The Study Corner    

Don’t worship other gods or worship idols

Exodus 20:2-5, Deuteronomy 4, Deuteronomy 27, Deuteronomy 29, Joshua 24, Psalm 106:28, Psalm 97:7, Psalm 115:3-8,2 Kings 17:35-39, Isaiah 57:5-14, Hosea 4, Zephaniah 1, Zechariah 10:2, Acts 4:12, Acts 19, Romans 1:16-32, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:7-8

Don’t practice witchcraft, sorcery or divination (includes astrology)

Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:10-11, 1 Samuel 15:23, 2 Kings 17:17, 2 Kings 21:6, 2 Kings 23:24, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 19:3-4, Isaiah 47:9-15, Nahum 3:4, Zechariah 10:2, Acts 19, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:7-8, Revelation 22:14-15, Daniel 1:18-21, Daniel 5, Daniel 2:27, Micah 5:12

Kings of Israel are criticized for pagan worship

Solomon – 1 Kings 11
Jeroboam-1 Kings 12, 14
Ahab-1 Kings 16-18
Omri-1 Kings 16
Manasseh-2 Kings 21,2 Chronicles 33
Amon-2 Kings 21
Joash-2 Chronicles 24:17
Jehoram-2 Chronicles 21
Ahaz-2 Chronicles 28

Pagan beliefs are compared to sexual adultery

2 Chronicles 21:11-13, Isaiah 57:3, Hosea 4, Romans 1:24-32

Jesus contends with Satan in the wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

Jesus casts out demons

Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 1:23-27, Mark 5:1-19, Mark 7:25-30, Mark 9:17-29, Mark 16:9, Luke 4:33-36, Luke 8:26-39, Luke 9:37-42, Luke 11:14-16

Needless to say, God despises any of these practices and their ilk.  It may seem like a harmless little “fun” thing.  That doesn’t make it right.   Socially acceptable and God acceptable are not the same.

These things are no joke, any more than Judgement day is a joke.

Please pray and think on your own about this topic. Do not base your views on societal norms. Man will deceive, God does not. You are responsible to God for your actions. “Everyone else was doing it” will not be an acceptable excuse on the day of judgment.

Matthew 7:21-23

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (ESV)

Proverbs 10:12

12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses. (ESV)

Proverbs 17:9

9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (ESV)

Proverbs 25:21-22

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
22 for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you. (ESV)

Luke 6:27-35

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. (ESV)

John 13:34-35

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (ESV)

Romans 12:9-10

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (ESV)

Galatians 5:6

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (ESV)

Philippians 1:9-11

9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (ESV)

1 Peter 4:8

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (ESV)

1 John 3:14

14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. (ESV)

1 John 4:7-21

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

28:1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (ESV)

Ephesians 6:1

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (ESV)

Philippians 2:12-13

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (ESV)

Matthew 7:21

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

Titus 2:5

5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (ESV)

Colossians 3:18-19

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. (ESV)

1 Peter 2:25-3:2

25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

1 Peter 2:25-3:2

7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 2:9

9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. (ESV)

Psalm 101:5

5 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
I will not endure. (ESV)

Proverbs 16:5

5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
be assured, he will not go unpunished. (ESV)

Proverbs 16:18

18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall. (ESV)

Proverbs 16:25

25 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death. (ESV)

Proverbs 18:12

12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor. (ESV)

Isaiah 14:12-15

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit. (ESV)

Zephaniah 2:10-11

10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the lands of the nations. (ESV)

James 4:6

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (ESV)

1 Peter 5:5-7

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

1 Timothy 6:3-4

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, (ESV)