More Than Iconoclasts
Devotions for Growing Christians
More Than Iconoclasts
Exodus 20:2-4 - "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself any idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them..."
Judges 6:25-26 - That same night the Lord said to Gideon, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the bull as a burnt offering."
Jeremiah 1:9-10 - The Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. Today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every lofty thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
An iconoclast is a person who destroys religious images, or icons, or anything thought to be idolatrous - an item that would take a person away from the true worship of God.
Many Christian iconoclasts emerged down through the 2,000 years of Church History. For example, some of the ancient Egyptian carvings have been defaced. Some of these "erasures" were the work of a new Egyptian dynasty, removing the record of the accomplishments of a previous dynasty, but other defacing was done by iconoclasts of the early Christian era. Their goal was to remove and destroy pagan carvings or sculptures. They did a pretty good job of destruction - to the great disappointment of lovers of ancient artifacts - as well as the Egyptian department of tourism!
Christian iconoclasts operating in Europe and Asia destroyed not only what were considered pagan images, but also "Christian" icons and relics that had become objects of worship. Sometimes the iconoclasts would go too far and destroy Christian paintings and other innocuous Christian items as well. For example, Oliver Cromwell’s followers in Britain smashed images, relics and icons, and even tore down cathedrals! Not only that, but a great number of people were killed “in the name of God.” Cromwell even banned athletic activities, lest they become "idols."
The Bottom Line
What does the Bible say about iconoclasm?
Idolatry of all kinds can arise out of conformity to our environment, rather than conformity to the mind of God. So recognizing and tearing down the "idols" in our lives and in our churches is important. Obviously, we’re not to go to the extreme position of destroying every potential "idol," because what would be left? So iconoclasm without extremes is biblical. But the Bible's teaching on this subject could be summed up by our title: we are to be "more than iconoclasts."
In the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4), God instructed His people to have no graven images or idols of any kind - nothing that would supersede God in their hearts or lives. Every iconoclast can quote this commandment very well! But the Lord Jesus summed up the whole Law as follows: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). God calls us to be more than iconoclasts!
The worship of God does not consist solely of removing idols. When the nation of Judah had turned away from the Lord and sunk to the depths of idolatry, the Lord told Jeremiah that his ministry would be "to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow" - but it was also "to build and to plant" (Jeremiah 1:10).
Tearing down idols in our lives and in our churches is an essential first step, but we must also place a strong positive emphasis on renewal. When idols have been deposed, a void may be left. This void must be filled with praise, adoration and celebration of the one true God, and by positive activities that will strengthen and build us up as believers. God wants us to be more than iconoclasts.
Gideon's Test
The divine principle of "more than iconoclasts" is displayed by example throughout the Old Testament.
During the time of the Judges, God's people had been drawn away from the Lord by the alluring licentious worship of pagan gods, so God allowed the Midianites to overrun and oppress His people for seven long years. In desperation, the people of Israel cried out to God, and God graciously called Gideon to lead Israel against the Midianites.
Before Gideon could go out to the battlefield, however, God tested him at home. Gideon's father had built an altar to the pagan god Baal, and had set up a pagan Asherah pole (representation of the Canaanite goddess Asherah) on his property. These idols were an offense to God, and Gideon was commanded to destroy them. From archaeological excavations we know that some of those Canaanite altars were massive rock structures. In fact, the altar that Gideon had to destroy required the work of ten men and the strength of a bull to do the job!
It might seem to us that pulling down the pagan statue and the altar to Baal would have a been a good night's work, and enough to satisfy God's requirement. But God was not satisfied with this significant iconoclastic act alone. In place of the idolatrous images and practices, God commanded Gideon to build an altar to the Lord, and to offer worship to the Lord through a burnt offering. Gideon was told to do more than just tear down. He was called to be more than an iconoclast!
Hezekiah's Revival
As we look at the history of Israel during the time of the kings, the biblical records indicate that all the great revivals were characterized by more than iconoclasm. King Hezekiah was an iconoclast (2 Kings 18:4).. He not only destroyed the idolatrous images of foreign gods that had been set up throughout the land, but he even demolished the "high places" where the improper and illegal worship of the Lord took place. In addition, he smashed the bronze serpent that Moses had fashioned and placed on a pole in the wilderness 700 years before this time! Over the years this bronze serpent (which had been made at the direction of the Lord) had become a "sacred relic" - and was even worshiped!
