"Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." - Galatians 4:8
Idolatry is putting trust into something other than God. When a person commits idolatry, they go from worshiping the Creator to the created. The prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 10, verses 3-5: "For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."
Jeremiah is saying that creating idols is pointless. These objects, no matter how beautifully made, have no power. They are neither good or evil. They cannot harm or protect. The prophet Habakkuk adds to Jeremiah's sentiments when he said "what profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?" (Hab. 2:18).
Idolatry, like all other sins, is a heart issue and has led to some of the most wicked and heinous practices in the history of mankind. Cultures such as the Canaanites, the Carthaginians, the Etruscans, the Chinese, the Celts, the Hawaiians, the Mesopotamians, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, and the Incas all practiced the ritual of human sacrifice to their idols. The Israelites witnessed this practice during their time in Egypt and saw that the inhabitants of the land Canaan performed this ritual as well, so they were quite familiar with why God gave them the commandment "thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:3).
History has shown that these cultures sacrificed children for reasons such as prosperity and fertile land more than as a form of worship. Essentially, they sacrificed humans for selfish reasons while often time partaking in orgies. Idolatry gives a person the feeling that they have control over an issue by turning something into God in their own eyes. That kind of power is appealing.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 that a person cannot serve both God and money. Money was created by man and becomes the focal point of people's lives. They will sacrifice time, their health, and relationships for money. Leaders will harm their people and the environment for money. Individuals will sell children into sex trafficking for money. Idolatry is no different today than it was thousands of years ago.
The Carthaginians sacrificed children as a means of population control. China, during its 35-year policy of restricting families to one child, forced abortions upon women. Mei Fong talks about the voluntary and involuntary rise of abortions in her book One Child The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment.
The culture of human sacrifice is still rampant in many African countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa, and several others. These acts are done in order to bring good fortune and good weather.
In the Antichrist lesson, I showed that idolatry will make a global return during the Tribulation period and will culminate with the worship of the image of the beast (Rev. 13:15).
God hates this sin because he knows what it does to people. Idolatry robs Him of His deserved adoration (Is. 42:8). Idols cause people to fall into sin while Jesus causes people to fall out of sin.
Next work of the flesh: witchcraft