Idolatry has been a stronghold in the culture of the patriarchs and in Israel for the earth’s entire existence. It is/was a global problem. However it should not have been an issue for the patriarchs and the temple era Israelites. While people still worship idols today, we should be informed of our history so that we understand our present day. Why did the patriarchs live among idols? Why did idolatry enter into the temple? Why did Israel struggle with idolatry and occultic practices? As we noticed last week, Solomon explains the history of Israel for the Israelites to learn from, but then Solomon himself made idols. When the kingdom split the temple was infiltrated with occultic arts. There was suppression and a re-emergence of idolatry. If in fact idolatry and occultic practices were in the temple then why build another temple today? The next temple will have the same problem insomuch that the son of perdition will sit in the holy of holies and declare himself to be god. We know that this is a future event for a future temple. It would seem idolatry was/is always a problem, so we should not be surprised that Yahweh warned that if they practiced idolatry he would reject their sacrifices. If sacrifices are rejected then there is no atonement for sin even with a temple.
When we read some of the historical records of Abram/Abraham we see that his father Terah was an idol worshipper. As history tells us Abram lived with Noah and Shem. When he returns to Terah’s house, Abram finds a house of idols. Terah had a temple/temples for his idols. Abram destroyed them.
Jasher 11:13 In the fiftieth year of the life of Abram, son of Terah, Abram came forth from the house of Noah, and went to his father's house. 14 And Abram knew the Lord, and he followed in his ways and instructions, and the Lord his God was with him. 15 Terah his father was in those days still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods. 16 And Abram came to his father's house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was set ablaze when he saw these images in his father's house. 17 And Abram said, As the Lord lives these images shall not remain in my father's house; so shall the Lord who created me do to me if in three days' time I do not break them all. 18 Abram went from them, and his anger burned within him. And Abram hurried and went from the chamber to his father's outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him. 19 Abram asked his father, saying, Father, tell me where is God who created heaven and earth, and all the sons of men on earth, and who created you and me. And Terah answered his son Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house. 20 And Abram said to his father, My lord, show them to me I pray you. And Terah brought Abram into the chamber of the inner court, and Abram saw, and behold the whole room was full of gods of wood and stone, twelve great images and others less than they without number. 21 And Terah said to his son, Behold these are they which made all you see on earth, and which created me and you, and all mankind. 22 Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him. 23 When Abram had gone from them he went to his mother and sat before her, and he said to his mother, Behold, my father has shown me those who made heaven and earth, and all the sons of men. 24 Now, therefore, hurry and fetch a kid from the flock, and make of it savory meat, that I may bring it to my father's gods as an offering for them to eat; perhaps I may thereby become acceptable to them. 25 And his mother did so; she fetched a kid, and made savory meat thereof, and brought it to Abram, and Abram took the savory meat from his mother and brought it before his father's gods, and he drew nigh to them that they might eat; and Terah his father, did not know of it. 26 Abram saw on the day when he was sitting among them, that they had no voice, no hearing, no motion, and not one of them could stretch forth his hand to eat. 27 And Abram mocked them, and said, Certainly the savory meat that I prepared has not pleased them, or perhaps it was too little for them, and for that reason they would not eat; therefore tomorrow I will prepare fresh savory meat, better and more plentiful than this, in order that I may see the result. 28 It was on the next day that Abram directed his mother concerning the savory meat, and his mother rose and fetched three fine kids from the flock; she made of them some excellent savory meat, such as her son was fond of, and she gave it to her son Abram, and Terah his father did not know of it. 29 Abram took the savory meat from his mother and brought it before his father's gods into the chamber; he came nigh to them that they might eat, and he placed it before them, and Abram sat before them all day thinking perhaps they might eat. 30 Abram viewed them, and behold they had neither voice nor hearing, nor did one of them stretch forth his hand to the meat to eat. 31 And in the evening of that day in that house Abram was clothed with the spirit of God. 32 He called out and said, Woe to my father and this wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone which can neither eat, smell, hear nor speak, who have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs which cannot move; like them are those that made them and that trust in them. 33 When Abram saw all these things his anger was set ablaze against his father, and he hurried and took a hatchet in his hand, and came to the chamber of the gods; he broke all his father's gods. 34 And when he was done breaking the images, he placed the hatchet in the hand of the great god which was there before them, and he went out; and Terah his father came home, for he had heard at the door the sound of the striking of the hatchet; so Terah came into the house to know what this was about. 