Idolatry In The 21st Century

21^st century idolatry? In a world that seems to be populated with monotheism the idea seems, well, absurd. With the current world population a little over 7.5 billion how many people might there be practicing idolatry? Including all their incarnations, Hinduism has about 330 million gods. There are 1.2 billion Hindus, of which 94% live in India. That amounts to about 1/7 of the current world population. Clearly idol worship is alive and well in the 21^st century world. Stated in the simplest terms, my premise is that there is much more to idolatry than graven images and idol worship and in fact there are only two religions in the word, idolatry, and Hashem's monotheism. I am going to argue the Torah specifically, and the rest of the Tanach in support, clearly makes this point, albeit not in one place or in concise, pithy language. If we look at idolatry in its general context as opposed to its specific context we can see the underlying principle of a rather concrete term is the concept of false gods. Biblical Hebrew is a concrete language that expresses abstract ideology in terms easy for man to grasp. Thus the familiar statement that the Torah is written in the language of man. Therefore, we should expect that basic rule to apply throughout the Torah. The Torah mentions idolatry long before it defines the concept and it's practice. It is not until the Revelation at Mount Sinai that Hashem gives the guidelines for defining idolatry.
Hashem spells out the concept and practice of idolatry in Exodus 20:3-6 (listed below). I want to argue that we are given the all-inclusive rule of what idolatry is in verse 3. I also posit that verse 4 and the first part of verse 5 continue to define the broadest elements of the concept. Verse 4 is the next step from the all-inclusive boundary encompassing all forms of idolatry. It defines idolatry in its broadest conceptual and physical terms. The general description given covers everything that might be found in Hashem's creation, including people. The first part of verse 5 takes the next broad stroke forbidding bowing to any of the seeming infinite forms of idolatry in the universe. The rest of verse 5 and verse 6 express the drawbacks of violating the command and the benefits of obeying the command. For the sake of the modern mind that may discount idolatry, I will show the English meanings, several when available, of the important Hebrew words associated with idolatry. The word used for idolatry in verse 4 is פֶסֶל, from the root word פּסל .פּסל means: to cut, to hew (especially stone), to carve wood^{1, 2}. פֶסֶל is given as: idol, image^{2, 3}; sculpture, statue⁴. A definition that also includes figurines, statuettes, raised relief i.e., any sculpted or molten image representing some level of deity.
I say some level of deity because idolatry is fraught with many levels of god-hood, the lowest of which is gods incarnated in human beings or "sons of god." The term פֶסֶל is also used in Torah for molten images. This concrete language of Torah expressing idolatry is physically represented in the form of some form or figure. Ask any idolater, whether 3,000 years ago or today, and they will likely tell you they do not worship idols. They often have, and still, say that the figure they bow before is merely a symbol, a real-world representation of the god they are worshipping. Therefore, in their minds, what they do is not idolatry. They know the figure isn't actually the god they are worshipping. However, the actions of idolaters completely undermines their words and logic. They have idol processions carrying their idol or idols through the streets on their shoulders, which is still practiced today. They attend to their idols as if they are real and alive dressing them and waiting on them as servants might a lord, master, or king. Many people accept the premise offered by idolaters that they do not worship the figure on their alters. Of course that premise is based on the idea that there are many gods and it's perfectly fine to make images of them. However, G-d says something very different than man offers to support his idolatry.
The context of Exodus 20:3-6 deals with idolatry in toto. Therefore, emphasis on the physical aspect of idolatry does not exclude the abstract concept of idolatry. What do I mean? I mean that it is ludicrous to think that G-d is only dealing with the physical component of idolatry and does not also address the abstract component from which the physical image and acts are extensions. Logically that is very clear. It is also plainly addressed throughout the Torah. The general term used to convey the vain futility of worshipping the concept of idolatry and the physical representations of gods is simply "gods of others" (אֱלֹקִים אֲחֵרִים). This phrase is seen as the fourth and fifth words of verse 3. They are repeated throughout the Torah. At first glance it would be easy to interpret verse three as applying only to idols and parts of creation. When we remember idolatry has first a conceptual foundation accompanied by a physical representation we can understand verse 3 equally applies to any form of idolatry, whether abstract or physical.
