3. Forms of Idolatry. The particular forms of idolatry into which the Israelites fell are de scribed under the namcs of the different gods which they worshiped (see ASHTORETH; BAAL; etc.) ; the general features of their idolatry re quire a brief notice here. According to Movers (Die Plzonicier, i. 148), the religion of all the idolatrous Syro-Arabian nations was a deification of the powcrs and laws of nature, an adoration of those objects in 1.vhich these powers are consid ered to abide, and by which they act. Thc dcity is thus the invisible power in nature itself, that pciwer which manifests itself as the generator, sustainer, and destroyer of its works. This view admits of two modifications: either the separate powers of nature are regarded as so many differ ent gods, and thc objects by which these powers are manifested—as thc sun. moon, etc.—are re garded as their images and supporters; or the power of nature is considered to bc one and in divisible, and only to differ as to thc forms under which it manifcsts itself. Both views co exist in almost all religions. The most simple and ancient notion. however, is that which conceives the dcity to be in human form, as male and fe male, and which considers the male sex to be the type of its active, generative, and destructive power ; while that passive power of nature whose function is to conceive and bring forth, is em hodied undcr the female form. The human form and the diversity of sex lead naturally to the dif ferent ages of life--to the old man and the youth, the matron and the virgin—according to the mod ifications of the conception ; and the myths which represent the influences, the changes, the laws, and the relations of these natural powers under the sacred histories of such gods, constitute a harmonious development of such a religious sys tem.
Those who saw the deity manifested by, or con ceived him as resident in, any natural objects, could not fail to regard the sun and moon as the potent rulers of day and night, and the sources of those influences on which all animated nature de pends. Hence star-worship forms a prominent feature in all the false religions mentioned in the Bible. Of this character chiefly were the Egyp tian, the Canaanite, the Chaldman, and the Per sian religions. The Persian form of idolatry, however, deserves to be distinguished from the others; for it allowed no images nor temples of the god, but worshiped him in his purest symbol, fire. It is understood that this form is alluded to in most of those passages which mention the wor ship of the sun, moon and heavenly host, by in cense, on heights (2 Kings xxiii :5, 12 ; Jer. xix: 1.3). The other form of astrolatry, in which the idea of the sun, moon and planets is blended with the worship of the god in the form of an idol, and with the addition of a mythology (as may be seen in the relations of Baal and his cognates to the sun), easily degenerates into lasciviousness and cruel rites.
4. Sin of Idolatry, Idolatry was the most heinous offense against the Mosaic law, which is most particular in defining the acts which con stitute the crime, and severe in apportioning the punishment. Thus, it is forbidden to make any imagc of a strange God; to prostrate oneself be fore such an image, or before those natural ob jects which were also worshiped without images, as the sun and moon (Deut. :19) ; to suffer the altars, images, or groves of idols to stand (Exod. xxxiv :13) ; or to keep the gold and silver of which their images were made, and to suffer it to enter the house (Dcut. vii :25, 26) ; to sacrifice to idols, most especially to offer human sacrifices; to eat of tbe victims offered to idols by others; to prophesy in the name of a strange god; and to adopt any of the rites used in idolatrous worship, and to transfer them to the worship of the Lord (Dent. xii :3o, 31). As for punishment, the law orders that if an individual committed idolatry he should be stoned to death (Deut. xvii :2-5) ; that if a town was guilty of this sin, its inhabitants and cattle should be slain, and its spoils burnt together with the town itself (Deut. xiii :12-18). To what degree also the whole spirit of the Old Testament is abhorrent from idolatry, is evident (besides legal prohibitions, prophetic denuncia tions, and energetic appeals like that in Is. xliv: 9-2o) from the literal sense of the terms which are used as synonyms for idols and their worship which have been considered under Inot. (which see).
5. General Itites of Idolatry. The general rites of idolatrous worship consist in burning in cense ; in offering bloodless sacrifices, as the dough-cakes and libations in Jer. vii :x8, and the raisin-cake in Hos. iii:t; in sacrificing victims (i Kings xviii :26) ; and especially in human sacri fices (see Mot.Ecii). These offerings were made on high places, hills, and roofs of houses, or in shady groves and valleys. Some forms of idola trous worship had libidinous orgies (see Asn TORETH). Divinations, oracles (2 Kings i :2), and rabdomancy (Hos. iv:12) form a part of many of these false religions. The priesthood was gen orally a numerous body; and where persons of both sexes were attached to the service of any god (like that of Ashtoreth), that service was in famously immoral. It is remarkable that the Pentateuch makes no mention of any temple of idols; afterward we read often of such. J. N.
Figurative. Covetousness, in which is im plied a setting of our heart on worldly things in stead of God, and all inordinate care for the ap petite, as gluttony, or sinful love to, or trust in any creature, is idolatry in God's account, and constitutes the person guilty an idolater, or wor shiper of idols (Eph. v :5; Col. iii :5; Phil. iii :19; comp. Rom. xvi :18; 2 Tim. iii :4).