THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.
EXODUS XX, 4-6: _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: thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments._
This command prohibits the making of images to be used in religious
worship, and the using of images in religious worship. It is not the
engraver's skill, nor the printer's art, but the people's idolatry
that is condemned--not the ingenuity in making, but the stupidity in
worshiping those dumb representatives that is here forbidden. The
brazen serpent and the cherubim are proof of this.
This prohibition, therefore, must be interpreted according to the
subject-matter of it, which is _divine worship_. It is not unlawful to
represent to the eye any visible thing by an artificial image of it,
but when God says, _Thou shalt not make, and thou shalt not worship_,
the meaning is, thou shalt not make any thing with an intention of
worship, and thou shalt not worship any thing which thou or others
have made.
As negative commands enjoin the performance of the opposite positive
duties, so this command enjoins whatever appertains to the external
and visible worship of God, as the first command, by prohibiting the
owning or cleaving to false gods, enjoins the acknowledging, and
cleaving to, and spiritually worshiping the true God.
1. THE USE OF IMAGES FORBIDDEN.
EX. XX, 4. 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:
5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the
Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me.
EX. XXXIV, 17. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
LEV. XIX, 4. Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten
gods: I am the Lord your God.
DEUT. IV, 16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image,
the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of
any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18. The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the
likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest
the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven,
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord
thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
PSALM XCVII, 7. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that
boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.
ISAIAH XLII, 8. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I
not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
REV. XIV, 9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud
voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his
mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is
poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
2. IMAGES ARE NO REPRESENTATION OF GOD.
DEUT. IV, 12. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the
fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye
heard a voice.
13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to
perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of
stone.
14. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and
judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to
possess it.
15. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner
of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of
the midst of the fire;
16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of
any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18. The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the
likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest
the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven,
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord
thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
ISAIAH XL, 18. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will
ye compare unto him?
ISAIAH XL, 25. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?
saith the Holy One.
ISAIAH XLVI, 5. To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and
compare me, that we may be like?
ACTS XVII, 29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought
not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone,
graven by art and man's device.
ISAIAH XL, 19. The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith
spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a
tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to
prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.
ISAIAH XLI, 29. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing:
their molten images are wind and confusion.
JER. X, 8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a
doctrine of vanities.
9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from
Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue
and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the
nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the
heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from
under these heavens.
3. THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD _upon the Violators of this Command_.
EX. XXXII, 35. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the
calf, which Aaron made.
2 KINGS XVII, 16. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their
God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove,
and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the
fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do
evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
18. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them
out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
2 CHRON. XXVIII, 2. For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel,
and made also molten images for Baalim.
3. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and
burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen
whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
4. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the
hills, and under every green tree.
5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king
of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of
them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered
into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great
slaughter.
2 CHRON. XXXIII, 7. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had
made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to
Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen
before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever.
2 CHRON. XXXIII, 9. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had
destroyed before the children of Israel.
2 CHRON. XXXIII, 11. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains
of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the
thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
2 KINGS XXI, 7. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had
made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his
son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all
the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
8. Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the
land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do
according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the
law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil
than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of
Israel.
10. And the Lord spake by his servants and prophets, saying,
11. Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and
hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before
him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
12. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing
such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both
his ears shall tingle.
PSALM LXXVIII, 58. For they provoked him to anger with their high
places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel.
AMOS V, 26. But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun
your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.
ROM. _I_, 23. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things.
24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts
of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
4. IMAGES USED BY APOSTATES _as Outward Symbols in worship Offered to
the true God_.
EX. XXXII, 4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it
with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they
said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt.
5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made
proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.
NEH. IX, 18. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said,
This is thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought
great provocations.
JUDGES XVII, 3. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of
silver to his mother, his mother said, I have wholly dedicated the
silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image
and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4. Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two
hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made
thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house
of Micah.
5. And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod, and
teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
JUDGES XVIII, 30. And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and
Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons
were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the
land.
31. And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the
time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
1 KINGS XII, 26. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom
return to the house of David:
27. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their
lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go
again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and
said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before
the one, even unto Dan.
31. And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest
of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and
he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the
calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el, the priests of the
high places which he had made.
33. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the
fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had
devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of
Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
5. IMAGES NOT TO BE WORSHIPED, _though enjoined by human authority_.
DAN. III, 18. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set
up.
1 KINGS XIX, 18. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the
knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not
kissed him.
ROM. II, 4. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved
to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal.
REV. XV, 2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and
them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image,
and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea
of glass, having the harps of God.
REV. XX, 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not
worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years.
6. THREATENINGS AGAINST IDOLATERS.
ISAIAH II, 8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work
of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9. And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself:
therefore forgive them not.
ISAIAH XXVII, 11. When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be
broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people
of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy
on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor.
ISAIAH II, 20. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and
his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to
the moles and to the bats.
ISAIAH XIX, 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst
thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and they shall seek
to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar
spirits, and to the wizards.
ZEPH. I, 3. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of
the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with
the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.
EZEK. XIV, 4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his
idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity
before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him
that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because
they are all estranged from me through their idols.
6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God;
Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces
from all your abominations.
7. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that
sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up
his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his
iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him
concerning me; I the Lord will answer him by myself.
ZEPH. I, 4. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets
have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from
your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor
hearken unto me, saith the Lord.
5. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live
forever?
ZECH. XIII, 2. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord
of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land,
and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the
prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
1 COR. VI, 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind.
EPH. V, 5. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God.
REV. XXI, 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.
REV. XXII, 15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
ACTS XV, 20. But that we write unto them, that they abstain from
pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled,
and from blood.
1 COR. V, 11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if
any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an
idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a
one no not to eat.
2 COR. VI, 16. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people.
1 JOHN V, 21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
HOSEA IV, 17. Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
EZEK. XXXVI, 18. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood
that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they
had polluted it.
