures. Islam where there is great reverence for the Koran and a prevailing view that the Koran is eternal in heaven, comes close but Sikhism surpasses even that. It has been said that Sikhs bow down to the GGS to show respect for what is written in the book. But one can have respect for the law and of law books and what is written in them, but you do not go to the law library, take your shoes off, cover your head and bow down to them. One can have respect for the President of the United States, the Queen of England, or the Prime Minister of India, but you do not get on your knees and bow down to them in obeisance. Showing respect is one thing but as in the case of the GGS, BOWING DOWN as an act of reverence or obeisance is by definition WORSHIP and hence implicit idolatry/bibliolatary. There is no question about this although it is actively suppressed and denied. Even a Hindu will typically say that he does not worship the object but the spiritual reality that it represents.
Bowing down to the Guru Granth Sahib, and yet not applying what it teaches is dishonoring the Guru Granth Sahib, and is the ultimate disrespect, far worse than not bowing down in the first place.
SURVEY OF SIKHS REGARDING GURU GRANTH SAHIB.
A survey done amongst Sikhs in Punjab in 1989, by McMullen showed that 84% believed the Granth to be both God and Guru. 95% worshipped the Granth. 65% believed that it has life in the same sense as human beings.
GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY.
Modern technology raises another puzzling question. If the entire Guru Granth Sahib is recorded on a computer disc, are you going to bow down to it? What about the bits of the GGS flowing as data from the Internet sites to the computers?
- PHOTOS OF LOVED ONES.
Ultra-orthodox Jews do not even allow any one to take a photo of them, and they will break your camera if you try to. This is going to the other extreme. Photos of loved ones is not idolatry unless you start to burn incense to them as deity or start bowing down to them.
- IS BOWING DOWN TO GGS MERELY SHOWING RESPECT?
- BIBLIOTARY & SIKH SCHOLARS
Here are a few quotes for your contemplation from two very prominent Sikh scholars on the issue of bibliotary.- Bhai Sahib Ardaman Singh writes:
“We are becoming plain and blatant Book worshippers. They have started at some places to wrap the Holy Granth in warm clothes during the winter and switch on the fan in the summer. They draw curtains around the Guru Granth sahib and place parshad inside so that it can feed in privacy. They even lull the Holy Volume to sleep by placing it on swinging beds. Thanks, Sat Guru, they have not yet started to bathe the Holy Book; though at some places toothpicks and a jug of water are placed under it at night… The Sat Guru has left no stone unturned to save us from such heresies (as Book worship). Of all other things the Holy Volume which was present at Nanded is no longer traceable. If it had been available we would have become confirmed Book worshippers long ago. Its disappearance is an obvious mercy that the Sat Guru has taken on us.” (The Spokesman Weekly, 23rd annual number, 1974 pp19-21).
- Diwan Singh writes
- on pp286-7 of his book, ‘The Revolution of Guru Nanak’:
“the Sikhs can get proper guidance from Guru Granth Sahib such as:……. But some simple minded Sikhs gave the status of living guru to the Guru Granth Sahib, physically and began to serve it in the same sense, instead of consulting it and seeking guidance from it…But the words of Guru Govind Singh ‘ Guru Granth ji manio pargat guraan kee deh.’ ‘Guru Granth as living body of the through and through’ have caused some misunderstanding in the minds of Sikhs. Guru Govind Singh meant that the Guru Granth Sahib is to be given the same status as a living Guru, for consultation and seeking guidance. But some Sikhs have begun to worship Guru Granth Sahib as the body of the Guru. They have in a way made the Guru Granth Sahib an idol. Guru Granth Sahib is here just for consultation and guidance. It is a book needs full care and protection. It is to be honored and respected as a holy book but not to be worshipped.
- And again on p319, he writes:
“It is obnoxious in any form, bowing before pictures of gurus or saints, providing cool air, warmth, cozy covers to Guru Granth Sahib, providing light to Guru Granth Sahib without any need at night, pressing the paws of the seats, and some other rituals drag us to the wrong path. we must be wary.”
