Topical Bible: Forsaking God: Idolaters Guilty of

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The act of forsaking God is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, often associated with the sin of idolatry. Idolatry, in its essence, is the worship of false gods or the elevation of anything above the one true God. This sin is repeatedly condemned in Scripture, as it represents a direct violation of the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the Israelites are frequently admonished for turning away from God to worship idols. This forsaking of God is seen as a betrayal of the covenant relationship established between God and His people. In Deuteronomy 31:16, God warns Moses, "Behold, you are about to rest with your fathers, and this people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them" .

The Book of Judges provides numerous examples of Israel's cyclical pattern of forsaking God, suffering consequences, crying out for deliverance, and being restored. Judges 2:12-13 states, "They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths" .

The prophets also spoke vehemently against idolatry. Jeremiah 2:13 captures the essence of Israel's sin: "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water" . This metaphor illustrates the futility and self-destructive nature of idolatry.

New Testament Perspective

In the New Testament, the concept of forsaking God through idolatry is expanded to include not only the worship of physical idols but also the elevation of any created thing above God. The Apostle Paul addresses this 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" .

Paul further warns the Corinthians against idolatry, urging them to flee from it: "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (1 Corinthians 10:14). This admonition underscores the seriousness with which idolatry is viewed in the Christian faith.

Consequences of Forsaking God

The consequences of forsaking God are severe and multifaceted. In the Old Testament, the Israelites faced military defeat, exile, and divine judgment as a result of their idolatry. In 2 Kings 17:7-8, the fall of Israel is attributed to their idolatrous practices: "All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites" .

In the New Testament, the spiritual consequences of idolatry are emphasized. Idolatry is seen as a barrier to inheriting the kingdom of God. Paul writes in Galatians 5:19-21, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" .

Call to Faithfulness

Despite the grave warnings, the Bible also offers hope and a call to return to God. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God promises restoration to those who repent: "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land" .

The call to forsake idolatry and return to God is a central message of the Gospel, inviting believers to a life of faithfulness and devotion to the one true God.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

1 Samuel 8:8
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, with which they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

1 Kings 11:33
Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Luke x. The Latter Part of the 25Th Verse.
... Be not deceived, neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor other ... in the New Testament,
joined to the forsaking of Sin ... The Grace of God is declared to have appeared ...
/.../sermon iv luke x the.htm

The First Commandment
... god.' Psalm 16:4. The Lord interprets it a forsaking of him ... I fear upon search, we
have more idolaters among us than ... a child more than God, we make a god of it. ...
/.../watson/the ten commandments/2 1 the first commandment.htm

Sin in the Heart the Source of Error in the Head
... The majority of mankind are idolaters and polytheists, and have ... of his head may result,
by God's blessing upon ... in sorrow for the sin and a forsaking thereof. ...
/.../shedd/sermons to the natural man/sin in the heart the.htm

Christ the Only Preservative against a Reprobate Spirit
... way they should go, on their forsaking of Judaism ... avail nothing; we are only spiritual
idolaters; we sacrifice ... so far from being accepted by God, that according ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/christ the only preservative against.htm

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and ...
... And Resolved, Concerning AssociationsAnd Confederacies With Idolaters, Infidels,
Heretics ... and argument of declining and forsaking the law of God, when men ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/section v scriptures showing the.htm

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party ...
... condemning of them to be, because idolaters were associated ... many palpable forsakings
of God, and God's forsaking of men ... me to have one friend and foe with God. ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/section iii that the employing.htm

The Strait Gate;
... upon the wrath of a guilty conscience? ... the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the strait gate.htm

Beginning at Jerusalem. --Luke xxiv. 47.
... from God, more than the nations were from their idols, and were become guilty of
the ... The Thessalonians were idolaters before the word of God came to them ...
/.../bunyan/jerusalem sinner saved/beginning at jerusalem luke xxiv 47.htm

Faustus States his Objections to the Morality of the Law and the ...
... For this is the doom of that part of your god which is in confinement everywhere,
condemned to this by himself, not as guilty, but in order to conquer his ...
/.../faustus states his objections to.htm

The Jerusalem Sinner Saved;
... from God, more than the nations were from their idols, and were become guilty of
the ... The Thessalonians were idolaters before the Word of God came to them ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the jerusalem sinner saved.htm