Idolaters may have anywhere from one to many, many gods, not all of which are represented in graven form. If we accept the premise that idolatry is only worshipping some "thing," object, plant, animal, or human then we must also accept that G-d does not address the conceptual foundation of idolatry. Let's put this in perspective. Are we to believe an eternal, all-knowing G-d gave guidelines that left an opening for future forms of idolatry not specifically mentioned in the Torah? Simple deductive reasoning arrives at a "No" answer to that question. In support of that finding inductive reasoning from specific examples to the general principle arrives at the same conclusion. Therefore, we may correctly understand verse 3 as applicable to both the specific and to the principle, or abstract concept of idolatry.
The all-inclusive context of verse 3 coupled with the slightly more specific context of verse 4 makes a complete, air-tight definition of idolatry. Once again simple logic comes to our aid in understanding this premise. Idolatry is a product of man's free-association imagination, which began before the great flood through building upon a misunderstanding that developed into full-fledged distortion of Hashem's truth. Even if the Torah were not a minimalist document it would be impossible to list every conceivable form of "other gods" man's mind has, and may in the future, imagine. Therefore, the all-knowing Master of the Universe relates His guideline for defining idolatry in a context that works for all past, present, and future forms of idolatry.
An example of this principle may be found in the story of Jacob's deceitful Laban the Aramean. Laban was the first idolater to mix idolatry and monotheism in the pernicious form of idolatry, obliterating the identity signifying who follows Hashem. Laban's first attempt at obliterating Jacob's identity with Hashem comes in Genesis 31:47. Laban named the place of their covenant using Aramaic while Jacob used Hebrew. Laban was making the subtle statement that there is no holy language and it did not matter which tongue was used. Laban's second attempt at mixing idolatry with Hashem's monotheism is more overt in verse 53 where he swears by the G-d of Abraham and the god of Nahor, his grandfather. Of course Laban is an idolater as was his grandfather Nahor. Laban was not rejecting Hashem as "a" god. He was mixing Him in with all gods to eliminate His identity as the Only G-d. Jacob did not confirm Laban's deception by swearing by Hashem. To avoid the trap Laban had laid Jacob swore by his father, Isaac. G-d did not specifically mention Laban's attempt at homogenizing idolatry and Hashem in the Torah. Or does it?
Enter Deuteronomy 12:29-31 (listed below). These verses do not specifically mention Laban, but they do specifically refer to the form of idolatry Laban tried to manifest and represents. Laban is a foreshadowing of an extremely vile and noxious form of idolatry that developed many centuries after Laban. Worshipping Hashem in any way other than that which Hashem has revealed beginning with the forefathers of the Jewish people is forbidden, abominable, and hated by Hashem. How could such a methodology not be idolatry? It seems that the basic guideline for defining idolatry does indeed include any method of worshipping Hashem not known to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and found in the Torah are in fact idolatrous. In this context, "gods of others" (אֱלֹקִים אֲחֵרִים) is any concept or method that is different from what the forefathers of Israel knew, and the Torah teaches. If idolatry is, in all of its manifold forms, pure vanity, nothingness, abstract machinations invented in the mind of man. Then we should find something about its inception in the Torah, shouldn't we? In fact, we do find the Torah mentions the inception of idolatry. Let's take a brief look shall we.
Before the beginning of mankind there was one, eternal, all-mighty G-d, the only true existence, Who created the universe, the heavens, the earth and man. There was, at that time, one G-d and one man. Then G-d made woman and there was one G-d, one man, and one woman. There was only one knowledge of G-d and only one way to honor or worship G-d. There remained only one knowledge of the only G-d, Creator of the universe, through the generations of Cain and Seth, Adam and Eve's third son. At some point during the generation of Seth's son Enosh, idolatry began to raise its ugly head (Genesis 4:26). This is the meaning of the last third of verse 26, which follows the birth of Enosh, "Then to call in the Name of Hashem became profaned" i.e., idolatry was born in the mind of man. Rashi points out people began ascribing G-d-like qualities to man and to lifeless objects. The Rambam is a little more explicit explaining that idolatry did not simply pop-up one day but came about through the process of man's imagination coupled with errors in logic that increased over time. Rambam says people began by honoring the heavenly bodies as emissaries of G-d. This misconception led to the practice of petitioning these emissaries as lower ranking deities and possible mediators between man and G-d. Man's imagination continued to build on this original distorted thinking until man began imagining his own gods and making images of them. When idolatry began mankind divided into two religions, and a visually apparent universe of gods. Only one family line continued their allegiance to Hashem and His ways. One family devoted themselves to Hashem and His ways, the rest of the world population dedicated themselves to idolatry. This initial pattern is found throughout history to this very day. G-d judged the world, destroyed the overwhelming majority that rejected and perverted His ways, and saved one family who remained loyal to Him.
