Leviticus 26:1-13 comments: idolatry condemned

 

Leviticus 26:1 ¶  Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. 2  Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3  If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4  Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5  And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6  And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 7  And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8  And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9  For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. 10  And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. 11  And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12  And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13  I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

 

This is not a condemnation of a sculpture as we have today although the pornographic aspect of some modern art and its glorification of man, I am sure, are not approved of by God. This is about raising up a graven image or a picture for the purpose of worshipping it as a god, a common practice in the ancient world. To bow down to it gives you the understanding of its purpose. God has further comments on this in Isaiah 44 as He shows just how foolish humans can be in this regard.

Isaiah 44:9 ¶  They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10  Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 11  Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. 12  The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. 13  The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. 14  He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. 15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 18  They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. 19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? 20  He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

 

Idolatry, worshipping other gods as idols, is something that God detests. It is a condemned and forbidden work of the flesh in Galatians 5. We can also imagine it extending to many things other than just the worship of idols of stone.

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

 

God makes a transactional bargain, a covenant, that if the Hebrews will honor His sabbaths and obey His commandments then they will prosper. As verse 12 says He will walk among them, hearkening back to the preincarnate Christ’s relationship with Adam and Eve in the beginning. They need to acknowledge that He freed them from the wretched slavery that was imposed upon them.