Introduction to Elijah: Part 1

Without question, Elijah is one of the most distinctive individuals in the Bible. The solitary prophet from Gilead burst upon the scene like a thunderbolt, making a dramatic, unannounced entrance on the stage of public action during one of the darkest hours in Israel's history. A hitherto unknown entity from a district that scholars still cannot locate with any certainty, his striking witness for the living God was a searing light in the midst of the spiritual darkness and degradation that permeated the land of Israel.

One commentator wrote, “The most illustrious Prophet Elijah was raised up in the reign of the most wicked of the kings of Israel.” That is a terse but accurate summary of the situation in Israel at that time. Seemingly every light of truth had been extinguished, nearly every voice of testimony for the God of Israel had been ruthlessly silenced, spiritual death and decay had taken over the land, and it appeared certain that the stranglehold of idolatry had sealed the eternal fate of Israel.

What had happened to the nation of Israel? How was it that God’s chosen people had a national religion that rejected God, and whose rulers who were hunting down those who dared to be His followers? In order to gain the best understanding and perspective of the catastrophic disaster that Israel had become, as well as to fully comprehend the sheer magnitude of Elijah’s ministry, a historical review must first be conducted to provide the appropriate context for this remarkable prophet’s dramatic appearance.

Let’s go back nearly 600 years from the time of Elijah’s initial appearance on the public stage to the call of Moses:

Ex 3:13 “Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?’”

Moses’ question here is a valid one, not to be taken as a protest or attempt to avoid his calling, when considered within the context of the culture in which he and his fellow Israelites lived. At this point in history, all known people groups and nations lived in a polytheistic, pantheistic, and syncretistic world. These peoples held the belief that there were many gods, that all nature partook to some degree of divinity, and that all religions had at least some validity no matter how many or what sort of gods or goddesses those religions worshiped.

Lost in our modern English translations and understanding, as we denote a significant difference in “God” and “gods,” these words are the same Hebrew term elōhîm. The plurality of this word connotes both multiples of gods, but also vast majesty and power. The ancient peoples used elōhîm for any being who exhibited supernatural abilities, including angels and demons, as well as the mythological gods. Therefore, elōhîm was the generic term for all supernatural beings, not the proper name or identification of any particular god. In our modern English we capitalize “God” to refer to the one true God, similarly in the Spanish El Señor vs. Señor, but the term itself – god – is still generic.

Seen in this context, we would still acknowledge today there are many “gods” (nonhuman, supernatural beings) in the same sense that Psalms 82 does (and Jesus does in quoting this Psalms passage in John 10:34-36):

“God [elōhîm] has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods [elōhîm] He holds judgment…You are gods [elōhîm], sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” (Psa 82:1,7)

In essence then, Moses’ question is “Which god are you? Which god is speaking to me?” Having lived within the midst of the pagan influences of the polytheistic Egyptian culture all of their lives, with likely exposure to the cultures surrounding them, the expression, “the God of your fathers” may well have held different meanings for the Israelites.

Ex 3:14-15 “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel,’ ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

In response to Moses’ query, God reveals His proper name and identity to Moses, giving both the first-person and the third-person forms of His divine name: “I AM” and “Lord,” the elōhîm of Seth, Enoch (Gen 4:26), Abraham (Gen 12:8), Isaac (Gen 26:25) and Jacob (Gen 28:16). This mention of the patriarchs emphasizes that the God who made the covenant was the God who kept the covenant.

In this re-revelation of His identity, “I AM” is the Hebrew hāyâ, meaning “to be,” and “Lord” is the mysterious Tetragrammaton YHWH (Yahweh), meaning “self-existent or eternal.” The name should be understood as referring to Yahweh as the creator and sustainer of all that exists and thus the Lord of both creation and history, including the host of heaven – the supernatural realm. Based on this reasoning, some hold this verse could reasonably be translated, “I cause to be because I cause to be.” This is an emphatic declaration of divine control of all things – natural and supernatural.

In mythologies and pagan beliefs, everything had a beginning. Even the gods were born or created. By revealing His name as “I cause to be because I cause to be,” Yahweh is declaring that He alone is self-existent. Not only was He not born or created, He is the Creator of everything – even the supernatural beings. There may be other gods, as defined by the ancients, but only He is divine and only He is Lord.

