Why do I believe that the worship of Jesus/Yeshua is idolatry?

by David Dryden (CC - See end of article) Scriptures: Exodus 20:3-6 You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, The Eternal your Master, am a jealous Master, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Deuteronomy 4:15-19 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that The Eternal spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your Master has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. Isaiah 44:24 Thus says The Eternal, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am The Eternal, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?); Hoshea 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: For I am Deity, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; And I will not come in wrath. Deuteronomy 6:4,5 Hear, Israel: The Eternal is our Master; The Eternal is one: and you shall love The Eternal your Master with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:13-15 You shall fear The Eternal your Master; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other deities, of the deities of the peoples who are round about you; for The Eternal your Master

in the midst of you is a jealous Deity; lest the anger of The Eternal your Deity be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. Isaiah 42:8 I am The Eternal, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images. Deuteronomy 32:39,40 See now that I, even I, am he, There is no deity with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; There is none who can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever, Deuteronomy 4:35-40 To you it was shown, that you might know that The Eternal he is Deity; there is none else besides him. Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day. Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that The Eternal he is Deity in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else. You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which The Eternal your Deity gives you, forever. Isaiah 43:10,11 You are my witnesses, says The Eternal, and my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no deity formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am The Eternal; and besides me there is no savior. OK, so we have a lot of scriptures. "So what?" First we have to define what idolatry is, according to scripture. Then we must define some characteristics of The Eternal that belong to him. Then we must clarify the aspects with which Christians worship Yeshua and see if it constitutes as idolatry. What is idolatry? Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me. That is the most basic definition of idolatry. Who does the "me" refer to? The Eternal. Exodus 20:1 Deity spoke all these words, saying,

Exodus 20:2 "I am The Eternal your Deity, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other deities before me. This was the Mighty One who had brought Israel from the land of Egypt. He was also the creator of heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning Deity created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 2:4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that The Eternal, Deity, made earth and the heavens. So basically, since a deity is something or someone a person worships, then the basic definition of idolatry is worshipping something or someone other than The Eternal. Deity a noun meaning any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force. Synonyms are "god" and "divinity". But if we are to have no other deities before The Eternal, then who is The Eternal? I mean, we want to make sure that we are actually worshipping The Eternal so we are not worshipping someone or something else. Who is The Eternal? As mentioned before, The Eternal is the creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them (Exodus 20:11). What other characteristics does The Eternal have? What other important things are we to know about him before we can establish what idolatry is? The Eternal is the Deity of everything. Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that The Eternal he is Deity in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else. That makes him the exclusive deity of all creation. There is no one except him that can claim such a title, which is why it says, "there is none else". That is also backed up by the following statement:

Isaiah 44:24 Thus says The Eternal, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am The Eternal, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?); The Eternal created everything alone. He had no helper. To emphasize his exclusive position, the Torah states, Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; There is none who can deliver out of my hand. Deuteronomy 32:40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever, He repeats there is no one with him and also that he lives forever, meaning he isn't going to die. Throughout the Torah, he continues to show us more about his exclusivity. Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, Israel: The Eternal is our Master; The Eternal is one: Deuteronomy 6:5 and you shall love The Eternal your Master with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Throughout the Tanakh, there is only one number associated with The Eternal when it comes to his state of existence. It is "one". That is it. Singular one. People may try and find reasons to make this more than one, talking about composite unity or trinity or something like that, but the word in Deut 6:4 means simply "one". The vast majority of occasions in scripture show The Eternal to be a singular entity with singular pronouns (he, my, me, I), singular titles (el, meaning a strong one, adon, meaning master or lord). Even the word "elohiym", about which people cry out saying it is plural, is generally singular in meaning, being used to describe what Moses is to Pharaoh (Exo 7:1) and is used with singular verbs. In the world of Tanakh, there is only one true Deity and the few places that people use to claim plurality can be explained without leaving the pages of Tanakh. Also we should love this deity, with all our being. That doesn't really leave much space for any other deity. No man can see him and live. Exodus 33:20 He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live."

Direct contact with The Eternal is a no-no. Prophets could only see him in visions. Only Moshe got the closest. He has no form that he has revealed so we shouldn't worship any forms of things. Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, The Eternal your Master, am a jealous Master, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, Exodus 20:6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Deuteronomy 4:15 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that The Eternal spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Deuteronomy 4:16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, Deuteronomy 4:17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, Deuteronomy 4:18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; Deuteronomy 4:19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which The Eternal your Master has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. Those parts of scripture describe with hands and feet and stuff like that shouldn't be taken literally. They are anthropomorphisms. That means when you represent The Eternal or describe him with the use of human (or animal) traits and characteristics. Nobody would take literally that The Eternal has wings (Deut 32:11, cf. Exo 19:4) or literally is a shield (Gen 15:1), but they are descriptions of how he does things. He carries his people and protects them. The Eternal is good and righteous, and thus cannot be tempted to do something essential evil or go back on his word.

Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: mighty in faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he. Numbers 23:19 Deity is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: That last verse also emphasizes that The Eternal doesn't have man's nature. Man can lie. The Eternal doesn't. Man can change his mind at a whim, capriciously, impulsive. The Eternal isn't like that at all. So The Eternal is not a man. That is also seen in the following text. Hoshea 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: For I am Deity, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; And I will not come in wrath. The Eternal never gets tired. He never sleeps. Psalm 121:4 Behold, he who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep; Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? have you not heard? The everlasting Deity, The Eternal, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. So The Eternal, the creator, the deity, doesn't get tired. He is everlasting. But also, he knows everything since the scripture says, "there is no searching of his understanding". Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. The latter bit of this verse is better translated "of his intelligence/understanding, there is no number". The word "infinite" really does belong there. There is nothing too hard for him, he owns everything and needs nothing. Genensis 18:14a Is anything too hard for The Eternal? Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord The Eternal! behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,

Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world is mine, and all that is in it. The Eternal doesn't change. Psalm 102:24 I said, "My Deity, don't take me away in the midst of my days. Your years are throughout all generations. Psalm 102:25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands. Psalm 102:26 They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed. Psalm 102:27 But you are the same. Your years will have no end. Isaiah 41:4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, The Eternal, the first, and with the last, I am he. The interesting thing is that in Psalm 102:27, it says, "you are the same". In the Hebrew, that is "atah-hu", literally "you are he" or "you are that" or "you are there", but the context dictates that it is translated "you are the same". If you don't understand that, then look at it another way. How can we get "you are the same" from "you are he" or "you are that"? I believe it is because the emphasis is on the fact that although everything changes, it is one thing one day and a little different the next, and it is one thing this year and something different the next, The Eternal is that same one who he was before. In that way, The Eternal is he who was before, the same one. Why is this interesting? Because that last clause in Isaiah 41:4 is "I am he" or "ani-hu'". Once again it is talking about The Eternal's changeless eternity. He is saying, "I, The Eternal am the first, and I, the same one, am with the last". It is not a different The Eternal than the day before, from the time before. But he is the same one. He cannot be contained. His presence is everywhere. 1 Kings 8:27 But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Isaiah 66:1 Thus says The Eternal, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you build to me? and what place shall be my rest?

Isaiah 66:2 For all these things has my hand made, and so all these things came to be, says The Eternal: These are some of the characteristics of the great deity that should be worshipped. One more thing is that his name is The Eternal (I pronounce it as The Eternal) and that is his name and remembrance forever. Exodus 3:15 Deity said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'The Eternal, the Deity of your fathers, the Deity of Abraham, the Deity of Isaac, and the Deity of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance/memento to all generations. Psalm 83:18 That they may know that you alone, whose name is The Eternal [Hebrew transliteration: Y-H-W-H], are the Most High over all the earth. The Eternal has one personal special name. That is The Eternal. He has titles like "deity" and "master" and "creator". These all describe his role, his authority, and things like that. But The Eternal is his personal covenant name. Now we are supposed to worship no one else but this The Eternal, this deity. He is alone in his class. We are to worship no one else. Prayer is a part of worship, so that goes to no one else either. It's similar to sacrifice in the way that it goes up to whoever you worship, and this is the law concerning sacrifice. Exodus 22:20 "He who sacrifices to any god, except to The Eternal only, shall be utterly destroyed. It should be obvious that to worship or pray to any other deity, to make them your number 1 person is idolatry since The Eternal stated, "you shall have no other deities before me". We can be assured that we can talk straight to The Eternal when it comes to prayer since, Psalm 145:18 The Eternal is near to all those who call on him, To all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

What about Yeshua (Jesus)? What about Christian worship?