During the 11 months of the flood and for some time after the flood there was, once again as in the beginning, one G-d, a single family of man, and only Hashem's revealed knowledge of Himself and His ways in the world. The critical event that led to the reintroduction of idolatry in the word is given in three verses, Genesis 9:20-22. Noah's planting a vineyard, getting drunk, uncovered in his tent, and Ham and his son Canaan's actions. However, this time idolatry develops from four different perspectives:

• Ham (African idolatry)
• Canaanite idolatry (Noah's grandson Canaan)
• Aesthetic idolatry i.e., Japheth (Greek/European because he separated from the tents of his brother Shem)
• Those in the line of Shem who "went after their hearts and eyes" (Numbers 15:39)

Japheth's nature, indicated by his name, resulted in his error. יֶפֶת, meaning open, opened, enlargement, comes from the root word פָּתָה meaning to be open, wide, to be accessible to influences, to be compliant. Thus the teaching that Japheth was sensitive, like an artist, easily moved by external stimuli (R' Hirsch). Japheth is an open sensory device with no safety controls nor proper guidance. Divorced from the independent truth of Hashem and His ways i.e., "in the tents of his brother Shem," Japheth quickly goes off in whichever direction his sensitivity leads him. Japheth becomes lost in the infinite tangents to the proper guidance he would have had amidst the tents of Shem. Japheth settled in what would become Greece. His descendants moved north, west, and east. Hashem definitely expanded Japheth as He had blessed him. Ham was a different issue. Noah could not curse Ham for his wickedness because G-d had already blessed him in Genesis 9:1. Ham's descendants populated Africa.
Canaan could be cursed for his part in his father's evil. His curse of being the lowest of slaves may be why Canaanite idolatry was so base compared to other forms of idolatry. The Canaanites were the only people to practice human sacrifice, passing their children through the fire to the god Moloch. Jacob's children would be assaulted by all four of these neo-idolatries. First as slaves in Egypt, then as residents in their own land from the Canaanites, as exiles in Babylon, and again in their own land as vassals to the Greek and Roman Empires. And finally in the diaspora at the hands of a political Rome transformed into an ecclesiastical Rome (this example and Babylon relate to number 4 of the above list). Once again, the world divided into two religions. Idolatry in its various forms born of a single concept, and a very tiny population of people who followed the ways of Hashem, the G-d of their ancestors. The numbers continue to grow with each evolution of idolatry, but the ratio between idolaters and followers of Hashem's ways remains relatively flat. The world was again a cornucopia of idolatry with a very tiny subset of its population loyal only to Hashem and His Torah.
Now, this situation is one the world of idolaters cannot grasp. In their minds, a world population of more than 99.9% of the people cannot be wrong and a tiny, perhaps less than 1/4 of 1% of the world population can be correct. If we were talking about the gods of idolatry, or even the combined power of idolatrous mankind, I would agree with them. However, we are not talking about that which Hashem declares as not only false, but as nothingness. In the entire history of idolatry no god ever performed any single wonder to protect itself or its followers from destruction. As "Fig Newtons" of man's unrestrained imagination, the millions of gods of idolatry can do absolutely nothing. That which is based on man's abstract ideation has no power nor authority whatsoever. This may sound "preachy," but it is not. I only paraphrase what Hashem has already said in Torah. The evidence is all over the place. Hashem G-d punished the gods of Egypt and Pharaoh, who was also considered a god. Was there a battle between G-d and the many gods of Egypt? Not at all. Hashem G-d punished, and the gods of Egypt remained just as deaf, blind, dumb, impotent, and in active as that from which they were conceived.