7. _The following crimes partake of the nature of Idolatry, and are
consequently_ FORBIDDEN BY THIS COMMAND.
(1.) _Magic._
EX. VII, 11. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers:
now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their
enchantments.
12. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents:
but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
GEN. XLI, 8. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was
troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and
all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there
was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
EX. VII, 19. And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy
rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their
streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their
pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be
blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and
in vessels of stone.
20. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted
up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight
of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that
were in the river were turned to blood.
21. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and
the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was
blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and
Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the
Lord had said.
DAN. I, 20. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the
king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the
magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
DAN. IV, 7. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but
they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
DAN. IV, 9. O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know
that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth
thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the
interpretation thereof.
EX. VIII, 16. And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch
out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice
throughout all the land of Egypt.
17. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod,
and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in
beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of
Egypt.
18. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth
lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
19. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God:
and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as
the Lord had said.
EX. IX, 8. And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you
handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the
heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
9. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall
be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast,
throughout all the land of Egypt.
10. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and
Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking
forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.
11. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the
boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.
[NOTE.--See all the plagues upon the Egyptians in the seventh,
eighth, and ninth chapters of Exodus.]
DAN. II, 2. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the
astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the
king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit
was troubled to know the dream.
4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live
forever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the
interpretation.
5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone
from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the
interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses
shall be made a dunghill:
6. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall
receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor; therefore shew me the
dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the
dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8. The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain
the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one
decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak
before me, till the time be changed; therefore tell me the dream, and
I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10. The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a
man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is
no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or
astrologer, or Chaldean.
11. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none
other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose
dwelling is not with flesh.
12. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded
to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
(2.) _Sorcery._
MAL. III, 5. And I will come near to you to judgment: and I will be a
swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and
against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the
stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
REV. XXI, 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.
REV. XXII, 15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
ISAIAH XLVII, 9. But these two things shall come to thee in a moment
in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon
thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for
the great abundance of thine enchantments.
REV. IX, 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these
plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should
not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and
stone, and of wood; which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk;
21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,
nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
ACTS XIII, 6. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos,
they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was
Bar-jesus:
7. Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent
man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the Word of
God.
8. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation)
withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
9. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost,
set his eyes on him,
10. And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of
the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord?
11. And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt
be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell
on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead
him by the hand.
(3.) _Enchantments._
LEV. XIX, 26. Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall
ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
NUM. XXIII, 23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither
is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it
shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
(4.) _Soothsaying._
ISAIAH II, 6. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of
Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of
strangers.
MICAH V, 12. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and
thou shalt have no more soothsayers.
JOHN XIII, 22. Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the
children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by
them.
DAN. V, 7. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the
wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me
the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a
chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the
kingdom.
8. Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the
writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
ACTS XVI, 16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain
damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her
masters much gain by soothsaying:
17. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are
the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of
salvation.
18. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and
said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come
out of her. And he came out the same hour.
(5.) _Observance of times._
LEV. XIX, 26. Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall
ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
DEUT. XVIII, 10. There shall not be found among you any one that
maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
DEUT. XVIII, 14. For these nations, which thou shalt possess,
hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee,
the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
GAL. IV, 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.
2 KINGS XXI, 6. And he made his son pass through the fire, and
observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits
and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to
provoke him to anger.
(6.) _Witchcraft._
EX. XXII, 18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
DEUT. XVIII, 10. There shall not be found among you any one that
maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard,
or a necromancer.
ISAIAH XLVII, 9. But these two things shall come to thee in a moment
in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon
thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for
the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None
seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and
thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
11. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from
whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be
able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly,
which thou shalt not know.
12. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy
sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou
shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the
astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up,
and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they
shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall
not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
GAL. V, 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these,
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies,
21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
MICAH V, 12. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and
thou shalt have no more soothsayers.
NAHUM III, 4. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the
well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations
through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will
discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy
nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and
will set thee as a gazing-stock.
LEV. XIX, 31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek
after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
LEV. XX, 6. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar
spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even
set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his
people.
ISAIAH VIII, 19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that
have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
DEUT. XVIII, 10. There shall not be found among you any one that
maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard,
or a necromancer.
12. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and
because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out
from before thee.
LEV. XVII, 7. And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto
devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute
forever unto them throughout their generations.
(7.) _Divination._
NUM. XXII, 7. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed
with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto
Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
EZEK. XXI, 21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the
way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his
arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
DEUT. XVIII, 14. For these nations, which thou shalt possess,
hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee,
the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
JER. XIV, 14. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies
in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither
spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination,
and a thing of naught, and the deceit of their heart.
JER. XXVII, 9. Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your
diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your
sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king
of Babylon:
10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your
land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
JER. XXIX, 8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let
not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you,
deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be
dreamed.
9. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent
them, saith the Lord.
ISAIAH XLIV, 25. That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh
diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their
knowledge foolish.
(8.) _Consulting familiar spirits._
LEV. XIX, 31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek
after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
LEV. XX, 6. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar
spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even
set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his
people.
LEV. XX, 27. A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that
is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with
stones; their blood shall be upon them.
ISAIAH VIII, 19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that
have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
ISAIAH XIX, 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst
thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek
to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar
spirits, and to the wizards.
ISAIAH XXIX, 4. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of
the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice
shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground,
and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
8. IDOLATRY IS DEBASING.
2 KINGS XVI, 3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea,
and made his sons to pass through the fire, according to the
abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the
children of Israel.
EZRA VI, 21. And the children of Israel, which were come again out of
captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the
filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel,
did eat.
ROM. I, 21. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not
as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and
creeping things.
24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts
of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
ROM. I, 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness: full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31. Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful.
EPH. IV, 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their
mind,
18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart:
19. Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.