35 Terah, having heard the noise of the hatchet in the room of images, ran to the room to the images, and he met Abram going out. 36 And Terah entered the room and found all the idols fallen down and broken, and the hatchet in the hand of the largest, which was not broken, and the savory meat which Abram his son had made was still before them. 37 When Terah saw this his anger was greatly set ablaze, and he hurried and went from the room to Abram. 38 And he found Abram his son still sitting in the house; and he said to him, What is this work you have done to my gods? 39 Abram answered Terah his father and he said, Not so my lord, for I brought savory meat before them, and when I came near to them with the meat that they might eat, they all at once stretched forth their hands to eat before the great one had put forth his hand to eat. 40 And the large one saw their works that they did before him, and his anger was violently set ablaze against them, and he went and took the hatchet that was in the house and came to them and broke them all, and behold the hatchet is yet in his hand as you see. 41 And Terah's anger was set ablaze against his son Abram, when he spoke this; and Terah said to Abram his son in his anger, What is this tale that you have told? You speak lies to me. 42 Is there in these gods spirit, soul or power to do all you have told me? Are they not wood and stone, and have I not myself made them, and can you speak such lies, saying that the large god that was with them struck them? It is you that did place the hatchet in his hands, and then said he struck them all. 43 Abram answered his father and said to him, And how can you then serve these idols in whom there is no power to do any thing? Can those idols in which you trust deliver you? Can they hear your prayers when you call on them? Can they deliver you from the hands of your enemies, or will they fight your battles for you against your enemies, that you should serve wood and stone which can neither speak nor hear? 44 And now certainly it is not good for you nor for the sons of men that are connected with you, to do these things; are you so silly, so foolish or so short of understanding that you will serve wood and stone, and do after this manner? 45 And forget the Lord God who made heaven and earth, and who created you in the earth, and thereby bring a great evil on your souls in this matter by serving stone and wood? 46 Did not our fathers in days of old sin in this manner, and the Lord God of the universe brought the waters of the flood on them and destroyed the whole earth? 47 And how can you continue to do this and serve gods of wood and stone, who cannot hear, or speak, or deliver you from oppression, thereby bringing down the anger of the God of the universe on you? 48 Now therefore my father refrain from this, and bring not evil on your soul and the souls of your household. 49 And Abram hurried and sprang from before his father, and took the hatchet from his father's largest idol, with which Abram broke it and ran away.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (pp. 194-196). (Function). Kindle Edition.
Abram’s brothers (half brothers) were angry with Abram for destroying these idols. Jubilees tells the story of Terah’s idols slightly differently. This can be an “and/both” story. Moses writes that Abram burnt the idol house down and his brother Haran died in the fire.
Jubilees 12:1 In the sixth week, in the seventh year of it, that Abram said to Terah his father, saying, “Father!” 2 He said, “Look, here am I, my son.” He said, “What help and profit have we from those idols which you worship, and in the presence of which you bow yourself? 3 For there is no spirit in them. They are dumb forms, and they mislead the heart. 4 Do not worship them, Worship the God of heaven, who causes the rain and the dew to fall on the earth and does everything on the earth, and has created everything by His word, and all life is from His presence. 5 Why do you worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of men’s hands, and you bear them on your shoulders, and you have no help from them, but they are a great cause of shame to those who make them, and they mislead the heart of those who worship them. Do not worship them.” 6 His father said to him, “I also know it, my son, but what shall I do with a people who have made me serve them? 7 If I tell them the truth, they will kill me, because their soul clings to them so they worship them and honor them. 8 Keep silent, my son, or they will kill you.” And these words he spoke to his two brothers, and they were angry with him and he kept silent.
In the Jubilees account Terah feels forced to have idols due to living under Nimrod. The Jasher account does not show Terah recognizing the idols as false gods, and later sends Abram to Nimrod to be imprisoned. Here in Jubilees Abram gets rid of Terah’s idols with fire.
