"Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons."
All sin is bad, but for the Christian to participate in idolatry is particularly heinous. In our devotional time, my wife and I are currently reading in Judges. Over and over the people of Israel turned from the one true God and worshiped idols, and over and over God punished them for it. Why? Why make such a big deal about the matter? Why record it for countless others to read? Why does it matter?
To worship false gods is horrible, but to know the true God to worship Him and then to worship the false gods is even worse. How can one align himself with the sovereign of the universe, claiming to have a close personal relationship with Him, if he also worships demons? It is incomprehensible. Worship of the living God and worship of the no-god idols are mutually exclusive.
Today, most of the western world does not have figurines to which they sacrifice, pray, and show honor. Traditional idol worship still goes on in the world, but most idol worship has left what we generally think of as idolatry and has become more subtle. Instead of brass, gold, and wood figurines, we have set our self-will, desires, and passions up as modern day idols. This more sophisticated method of idolatry may seem less offensive, but it takes you away from the worship of the true God and is equally demonic. We must worship God and Him alone.
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