"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
eyes they have, but they do not see;
they have ears, but they do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths."
Psalm 135:15-17
Idols are anything that a person bows before, or wears on his body or reveres for blessing or for protection, or for "good luck." This is expressly forbidden by God throughout the Bible.
The Lord is speaking of anything one would bow down to, such as the images in churches that people bow down before. Statues of Mary, for example, or saints. It is the sin of idolatry to bow down before them, kiss them, or kneel before ANY statue.
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image,
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth;
YOU SHALL NOT BOW DOWN TO THEM nor serve them."
Exodus 20:4-5
It is idolatry to wear the medals created as a result of the several "apparitions" purported to be of Mary. The mother of Jesus did NOT appear in any of these sites. The mother of Jesus would NEVER have told people to defy the commandment of God and wear medals of her, for example the "miraculous medal" and others like it for blessing, protection, or "good luck.” The mother of Jesus would NEVER have told people to make shrines to her. It is idolatry and absolutely forbidden by the Word of God (the Bible.) The Word of God tells us that we have an enemy, Satan, who is behind all idolatrous practices to bring worship to him, rather than to the ONLY ONE we are to revere, the Lord God alone.
Some might say there have been miracles at the sites of apparitions. So ...does that validate that it was Mary the mother of Jesus who appeared? Absolutely not. Satan works in the supernatural realm. Most “New Age” followers could tell you of supposed miracles they experienced. The Satanic purpose is to deceive you. Miracles and other false signs and wonders in many cases are the working of Satan.
“False christs and false prophets will rise
and show great signs and wonders to deceive,
if possible, even the elect...” Matthew 24:24
"The coming of the lawless one
is according to the working of Satan,
with all power, signs, and lying wonders..."
2nd Thessalonians 2:9
The mother of Jesus would never have promised blessings to those who recite the "rosary." It is idolatry.
"And when you pray,
do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do."
Matthew 6:7
Statues and medals are big money-makers for those who peddle them. The ignorant buy into it and take on religious spirits unknowingly.
"Those who make them ARE LIKE THEM;
so is everyone who trusts in them."
Psalm 135:18
How are those who use these things "LIKE THEM?" The answer is found in the first verse above. Those who use them have eyes to see but don't see, they have ears to hear but they cannot hear. Wearing or bowing before medals or statues brings upon the person a spiritual blindness and deafness, a religious spirit, and that becomes very evident when one tries to tell them this is idolatry. They just can't see it. They cannot hear it. They are like what they revere, blind and deaf.
The spiritual world is very real. We lose sight of that and because we don't see it, we're not aware of it. But what makes up one's life in the physical world, is decided in the spiritual world. To the extent that one obeys the principles the Lord has established in his Word, to that extent the person will grow spiritually and be blessed. To the extent that one disobeys or even is ignorant of the principles God has established in his Word, it is to that extent that the person comes under a curse. He will be spiritually blind and deaf. You're wasting your time trying to tell them this, they just can't see it.
To the extent that one's church teaches things in opposition to the Word of God, to that extent the church is a cult. If anyone reading this can "hear" what is being said here, if you belong to any church that teaches any form of idolatry, you'll have to leave it. Otherwise you will not grow in the Lord, you CANNOT grow in the Lord, you will remain blind and deaf. We have to part with those things totally. They put their adherents under deception.
"But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and TRUTH,
for the Father is seeking such to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and TRUTH.”
John 4:23-24
What is truth? The Word of God is the source, the fountain of truth. How can one worship God with idols, with statues and medals, rites and rituals? God forbid! This is false religion. No, rid yourself first of your idols, and then come and worship God, and God ALONE ...in spirit and IN TRUTH.
More:
Who Is God?