- on pp286-7 of his book, ‘The Revolution of Guru Nanak’:
- Gurnam Kaur writes on page 115 of her book “Reason and Revelation in Sikhism”:
“Guru Govind Singh makes for all time to come that worship of idols, stones, graves, animals cannot yield any result. It is all misguiding, KUR KIRYA. (FALSEHOOD)” (Dasam Granth p21).
It is a contradiction that guru Govind Singh would prohibit all these and excludes a book, the Guru Granth Sahib by bowing down to it himself. And yet the GGS, which he installed as the eternal and abiding guru, no where says to bow down to it! Bowing down has come down directly from Hindu tradition, where the idol like the Guru Granth Sahib, occupied the central position in the temple where people would bow down to it and make an offering
- Bhai Sahib Ardaman Singh writes:
BOWING DOWN
Many have asked why Christians refuse to bow down to the Guru Granth Sahib. There are very good reasons.
This is an explanation of what the Bible has to say on this very important subject. Many quotations from the Guru Granth Sahib are made. Prominent sikh scholars and theologians are also quoted. After having read this you can decide for yourself.
TRUTH:
Truth can sometimes be hard to accept. You have to think, understand and apply truth in your life, otherwise it is like wrapping bread around the stomach and expecting nourishment.
Search, test, understand, think, meditate on these truths, and then make a decision.
Truth is like sunlight. Sunlight shining on wax , melts it, but on clay hardens it! Similarly on hearing truth the heart melts when one believes or it hardens when one does not believe.
BOWING DOWN AND CREATION:
Bowing down to anything that is created is dishonoring the eternal, uncreated, Creator God. Bowing down to and worshipping nature (qudrat),
e.g the sun which is made by God Himself is bad. Guru Nanak pointed this out to the Brahmins, when he started throwing water towards his village, Kartar Pur, whilst the Brahmins were throwing water in the opposite direction towards the sun. The Brahmins asked him why he was doing this and he replied, ‘To water my fields.’ When they protested that this was impossible, he replied that if the water could not reach his village, which was only a few hundred miles away, how could the Brahmins water reach the sun?
The sun was made by God, and just as bad or worse than worshipping it, is bowing down to and worshipping anything made by the hands of men, e.g idols. Just as bad is bowing down to and worshipping anything created, or made by man, including a book! Guru Nanak would be horrified to learn what his followers were doing today.
The Holy Bible records the apostle Paul’s visit to Athens in Greece, the world center of philosophy.
“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things”. (Acts 17:24-25).
PICTURES OF THE GURUS:
Guru Nanak would also be horrified to see alleged pictures of himself hanging in gurdwaras and homes.
The Guru Granth Sahib is quite clear on this:
“The picture of the Guru is Gurbani.” (Bhai Gurdas Var 24 pauri 11).
It was not until 1930 that pictures started appearing in the gurdwaras.
In the previous century, during Maharajah Ranjit Singh’s time, idols were common in gurdwaras. The reformation that occurred purged sikhism of many superstitions of Hinduism.
IS GURU GRANTH SAHIB A BOOK?
Some might say that the Guru Granth Sahib is not just a book. But the dictionary defines a book as follows:
“Treatise written or printed on a number of sheets which are folded, fastened together hinge wise at the folded edges, and protected by a binding or cover;(in antiquity) set of written sheets pasted together to form a roll.”
LIVING GURU VS GURU GRANTH SAHIB.
There is a sect of the Sikhs which do not bow down to the Guru Granth Sahib. They came out of the reformation of the last century and are called the Nirankaris. The Nirankaris do something which is just as bad if not worse, by bowing down to a living guru.
GURU GRANTH SAHIB AS THE BODY OF THE GURU.
When guru Govind Singh was alive and inaugurated the Guru Granth Sahib as Guru, to whom did the people bow down? For there were now two living gurus. Did they bow down to the mystical body of the guru, the Guru Granth Sahib, or to the physically living breathing guru?
In what sense did the ‘book’ become the ‘body’ of the guru, once it had been inaugurated by the living guru Govind Singh? What transpired that caused the change?
Another question arises. When does the Guru Granth Sahib, as a book, become Guru? When it is completed at the publishers? When it is lying on the shelf of a bookstore? When it is brought to the gurdwara? When it is installed in the gurdwara and prayers said?
And in what sense is it living? According to biologists a living being has certain characteristics, e.g breathing, moving, eating, etc. In what sense is the Guru Granth Sahib living? It does not breathe, move, or eat etc. Even if it is literally the body of the guru, then the guru must be omnipresent (viapak), since there are hundreds of Guru Granth Sahibs all over the world! Omnipresence is an attribute of God. But this contradicts what guru Govind Singh said about himself, that he was not God and any one calling him God would go to the deepest hell. If you say it is guru because the spirit of God is in it, then since God is immanent in everything and everyone, then everything and everyone must also be guru. Then why does not one bow down to any and everything any and everybody?
Bowing down to the Guru Granth Sahib, and yet not applying what the Guru Granth Sahib teaches is dishonoring the Guru Granth Sahib, and is the ultimate disrespect, far worse than not bowing down in the first place.
Guru Govind Singh also said “Khalsa mera roop hai khaas.”
Is one suppose to also bow down to the khalsa?
Nihang’s & ADI GRANTH (Kartarpuri Bir):
C.H. Loehlin write:
“for example, years ago an attempt was made to photograph every page of the Granth. Special apparatus was secured by a noted Sikh scholar. This attempt to preserve the text in case anything happened to the original would seem most reasonable and helpful, but it caused a tremendous stir among and other fanatical groups. Their reaction was to the effect that “you will photograph the naked body of our guru over our dead bodies!” So the matter was dropped.” (Sikh Studies: Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Tradition, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and N. Gerald Barrier, p117).
Scholarship and the ADI GRANTH (Kartarpuri Bir)
Surjit Singh writes:
“admittedly three scholars have had access to the Kartarpur Granth. Dr. Loehlin and Dr. Archer from a distance and only Dr. Jodh Singh has actually studied it. The first two are only able to note the external features such as blank spaces, deletions in green ink, thickness and size of the manuscript, the newly pasted margins, the browning of the paper and a minute insect erosion. The pasting of new margins, the browning of the paper and a minute insect damage showed that aging and bacterial attack are no respecters of the sanctity of the Guru Granth Sahib. This urgently points out the necessity of adopting museum preservation techniques in safeguarding the precious original manuscript… The doctrine of the Granth as a Guru Granth Sahib is the main resistant to the application of technical instruments such as photography to the text of the original manuscript. But it should be noted that paper, ink, pain, gout, tracing, binding and printing are technical tools already used in service of the Guru Bani. Moreover the grooms themselves use hermeneutical devices of dictation, composition, selection and arrangement. There is, therefore in principle no objection to the application of technical instruments to the sacred text.” (Sikh Studies: Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Tradition, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and N. Gerald Barrier, p119-120).
Regarding which text was the original Granth, Surjit Singh writes:
”there are three main recensions of the Adi Granth. The Kartarpur Granth, the Banno recension and the Damdama recension… On deep religious grounds the Body of the Guru cannot be allowed to be strained by spreading it upon three recensions and variants. It must be restored to wholeness. Piety alone cannot do it; it needs the services of technical scholarship. This becomes all the more urgent if the Adi Granth is to have its rightful place among the sacred Scriptures of mankind.” (Sikh Studies: Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Tradition, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and N. Gerald Barrier, p119-120).
WHAT DOES GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND THE GURUS SAY ABOUT BOWING DOWN?
There is a slok in Guru Granth Sahib about what’s the use of bowing down when your heart is not right?
“Sees nivaae kia thhee-e jaan ridh-e ko sdhe jaae.”
The Guru Granth Sahib also says:
“I bow down with in my heart to the One formless God and not to another.” (Bhairo, guru Arjun Dev).
Guru Govind Singh writes:
“Mere bowing down of the head availeth not; for do not the gunners do the same? And the hunters and the opium eaters?” (Swayyas Dasm Granth).
In the Zafarnama guru Govind Singh, writes that he is an idol breaker. Would he too not be horrified to learn what people are doing today?
ADI GRANTH.
The original Adi Granth is with the Sodhi family in Kartar Pur. This volume is not awakened, nor put to sleep at night! It does not contain the hymns of the ninth or tenth guru.
THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND RATIONALITY.
The Guru Granth Sahib puts great emphasis on Vivekh (rational understanding), Akl(wisdom), sianap, and gian(knowledge). In fact guru Govind Singh sent 500 scholars to Benares to study Sanskrit and the Hindu scriptures, and to dialogue with the Brahmins. He thought it wise to study Hinduism and Islam, the main religions with which he and his Sikhs had contact and also to dialogue and discuss. Surely a true sikh, which means a learner should also follow this example and study other religions with which he has contact, religions with which the gurus might have had little or no contact at all. He should not be afraid to study or to dialogue. Truth is never afraid of being investigated and scrutinized. Guru Granth Sahib does not say commit intellectual suicide (dhumaak noo taale lagao). It does not teach you to be narrow minded.
THE BIBLE AND BIBLIOLATARY.
The Holy Bible says:
“Examine every thing carefully, hold fast to that which is true.” (1 Thes 5:21)
“sabh galaan noo parkho, kokho, parcholo, ate sach noo kabool karo.”
You have full freedom (azaadhi) to bow down and it is your right (haq). Not bowing down is also one’s right.
Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. He said that families would be split because one member would believe in Jesus. He also said no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them. In the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments written on tablets of stone, by God Himself, were confined to the Holy of Holies, in the one and only Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was entered by just one person, the high priest, and even then once a year on the day of atonement, and only with the blood of a sacrificed animal. The curtain which separated the Holy of Holies was supernaturally torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. Perhaps one reason we do not have the original tablets of stone, was to prevent their worship by the masses. A similar reason may explain why God did not preserve any of the original manuscripts of the Biblical text. The Bible expects respectful treatment of God and His revelation (Psalms 119:33-40), but stops short of bibliotary (book worship).
“Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart.
Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For I delight in it.
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, And not to dishonest gain.
Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways.
Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As that which produces reverence for Thee.
Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Thine ordinances are good.
Behold, I long for Thy precepts; Revive me through Thy righteousness.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart.
Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For I delight in it.
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, And not to dishonest gain.
Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways.
Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As that which produces reverence for Thee.
Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Thine ordinances are good.
Behold, I long for Thy precepts; Revive me through Thy righteousness.( Psalm 119:33-40).
THE BIBLE AND IDOLATRY.
The Bible clearly prohibits bowing down to anything or any one that is created. The very first and second Commandments prohibit this, showing what a serious and heinous sin it is. It is a great sin to do so.
LEV 26:1 ‘You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
“Tuseen aapne le-ee kise taraan dhe boot, aur moratiaan naa banonaa. Naa hee kise taraan dhe devi devte, naa hee mathhaa teknaa.”
JOS 23:7 in order that you may not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.
“Tuseen unaan dhe kise devi devta dhee naa poojaa karnaa, naa us age mathhaa teknaa.”
JOS 23:16 “When you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”
“So jekar tuseen Praboo aapne Parmesar dhe keete Nem noo torronge ate devi devtiaan dhee poojaaa koronge, taan Praboo dhaa rastwaaz goosa tuhaade wirudh bharrkhegaa, ate tuseen us changee tartee ton naash ho jawonge, jo us ne tuhanoo dhitee hai.”
JDG 2:19 But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.
“Oh devi devtiaan dhee poojaa kar ke PAAP kardhe sun.“
2KI 17:35 with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.
“Praboo ne ohnaa naal nem keetaa see ate ohnaa noo aagyaa dhitee see ‘tuseen devi devtiaan dhee poojaa naa karnaa, naa hee ohnaa age mathhaa teknaa, jaan poojaa karnaa, jaan ohnaan age bali charonaa.'”
2KI 17:36 “But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.
PSA 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
“Aao us dhee araadhnaa, mathhaa tek ke kari-e; ate Praboo aapne kartaa dhe saamne aapne gode tek-i-e.”
ISA 46:6 “Those who lavish gold from the purse And weigh silver on the scale Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it.
“Oh sunaare noo kiraa-e te lai ke, us ton ek murat banwondhe, ate us age mathhaa tek ke, us dhee poojaa kardhe hun.”
ISA 66:23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.
“Har nawaan chandharmaa dhe tihar sabat waale din, sabh komaan dhe lok meree upaasnaa, ate mere age mathhaaa tekan ethhe Yerusalem wich on-ge.”
JER 13:10 ‘This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband, which is totally worthless.
“Eh hameshaan dhee taraan jidhee ate dusht bane rahe hun, ate ehnaan ne devi devtiaan dhee sewaa ate poojaa keetee hai. is le-ee ehnaan lokaan dhaa haal parn-iaan waang ho jawegaa, jo age ton kise kaam dhe nahin raih jaandhe.”
MIC 5:13 “I will cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars (e.g shivalingams) from among you, So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands.
“Main tuhaadeeaan moorateeaan te bootaan noo wee naash kar dewaangaa; ke tusee aapne hath dhee kisee banaaee ho-ee cheez noo mathhaa na tek sakon.”
HAB 2:19 “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake’. To a dumb stone, ‘Arise!'”
“Afsos hai tere ute, kion ke tun aapne lakrree dhe bbot noo kaindhe hai ‘jaag’ ate gung-e pathhar noo kainndhe hai ‘uth!'”
ZEP 1:5 “And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, And those who bow down {and} swear to the \Lord\ and {yet} swear by Milcom,
‘Jo Praboo dhee araadhnaa kardhe hun, par utle akaashaan dee-aan shaktiaan noo wee mathhaa tekdhe hun.”
The Guru Granth Sahib says:
“Bow before God. I bow before God…” (Namdev, GGS).
“The head that does not bow to the Lord, chop off and remove that head.
The head that does not bow down to the Lord, what is to be done with such a head? Burn it under the earthen pot in place of fire wood.”
“Jo sirr saaee naa nivai so sirr kap utaar. Jo sirr saaee naa nivai, so sirr keejai kaa-e. Kune heth jalaaeeai baalan sandai thaa-e.” (GGS p1381, Farid).
“I bow down within my heart to the One Formless God and not to another.” (Bhairo, GGS M5).
“Make obeisance to the Lord, the Savior.”
“Namaskar Rakhanhar.” (GGS p1341, M5).
When saint John was taken to Heaven and he bowed down to a holy, angel, he was told by the angel that only God is to be worshipped!
REV 19:10 “And I fell at his feet to worship hi. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God.”
“Tadh main us dhe charnee pai ke usdhee upaasnaa keetee, par us ne mainoo kihaa, ‘nahin eh naa kar. Main wee daas hoon, teraa ate unaan tere subh bhraawaan dhaa jo Yeshoo dhe gwaah hun. Tun kewal Parmeshar dhee hee upaasnaa kar.”
“Aur main use sijda karne ke liye us ke panwon par gira. Us ne mijh se kaha ki Khabardar, aisa na kar: main bhi tera aur tere un bhayion ka hamkhidmat hun, jo Yisu ki gawahi dene par quaim hain.: Khuda hi ko sijda kar.”
IDOLATRY AND THE JEWISH CAPTIVITY.
About 600BC, God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Iraq) to take the Jews into slavery for 70 years. God allowed this after sending many prophets, who warned the people to worship the One God and not get entangled in the idolatry of the other nations.
DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS REFUSE TO BOW DOWN.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image and gave orders for all to fall down bow down and worship it. If one did not comply they would be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. Three Jews refused to do it, and Nebuchadnezzar says to them:
DAN 3:15b-18 ” ‘..and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?’
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego answered and said to the king,’O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But, even if He does not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
“Kehrraa Parmesar hai jo tuhaanoo mere hathon bachaa sakegaa?
Par Shadrak, Meshak ate Abdenego ne raje noo utar dhitaa, ‘Maharaaj, aseen tuhaade enaa shabdaan dhaa utar nahin dewaage. Parmeshar jis dhee aseen sewaa kardhe haan, Oh baldhee bhathee wichon ate tuhaadee shakti ton bachon dhe jog hai, taan oh zaroor bachaawegaa. Par jekar Oh saanoo naa wee bachaawegaa, taan wee aseen naa tuhaade devte dhee poojaa karaange ate naa hee tuhaade banaa-e boot age mathha tekaange.“
The 70 years captivity of Israel was due to idolatry. After 1300 years of disobedience to God, they finally learned not to worship idols. Never again did they make or bow down to idols. In fact ancient people thought Jews were atheists, because their Temple had no idols!
Idolatry is so serious that God allowed his chosen people to be taken into captivity. God was not going to stop until they learned their lesson. God revealed to them 3,500 years ago that there is one God. Instead of being a light to the surrounding nations and teaching this revelation, they absorbed the customs and religious darkness of those other idolatrous nations.
PHOTOS OF LOVED ONES.
Ultra-orthodox Jews do not even allow any one to take a photo of them, and they will break your camera if you try to. This is going to the other extreme. Photos of loved ones is not idolatry unless you start to burn inscense to them as deity or start bowing down to them.
WHAT ELSE THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS ABOUT IDOLATRY.
From God’s point of view, an idol is not just something you make with your hands. It can be something in your mind! Furthermore, the Bible not only condemns worship of anything made by man’s hands, but also of idols of the mind.
COL 3:5 ” … and greed which amounts to idolatry.”
” Ate lobh jo murti puja dhe baraabar hun.”
The living God says greed is idolatry! The Bible says anything which prevents you worshipping the Living and True God, is an idol. It can be your family, your mother, father, daughter, son, rasm, rawaaj, smaaj, sansar, i.e your culture and tradition, etc. It can be money, cars, houses, jewels, expensive clothes, the latest fashions, brand names, parties, movies, soap operas, alcohol, etc. Anything that you spend your time, money and energy on, that prevents you from worshipping the true and Living God is your idol! Time, money and energy that you should be spending on serving God and fellow man is wasted on the idol that you create in your heart. All the above things are good, but when they become an idol, then they are bad and sinful. Is paap ton tobaa karnee chaa-eedee hai. According to the Bible America is NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION, AND FALSE gods abound.
Pride can be an idol, e.g Our pride is hurt when it leads us to think of what people will think of us! It is a very subtle form of pride when one refuses to acknowledge truth, because of what people will think of them. For example if one were to hear the truth of Christianity and know it to be true, yet refused to become a Christian because of the social consequences.
Self centerdness is idolatry.
A person can become an idol, family can become an idol. Pleasure can become an idol. Legitimate amusement is fine. But there is a god of pleasure, and the pujaris (worshippers) go by the 1000’s to arenas, stadiums, movies, nightclubs, etc, and crowd out God. These people are:
2 TIM 3:4 “Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”
Moses, who would have been the next Pharaoh (king), the most powerful man on earth chose:
HEB 11:25 “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.”
There is a little poem:
“THE DEAREST IDOL, I HAVE KNOWN,
WHATEVER THAT IDOL BE
HELP ME TO TEAR IT FROM ITS THRONE
AND WORSHIP ONLY THEE.’
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