After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the children of Israel were finally permitted to enter the promised land.

However, before so doing, Moses gave the people some instructions from the Lord. One of the subjects he focused on was idolatry. (See Deut. 17.)In modern days, it is just as important to avoid idolatry.

"Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and His blessings," wrote President Spencer W. Kimball in the July 1976 Ensign. "Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things.

"This I find to be a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn't also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry."

In The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, the prophet elaborated on the subject of idolatry. " . . . the idolatry we are most concerned with here is the conscious worshipping of still other gods. Some are of metal and plush and chrome, of wood and stone and fabrics. They are not in the image of God or of man, but are developed to give man comfort and enjoyment, to satisfy his wants, ambitions, passions, and desires. Some are in no physical form at all, but are intangible.

"Many seem to `worship' on an elemental basis - they live to eat and drink.

"Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path of godlihood. . . .

"Intangible things make just as ready gods. Degrees and letters and titles can become idols.

"Still another image men worship is that of power and prestige. Many will trample underfoot the spiritual and often the ethical values in their climb to success. These gods of power, wealth, and influence are most demanding and are quite as real as the golden calves of the children of Israel in the wilderness."

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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the Gospel Doctrine course of study.

Information compiled by Kellene Ricks.

Sources: A Companion to Your Study of the Old Testament, by Daniel H. Ludlow; The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball; June 1976 Ensign; and the Old Testament student manual.