Idolatry

Idolatry is referenced here as Manasseh's defining sin — he transformed Jerusalem itself into a center of idol worship, the spiritual corruption that accelerated Judah's trajectory toward exile.

Idolatry leads Paul's list of wilderness failures here, setting up his later argument that participating in pagan temple meals is not a neutral act but a genuine spiritual allegiance problem.

Idolatry is immediately dismantled after the covenant — the Baal temple, altars, and images that accumulated under Athaliah's reign are torn down in a single day as the people follow through on their recommitment to God.

Idolatry is what Joash and the princes immediately turn to after Jehoiada's death — serving Asherah poles and idols in direct contrast to the Temple worship they had just restored.

Idolatry is named here as the pervasive national condition Josiah was born into — the spiritual environment he refused to accept, launching a systematic demolition campaign against it starting at age twenty.

Idolatry is named here as the generational sin of Ahab's dynasty — the text frames the horrifying violence of this section as the ultimate bill coming due for decades of leading Israel into false worship.

Idolatry is the specific charge that sealed Ahab's dynasty's fate — and here God draws a direct line from Ahab's idolatry to Manasseh's, warning that the same sin will produce the same devastating outcome.

Idolatry is the specific charge God levels against Judah through Huldah — burning offerings to other gods and provoking his anger is the reason his wrath cannot be stopped.

Idolatry is named here as one of Manasseh's core sins that poisoned Judah — alongside the shedding of innocent blood, it represents the foundational betrayal that brought the nation to this moment.

Idolatry is exposed here as not a recent failure but a deeply embedded one — God reveals that even during the wilderness, Israel was carrying star-god images, showing the corruption was foundational, not incidental.

Idolatry is presented here as a contagion capable of consuming an entire city — Moses's concern is that once a community normalizes false worship, it spreads beyond any reasonable containment.

Idolatry is framed in this passage not as spiritual confusion but as deliberate treason — worshiping other gods after God's rescue from Egypt is the covenant equivalent of a vassal defecting to a rival king.

Idolatry is named as the predicted outcome if the Canaanite nations were spared — and history confirms it, as Israel repeatedly fell into exactly the worship practices they were told to remove.

Idolatry leads the list of curses and is specifically called out as something done 'in secret' — God makes clear He sees hidden worship of false gods even when no human witnesses are present.

Idolatry appears here as Paul's startling redefinition of greed — placing financial covetousness on the same moral level as sexual sin by revealing that both involve misplaced ultimate loyalty.