As an interesting side note: while YHWH is generally written without its Hebrew vowels, the original pronunciation of YaHWeH has considerable support. Yahweh (“LORD”), the personal name of God and His most frequent designation in Scripture, occurs 5,321 times. Also, etymologically, the term, Yehovah or Jehovah, comes from the reverence for the ineffable (“unutterable or taboo”) name “Yahweh.” This reverence caused it to be replaced in synagogue reading, though not in writing, with ’ădōnāy, meaning “my master” or “Lord.” When medieval Jewish scholars began to insert vowels to accompany the consonantal Old Testament text, they added into the YHWH the Masoetic vowel points for ’ădōnāy. Thus the actual writing became YăHōWāH, which in some of the earlier translations we see rendered as “Jehovah” (KJV, ASV, Darby, YLT, etc.) Most modern translations use the proper Yahweh or Lord.

For example, one of the names for God, Jehovah-jireh, comes from: “And Abraham called the name of that place ‘Jehovahjireh’: as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen’.” Gen 22:14 (KJV)

A more literal rendering would be: yahweh rā’āh “Yahweh see” (as in, “Yahweh will see to it”) or yahweh yir’eh, “Yahweh will provide”.

Continuing on with our historical review, we come to Mount Sinai, at the scene of the first giving of the 10 commandments:

Ex 20:1-5 “And elōhîm spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am YHWH your elōhîm, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other elōhîm besides Me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them …’” (NAB)

There are five key elements here that we need to note and keep in mind for future context:

1. The Lord (again, the proper name) is Israel’s God.
2. The Lord brought them out of Egypt.
3. The Israelites were not to have any other gods besides Him.
4. They were not to make any type of idol.
5. They were not to bow down to or worship any idol.

The Lord very clearly spells out for Moses what he is to instruct and remind the Israelites. They are not to forget who it was that brought them out of their slavery in Egypt. Not just any god, but their God, and more importantly, Yahweh – the eternal and only divine Lord.

What was so significant about this emphasis on the Lord having brought them out of Egypt? In pagan cultures, each nation had their own national, patron god. When one nation therefore went to war against another nation, there were two wars taking place, theoretically. One in the physical realm, and the second in the spiritual realm, as the two gods helped out their respective nations. Therefore, it was believed that the conquering nation’s god was superior or stronger than the defeated nation’s god. Accordingly, as a nation went about conquering other lands, their god was, in essence, exported to those other nations, as clearly it had been evidenced whose god was superior. Conversely, note how the Israelites adopted the gods of the lands their God conquered for them.

At the time of the Hebrews' exodus, Egypt was the most powerful nation in the world. By extension then, their gods were the most powerful gods. For the nation of Israel to be able to have the yoke of Egyptian slavery thrown off of their necks, followed by the complete destruction of the mighty Egyptian army, clearly the God of Israel must be a supreme God and more powerful than the Egyptian gods! The Lord wanted no confusion – it was He and He alone who brought the Israelites out of the bondage in Israel. His glory was not to be shared or allocated to some make-believe god represented by an idol!

The first commandment is a terse declaration that covers a broad array of anything that could potentially compete for the worship due solely to the Lord. Unfortunately, most of our translations read something to the effect, “You shall not have any other gods before Me.” This would seem to allow for a polytheistic meaning, that the Lord should be the preferred God, the first one in line. While that would have made sense to the Hebrews, steeped as they were in generations of polytheistic cultures, the real meaning would have rocked their religious mindset.

The literal translation, “not be for you other god before face me,” takes a far stronger meaning, not simply “before Him” but “before His face.” Such a rendering means He doesn’t even want to see any other gods, none in His presence, none within His all-seeing line of vision. A better translation, more in keeping with the original meaning would be, “You must have no other gods in distinction to Me,” with a simpler, more modern rendering, “I am the only God. Period. End of story.”