Jubilees 12:12 In the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is, in the fourth week, in the fourth year of it, Abram arose in the night and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the house and no man knew it. 13 And they arose and sought to save their gods from the fire. 14 Haran hasted to save them, but the fire flamed over him, and he was burnt in the fire, and he died in Ur of the Chaldees before Terah his father, and they buried him in Ur of the Chaldees.
Lumpkin, Joseph. Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher: Banned from the Bible (pp. 131-132). (Function). Kindle Edition.
In Jasher Abram makes the point that the pre-flood generation worshipped idols and then the flood came. Being that Abram grew up with Noah and Shem, Abram had a better understanding of Yahweh Elohim than his father and the culture around him However the problem of idolatry didn’t end with Terah. Now we move on to Jacob and Rachael. Rachael took Laban’s idols when they left Labans house.
Gen 31:17 (Brenton) And Jacob arose and took his wives and his children up on the camels;
Gen 31:18 and he took away all his possessions and all his store, which he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and all that belonged to him, to depart to Isaac his father in the land of Chanaan.
Gen 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole her father's images.
Why did she want them? Jacob knew Yahweh Elohim well, but somehow Rachael needed the idols. Now Jacob in conversing with Laban pronounces a curse on whoever took the idols.
Gen 31:32 And Jacob said, With whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, he shall not live in the presence of our brethren; take notice of what I have of thy property, and take it; and he observed nothing with him, but Jacob knew not that his wife Rachel had stolen them.
Gen 31:33 And Laban went in and searched in the house of Lea, and found them not; and he went out of the house of Lea, and searched in the house of Jacob, and in the house of the two maid-servants, and found them not; and he went also into the house of Rachel.
Gen 31:34 And Rachel took the idols, and cast them among the camel's packs, and sat upon them.
Gen 31:35 And she said to her father, Be not indignant, Sir; I cannot rise up before thee, for it is with me according to the manner of women. Laban searched in all the house, and found not the images.
Gen 31:36 And Jacob was angry, and strove with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my injustice, and what my sin, that thou hast pursued after me,
Gen 31:37 and that thou hast searched all the furniture of my house? what hast thou found of all the furniture of thine house? set it here between thy relations and my relations, and let them decide between us two.
While it is not nice to say it, Rachael’s life was shortened. Was it because she stole the idols?
When we come to the exodus generation the people heard these words, clearly and precisely.
Exo 20:3 (Brenton) Thou shalt have no other gods beside me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor likeness of anything, whatever things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth.
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, recompensing the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation to them that hate me,
As recorded in Leviticus:
Lev 19:4 (Brenton) Ye shall not follow idols, and ye shall not make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.
Yahweh warns them.
Lev 26:1 I am the Lord your God: ye shall not make to yourselves gods made with hands, or graven; neither shall ye rear up a pillar for yourselves, neither shall ye set up a stone for an object in your land to worship it: I am the Lord your God.
Lev 26:14 But if ye will not hearken to me, nor obey these my ordinances,
Lev 26:15 but disobey them, and your soul should loathe my judgments, so that ye should not keep all my commands, so as to break my covenant,
Lev 26:16 then will I do thus to you:…
Lev 26:27 And if hereupon ye will not obey me, but walk perversely towards me,
Lev 26:28 then will I walk with you with a froward mind, and I will chasten you seven-fold according to your sins.
Lev 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
Lev 26:30 And I will render your pillars desolate, and will utterly destroy your wooden images made with hands; and I will lay your carcases on the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall loathe you.
Lev 26:31 And I will lay your cities waste, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell the savour of your sacrifices.
Lev 26:32 And I will lay your land desolate, and your enemies who dwell in it shall wonder at it.
Lev 26:33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and the sword shall come upon you and consume you; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities shall be desolate.
In retrospect we can see what ultimately took place, Israel has no temple. They did eat the flesh of their children. Their cities became desolate and they went into captivity. The part that should concern all people who want to build another temple is verse 31, Yahweh Elohim will not even smell their sacrifices. He won’t allow their sacrifices to absolve their sins. Yahweh did scatter them among the nations.