Because of this serious misuse of the serpent, Hezekiah decided it was an object of improper veneration. and a distraction from the complete and proper worship of the Lord, so it would be better to destroy it than to keep it around. And God approved Hezekiah's iconoclasm! This should be a warning to Christians who worship sacred icons and relics, or use them for purposes of worship. It’s a lesson for Christians who venerate their denomination and its historical roots. It’s also a warning to Christians who "worship" a favorite minister, Christian author or musician! (Does that sound familiar?)
2 Chronicles 29 tells us that Hezekiah was more than an iconoclast. He filled the void left by the destruction of the idols and banning of pagan rituals with the proper worship of the Lord. He cleansed the Temple, that had been defiled by idolatrous images and practices. Then he reinstated the proper worship of the Lord with sacrifices, praise and celebration.
In 2 Chronicles 30, Hezekiah invited all Israel to come to Jerusalem to participate in the worship and celebration of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The people responded to his leadership, and the result was great joy and blessing! "The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel...there was great joy in Jerusalem...The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place" (2 Chronicles 30:25-27). God greatly blessed Hezekiah by sending revival and blessing to the nation - because Hezekiah was more than an iconoclast!
Josiah's Revival
Josiah became king about 100 years after Hezekiah's revival. By that time the people of Judah had once again deserted the Lord and become mired in idolatry. Josiah was an iconoclast!
The details of his uncompromising stand are recorded in 2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 34. He ordered the priests to "remove from the Temple all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem... He did away with the pagan priests... He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there... He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of the Lord... Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense... He desecrated Topheth, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech." In addition, "Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites... Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars...and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images."
But Josiah was more than an iconoclast: "He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord's temple... He returned the sacred Ark to the temple of the Lord." From his own possessions, Josiah provided sheep and goats for the people who had come to celebrate the Passover, and "the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered." Josiah "had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers" (2 Chronicles 34:33).
So we see that being more than an iconoclast is a divine principle for revival.
Revival Today
Are we more than iconoclasts? Do we go beyond the tearing down and destroying process? This biblical principle for revival and blessing applies in our lives as individuals, in our families and in our churches.
Some Christians are great iconoclasts. They don't tolerate anything in their personal lives that they deem to be "unholy." They run a very tight family ship. TV is banned and family activities are monitored with an iron fist. Their children are purged of all possible connections to the world. Often these Christian iconoclasts are right up front when it comes to church discipline or sermons denouncing worldly idols and practices that have crept into the church, or into the lives of their fellow-Christians. But these well-meaning people often fall short - they fail to be more than iconoclasts!
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God." That's iconoclastic thinking and practice, and it's good and godly. But the verse doesn't stop there! It goes on to say, "and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." That's more than iconoclastic thinking!
A paraphrase of this passage says, "we are smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, and fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and building lives of obedience into maturity goes far beyond iconoclasm.
After clearing our lives of every obstruction, God wants us to move ahead with positive activity: obedience leading to maturity. Is there joyful worship in my personal life? In my family, is there loving and positive instruction that promotes a love for the Lord in the hearts of my children - or are family devotions iconoclastic "thou shalt not" lectures? In my church, is Christ-like love being demonstrated? Is there compassion and care for struggling believers? Is there an emphasis on positive obedience to God's Word, and building up fellow-believers toward maturity? Or is my church characterized by a critical spirit that only tears down and can lead to discouragement? Our Lord Jesus calls us to be more - much more! - than iconoclasts.
If we have "destroyed every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God," and if we are "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," our renewed minds will be devoted to Christ. Our lives will be transformed, reflecting more closely the life of our Lord. A proper and godly iconoclasm should have a place in our personal lives, in our families, and in our churches - but we will primarily be characterized by love, compassion, devotion, worship and celebration! We will be more than iconoclasts!
- Dave Reid