A KISS IS JUST A KISS? ~ EXPOSING HYPOCRISY ~ Part 20

Looking at idolatry as we make our way through the Scriptures, we ended with 1 Kings 18 yesterday.  In 1 Kings 19, we see Elijah, soon after God’s victory showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal. Instead of doing the Rocky Balboa dance, he is running from wicked Jezebel who is intent on destroying this man of God. And he is in a state of mind to which we, as believers, can sometimes relate. Sore afraid, he runs for his life and ends up in the wilderness pleading with God to take his life. The word of the Lord came to him in a cave asking him what he is doing there? He replies, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life to take it away.” Oh, how often we can relate to Elijah here, and at the same time reading these portions of Scripture saying, “Are you kidding me? Did you not just see what the Lord has done?” In verses 13-14, the whole conversation is repeated once again.

 

This passage is referenced by Paul in Romans 11 who is answering the question whether God had rejected His people, Israel. He says: God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” 1 Kings 19:18 adds one other thing: Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

The following pictures represent from left to right: Line 1 - St. Peter inside Saint Peter's Basilica in the late 19th century, a statue of Baal-Hamon; Line 2 - a modern-day picture of St. Peter's statue, the foot of Peter which has been wore down from kissing and touching; Line 3 - Kissing a dead saint, kissing the feet of Jesus statue.

 

 

Perhaps you have seen images of people in various religions kissing statues or crosses. A March 2020, article by Reuters entitled, “Another victim of coronavirus: Spain’s religious statue-kissing”, talks about how a Spanish pre-Easter tradition had Catholics flocking in droves to kiss statues of Jesus and Mary only to fall victim to the coronavirus epidemic in the early weeks of the Covid. “In Madrid, with 137 cases of the virus, the archbishop asked worshippers to abstain from kissing or touching the feet of the 17th-century statue of Jesus of Medinaceli. Worshippers at the church where the statue is housed traditionally kick off preparations for Easter on the first Friday of March with the besapies, or feet-kissing,” according to the article. Besamanos is “kissing the hands”. It would appear it is the hands of Mary statues most often kissed. Type in either word—besapies or besamanos—in a search engine to see appalling pictures sure to make the skin crawl of any true believer. ancient Baal worship, kissing the image or symbol of Baal was apparently a common act in worship. Wikipedia says that throughout history, a kiss appears as a ritual or symbol of religious devotion. Besides devotion, a kiss has also indicated subordination or, nowadays, respect. Hosea 13:2 referenced the idolatrous practice of kissing the calves as an act of devotion to pagan idols.

So what about the use of statues, icons, relics, and images in religious worship? Many historians say that statues of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis, with her child Horus, were renamed Mary and Jesus by pagan Rome. We looked at that in earlier blog posts. The Catholic church emphatically contends that her use of statues or images is not for the purpose of worship or idolatry. But others say it is to break the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” According to Catholic Education.org, “The context of Exodus 20:1-6, especially, ‘you shall not bow down to them or serve them’, indicates that this prohibition applies only to images created for the purpose of worship and idolatry.” They say, “It is not the making of statues or images that is the problem, it is making them to worship—that is the issue.” They go on to say, “It is simply referring to and prohibiting the creation of images for the purpose of idolatrous worship, something the Israelites struggled with for centuries in the Old Testament.” That’s more gobbledygook than I want to read in one day. Blame the ancient Israelites when there is a clear thread of idolatry leading from them to you! In fact, the thread is found in every human being whose very unredeemed heart is idolatrous!

The first two commandments forbid two things: creating and worshipping an image of the true God and worshipping anyone other than God. Our worship must be directed to the one true God, but not through any object.

 

Romans 1:22—Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. “Exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image…” Therein lies the key to this question. 

 

The Roman Catholic Church may think they have gotten around this verse of Scripture, and those who do not study to show themselves approved may buy their circular reasoning hook, line, and sinker. It is important to know what you believe and why you believe it; but it is also important to understand how every doctrine affects some other vital truth in Scripture because the Word is the mind of God, the source of all truth. A Catholic may look at this verse and say, “See? The Roman Catholic Church has not made any images in the form of corruptible man!” How can they say that? Because they have ascribed deity to Mary! We will look at Mariology later in this study. If you cannot see the worship of Mary in the pictures above, you are spiritually blind, Beloved.

 

Mike Gendron has said, “To worship, venerate, kiss, adore, lift up, pray to, speak to, or make religious use of man-made images of God and saints is a sin of the most serious kind.” Why is this such an egregious sin—one that multitudes see as a holy act of reverence? Because no man-made image can ever capture God’s divine attributes. Exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for an image…is blasphemy! God is spirit, and this is why God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. A man creating an image supposedly representing the divine is to reduce the divine to the substance of the creation. What is being done in the name of worship is idolatry! Idolatry is false worship. And, as we have seen, it is punishable by death.

To take it a step further, the god of the Roman Catholic Church is supposedly represented by mere flour and water in a “consecrated wafer” in which the resurrected and glorified Son of God chooses to dwell! There is little difference between bowing down and worshipping a golden calf and worshipping a wafer made with human hands out of flour and water as the Son of God.

 

What is the motive behind idolatry? To give the people a ‘god’ they can see and experience. The people want a physical ‘god’ they can assimilate for his power and blessings in this world. This is false worship with a view only to the temporal, not the eternal. Idolatry is the need to ‘do religion’, the preferred worship of natural man. Man has always desired to bring God down to his own level so that he is able to worship (in his flesh) a being just like him (finite), a god he can experience on a sensual level. This is the epitome of pride, instead of worshipping with a humble and contrite spirit before a God who is infinite. Christians have been called to walk by faith in this world, but the natural man needs to walk by sight because he is blinded by his religion to the things of the spirit.

 

The Roman Catholic Church hides behind the word ‘veneration’, saying to bow down before an image is not worship but veneration. Webster’s Dictionary, however, says that veneration is a form of worship and reverence. That God is God demands all worship and reverence is for Him alone.

 

God’s Word has much to say about statues and idols. Jeremiah 10 provides a satire on idolatry. The customs of the peoples are delusion (vanity). Idols are made from wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with silver and gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, they cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk! They can’t do any good, nor can they do any harm. They are altogether stupid and foolish in their discipline of delusion—their idol is wood! Beaten silver and gold. Violet and purple are their clothing, all the work of skilled men. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; for his molten images are deceitful, and there is not breath in them. They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment, they will perish. Jeremiah 51:17-18 says: All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his molten images are deceitful, and there is no breath in them. Deuteronomy 27:15 says that people who create and trust idols become like the idol they created, which cannot see, speak, or hear. They can’t see God’s glory, hear His Word or proclaim His saving Gospel.

 

There are several words for worship in the New Testament. The most common one is the word proskune. It means to kiss toward. It came from the ancient custom of kissing the hand of a superior, a person bowing down on the ground. It is to bow the head and kiss the hand. It has the idea of prostrating oneself. The root word had this definition I thought gave a vivid picture—to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand. It is worship tied to our deepest, most sincere affections.

 

As Christians, we kiss the Son. We reserve our worship, honor, reverence and adoration to the one, true God. Psalm 2:12 says: Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (ESV) Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him! (NASB) To kiss the Son or to do homage to Him is a symbolic act indicating allegiance, submission, or obedience. In Psalm 2:12, the psalmist has in mind this kiss of submission—a dignitary receiving the humble kiss of an inferior. The “inferiors” who are told to kiss the Son are the kings and rulers of the earth (verse 10). No matter how powerful any earthly ruler is, wisdom dictates that reverence be given to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.