Israel became a nation under men’s political maneuvering but Yahweh has not brought his people back yet. That comes immediately after the Day of the Lord. While in Moab, the Israelites start worshipping the Moabite gods. Even so, because they continued to practice idolatry and occultic practices, Yahweh doesn’t even smell their sacrifices.
While still in the wilderness, traveling around, people consecrated themselves to pseudo gods and idols.
Num 25:1 (Brenton) And Israel sojourned in Sattin, and the people profaned itself by going a-whoring after the daughters of Moab.
Num 25:2 And they called them to the sacrifices of their idols; and the people ate of their sacrifices, and worshipped their idols.
Num 25:3 And Israel consecrated themselves to Beel-phegor; and the Lord was very angry with Israel.
Num 25:4 And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the princes of the people, and make them examples of judgment for the Lord in the face of the sun, and the anger of the Lord shall be turned away from Israel.
Num 25:5 And Moses said to the tribes of Israel, Slay ye every one his friend that is consecrated to Beel-phegor.
In Moab Yahweh attempts to reestablish the covenant during the exodus.
Deu 29:1 (Brenton) These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Choreb.
Deu 29:9 And ye shall take heed to do all the words of this covenant, that ye may understand all things that ye shall do.
Deu 29:10 Ye all stand to-day before the Lord your God, the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, every man of Israel,
Deu 29:11 your wives, and your children, and the stranger who is in the midst of your camp, from your hewer of wood even to your drawer of water,
Deu 29:12 that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God and into his oaths, as many as the Lord thy God appoints thee this day;
Deu 29:13 that he may appoint thee to himself for a people, and he shall be thy God, as he said to thee, and as he sware to thy fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob.
Deu 29:14 And I do not appoint to you alone this covenant and this oath;
Deu 29:15 but to those also who are here with you to-day before the Lord your God, and to those who are not here with you to-day.
Deu 29:16 For ye know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, how we came through the midst of the nations through whom ye came.
Deu 29:17 And ye beheld their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which are among them.
Deu 29:18 Lest there be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart has turned aside from the Lord your God, having gone to serve the gods of these nations; lest there be in you a root springing up with gall and bitterness.
Yahweh gives them a second chance. Here the covenant is renewed and set forth to the people. Moses even writes a song about it to remind people what took place. Yet once the people entered the land that Yahweh promised them, they started with the idols again.
Jdg 17:1 (Brenton) And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias.
Jdg 17:2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which thou tookest of thyself, and about which thou cursedst me, and spokest in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it: and his mother said, Blessed be my son of the Lord.
Jdg 17:3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the money to the Lord out of my hand for my son, to make a graven and a molten image, and now I will restore it to thee.
Jdg 17:4 But he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, and he made it a graven and a molten image; and it was in the house of Michaias.
Jdg 17:5 And the house of Michaias was to him the house of God, and he made an ephod and theraphin, and he consecrated one of his sons, and he became to him a priest.
Jdg 17:6 And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Michaias steals his mother's money. She curses him, and then he gives it back. She then takes some of the money and makes idols with it. Michaias makes a house of idols and one of his sons becomes a priest in his occultic house of worship. As the story goes, a Levite passing by is offered to live in Michaias’ occultic house of worship and worship Yahweh there. Michaias thinks he will be blessed having a variety of idols and a Levite. We later find out that the Levite, was a son of Gershom, who was the son of Moses. As the tribe of Dan passes by they take the idols, and the Levite, and set the idols up in their land.
Jdg 18:23 (DRB) And began to shout out after them. They looked back, and said to Michas: What aileth thee? Why dost thou cry?
Jdg 18:24 And he answered: You have taken away my gods which I have made me, and the priest, and all that I have, and do you say: What aileth thee?
Jdg 18:25 And the children of Dan said to him: See thou say no more to us, lest men enraged come upon thee, and thou perish with all thy house.
Jdg 18:26 And so they went on the journey they had begun. But Michas seeing that they were stronger than he, returned to his house.
