Babylon Idols and You

1. What are some of the characteristics of the idolatry that God hates so much?

Idolatry is and was a day of divine judgment.

 Jeremiah 7:16-19 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?

1. Idolatry is an exchange of gods

1. Jeremiah 2:5, “What wrong did your fathers find in Me that they went from Me and went after worthless things, and became worthless? What fault was there in Me?

2. Jeremiah 2: 11-13, “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

B. . Idolatry basically is to have a vision of God based upon desire, specifically sexual desire.

Jeremiah 2:20   For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds, but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bow down like a whore.

C. The third characteristic of idolatry is willful self-deception

Jeremiah 2:22-23 Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign Lord. 23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel   running here and there,

II. Defeating Idols in our Lives.

• All idols demand worship and allegiance

• The Human Mind is an Idol Factory.

1. Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.”

2. Return to the Lord

Jer. 17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.