A correspondence on the concept of idolatry

Van een broeder-predikant kreeg ik laatst wat vragen met opmerkingen. De eersten gaan over de manier waarop ik afgoderij opvat. Mijn antwoorden heb ik hem gestuurd en met zijn toestemming zet ik de briefwisseling ook nog een keer hier op de site.

First of all: in my opinion, there are all kinds of forms of idolatry, not only the ones you address in your articles, but also the ones you wouldn't call idolatry, such as the things in the RD (of June 17 last) were mentioned: spending too much time on things that are not wrong in themselves, but which creep stealthily into the place of God (neglecting prayer and Bible reading more and more, etc., and hanging on to other things with your whole heart and life), and the like.

Dit is inderdaad een belangrijk punt en je bent niet de enige die afgoderij veel breder ziet dan ik. De meeste bijbellezers die afgoderij serieus nemen, zien dat in ruime zin.

My understanding of idolatry is based on what God's Word itself says about it. The only "definition" of idolatry that I know of is from Deuteronomy 12:2-4,30-31 and its meaning is that God's people may not approach Him in the way the pagans approach their gods. As far as I can see, that is the essential characteristic of idolatry: that it is always directly related to man's relationship with the invisible world.

The only other expression from the Bible that I know of is the one that talks about "greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5). About that I have here are some thoughts written down and argued that greed and idolatry are not identical; you can't put an = sign between them. I'm not going to elaborate on it here because I think it's too distracting. But if it prompts further discussion on this, I'd love to hear from you.

Qua bijbeluitleg meen ik dat het altijd het beste is om de Bijbeltekst in eerste instantie zo letterlijk en zo precies mogelijk te nemen. Vandaar ook dat ik bijvoorbeeld het begrip ‘hun goden dienen’ opvat als het contact (of gemeenschap) hebben met de geestelijke wezens in de onzichtbare wereld. De God van de Bijbel mogen we niet op dezelfde manier(en) benaderen. De wijze waarop Hij  ‘benaderd wil worden is door/in geloof. ‘Wie tot God komt moet geloven dat Hij is …” (Hebreeën 11:6). Geloven heeft te maken met de geest van de mens en de Geest van God die daarin (voor ons onmerkbaar) werkt.
By the way, this then also leads to the question "how the nations - the pagans - serve their gods" or in other words, how do people without God make contact with the invisible world. This is crucial to know, though, because without it we still don't know what to do with the Bible text. When a person opens up to experience the invisible world, it is the demons that act on the feeling (i.e. on the soul level and not like the Spirit on the spirit level).

This line of thinking almost automatically leads us to distinguish between that which the Bible calls idolatry and all kinds of other "sinful behavior. The former always has to do with contact with the invisible world, that is, with the direct influence of demons on man's soul.

That is why I believe the Bible makes this distinction: idolatry has to do with opening yourself up to demonic influence while believing you are serving God. So all other sinful behavior, in my opinion, does not fall under idolatry. It is the principle difference that is made in the Bible with great consequences for, for example, the image of God that we have, for explanation of many Scriptures (including very difficult ones) and for pastoring.

Just as an aside, in practice there may be situations where 'undesirable behaviors' are associated with idolatry and then they will have to be acted upon. Examples are the "greed that is idolatry" and immoral immoral practices such as homosexuality which, in my opinion, also often accompanies idolatrous practices.
Incidentally, the Bible also speaks of idolatry resulting in all kinds of sinful practices. One of the consequences of idolatry is that the distinction between good and evil blurs, if not disappears. This has (see among others with the people of Israel) a multitude of miserable consequences such as immorality and all kinds of injustices and wrongs.

When we do not keep idolatry and other sins apart - as I believe the Bible does - that confusion can lead to all sorts of awkward and undesirable (pastoral) situations. For example, I heard a while back from a believer who believed that he had committed an unforgivable sin and would not get into heaven on the basis of Hebrews 10:26 and 27. In my opinion, that is the misapplication of these texts, because the whole context is about "entering into the sanctuary" (verse 19) and "drawing near to Him" (verse22). Approaching in faith and with boldness is contrasted with those who shirk it (verse 39), which in my opinion are those who indulge in idolatry. Moreover, I have yet to encounter a believer who does not know this from his own life. You know in advance that what you are going to do is sin and yet you do it. The text in Hebrews 10 is not about those situations.