Jdg 18:27 And the six hundred men took the priest, and the things we spoke of before, and came to Lais, to a people that was quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword: and the city they burnt with fire,
Jdg 18:28 There being no man at all who brought them any succour, because they dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with any man. And the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it, and dwelt therein,
Jdg 18:29 Calling the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father, who was the son of Israel, which before was called Lais.
Jdg 18:30 And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan the son of Gersam, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the tribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity.
Jdg 18:31 And the idol of Michas remained with them all the time that the house of God was in Silo. In those days there was no king in Israel.
We see that the people were not clean worshippers of Yahweh, they were instead worshippers of many gods. The Israelites go in and out of captivity with the Philistines for their idolatry and occultic rituals. As we move forward in time, Saul makes some mistakes and Samuel confronts him.
1Sa 15:19 (Brenton) And why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds out of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience is better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 For sin is as divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject thee from being king over Israel.
1Sa 15:24 And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and thy direction; for I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.
Saul blames the people saying they took the idols, which were spoils. Samuel says idols bring on pain and grief. It seems odd that people didn’t heed Samuel’s warning. Moving forward again, we see Solomon making idols.
1Ki 11:3 (Brenton) And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.
1Ki 11:5 But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:6 And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.
1Ki 11:7 Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the children of Ammon.
1Ki 11:8 And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.
One of the edicts we see in Christianity is that Christians have to finish the race as Christians. It does not matter if we lived as Christians when we were younger, we have to die as Christians. If we turn away from Yahweh as Solomon did, there are consequences. One of the biggest losers was Solomon in his old age. Because of Solomons decisions, the kingdom was split in two and occult practices entered the temple.
1Ki 11:26 And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the Ephrathite of Sarira, the son of a widow, was servant of Solomon.
1Ki 11:27 And this was the occasion of his lifting up his hands against king Solomon: now king Solomon built the citadel, he completed the fortification of the city of David his father.
1Ki 11:28 And the man Jeroboam was very strong; and Solomon saw the young man that he was active, and he set him over the levies of the house of Joseph.
1Ki 11:29 And it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went forth from Jerusalem, and Achia the Selonite the prophet found him in the way, and caused him to turn aside out of the way: and Achia was clad with a new garment, and they two were alone in the field.
1Ki 11:30 And Achia laid hold of his new garment that was upon him, and tore it into twelve pieces:
1Ki 11:31 and he said to Jeroboam, Take to thyself ten pieces, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.
1Ki 11:32 Yet he shall have two tribes, for my servant David's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
1Ki 11:33 Because he forsook me, and sacrificed to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, and to the idols of Moab, and to their king the abomination of the children of Ammon, and he walked not in my ways, to do that which was right before me, as David his father did.
1Ki 11:34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, (for I will certainly resist him all the days of his life,) for David my servant's sake, whom I have chosen.
1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and give thee ten tribes.
1Ki 11:36 But to his son I will give the two remaining tribes, that my servant David may have an establishment continually before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.
1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign as thy soul desires, and thou shalt be king over Israel.
The kingdom splits over idolatry and occultic rituals. Even with second and third chances Israel cannot fully stop worshipping idols. It is a constant battle in the nation.They clearly needed another way to atone for sins as Yahweh was not receiving their sacrifice offerings any longer. The prophesied Messiah was to give the nation yet another chance for atonement and entrance into the kingdom of god and of heaven. The occult rituals got so bad that there was no other way to save the innocents but to destroy the two kingdoms.
Build a third temple? Actually we know it would be a fourth temple as Shem had built the first temple, but nonetheless, why do it? On one hand we would say that since this is the only prescribed way of atonement for the Jews they should have a temple to make sacrifices for their sins. However Yahweh is not accepting of their sacrifices. Even so, we know that there will be another temple (a fourth temple) because the daily sacrifices have to resume and the son of perdition has to enter into the holy of holies, not die, and declare himself god. That is set in scripture. If Yahweh Elohim wants a temple built now, then in our day we know it as a benchmark in time. If Yahweh does not want the temple built now, it simply won’t happen, as only Yahweh knows the number of people that we are waiting for to enter into the sheepfold. We will continue to uncover the truth about the temple and Yahweh’s remedy for the time period when there is no temple on the earth.
