A few weeks ago, in early December, the Satanic Temple erected an altar featuring a pagan idol in the Iowa State Capitol. The Co-founder of the Temple stated that the purpose of the display was to demonstrate the group’s religious freedom. Of course, the Satanic Temple is not a religious organization at all but rather a collection of edgy atheists whose goals are primarily political and anti-Christian.
On Thursday the 14th, a man entered the Capitol building and destroyed the altar, including beheading the idol. After the statue was destroyed, the perpetrator turned himself in and was charged with 4th-degree criminal mischief.
These actions prompted a discussion in Christian circles regarding whether or not that man had acted correctly.
As Christians, our first move should be to look to the Word of God and see what guidance it has to offer on any given issue.
And on the issue of idols, it certainly has much to say. There are several passages in the Old Testament that deal specifically with the destruction of idols. Exodus 32 tells the story of the golden calf: Moses had been on Mt. Sinai for a long time, and the people despaired, pleading with Aaron, who gave in to them and made a golden calf for them to worship. When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what the people had done, he was so angry that he broke the tablets that bore the Word of God before burning the idol and making the people drink the ashes.
Next, Judges 6:25-32 tells of the call of Gideon. God comes to Gideon and informs him that He will use Gideon to free all of Israel. After some shenanigans due to Gideon’s distrust, God instructs him to destroy his father’s altar to Baal and build a new altar unto the Lord, at which he is to offer a sacrifice.
While not specifically about the destruction of idols or altars, but rather God showing His power, 1 Kings 18 is still illustrative of the Old Testament approach to idols. In this passage, God instructs Elijah to confront Ahab and the prophets of Baal, issuing a challenge to them and the people of Israel to show who is the true God. The prophets of Baal build an altar and call upon their false deity to consume it with fire, which never comes. Elijah then calls upon the Lord to consume his sacrifice, which has been doused in and surrounded by water. The Lord sends down fire, accepting the sacrifice and obliterating all of it so there is none left.
Lastly, 2 Kings 23 tells of the Good King, the Great Reformer Josiah. Josiah went to the Temple and read the Book of the Covenant. Clearly, this man was convicted. He then ordered that all the false temples, altars, prophets, priests, in short, everything that was evil and contrary to the Word of God be destroyed.
What can we learn from these passages? Is it that we should destroy any altar or idol we come across?
I say that is not the case. The through line in all of these instances is that the destruction of the idols is either one of two things or both:
- God Himself commands that the idols be destroyed.
- The person destroying the idols was the leader of God’s people, meaning that he had a responsibility to do so, for the people’s sin was his own sin, and he would stand accountable to the Lord for the people going astray.
And we must remember these are not the only times people in the Old Testament were confronted with idols. Recall Joseph, whom God sent to Egypt. God protected him and made Joseph second only to Pharaoh. In all his time, at such a powerful position, did Joseph seek to destroy the idols of Egypt?
You might say, “Well, Joseph was before the law, it is not as applicable.” Then, I would ask you about the case of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Did they make any attempt to destroy the idol of King Nebuchadnezzar?
Let us now go from the Old to the New. The Apostles, did they go around smashing idols? Certainly not, for they knew the scriptures,
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
Psalm 115
Our work as Christians is not against lifeless pieces of wood or stone that have no power but against the evil in man’s heart and his hatred for God.
If you are still not convinced and hold that the destruction of the Satanic Temple’s idol was deserved, I have one last question for you: Why are you not destroying abortion clinics, the US Mint, sports stadiums, theaters, and so on? Idols are not just statues but anything one puts before God. People idolize and worship the self, and so they kill their babies. They give their adoration to money, athletics, entertainment, and celebrities. Why are you not destroying these centers of idol worship? Are you a coward, as you claim those who disagree with this man’s actions are?
Destroying lifeless creations that have no power will not bring people to saving faith in Christ. The Word of God alone has the power to save.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10: 14-17
If you are to be thrown in jail, let it be for actually doing God’s work, preaching and spreading God’s Word as so many others have done before you. Let it not be so that you may gain glory and infamy for yourself in place of God.