Catholicism makes idols in the form of the Blessed Mother and its saints, puts them in pedestals, and encourages its church members to kneel before them, bow down and pray to them. The fact is, God forbids graven images of any make. Commandment No. 2 is emphatic: 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to idols or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. EXODUS 20
Idols made of stone or cement are forbidden.
7 Do not make cast idols. EXODUS 34
1 Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God. LEVITICUS 26
Idols made of wood are forbidden.
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God, 22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates. DEUTERONOMY 16
Idols made of metals are forbidden.
23 Do not make any gods to be alongside Me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. EXODUS 20
“I am a jealous God” in Exodus 20:3 does not imply that God gets insecure or envious of gods. God forbids idolatry (actually God hates it, to Him it is an abomination) because He is zealous for our well-being.
§ God forbids idolatry of graven images because it is an exercise in futility.
3 For the customs of the people are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold. They fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like scarecrows in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm, nor can they do any good. JEREMIAH 10
6 They bow down and worship it. 7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles. ISAIAH 46
19 Woe to him who says to wood “Come to life!” or to lifeless stone “Wake up!” Can it give guidance? …There is no breath in it. HABAKKUK 2
14 Those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless. 15 They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them. JEREMIAH 10 tev
16 [But God] who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these [gods], for He is the Maker of all things, including Isra’el, the tribe of His inheritance—[Adonai-Tzava’ot] is His name… 12 God made the earth by His power, founded the world by His wisdom, stretched out the heavens by His understanding. JEREMIAH 10
§ God forbids idolatry of graven images because it is dishonest.
It makes us believe that the creation is more powerful than the Creator. That is not true.
20 Can people make their own God? No, if they did, it would not really be God. JEREMIAH 16 tev
It makes us believe that God is either a man or a woman, or an animal. That is not true.
15 [Moses said to the Israelites] You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. DEUTERONOMY 4
It makes us believe in polytheism, that there is more than one God. That is not true.
It makes us believe that behind the graven images are godly spirits that hear petitions and grant them. That is not true. 14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs. REVELATION 16
Lucifer even goes to the extent of making us believe that the Spirit of God is hearing the petitions and granting them. That is not true. The truth is, we are being manipulated to become devil-dependent.
9 The work of Lucifer is displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 2 THESSALONIANS 2
God is permitting the delusion to test us.
3 The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commandments and obey Him. Serve Him, and hold fast to Him. DEUTERONOMY 13
Where the idols are, that’s where to find God—this is another false teaching being peddled to us. Don’t buy it. Idols are an abomination to God. It is most unlikely that God will stay in idol-hosting places.
Moreso, don’t believe that God can be worshiped only at idol-hosting chapels and church houses. God is omnipresent. He can be worshiped wherever we are. Chapels and church houses are not really a requirement for worship. Christians build them, beautify and maintain them, but only as a local office and meeting place for the Body of Christ.
Lucifer is making us look for God outside of ourselves, not within us. Don’t do that. Our spirits are our synagogues. God hopes to dwell in it, to be reunited with us. He is waiting for us to sweep it and elevate it into a “temple” worthy of the King of kings. He is waiting for us to welcome Him into it—for us to be in constant communion and fellowship with Him. This is the kind of worship God seeks.
21 Y’shua declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this [Samaritan] mountain nor in Jerusalem. 23 …a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. JOHN 4
§ God forbids idolatry of graven images because it hampers our blessings. It prevents us from enjoying His love.
15 Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol—a thing detestable [repulsive, loathsome] to the Lord, the work of the craftsman’s hand—and sets it up secretly [to worship it]. DEUTERONOMY 27
Why is the Philippines going through a lot of suffering and pain? Because the nation is cursed! God blesses everybody but the cursed is blessed less and made to suffer more.
Why is the nation cursed? God has spoken against idolatry and yet graven images continue to adorn the altars, walls and gardens of our homes, workplaces, schools, churches, stores, hospitals and government offices. We light candles to graven images, kneel and bow before them, and make supplications to them. We offer flowers and garlands to them, embrace them, wipe them with their handkerchiefs, and shed tears before them.
We are pursuing an ungodly tradition blindly, without question. Lucifer loves it! 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ROMANS 1
An estimated 1.3 million devotees joined in the Jan. 9, 2008-procession of the wooden statue of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. Did it please God? We don’t think so. Two people died and 46 were wounded during the procession. The following year, in another procession, the life-size icon of the Virgin Mary tumbled and fell on a young girl in Tondo, Manila. The girl died. Her mother was seen on TV asking why the tragic accident should happen to them. In the 2010-Quiapo procession two male devotees died and 400 people were injured.
God is not pleased with idolatry of graven images. The sooner we get the message, the better for the nation.
10 If you keep My commands, you shall abide in My love. JOHN 15
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