"In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Judges 17:6 When you have a nation of people each "doing what was right in their own eyes," then you have anarchy. When the law of the land is to do what is right in one's own eyes, it will become a disaster because what is right in one man's eyes, may be terrible in another's and vice-versa. When there is no standard, man is left to himself to decide what is right and what is wrong and that is very dangerous. At this point in the history of Israel, the people adopted the ways of their ungodly neighbors, and the nation descended into idolatry. God brought terrible judgments upon them and that would bring them to their senses for awhile. But because they held to no standard, they would stray back under the influence of the ways of the lands surrounding them, until once again they were turned over to their enemies. It was a sad time in Israel's history, and it continued as such until God appointed a righteous man, a faithful man, king David, a man after God's own heart, to rule over them. As long as David was king, the country enjoyed the blessings of God as they "did right before the Lord their God." America has had a righteous standard from its inception ...until this generation. America was founded upon the Judeo-Christian ethic, the Bible, the Word of God. In the great buildings in her capital city are Scriptures attesting to the fact that America was "one nation under God," and it remained so for many years. Evil was rejected by a godly people. What evil was done was done behind the scenes, for America would not put up with known evil. America was blessed beyond any nation that ever was upon the earth. She enjoyed freedom and prosperity greater than that of any other nation throughout history. In the 1960's that began ever so slowly to change. An atheist woman mounted a campaign to remove prayer from public schools, and the Supreme Court of the land finally bowed to her arguments and prayer was banned from all public schools. In the 70's, a push was made to grant women their "rights" and allow them to murder their babies before birth. In the 80's, an affliction called "Aids," came upon the homosexual community, bringing this subject up before the American people, and homosexuals began demonstrating and publicly flaunting their sin before the people, demanding their "rights." Anyone who disapproved had angry insults and threats hurled at them, making those who disapproved - the enemy. Any mention of the Word of God was called "hate speech." America no longer had the Word of God as its standard and society descended to "anything goes," everyone doing what was right in his own eyes, and what was right gradually lost out to anarchy being perpetrated upon society. God sent many men to speak to the people and draw them back to the standard they had held for so long. But the people grew in their love of "freedom," demanding their self-determined "rights," and rejected the men of God, making a mockery of them. So God turned them over to their enemies. He placed an evil man as their leader, who led the nation in total anarchy. He said, "America is no longer a Christian nation." This man, a son of the devil, drove hard the acceptance of all that is opposed to the God who had raised them up, he rid the nation of their Constitution and made it a "free-for-all" with no standard upholding them, everyone doing what their evil hearts desired. "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEBASED MIND, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, ...who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of DEATH, not only do the same but also APPROVE of those who practice them." Romans 1:28-32 Afterward, God gave to the American people a man who would work hard to destroy the agenda of the previous president, but after those four years he was replaced illegally by another son of the devil, opening up the country to the advance of the Satanic “New World Order.” Very dark clouds were rolling in. Violence erupted everywhere. Evil was pushing back hard against any morality whatsoever. For anyone who can hear, I plead with you to not conduct your life doing what is good in YOUR OWN EYES, but surrendering to the only true Lawgiver who has set the standard we are to live by. You reject him at the risk of your life and your eternity. God is still extending mercy for those who will repent, but that day and hour is clearly in view when there will be no more mercy. It's almost upon us. All the signs he foretold are here. All of them. Surrender to God, and in him you will find "life, and that more abundantly," for his mercies are great and his ways lead to salvation in all its fullness. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 Abundant life awaits you now, but the Tribulation is looming. Don't put your salvation off, the door will soon be closed. Don't play Russian roulette with your life.
"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
my God, my strength, in whom I will trust,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
SO shall I be saved from my enemies."
Psalm 18:2-3
It would be worthwhile to do a Bible study on the linking of praise with deliverance from one's enemies, for this principle is repeated throughout the Scriptures.
"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying
AND SINGING HYMNS TO GOD,
and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake,
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken,
and immediately all the doors were opened
AND EVERYONE'S CHAINS WERE LOOSED."
Acts 16:25-26
One night, my sister, my daughter, my granddaughter and I were sitting around a table praying. This passage was mentioned, how that when Paul and Silas were singing praises to God at midnight, that suddenly there was an earthquake and everyone's chains were loosed. Just after mentioning this verse, there was an earthquake HERE. Long silence ...then we just looked at each other in shock, with our jaws dropped. It was as though God was underlining this principle and adding exclamation points after it, telling us that this is a very crucial principle in our walk with him, and that it will lead to deliverance.
When we're in the middle of an attack from the enemy, when we don't know what to do, when we feel our weakness above all, the remedy is to turn to the Lord, singing praises to his Name. In doing so we are not only acknowledging that he is greater than any enemy we could ever have, but that we acknowledge that our deliverance will not come from ourselves but from him. The fruit of our lips is proclaiming that we have put our trust in his greatness even when it is dark - especially when it is dark. Paul and Silas were in a prison dungeon, their backs bloodied, in a lot of pain. Singing praises to God!!!
Read the Psalms of David. This king, this man whom God said was "a man after my own heart," experienced much suffering and much opposition. He was called and chosen, yet he suffered more than most. But in his trials, king David continuously brought praise and worship to God, and God delivered him out of all his troubles and established him to fulfill his role as king of Israel, against all odds.
We're in a battle against an enemy we cannot see. It's a supernatural enemy who wreaks havoc in our lives, constantly trying to bring us to discouragement, making every effort to interfere with God's plan for our lives. We tend to look at the physical circumstances that we see and concentrate on that, looking within ourselves for the way to deal with it. But God would have us take our focus OFF the wiles of the devil and turn to the glorious God who is our rock, our fortress, our deliverer, our God, our strength, our shield, the God of our salvation, our stronghold - in whom we place our trust. When you lift your voice to God in praise and adoration, something happens in the spiritual world which we don't see, and we are delivered from our enemy.
Sing to him, worship him, love him - and he will be ALL to you.