God said to the Israelites they were not to even dabble with playing with idols. He also said in no uncertain terms that if they were to engage in worshipping idols, the penalty would be severe.
Exodus 22.20
He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy 17.2–5
If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death.
Deuteronomy 13.6–9
If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
One way to measure the severity of an offense is to see what is the penalty for committing the offense. If the penalty was light, then we know the offense was mild. But if the penalty was heavy, then we know the offense was severe. We are told in the Bible the penalty for offering sacrifices to idols, serving idols or worshipping idols was not a mere slap on the wrist. Would you believe me if I told you a man or woman caught doing idolatry was to be stoned to death? One loses his or her life! This was to be a stern warning to the rest of the people. It goes even further. In Deuteronomy, it says if one catches another person worshipping idols, he must kill him or her, and afterward, the rest of the people must kill the dead person again, and this dead person may be anyone, including his own brother, son, daughter, or even his wife. God set the penalty for worshipping idols very harshly to let the Israelites know this is a sin unlike any other sins. Israel must avoid idolatry at all cost.
In Jeremiah 44, God called idolatry, “this abominable thing which I hate”. He doesn’t say this about any other sin, only idolatry. In the same passage, it also said God brought calamity on cities, and made their cities into ruins, leaving no inhabitants, for committing the sin of idolatry. God felt it was necessary to do this so Israel would not make the same mistake, and repeat the same sin again.
Jeremiah 44.2–6
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. Therefore, My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day.
The question must be asked why does idolatry provoke God to anger, a lot? What is the reason God seems to hate Israel for worshipping idols more than the other sins they were doing?
Firstly, have you noticed that when you read your Bible, and you come to a place where it talks about idols, it sometimes uses words such as “turn away”, “turning to”, or “exchange”? What is the Bible trying to say?
Jonah 2:8
Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
1Thessalonians 1.9
For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
Jeremiah 2:11
My people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.
As I wrote last time, one of the reasons Israel was repeatedly drawn to idols was because in addition to worshipping Yahweh, Israel wanted to worship idols, just in case they work. Could it be that the Bible said, “turn away”, “turning to”, and “exchange”, to mean that the person who worships idols is not worshipping both God and idols? I think so. The person who worships idols does not turn half way from God, but he turns away from God. The person who worships idols does not do a partial exchange, but a full exchange of his God for an idol.
Choosing idols means rejecting God, and choosing God means rejecting idols. One cannot have it both ways. If worshipping God means worshipping God alone, and I do believe that, then one cannot be worshipping God, and at the same time, dabbling with worshipping idols. To worship God and, at the same time, to worship idols, is to no longer worship God. When a man or woman decides to worship idols in addition to worshipping Yahweh, don’t believe him or her. There is no such thing. He or she has, at that instant, terminated all worship of Yahweh. God hates idolatry because the person who dabbles with idolatry has rejected God, and has zero reverence for God.
Secondly, and more importantly, if Israel begins to worship other idols, Yahweh’s grand plan for rescue is thwarted. Yahweh said to the Israelites in Exodus 20 they must not have any gods before him. Immediately after this, he said to them they must not make, worship or serve any idols. If the Israelites choose to worship idols, and violate the first two commandments God gave to them, do you suppose they would obey the rest of his commandments? They would not. If the Israelites would not worship Yahweh alone, then they would not keep the Sabbath holy, honor their father and mother, and so on. They would live lives no differently than how the pagans from the neighboring nations lived their lives. The neighboring nations made decisions what seemed best to them. The Israelites made decisions what seemed best to them. You would not be able to tell who is who. What happens next is that Israel would be disqualified to be Yahweh’s own possession to the neighboring nations. Israel would never be to Yahweh a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Yahweh’s rescue mission is broken. Game over.