Exodus 20: 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 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…..
It is imperative that we understand what an idol is before we can know what bowing down to idols is. Back in ancient times, idols were made out of wood, stone and metals, and were originally supposed to be visible representations of deity. The practice and the concept were early on developed by the people known as the Antediluvians.
They would conceive in their minds what The Deity was supposed to looked like and if their imagination took them to four-footed creatures, and creeping things, they would make idols, based upon concepts that deviated greatly from one idea to another, and soon a plethora of different idols were incorporated into pantheons that continued to spawn new idols.
The beginning of the book of Romans gives us an idea of how the concept of idolatry came to be. It was founded on rebellion and a hatred of God, and continues to this very day. The Antediluvians back then did not want to retain the knowledge of the true God, and wherever this mindset is found, very many idols would inevitably follow. Let’s read:
Romans 1: 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
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 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.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 95] They claimed that their idols were representations of the Deity, and that through them the people could obtain a clearer conception of the divine Being. This class were foremost in rejecting the preaching of Noah.
As they endeavored to represent God by material objects, their minds were blinded to His majesty and power; they ceased to realize the holiness of His character, or the sacred, unchanging nature of His requirements.
For instance, in one pantheon today there is to be found no less than 330 million gods, and the grim proliferation continues. Idols always spawn other idols, and thus there is set into motion a continuous evolution of concepts and ideologies which are then often swallowed whole by the popular majority who follow in their train.
This is one of the reasons why persons cannot be satisfied with themselves, but rather feel compelled to get the latest this, or the latest that, in order to feel that they are accepted by society. It is better known as fashion mongering.
That noble independence which Christ brings to all who truly accept Him, is often lost in a barrage of must haves that are peddled by humanistic idols. Thus, what one ultimately does is not driven by the word of God, but rather by the dictates of fashion, and the human idols who produce and peddle them to the masses of people. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
The reason why Moses declares that they sacrificed unto devils is because both the idolatrous concepts and the worship originated with devils and thus had nothing to do with God. This is one of the dangers of bowing to modern idols, in that the practices and worship thereof often have nothing to do with God, but are rather the productions of devils.
Thus, when persons bow to the dictates of any idol, whether humanistic, wooden, metallic, stone, or philosophical, the act of worship is done, and devils get the glory, for they’ve succeeded in getting such a person to obey their dictates, contrary to God’s will.
These idols were then given human, animalistic and deity characteristics. Some were designated as the protectors of water, land, seas and skies, as is to be clearly observed in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. In Egypt, when God sent Moses to meet pharaoh at the river Nile, the pagan king had gone to the river’s edge to worship.
One of the gods of the Nile was Sobek the crocodile, of which we have one million in the sunshine state. Another was Hapi who was given the designation as the controller of the annual floods. Later on, there was a fusion of Sobek and Ra, the sun god, to form a new idol called Sobek-Ra. And the list goes on and on.
The fish was worshipped as a god, as was also the frog, by the name Heqa. In fact, one of the reasons why God shook down Dagon in the temple of the philistines is because they had cloned the fish with a human body, to produce what we now know as the little mermaid. And the list goes on and on. Let’s read:
Exodus 7:15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goes out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink as he comes; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
16 And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou would not hear.
17 Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river.
Exodus 8: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus, saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.
3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.
1st Samuel 5: 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 586] The Philistines removed the ark in triumph to Ashdod, one of their five principal cities, and placed it in the house of their god Dagon. They imagined that the power which had hitherto attended the ark would be theirs, and that this, united with the power of Dagon, would render them invincible.
But upon entering the temple on the following day, they beheld a sight which filled them with consternation. Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. The priests reverently lifted the idol and restored it to its place.
But the next morning they found it, strangely mutilated, again lying upon the earth before the ark. The upper part of this idol was like that of a man, and the lower part was in the likeness of a fish.
Now, every part that resembled the human form had been cut off, and only the body of the fish remained. Priests and people were horror-struck; they looked upon this mysterious event as an evil omen, foreboding destruction to themselves and their idols before the God of the Hebrews.
And the list goes on and on. People would then try to dress, act, and speak like the idols they served and bowed down to, and thus, the idols became the icons people looked up to, and wherever the idols went, in their concepts and ideologies, so went the people.
In fact, some of the styles and fashions in our day are based on idols that are, or were worshipped but persons are none the wiser. Thus, bowing down to idols would literally mean trying to mimic what the idols would do, and obeying what the idols “Say”.
But we must keep in mind that they are always the figments of man’s imagination, driven and inspired by devils. Always!