Comprehend what is being said here. The Israelites had been living in bondage in Egypt for 400 years, saturated by the polytheistic and idolatrous religions of that land, and surrounded by cultures with similar belief systems (albeit different gods and goddesses). When all of a sudden, Moses has this conversation with a burning bush, and now he’s taking note that not only is Yahweh the God of Israel, He’s the supreme Creator, and there’s no other gods? The first two statements could be accepted in the Hebrew way of thinking. He’s their God, therefore He’s supreme to them, and every other god falls in line behind Yahweh. That makes sense and seems reasonable. They would have no issues with believing in God. Even here in America “everyone” believes in God, right? But no other gods? This was not a time and culture that had even considered the possibility of monotheism. Talk about a mind warp!

The second commandment is also very explicit – it prohibits any and all forms of idolatry. No person, place or thing is ever to receive the honor and worship that is due solely to Yahweh. The very nature of the wording of this prohibition is purposely repetitive and all-encompassing, to ensure that it is abundantly clear that there can be no exception of any kind to the ban on idolatry. So now Yahweh is reinforcing that not only are the Israelites to intellectually and spiritually grasp there are no other gods, they are to live that way too! A complete change in the way of thinking, and a complete change in the way of living out their faith.

In case these commandments hadn’t sunk in sufficiently, the Lord reiterates: “You shall not make gods of silver to be with Me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.” Ex 20:23

In looking ahead to the Promise Land, the Lord takes the instructions a bit further:

Ex 23:23-25 “For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces. But you shall serve the LORD your God.”

Ex 23:32-33 “You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

In Egypt the Israelites had been surrounded by idols and sorcerers, but leaving that land did not mean they would be free from pagan religious influences. The land of Canaan was just as infested with idol worship. God knew His people needed extra precaution and reinforcement, so He continually emphasized guarding against the influence of pagan religions. Not only were they to avoid worshipping idols, they were to proactively destroy any vestige of idol worship left behind by the pagan nations of Canaan.

Furthermore, they were also to abstain from any covenants or relationships with the people and their gods. In pagan cultures, it was very common to make a pact or covenant with a god or goddess. An individual would promise a particularly notable sacrifice if the god or goddess would grant them a particularly extraordinary request. The Hebrews were to strictly avoid being party to such pacts.

So what did the Israelites do while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Lord’s instructions?

Ex 32:1-6 “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.’ So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”

Compare the earlier list of five key points with what transpired in Moses’ absence:

1. The Lord is Israel’s God: “This is your god, O Israel”
2. The Lord brought them out of Egypt: “who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
3. The Israelites were not to have any other gods besides Him: “This is your god, O Israel”
4. They were not to make any type of idol: They made a golden calf.
5. They were not to bow down to or worship any idol: “They rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings.”

So in this one scenario, they systematically dismantled everything that the Lord had established. Note, however, Aaron’s statement, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” So they didn’t completely ignore Yahweh. They just rendered Him to god status within the broader pantheon of gods, just as they had always viewed religion. See how quickly and easily they slipped back into the ways they had been living for generations.

After this matter had been dealt with, Moses once again returned to Mount Sinai to received from the Lord for the second time the 10 commandments (Ex 34:1-2). From this encounter we see an expansion of the previous instructions, providing a broader picture of the commandments:

Ex 34:12-17 “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim – for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God – otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. You shall make for yourself no molten gods.”

For the Israelites, there was only one covenant – the one between them and the Lord. Accordingly, they needed no other covenants. Not with other nations, and not with any other gods. Not only were they not to make idols or worship them, they were to utterly destroy all traces of idolatry, and they were also to avoid having any relationships with the pagan Canaanites. The reason behind this prohibition is that such relationships would lead the Israelites into idolatry. If they played with fire, they would be burned.

Notice how frequently the Israelites are being reminded, and reminded, and reminded. Why? Again, consider how significant of a change in religious mindset this was to them. These constant reinforcements were needed to slowly wash away generations of polytheistic thinking and living. Furthermore, note how seemingly with each reminder, the Lord breaks down His instructions to more and more basic levels. He continually expands and further spells out how to live out a life consistent with following Him. We could say He’s taking pains to make His instructions easier to apply and simpler to digest.

As the time of the Exodus was coming to the end, Moses took the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land, once again, and gave them his final instructions – which included a lengthy recitation of the Lord’s instructions (yet another reminder):

Deut 5:1-9 “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face-to-face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…’”

Deut 12:2-3 “You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.”