Furthermore, the gods of Egypt did nothing to prevent or put a stop to the Ten Plagues G-d brought upon them. Pharaoh relied on his magicians and wizards to mimic the water turned to blood and the first plague. Pharaoh was believed to be a god. Why did he not use his god-like powers to stop the G-d of his Hebrew slaves? After that the Egyptians were helpless. Their gods did nothing, not even in a word of protest much less in deed to save the nation nor the army of the superpower of the era from drowning at the sea of Reeds. Why not? If they be gods then let them behave as gods to protect themselves and their people. Why didn't the gods of Egypt team up, combining their powers against the G-d of the Israelites? Why didn't the gods of Egypt prevent the walls of water from drowning their army? Were this the only time idolatry's gods were impotent and silent there might be an argument. However, it is far from the only example of Hashem G-d acting on behalf of His people. Destroying the idols that represent the conceptual form of some of idolatry's gods also does not result in any retribution from the gods. Dagon, a god of the Philistines, falls on its face in prostration before the Ark of G-d when the Philistines capture it and put it in Dagon's temple. Retribution? Wait for it... Nothing except for Dagon's followers taking the initiative to return the Ark of The Covenant to the Jews in a hurry.
Hashem feeds and provides water for over two million people for forty years in the desert. Gideon and 300 men route two armies because Hashem went before them. By himself Elijah challenges 850 idolatrous prophets; prophets of Baal and Asherah. All day long the idolatrous prophets call out to their gods. Nothing happens. No fire from heaven to ignite the offering, not even a word. In the evening Elijah has plenty of water poured on his offering and it's wood. Elijah makes a short, two sentence speech. Fire descended consuming the offering, the wood, the stones, the earth, and licked up the water in the trench around the offering. Elijah puts the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah to the sword. Hashem sends an angel killing 185,000 Assyrian troops laying siege to Jerusalem. Hashem is the only Living G-d and He acts to save His people. This is not so for a single one, much less more than one, of the millions of idolatry's gods. Hashem is a personally interactive G-d Who does not allow man to determine what is right and wrong on his own, but instructs man in righteousness.
The nothingness of idolatry and its ludicrous number of deities is indicative of their theology, doctrines, and practices. Their theologies come from the minds of men, as do their doctrines and practices. Man determines what or who the god or deity is and then defines how the god acts and interacts, if indeed they interact at all, with man. Man determines the methods of service and worship suitable for the god. Then the person or persons who devised the god ascribe these teachings to the god they created as if the god really exists, that is, independently existence, and teaches these things to mankind. The golden rule of all idolatrous or false prophets is that they experience a vision of the god. This is almost always when they are alone. When they are not alone, the prophet will be singled out and the rest blinded or isolated from the experience in some mystical way that they are not witnesses of the revelation. Only the one true existence and only G-d can produce a revelation of Him for over 2 million people. The basis of every religion outside of Judaism rests upon the integrity of a single individual with no credible witnesses to corroborate the revelation. And yet, Hashem does not stop there. Hashem goes on to make a method that cannot be duplicated by man to prove to the world He, and only He, is G-d.
What do I mean by that? You will find that most idolatrous religions depend only upon their followers to convince other people their idolatry is in fact true. All idolatrous religions rely heavily on miracles as proof of their religion's truth and correctness. People who do not do their own research usually do not know that every religion, without question, has its miracle workers. Which is why Deuteronomy chapter 13 discounts miracles as arbiters of truth or correctness, for which the Torah standard is, "anything that does not agree with what your forefathers knew," is false. It's not any miracle that attests to Hashem and truth, it's what Hashem has already revealed to the patriarchs and in His Torah that attests to Hashem and His ways. Miracles usually work for idolatrous prophets or their followers to convince people to convert to their religion. People just seem to believe that if someone is performing miracles the person, the miracle, and the person's message must be from G-d. Hashem does not have the same opinion as do most people. If miracles do not secure conversion, or the idolater cannot perform miracles, they must rely on their powers of persuasion to increase the ranks of their believers. This might just make us wonder why then does Hashem not charge Israel with the responsibility of bringing the world of gentiles to Him and wiping out idolatry from the face of the earth? The simple answer is because Hashem is The One and Only G-d and wiping out idolatry by bringing all people to Him is His responsibility. That goal is outside of the circle of his people's control. What is well within their control is to be witnesses to the world of Hashem by "walking in all of His ways." However, there is a deeper answer.