Since those days of ancient idolatry, the concepts have morphed into something that is hardly ever recognized for what it is, because the idols in our day are actual human beings for the most part, who the masses of people adore and worship, by doing whatsoever the human idol does, suggests or says, without any regard for what the Bible teaches.
Thus, it is a very grim assessment that is made, that many people are currently bowing down to idols, in some form or fashion, even though many are not aware that they are bowing.
Persons may not make actual obeisance, but if one is blindly following the dictates of another without regards to the revealed word of God, we may know for certain that bowing of some kind is taking place.
Stars, who in most cases are human idols, do set the stage for what people wear, and how people speak. And their mannerisms, their gestures, lifestyles and preferences are all mimicked blindly by the acolytes who follow in their train.
A fan base is most literally a human idol with many devoted followers, who then follow the dictates of their idol as handed down from time to time. Thus, whenever devils need the multitudes to go down a certain route, they first infuse the human idols with their ideas and concepts, and as a general rule, the multitudes will gulp down all that is spoon fed to them.
The remnant people of God should never be slaves of fashion, neither should we allow any human idol to dictate, influence, or prompt us into certain evil practices even if it might seem on the surface to be harmless or good. To have the latest simply because it is the latest, is to be tethered to a philosophy that reeks of idolatry.
This is another danger of bowing to the dictates of the fashion god, for the latest fashion does not even have to fit persons properly, neither does it need to be comfortable or discreet. Certain low risers are without doubt, contrary to sound doctrine which do teach us the principle of modesty.
When certain shoes are scheduled for release, the company in question always gets the stars to sport them first, and then, invariably, those shoes end up showing up on basketball courts around the world, in some cases, being purchased by persons who can barely even afford a big mac and fries.
The current proliferation of tattoos of all sorts can be traced right back to the idolizing of human stars in our day, who, by their personal examples, have brought the practice into the mainstream so that it has now become the norm, across wide swaths of American culture.
When persons deliberately become slaves of credit, when it is avoidable, that is a form of bowing, for it goes contrary to the scriptures which says “Owe no man anything”. The practice of racking up avoidable debt has become quite popular in our day, and the urge to splurge have brought many persons into the financial bondage that the Bible warns us of.
It is a form of bowing, for it gives persons the ways and means to own things they really don’t need and which under normal circumstances they would not be able to afford. This is contrary to the instruction given in the Bible, which teaches us to be content, and because of this, it becomes a form of bowing to the credit god. Let’s read:
1st Timothy 6: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
During the recent frenzy in the U.S. housing market, when prices skyrocketed to levels that were beyond reason, some persons succumbed to the syndrome of irrational exuberance, and went out on a limb to take advantage of the equity in their homes, even if they had no prior plans, or need of doing so.
But now, as the payments come due, some persons are having second thoughts as the market cools and as the Feds continue to ratchet up interest rates for several notches, for the foreseeable future. Credit that was taken out when interest rates were really low, would now have to be repaid at a much higher premium. It’s just another danger of bowing.
But devils also employ a multiprong approach, for there are philosophical idols in our day, folks who do set the parameters for what would be deemed acceptable in society, and what will be deemed to be anathema. When persons adopt philosophies that are contrary to the scriptures, that constitutes a form of bowing.
When Abraham decided to acquiesce to the then prevailing philosophy on marriage, where it was lawful and culturally acceptable for a man to have another wife, if his own wife was barren, that was a form of bowing to a philosophical idol, for it went contrary to God’s will on these matters even though it may have seemed to those philosophers to be a mitigating factor in an otherwise irresolvable issue.
Indeed, when persons are induced to bow to these philosophical idols, some kind of benefit is almost always touted as the rational why bowing so is to be encouraged or practiced, and thus, the floodgates are swung wide open for philosophical idols, which are diabolically opposed to God’s word to take deep root in society.
Indeed, many marriages in our day have ended up on the rocks as a direct result of either one or both spouses bowing to the prevailing philosophical idols which do take the sacred institution of marriage in a completely opposite direction to God’s original ideal on the matter. But the word is explicitly clear on this matter, so that no one be deceived. Let’s read:
Matthew 19: 3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
In our day, philosophical idols have come up with concepts such as prenuptial agreements, as if to say that divorce is to be anticipated. And the bowing to idols continues. If one is catering for the dissolution of a marriage up front, why then get married in the first place?