Deut 16:21-22 “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.”

Deut 17:2-5 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones.”

Deut 7:3-5 “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following Me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and He would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.”

After Moses died, Joshua led the nation of Israel, following the commandments of the Lord. When he was about to die, he likewise gave a recap of Israel’s history, concluding with:

Josh 23:11-13 “So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.”

So what were the key points that the Israelites had drilled into them, time and time again?

1. The Lord is Israel’s God.
2. The Lord brought them out of Egypt.
3. They were not to make any idols or any other idol paraphernalia.
4. They were not to worship any idols.
5. They were to utterly destroy any idols and everything related to idolatry.
6. They were not to make any covenants or to have relationships with idolaters.
7. They were to stone anyone who practiced idolatry.

In addition to this list of seven critical instructions, and extremely relevant for the study of the life of Elijah, is a little-known passage in Deuteronomy, also from Moses’ farewell discourse:

Deut 17:15-17 “You may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

So based upon these verses, we can add to the list of seven:

8. No foreigner is to be ruler over Israel.
9. Israel’s kings must not acquire many horses.
10. Israel’s kings must not have many wives.
11. Israel’s kings must not acquire excessive silver and gold.

What’s the key, consistent theme behind all of these 11 points of instruction? While there may seem to be an increasing list of commandments and instructions, there is one crucial, underlying point in all of this, with the seemingly additional instructions being nothing more than further breaking down of the one point into more concrete and applicable instructions. What was this one critical point?

The Lord is God, and there cannot be anything: idols, pleasures, relationships, possessions, wealth – nothing that could lead the people away from the Lord, their one and only true God. Look at that again: pleasures, relationships, possessions, wealth – don’t we yet today struggle with making one or more of those our idols? Our idols today may not be figurines or statues to which we bow down, but do we struggle any less with ensuring that nothing gets in the way of our relationship with the Lord?

Now what would possess a man or woman back then to make an idol out of rock, wood or metals and turn around and start worshipping it? Surely you and I would not do something so ridiculous. How could any rational, intelligent individual worship a hunk of rock or carved wood? The nature of idolatry in these early cultures is generally lost on us today. We may view idolatry today as nothing more than rituals of worshipping some statue or other icon, whether praying to them, lighting candles, burning incense, or making some form of food or other offering.

However, the idolatry we’re discussing here in the Old Testament was of a completely different nature. Rather, this form of idolatry was an extremely elaborate and intricate system of religion and lifestyle – something that influenced all aspects of one’s life. The attractions and pleasures of idolatry would have exerted an enormous lure for the people of Israel, only compounded by the legalistic austerity of many elements within Israel.

Consider the glamour and attraction of New York City and Las Vegas for someone growing up within a Puritan environment. Big city, bright lights, much fanfare and excitement, many attractions, pleasures abounding for every senses – could that lure someone, particularly someone who has been living in the desert? This isn’t a value judgment on any of those elements, rather, an analogy to drive home the point of lure and temptation.

We may not see idolatry today with the same trappings that pulled away the Israelites, but haven’t we simply replaced idols and idol worship with our own, modern forms of idols? Idolatry then, just as it is today, was something that led the people of God away from their true God.

Having said that, let’s take a deeper look into what idolatry meant for the Hebrews:

1. Gateway. These early pagans were led to believe that the visible presence of an idol ensured the invisible presence of their god or goddess. When an idol was carved or formed, and the appropriate rituals and incantations were performed, it was believed that the respective god or goddess infused the idol with their essence. Accordingly, the idol therefore was a virtual gateway to the very presence and essence of the god or goddess, ensuring that anything said or done in front of or for the idol, was truly being said, done or for the god or goddess.

A good analogy given by Stuart in his commentary of Exodus: “In the same way that a modern person might speak to and look into a sound-equipped television camera knowing that their words and actions were being transmitted accurately to other locations, ancient people believed that the offerings they brought before an idol of a god and the prayers they said in the idol's presence were fully and unfailingly perceived by the god whom that idol represented.”