While in idolatry priority number one, and the pinnacle priority of all believers, is to convince others, especially Hashem monotheists, their particular form of idolatry is correct. In Hashem's religion "walking in all of His ways" as revealed to the patriarchs and in His Torah is the priority Hashem assigns to His followers. The premise of bringing all people to Hashem and returning idolatry to its true state of nothingness is Hashem's responsibility and squarely in His area of control. Before I relate the evidence in support of this premise we need to look a little deeper into why idolatry is nothingness.
Thoughts, conceptions, perceptions, mental material, ideology, subjectivity, etcetera, are not reality. Thus, the teaching that bad thoughts are not sins. The way thoughts become reality is when the person manifests their thoughts with physical action. Without action, all thoughts are referred to as "abstract" (conceptual, intellectual, hypothetical). In other words, they only exist so long as the person or people having the thought continue to prop them up, both in their mind and/or in some representative form, action, or object. Once the person or people with the thought discontinue supporting it. The thought no longer exists and returns to whence it came i.e., nothingness. This leads us to the understanding of independent truth and dependent truth.
Hashem G-d is eternal. He was, He is, He always will be in perpetuity... He existed before the universe was created. Should the universe suddenly disappear, Hashem will continue to exist and reign alone. There is nothing in creation upon which Hashem is dependent in order to be eternal and exist alone forever and ever. This is why Hashem is the only true existence. This is also the definition of independent truth. Hashem is independent existence and independent truth. Anything He creates relies upon Him continuing to support it. Creation, and all that is in the universe, including the heavenly realms or "supernal universes" rely on Hashem's continued support for their continuing existence.
Idolatry, and its enormous amount of gods and lower-level deities was not created by Hashem. Idolatry was made by the little creator Hashem made in His image, man. Idolatry did not have a place in Hashem's creation until man formed it in his mind and devoted himself to its manifestation in the world. Therefore idolatry came from the nothingness of man's ideation, then was fashioned, if not already found in creation, with man's hands, and man breathed life into an unreal thing through his continued belief and actions manifesting his own creation in the world. When people no longer embrace the concept of idolatry, reject the inanimate appurtenances he fashioned for it along with any natural objects of creation, and ceases the actions of his service to idolatry. Then will idolatry disappear and return to nothingness. Idolatry, by its very nature, is dependent truth. It is not dependent on Hashem to maintain its existence in the world because Hashem did not create idolatry. It is only dependent upon man to maintain its existence. Idolatry is only true so long as someone believes it is true. Clearly, ridding the world of idolatry and bringing all people to Hashem is most definitely a job for G-d, not for mortal man.
There is an excellent example of both Hashem's premise (mentioned above) and that the tiny minority can be correct over an overwhelming majority is found in the End of Days prophecies. While man's false, idolatrous religions are busy little bees convincing people to convert, they will never be able to persuade everyone in the world. Hashem, the G-d of Israel however, has the power and authority to accomplish what is impossible for man. This is the quintessential example acutely delineating the difference between idolatry, falsehood, and the independent truth and Hashem. Hashem will, when the messiah comes, instantly make His Name known to everyone in the world at the same time. Instant universal knowledge of Hashem⁵. Following this will be world peace and Hashem's Torah going out into the world from Jerusalem. Now, it's pretty important to pause and take note right here. The End of Days Prophecies do not say the Torah and this, that, or the other teachings together will also go into the world. Only Hashem's Torah remains, goes forth... and is taught to the world. This is how Hashem will do what no amount of people can do proselytizing. This is the reason Israel is not charged with stamping out worldwide idolatry and bringing all mankind to Hashem and His Torah. It takes not a god to accomplish that, it takes the one and only G-d to do make it happen. It is also important to note that the End of Days Prophecies have a lot to say in support of the very tiny minority being correct and the overwhelming majority incorrect:

• Hashem will redeem Israel.⁹
• Hashem and His messiah will gather and return dispersed Israel to the holy land and Jerusalem.⁷
• Hashem will punish the nations to which the Jews were scattered for their persecution and oppression of His witnesses, His chosen people.⁸
• Hashem Himself will fight the nations that come up against Israel.⁸
• Hashem will enlarge and elevate Israel above all the nations. Deuteronomy 26:19, 28:1-16; Isaiah 2:2, 60:12, 62:12; Psalms
• Hashem will give Israel the kingdom forever, forever, and ever. Daniel 7:17-18, 7:26-27
• Hashem’s Torah will go out, into the world from His Temple in Zion. Isaiah 2:3
• Peoples and mighty nations i.e., gentiles, will seek out Hashem and learn His ways.¹⁰
• The sacrificial system is reinstituted.¹¹

The summation of all this data, at least for me, indicates the world began with revealed knowledge of Hashem and His righteous ways, and at the appointed time the world will be returned to the revealed knowledge of Hashem and learn His ways from His Torah. In that respect there are only two religions in the world. Hashem's, taught in His Torah, and idolatry. Regardless the name of any religion other than Hashem's, they are all false and fall under in the category of idolatry. I cannot help but understand from the Torah and the rest of the Tanach that only Hashem's way as He revealed to the patriarchs of Israel is the only acceptable way to know, relate to, and have a relationship with Him. Every other way and theological methodology, according to Hashem's point of view, is false, and idolatry.
It's not just the overwhelming evidence in verses throughout Tanach that is so convincing. There is just too much interconnectivity between different stories in the same book and different stories in different books to conclude otherwise. It's one thing to see the evidence build up well beyond the point of reasonable preponderance. Indeed, that is impressive and powerful in and of itself. It is quite another thing to discover plentiful intertextuality that comments upon each other and in so doing reveals the depth of the foundational principles connecting them. Then the lessons become even deeper and stronger in their support of each other from the many Chiasms in the text. There was a time I would have laughed and scoffed at the very thing I just wrote. Not any more though. Now I laugh at how pitifully blind I was and am so very thankful to Hashem for saving me.
ברוך הי

1: The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, Benjamin Davidson, 1993
2: Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 2012
3: Sefaria.org Dictionary
4: DavkaWriter 7 Dictionary
5: Universal Knowledge of Hashem: Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 31:33; Zechariah 8:20-23, 14:9; Zephaniah 3:9; Micah 4:1-2
6: World Peace: Isaiah 2:4, 11:6-8; Micah 3:23-24; Zephaniah 3:12-16; Zechariah 8:3-6
7: In Gathering of Israel: Deuteronomy 4:29-31; Isaiah 11:11-12, 27:12-13, 41:8-10, 43:1-8, 15, 19-21, 56:8; Jeremiah 30-1:11; Ezekiel 20:41, 42, 28:25-26, 34:10-31, 37:1-14, 39:25-29; Zephaniah 3:20; Zechariah 8:7-8, 10:6-12
8: Punishment of Nations Fights for Israel: Isaiah 17:12-14, 30:28-33; 34:1-17, 35:3-4, 41:10-16, 49:22-26, 54:16-17; Jeremiah 2:1-3, 30:11, 15-16, 46:27-28, 54:16-17; Ezekiel 28:26, 36:1-15, 38:1-23, 39:1-10, 39:21-24; Joel 4:1-9, 11-21; Micah 7:15-17; Zephaniah 3:8-9, 19; Zechariah 2:1-17, 12:1-14, 14:1-7, 14:12-15
9: Redeems Israel: Deuteronomy 28:1-16; Isaiah 51:1-8, 53:1-12, 59:20-21, 60:1-7, 60:5, 9-11, 61:5-9, 62:1-5, 62:10-12, 65:8-10; Hosea 14:2-10; Micah 7:15-17; Zechariah 10:8-10
10: Nations-peoples come to Hashem: Isaiah 2:3, 45:18-23, 49:6, 56:1-8, 60:9; Micah 4:1-5; Zechariah 2:14-15, 8:20-23, 9:1
11: Animal Sacrifices Reinstituted: Ezekiel 43:18-27, 44:10-14, 44:15-16; Isaiah 56:1-8