Thus, our first passage explicitly states “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” It does not depend on rational or benefit; persons are not to bow, period, for doing so sets up a precedent for future bowing in other matters of conscience. It was God who came to Abraham, after the act with Hagar had been done, and God corrected him, and ourselves on the issue. Let’s read:
Genesis 16: 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
The words: “Be thou perfect” in the context, shows us that God was displeased with the actions of His servant, Abraham, and whenever, and wherever it has become the norm to do evil, because of some apparent benefit, the same words do apply: “Walk before Me and be thou perfect.”
Same-sex marriages are also products of a modern philosophical idol, which pits the ideologies of our fallen nature against “It is written”, and so many of the people have bowed down to this idol, that it has become the law of the land, to the point where any who dare to differ are proscribed, and often visited with economic persecution in many instances.
Thus, God’s truth is turned by philosophical idols into something dark and foreboding, while evil is highlighted as being righteousness. Defenders of God-ordained marriage are now labeled as haters. This very sad and very unfortunate situation caused Isaiah to pen the following words, in grief of mind. Let’s read:
Isaiah 59:14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isaiah 5: 20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
[The Great Controversy pp 583] It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. With many a philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as he is revealed in his Word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshiped by but few.
Thousands deify nature, while they deny the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah.
The god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists, the god of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theological institutions, is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia.
This leads us to our final dissertation on the dangers of us bowing to idols. It is called “Little Bow Wows.” Little bow wows are the little bows that are done in secret or in private, by which the truth, as revealed in the scripture, is compromised on occasions for a number of so-called “Valid reasons.”
Some have bowed on the issue of body art, in all of its various forms. Some have bowed on the issue of gender, as the barrage of different philosophies on the matter have taken deep root in society. Others have bowed to the fashion god, and pay homage or obeisance to whatsoever the fashion gods offload on society.
But others have also bowed to theological idols, by which the truth of God is rejected and other smooth soul-destroying doctrines are embraced, such as the natural immortality of the soul. This is a theological idol to which many have bowed, and over time, has become so deeply entrenched in the belief systems of millions, that it is almost a given.
What the arch enemy of God and man is doing, is to get persons into the habit of bowing down to idols, in little ways, that most would not fret about. When one begins to compromise on any point of truth and duty, the cascading effects can be established quite quickly, and the gravitational pull of fallen nature all but guarantees that the ball will keep on rolling.
Thus, we must reiterate, to any and everyone who’ll listen: Be very careful of those “Little Bow Wows” Let’s read:
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 717] The work of the enemy is not abrupt; it is not, at the outset, sudden and startling; it is a secret undermining of the strongholds of principle. It begins in apparently small things—the neglect to be true to God and to rely upon Him wholly, the disposition to follow the customs and practices of the world.
When the mark of the beast rears its head across the globe, those who have been accustomed to the habit of bowing will find it very difficult to resist the tsunami of religious, political, and social pressure to bow, because every valid reason, and every benefit for bowing would be put forth as reasons why folks should acquiesce.
Then it will be that those little “Bow Wows” would kick into high gear, as the internal force of habit, as well as the external forces of social pressure will put a stranglehold on conscience and very many people will end up bowing, even if they may not agree with the beast. Let’s read:
Revelation 13: 14 And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.
As the beast philosophies, with the accompanying mark of the beast begin to be rolled out, satan, will, as in bygone years, begin with the stars, the human idols that folks have worshiped all along. Those little Bow Wows that persons never batted an eye at, will bubble to the surface and tremendous pressure will be brought to bear on persons to follow where the stars, and the popular majority lead the way.
To counteract this hurricane of delusionary bowing we have to be firmly grounded in the truth, which is the written word and The Living Word, so that when the floods come and the winds blow, we would not be swept off our feet.
In the here and now, we must determine, by the grace of God, never to follow the crowd in doing that which we know not to be right. Compromise in the little things paves the way for compromise in the big things, and it is only by forming the habit of not bowing down to idols, and having Christ formed within, that we will escape all these things that will come to pass. Let’s read:
Exodus 23: 2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.
In other words, persons should not allow any idols, whether they be stars, celebrities, politicians, TV personalities, sports icons, religious leaders, or any influencers on Tik-Tok, to pressure us in any way to bow down, or to walk contrary to a plain “Thus saith The Lord”. Let’s read:
[Early Writings pp 88] A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board, that there could not be one left. Said the angel, “They are binding in bundles ready to burn.”
Then he showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, “It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive.
They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned. This agent, the next highest in order to him, is the engineer, and other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.”
I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel, “The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly garner.”
Therefore, we will end with a passage of scripture that should help us on our journey towards God’s kingdom, to stay on the narrow path that leads to life eternal, and refuse any and every thing which savors of bowing, in any way shape or form. Let’s read:
1st John 2: 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abides forever.
God Bless!