Christianity accepts Yeshua as messiah. That, on its own, isn't too big a thing since "messiah" simply comes from the Hebrew word "mashiyakh" meaning, anointed one. That is always used for human beings. Its first usage is in Leviticus 4:3 to speak of the anointed (or mashiyakh) priest. It's then used for kings of Israel (1 Sam 10:1; 24:6). Although the root verb, mashakh, meaning to smear or anoint, is used with a prophet, the actual word mashiyakh is not used in that context. If Christians just believed that Yeshua was an anointed one, a human being and that's it, then they would be in much less error. But mainstream christianity (under that umbrella I put mainstream Messianic Judaism) make a claim that Yeshua is also deity, that salvation comes only by him, and he is the ONLY way to the Heavenly Father. Some believe that The Eternal is a composite unity made up of a Father who is deity, a Son who is deity, and a Spirit who is deity and a person. Others believe that it is only the father and son that make up the composite unity. Others still worship Yeshua so highly that they pray to him or through him. His name has to be mentioned in their prayers. They say that either he created the universe or that he helped The Eternal create the universe. Now remember that also according to them, Yeshua had to die for their sins. He was resurrected, but he still died. Somehow his death was supposed to be a sacrifice for sin. They sing to him, and about him. They apply psalms and scriptures that are supposed to be about The Eternal to him (Yeshua/Jesus). Many of them pray to him. Those ones also say they live and have their being in him, that he is eternal, all knowing, all seeing, and almighty. They do this with the notion that he is The Eternal or deity. The question is, can Yeshua be The Eternal? I want you to imagine something. Lets imagine a guy called Joseph. He appears in town in his thirties. He seems to have some miraculous power. He heals people and gives wonderful insight into life. He makes everything seem good. He severely criticizes religious and political leaders and appears to be preaching some of what is the bible. You see him walking down the street one day, say hello to the chap, have a bit of a chat with him and watch him leave. Then somehow he dies. Conspiracy theorists and ex-politicians say that the government and the religious leaders had had enough of him and hate him taken down, execution style. But a bunch of guys that used to follow him about and spend time with him start to say, "Don't worry, he's god." He was the creator

down here on earth, in the flesh. We worship him and him alone. He is worthy of all the glory and all the praise. He is the centre of our joy, our reason for living, the very meaning of our lives. Would you join them just like that? Or would you check out what the Tanakh has to say? Wouldn't it seem a bit crazy to be worshipping as creator the guy you just met on the street and had a chat with? I mean, he even smelt a bit. That average joe (meaning, human being) is deity in the flesh and you are to worship him? What does the Tanakh say? Firstly, lets clarify a point. If a guy comes along and does miracles, and you see those miracles with your own eyes, according to scripture, does that mean that man (or woman) is from The Eternal? Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder, Deuteronomy 13:2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; Deuteronomy 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for The Eternal your Deity proves you, to know whether you love The Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 13:4 You shall walk after The Eternal your Deity, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him. Deuteronomy 13:5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against The Eternal your Deity, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which The Eternal your Deity commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. Also scriptures show that even the Egyptian magicians could do magic like turning water into blood and staffs into snakes. So this should show you something. Just because someone does miracles, that doesn't mean they are to be obeyed or followed. So we know some things about this Joseph guy. He died. Can The Eternal die? No! (Deuteronomy 32:40). Is The Eternal a man (can flesh contain him)? No! (Hoshea 11:9; 1 Kings 8:27). Could The Eternal have changed his mind and decided to reduce himself to a man which goes against what he has said about

himself before? I mean he is all-powerful, you know. No! (Psalm 102:24-27; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6). You need to properly understand what allpowerful means. The all-powerful cannot have a weakness. Perfect cannot be imperfect. The eternal cannot have an end. One who is always righteous and always makes the right decisions cannot make a mistake. The notion that being almighty means you can do absolutely everything is immature and naive. It is important that we grow up in our intellect and think things through to have a rounded understanding of what "almighty" or "omnipotent" means. Now all these arguments can be used against the idea of Yeshua (Jesus) being deity. Plus the fact we know a bit more about what is said about Yeshua in the "new testament" of the Christians. It says that he slept in a boat (Matthew 8:24), but the one who protects Israel, The Eternal, doesn't sleep or slumber (Psalm 121:4), neither does he get tired (Isaiah 40:28). The biggest problem is that Yeshua (and our imaginary Joseph) had a form, a human form. Christians even call Yeshua "the IMAGE of the invisible deity". The worst thing is they worship this image. But The Eternal warned us against worshipping any form, any image when he said that he showed no form to the Israelites in the mountain and they shouldn't worship any forms of things, even the likeness of men (Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 4:15-19). Some Christians say that Yeshua was with The Eternal helping him to form the worlds and the universe. But what does the Tanakh say? The Eternal did it alone! There was never any deity with him! (Isaiah 44:24; Deuteronomy 4:39; 32:39). Even the Christians very own "new testament" stands as a witness against them. It says in Hebrews 4:15 that Yeshua was tempted in all points as we are. Yet James 1:13 says that Deity cannot be tempted, but when one is tempted, they are drawn away by their own lusts. 1 Timothy 6:16 says that Deity has no death, that He is the only one with immortality (literally, deathlessness), who has never been seen. But there you have Yeshua walking about as large as life, being seen and dying like rest of us. That is called a contradiction to anyone who looks at what true deity is and what Yeshua is. A man cannot be deity. The Eternal cannot be a man. As I see it, Christians have a choice. Either, 1) Yeshua is NOT The Eternal. But then to worship him and to give him the amount of praise they do would be idolatry since The Eternal said, "You shall have no other deities before me", and that we shouldn't sacrifice to anyone else, and that he will give his glory to no other, or; 2) Yeshua is The Eternal. But then The Eternal would be breaking his word and the creator would become the created. He who said he lived forever would die.