Thus, there are more serious Bible passages dealing with idolatry; not only in the letter of Hebrews (in several places), but also in 1 John (e.g., 3:4-10).

On the other hand, the problem you mention of a believer neglecting fellowship with the Lord by not taking time to do so is real. Then spiritual things become less important so that a crisis of faith can arise, where seeking "experiences of God" seems like a short cut back, but unfortunately it is not. Because without realizing it, you are deceived and you end up from the rain in the drip.

Jezus spitst in de Bergrede de letterlijke tekst van de geboden ook toe op het overtreden ervan in onze woorden en onze diepste gedachten. In die zin kan een kind van God (iemand die gerechtvaardigd is door het geloof) net zo goed zondigen tegen het 1e gebod als tegen welk ander van de 10 geboden dan ook. De “oude mens”, “het vlees” blijft geneigd tot zondigen. De strijd daartegen zal pas na dit leven voorbij zijn. 

We couldn't agree more. The Lord Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that sinful thoughts are as bad to God as sinful deeds. In doing so, He makes it clear to everyone that we are incorrigible and doomed sinners. It shows what is in the human heart.

Als iemand gerechtvaardigd is door het geloof, dan zou hij/ zij volgens jou niet meer te maken hebben met de toorn van God. M.i. klopt dat wél als het gaat om de eeuwigdurende toorn van God over “de goddelozen”; maar níét wat dit tijdelijke leven hier op aarde betreft; dan kan een kind van God wel degelijk te maken krijgen met de toorn van God over de zonde, maar dan als tuchtiging (Hebr. 12) om hem/ haar ertoe te brengen om die zonden te belijden en ermee te breken, of dat nu zonden tegen het 1e of het 6e, 7e, 8e gebod (enz.) betreft.

As far as I can tell, the New Testament twice mentions "the wrath of God" on the life of a "Christian.

  • In Ephesians 5:3-8, believers are presented with an apostate walk of life to which they could be deceived. Christians with such a walk of life of fornication, money-seeking and idolatry have truly lost their way and are called "children of disobedience. Upon such as these comes the wrath of God (verse 6).
  • We find something similar in Colossians 3:5-6.

Therefore, I would not readily refer to the Lord's "disciplining" as "wrath of God. Discipline, in my opinion, is more what a father (and our Father) does to his children to "teach them the right way" or as Hebrews puts it "that we may partake of His holiness" (12:10).

Our God and Father is the God who "forgives manifold, gracious, merciful, patient, rich in kindness" (Nehemiah 9:17) and acts accordingly with those who love Him and keep His commandments (Exodus 20:6).

Of course He is one and the same God, but He deals with His children in a different "character" (so to speak) than when dealing with idolatry.

Het moet overigens geen woordentwist tussen ons worden: wat wel of niet onder het begrip “afgoderij” valt, is m.i. niet het allerbelangrijkste; in ieder geval is het zondig als je steeds meer in beslag genomen wordt door allerlei dingen die verhinderen dat je de tijd neemt voor de omgang met God en Zijn Woord, of we dat nu afgoderij noemen of niet.

Daar ben ik het graag mee eens: het onderscheid tussen afgoderij en ‘overige zonden’ is niet belangrijk voor het eeuwig behoud van een kind van God. En we maken er geen woordenstrijd over. Ik probeer op de site uit te leggen hoe ik de dingen in Gods Woord begrijp en degene die dat leest mag dat voor de Here overwegen wat daarmee te doen. Wat dat betreft herhaal ik Paulus maar – zonder me uiteraard ook maar op enige wijze met hem te willen vergelijken – die tegen Timotheüs zei: denk maar na over wat ik schrijf en laat de Here je inzicht geven (2 Timotheüs 2:7).

By the way, I just read an article on CVandaag about 'Christian yoga' met een heleboel commentaar en daaruit blijkt weer opnieuw dat men op christelijk erf geen enkel benul heeft dat de Bijbel over yoga (en veel andere occulte zaken) heel veel ernstigs te zeggen heeft. Daarom ga ik – als de Heer het me vergunt – toch nog maar even door met de site.