Beyond Golden Calves, A Comprehensive Biblical Study of Idolatry, Part 4: When Image-Bearers Become Images
The Idolatry of Human Beings
Hello brothers and sisters.
In Parts 1-3, we’ve examined how sacred objects, physical idols, and even the Ark of the Covenant itself can become objects of idolatry. But perhaps the most subtle—and most dangerous—form of idolatry happens when we elevate human beings to a place that belongs to God alone. This is the idolatry that wears the mask of loyalty, admiration, and trust.
If you missed the first 3, you can find them below:
There’s something deeply ironic about human idolatry. We are made in God’s image (imago Dei), created to reflect His glory. Yet throughout Scripture, we see a persistent pattern: humans elevating other humans to godlike status, trusting in flesh and blood for what only God can provide. The very beings designed to point us toward the Creator become obstacles blocking our view of Him.
This isn’t about honoring legitimate authority or respecting godly leadership. Scripture commands both. This is about something far more insidious: the moment when a human being stops being a fellow image-bearer and becomes the image we worship.
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“GIVE US A KING”
THE REJECTION DISGUISED AS A REQUEST
The Scene at Ramah (1 Samuel 8:4-20)
The elders of Israel had legitimate concerns. Samuel was old. His sons were corrupt, “turning aside after dishonest gain, taking bribes and perverting justice” (1 Samuel 8:3). Their request seemed reasonable: “Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations” (v. 5).
But God saw through the request to its rotten core.
The Hebrew Text: A Divine Diagnosis
When Samuel brought this matter before the LORD in prayer, God’s response cuts to the heart of the issue:
Hebrew (1 Samuel 8:7):
כִּי לֹא אֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ כִּי־אֹתִי מָאָסוּ מִמְּלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם
“For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them.”
The verb מָאַס (ma’as) means “to reject, despise, refuse.” It’s a strong term, not mere preference but active rejection. Israel wasn’t simply adding a king to their existing theocratic government; they were replacing their Divine King with a human substitute.
The LXX Perspective
The Septuagint renders this passage with equal severity:
Greek (1 Kings 8:7):
ὅτι οὐ σὲ ἐξουθενώκασιν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ἐμὲ ἐξουθενώκασιν τοῦ μὴ βασιλεύειν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν
“For it is not you they have rejected, but rather Me they have rejected from reigning over them.”
The verb ἐξουθενόω (exoutheneō) means “to treat as nothing, to despise utterly, to set at naught.” It carries even stronger connotations of contempt than the Hebrew. The LXX emphasizes not just rejection but complete dismissal. Treating God’s kingship as worthless.
The Irony of “Like All the Nations”
Note the phrase that reveals Israel’s true motivation: “like all the nations” (כְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִם, ke-khol-ha-goyim).
God had called Israel to be distinct, set apart, holy. Specifically not like the nations (Deuteronomy 26:19). The nations had human kings because they had no divine King. Israel’s request to be “like all the nations” was a request to become like those who didn’t know YHWH.
The text in 1 Samuel 8:7-8 makes the connection explicit: “According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you also.”
God classified their request for a human king in the same category as their worship of Baal and Asherah. Demanding a human leader to replace God’s direct rule was functionally equivalent to bowing before a golden calf.
The Warning They Ignored
Samuel warned them. Your king will:
Take your sons for his chariots and armies (v. 11)
Take your daughters for his palace (v. 13)
Take your fields, vineyards, and oliveyards (v. 14)
Take a tenth of your grain and your flocks (v. 15, 17)
Make you his servants (v. 17)
“And in that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day” (v. 18).
The Hebrew word for “cry out” (זָעַק, za’aq) is the same word used when Israel cried out in slavery in Egypt. They were about to trade one form of bondage for another. And all because they trusted in a human throne more than in their invisible, all-powerful King.
But they refused to listen: “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations” (vv. 19-20).
The Pattern: Political Saviorism Then and Now
Israel’s demand for a king reveals a timeless pattern. They wanted:
Visible security instead of faith in an unseen God
Human leadership they could see and follow instead of divine guidance
Conformity to surrounding culture rather than costly distinctiveness
A mediator to stand between them and God, rather than direct relationship with Him
The principles are stark:
When we trust in human political systems more than God’s sovereignty, we commit idolatry
When we believe that if we just had the right leader, our problems would be solved, we’ve made a king out of a candidate
When our hope rises and falls with election results rather than resting secure in God’s eternal throne, we’ve bowed the knee to flesh and blood
This isn’t about political engagement or voting. It’s about where we place our ultimate trust. The Israelites could have had a king under God’s authority. David would prove that later. But they wanted a king instead of God’s direct rule. That’s where desire became idolatry.
“THE VOICE OF A GOD”
HEROD’S FATAL ACCEPTANCE
A King Who Forgot His Creatureliness (Acts 12:20-23)
If Israel’s story shows us the desire for human idolatry, Herod Agrippa I’s story shows us its deadly consequence.
The scene unfolds in Caesarea. Herod, angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon over a trade dispute, finally granted them an audience. They came seeking peace “because their country depended on the king’s country for food” (v. 20). Economic power and political theater were about to collide with divine judgment.
The Greek Text: Blasphemy and Judgment
Acts 12:21-22:
τακτῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἐνδυσάμενος ἐσθῆτα βασιλικὴν καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐδημηγόρει πρὸς αὐτούς. ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐπεφώνει· θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου.
“On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal robes and sat on his throne, began delivering a speech to them. And the people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’”
The crowd’s declaration is unambiguous: φωνὴ θεοῦ (phōnē theou), “voice of a god.” They attributed divine status to a mortal man. Whether they meant it literally or as extravagant flattery doesn’t matter, the effect was the same. They were offering worship.
And Herod? He accepted it.
Acts 12:23:
παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος κυρίου ἀνθ᾽ ὧν οὐκ ἔδωκεν τὴν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος ἐξέψυξεν.
“Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give the glory to God, and being eaten by worms, he breathed his last.”
The Swift Justice of Heaven
Three elements stand out:
