Idolatry

I would be interested in learning if there was a greater enemy than the one we find in the following Torah Portion, Ki Tisa, which means “When you lift up” or “When you take.” You can explore Kit Tisa in depth by reading Exodus 30:11-34:35. At this point, Moses and God have been having quality time on the mountaintop when Israel gets impatient, constructs a golden calf, and worships it as the god who brought them out of Egypt (Ex 32.4).

Idolatry, the most significant transgression, is akin to adultery in the spiritual realm. Worship is not just a ritual. It’s a form of spiritual intimacy (Ez 23.7). The two tablets were a wedding covenant contract Moses broke when he saw the Israelites had cheated. I thought of the golden calf whenever I heard about idolatry growing up. So, clearly, I haven’t had a statue on my front lawn since 1999, and this warning does not apply to me. I have since learned that whenever we give a function to something that should solely apply to God, we are engaging in idolatry. Humans create idols just like God created us. The scriptures describe us as the works of God’s hands, and idols are labeled the works of human hands.  

Psalm 115:4: Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.   

Isaiah 2:8: Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

Job 34:19: Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor, For they are all the work of His hands.

The Holy One brought us into being with a purpose. Our purpose has always been to carry the Divine Presence throughout the earth, sanctifying it so that, eventually, His Presence can fill the earth. The thought is that we are bringing heaven to earth as human mishkans or tabernacles. However, after forming an idol, we assign a purpose, such as deliverance, validation, power, indwelling, provision, and wisdom. We worship them, which endows them with life, inviting them to control the one who becomes one with them through spiritual intimacy. This stark contrast between God’s creation and our human-made idols should inspire a profound sense of reverence in us. Being created in God’s image, we took on His glory. Here in the Torah Portion, Israel makes a golden calf, assigns the purpose of deliverance, brings it into being, and worships it, swapping the glory of the Holy One for that of an ox. Jewish commentators believe that the golden calf came to life because of Exodus 32:7, when Aaron tells Moses, “Look bro, all I did was take the gold the Israelites gave me and throw it into the fire, and out came this calf” (Brianna’s rephrasing).

“Aaron then threw the gold into the fire, still hoping that Moses would return. Instantly, however, a calf appeared, alive and skipping, the result of a splinter which was thrown into the fire by the wicked Micah.” (link here)

Exodus 32:4: And I said to them, “Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.” So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.

Therefore, there is a strong warning against idolatry. When we reflect God’s glory, we live within our purpose where there is freedom, which comes from aligning our lives with the divine plan. However, when we engage in idolatry, there is oppression. An internal disorder happens because we become corrupted. We ask things that can’t hear, speak, deliver, or guide us to counsel and even fill us, making us reflect their image, which is spiritually deaf, mute, and blind. When we engage in idolatry, we open ourselves up to being enslaved by them. We invite them into our beings, trading the Divine Presence for an unclean force, and then they become parasites that feed on us because they can’t exist without us. They can only exist within a vessel willing to carry them. They are not connected to the Living One like we are. The consequences of idolatry are grave, and we must understand the importance of this issue.

Psalm 106:36: They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

John 15:4: Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. The branch cannot itself produce fruit unless it abides on the vine. Likewise, you cannot produce fruit unless you abide in Me.

The text tells us that idolatry corrupts us, a word that describes a vessel being rendered unclean for use in holy things. This corruption is not a minor issue but a serious one that we must urgently address to maintain our spiritual purity.

Ezekiel 23.7: Thus she committed her harlotry with them, all of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, with all their idols, she defiled herself.

Exodus 32:7: And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.”

In today’s world, drug abuse has become the greatest idol of our time. Humans created drugs and gave them the purpose of bringing happiness or peace through escapism, courage, identity, and provision. Do drugs have power as demons or idols (yes, I believe demons are idols)? Yes, but not power to deliver you from your struggles or to give you peace. The courage they give is fake, and the validation from others that you gain from doing drugs is fleeting. The money you make from pushing them will not last; even what you have will be lost financially. Their power is to create internal chaos and make you reflect the image of a beast, an animal that acts entirely instinctually without wisdom, honor, or peace. Drug abuse is a prime example of what idolatry does to us. It corrupts our purpose of being vessels of honor, makes us out of our minds, and leaves us steeped in shame. It is God who gives us peace that we cannot even comprehend. He brings us happiness when our words and actions align with our purpose and beliefs. The Holy One brings us through our struggles and tests unharmed. God gives us an ordered, peaceful, loving mind. His Ruach or Holy Spirit is translated as air or wind, like the oxygen we breathe, mirroring the internalization of drugs we smoke, inhale, or push through our veins. Drugs are counterfeit to the Divine Presence and do not produce the rewards you are looking for.

2 Chronicles 11:15: Then he appointed for himself priests for the high places, for the demons, and the calf idols which he had made (spiritual wickedness in high places is idolatry in Ephesians 6).

Isaiah 45:16: They shall be ashamed and also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, who are makers of idols.

Jeremiah 50:38: A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols.

We can also engage in idolatry internally without creating and worshipping carved images. We can place people in the high places of our hearts when we depend on them to validate us or tell us our value and worth. Fame and popularity can be internal idols that cause disorder in our beings.

Ezekiel 14:3-4: Therefore speak to them, and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God”: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols.”

The first step is to be aware of modern idolatry. Then, we have to stop engaging and walk away from it. We need to abandon and metaphorically bury idols, burn them, tear them down, and replace them with worship of the Holy One. We must honor the first two commandments to love God, not create anything, and bestow it with a Godly function.

Genesis 35:4: So they gave Jacob all the foreign [idols] which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

Deuteronomy 12:2-4: You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations, which you shall dispossess, served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.

Exodus 32:20: Then he took the calf, which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.