2. Quid-pro-quo. Idolatry was pure and simple a guaranteed quid-pro-quo arrangement. Built upon a foundation of basic appetites and desires, idolatry was entirely a system of feeding the appetites and giving into the desires of the gods and goddesses, in turn obligating them to fulfill the worshippers’ appetites and desires. For example, given an idol is immobile (but otherwise powerful), clearly it could not feed itself or it’s respective god. Therefore, if a worshipper “fed” their god, the god would return the favor and fulfill the whims of the worshipper. So if you wanted anything from your god, do something for your god. Given him a bowl of grain or wine, and you would have your desires met.

3. Ritualistic. Perform the appropriate ritual, and then go on living your life as you please, knowing that you’ve done your part and you’re guaranteed the god has to do its part. No guilt, no commandments to follow, no particular lifestyle to be mindful of – live your life however you wish. Punch-in, punch-out.

4. Effortless. The Israelites needed to go to the tabernacle, temple or specific location. Idols? On every corner. That is, on every high place and under every spreading tree. Forget the long and expensive pilgrimage, just go to the nearest drive-through idol. No wasted time, effort or cost with idolatry.

5. Passé. The Israelites with their “rules” and “laws” and “commandments” were strict, rigid and out of the norm. Idolatry was what everybody else was doing – literally. Every other known culture during that time in history was saturated in idolatry. The Israelites, with their monotheistic beliefs, were the clear exception to the idolatrous lifestyles of the nations all around them. Given both Judaism and idolatry at that time in history both entailed a way of life, more than simply a matter of religion, the Israelites were clearly the odd-man-out. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb!

6. Categorical. Idolatry was a potpourri – polytheistic, syncretistic and pantheistic. There were many gods and goddess, one for every situation and scenario. Everyone had their own personal god, a family god, a national god, farming god, crop god, rain god, fertility god, war god, sun god, etc. The Israelites with their one-god-fits-all-and-is-all God were, again, the square peg in a round hole. If you needed something, you went to the appropriate god or goddess. If you weren’t sure, you covered your bases and offered a sacrifice to several gods. Furthermore, not only were there many gods, there was also a hierarchy to the gods. So one would clearly not disturb an important god with a minor request, which could be handled by a lesser god. Obviously the more important gods had more important things to tend to. This one jack-of-all-trades God was completely a divergent way of thinking for the early cultures.

7. Sensual. Whether kissing the idol or partaking in heterosexual or homosexual acts, or taking part in other forms of sensual rites, idolatry was very pleasing to the senses. It was passionate, creative, artistic, feel-good worship; sometimes alone, in pairs or in groups. Temple prostitution was rampant with all forms of idolatry, driven by the belief that all aspects of the universe was subject to procreation, vs. creation or evolution. Again, even the gods had been birthed. As a result, ritual sex was seen as a way of stimulating the gods and goddesses to do their thing, resulting in the earth bearing fruit, livestock bearing young, and every other aspect of fertility. That is why every god had his consort, and every goddess had her mate. Therefore, at the temple of Baal, prostitutes were available to play the role of Asherah for the males, or even play Baal for the Asherahs, which led to the accommodation of both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Amos 2:7-8 even speaks of fathers and sons going together to have sex with the same temple prostitute.

8. Gluttonous. In addition to sexual acts, feeding and drinking were also common practices of idolatry. Pagan cultures typically only ate meat that was sacrificed to idols, so such a practice was a logical way of killing two cows with one stone. A meal sacrifice gained one the favor and gratitude of a god or goddess, but given the idols clearly couldn’t eat the meat, the worshipper thus gained the double benefit of having their desires met, and getting a full meal. The more one wined and dined the gods and goddesses, the more generous the gods and goddesses would be, the more their desires were met, and therefore the fatter the worshippers became. Accordingly, gluttony was complicit with idolatry. Heavy drinking and indulgence led to further debaucheries, more perverted rites and acts, further searing the conscience and further escalating the downward spiral. In other words, the ultimate end of idolatry was the complete degradation and perversion of what was God’s crowning creation – mankind – made in His own image and likeness.

Can there be any question as to why the Lord detested idolatry so much? Vile, debaucherous, and degrading. Satan can’t spit in God’s face, but he sure has proven adept at dragging in the mud those who bear the Lord’s likeness and image.