He, who doesn't get tired or sleep, would get tired and fall asleep in a boat. The one whom the heavens of heavens cannot contain would be restricted to human form. He, who said that his name is forever The Eternal, would have his name changed to Yeshua. He, who needs nothing and is self sufficient, would become a baby, messing himself in his nappies. He, who knows everything, would have limited knowledge as we do. Who would he pray to when he suffers and dies? The idea that Yeshua is The Eternal contradicts the very nature of deity. Or conversely, He, who said he was one, would be split, having two wills, one who want him to die and the other that makes it necessary (Matt 26:42). So Christians either contradict The Eternal's word by saying that Yeshua is not The Eternal but giving him such worship and praise. Or, they contradict The Eternal's word by saying that The Eternal became a man, with all his frailties, and dying. If Christians wish to worship Yeshua as deity despite the contradictions, they are free to. Their judgement will come. But they do not worship The Eternal, Deity of the Torah, Deity of Israel, the Mighty One of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They worship a deity who contradicts his word, a deity that likes to commit suicide every now and again to appease himself. Man, just looking at that idea is disgusting. They worship a deity who is a "living" contradiction. Trinitarians would like to call it "a mystery" of how a deity can be three but one, playing games with words like "elohiym" and "echad" to make a deity who is plural, and call themselves "monotheists" or believers in one god, a god who is three but one, and one but three. You can never truly accept their god, unless you believe in their "mystery" (another word for "contradiction"). They may have the scriptures, the Tanakh, but they have made a deity of their own image and likeness. There is an easier way to avoid such contradiction. Give praise to The Eternal alone, and leave Yeshua out of it completely. Praise Deity and not man. In another part of this website, I show that idolatry is also giving unwarranted, unjustifiable worship to someone. To a human king, it is warranted that you "worship" (respect and revere) him as a human king, as a human authority above you. You wouldn't worship him as creator of heaven and earth, or the deity that made the seas, since that reverence can only go to the undying, invisible The Eternal, who did it alone. So it is wise to give each authority its warranted due. If you find yourself giving more praise to a name or person other than The Eternal, no matter how close the relationship is between The Eternal and that person, make no mistake, that's idolatry.

Conclusion? There is no point in writing this to convince people to believe something. It was originally written so that I would see for myself why I don't agree with the idea of worshipping Yeshua as Christians do. I did it so that I could really test their ideas against the Tanakh and see what the Tanakh has to say about their belief. In my eyes, going through this little "study", I see the worship of Yeshua as idolatry since it is a worship of someone other than The Eternal. The scriptures clearly state that we are to bow down and worship no image, yet even Christians call Yeshua "the IMAGE of the invisible deity" and worship him. It is idolatry because they give The Eternal a form, an image, and worship it. It is called Yeshua or Jesus, but it is still an idol, an image. The Eternal's Torah states that we shouldn't worship images or idols, that we shouldn't worship a form, but praise the invisible deity, the one who no man has seen or can see. Whichever way you spin the bottle with Jesus, you find one form of idolatry or another. In the Tanakh, prayers and sacrifices when straight to The Eternal. You didn't sacrifice to an intermediary, but straight to The Eternal. When you prayed, you didn't pray through or to anyone else. You prayed to The Eternal. In the Tanakh you didn't give the highest glory to anyone else but The Eternal. Sure, there were kings and priests, but even their eyes, like your own, would have been directed at The Eternal. Where did we lose our way? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoncommercialNo Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.