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Worshiping God Through Images: Seven Bible Proofs

Worshiping God Through Images: Seven Bible Proofs

Last updated on: June 13, 2026 at 11:38 am by Dave Armstrong

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Worshiping God Through Images: Seven Bible Proofs 2026-06-13T11:38:23-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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See the initial transcript further below for the following embedded YouTube video.

First of all, not all images were forbidden:

Deuteronomy 4:23 (RSV) Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a graven image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.

See how “graven image” here doesn’t mean “absolutely every image”? It was only the things that God prohibited. And it was clear what He didn’t allow at all. The Israelites could not “bow down to” or “serve” the “graven image” (Ex 20:4-5; cf. Deut 4:28; 5:8-9; Lev 26:1) or pretend that inanimate objects made with their own hands were “gods.” It’s the error of the infamous “golden calf” that Aaron made:

Exodus 32:4, 7-8 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf . . . [7] And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; [8] they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'”

The prophet Isaiah excoriated the blasphemous stupidity of the graven image or idol:

Isaiah 2:8 Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, . . .

Isaiah 37:19 . . . they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone . . . (cf. 31:7; 42:17)

Isaiah 44:14-15-17 He cuts down cedars . . . [15] . . . he makes a god and worships it, he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. . . . [17] And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol; and falls down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for thou art my god!” (cf. 2:20; 45:20; 46:6-7; 2 Chr 28:23; Jer 2:28; 11:12; Mic 5:13)

St. Paul reiterates the same teaching in the New Testament:

Acts 17:29-30 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. [30] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, (cf. 1 Cor 8:4; Gal 4:8; 1 Jn 5:21; Rev 9:20; 21:8)

But now that we have understood what we must not do, by way of prohibited images and idols, we’ll observe that the Bible also sanctions worship of God through images or in conjunction with them, as opposed to believing that they are something or anything spiritual or conscious or supernatural in and of themselves.

1 Pillar of Cloud / Cloud

Exodus 33:10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, every man at his tent door. (Ex 13:21-22; 14:24; Num 14:14; Deut 5:22)

Exodus 34:5-6, 8 And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. [6] The LORD passed before him, . . . [8] And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

2 Fire

2 Chronicles 7:3 When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped . . . (cf. Ex 3:1-4; 13:21-22; 14:24; 19:18; Num 14:14; Deut 4:12, 33, 36; 5:4, 22-23; Heb 12:29)

3 Ark of the Covenant

Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, (cf. Lev 16:2: “I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat”)

1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon . . . came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, . . .

1 Kings 8:5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel . . . were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. (cf. 2 Chr 5:6)

1 Chronicles 16:1 And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

1 Chronicles 16:4 Moreover he appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.

4 The Temple in Jerusalem

Psalm 5:7 . . . I will worship toward thy holy temple in the fear of thee.

Psalm 99:9 Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; . . .

Psalm 138:2 I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word.

Isaiah 27:13 . . . come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

5 Jerusalem

Daniel 6:10 . . . Daniel . . . went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, . . .

6 The Altar

1 Kings 8:22-23 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; [23] and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; (cf. 8:54)

2 Chronicles 6:12-14 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. [13] Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; [14] and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart;

7 God’s Throne in Heaven

Revelation 4:2, 6, 8-11 At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! . . . [6] . . . And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures . . . [8] And the four living creatures, . . . never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” [9] And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, [11] “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 5:11-14 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!“[14] And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (cf. 7:17)

Revelation 7:9-11 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” [11] And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

Revelation 19:4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

Revelation 22:3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him;

Of the seven physical things above that are used in conjunction with worship of God, none were forbidden by Him. The pillar of cloud and divinely produced fire and God’s throne in heaven were not even made by man. God gave explicit directions to build the ark of the covenant and approved of the temple as His house to dwell in (“my house of prayer”: Isaiah 56:7). Nor did He disapprove of the holy city, Jerusalem (“For David said, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem for ever’”: 1 Chronicles 23:25), nor altars that he commanded to be built for the purpose of animal sacrifices and other sacrifices.

Related Book

Biblical Evidence for the Communion of Saints (Feb. 2012, 152 pages)

Related Web Page

Saints, Purgatory, & Penance [section IV]

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Summary: Contrary to Protestant arguments that all images are idolatrous & “graven” and can’t possibly be used to worship God, we provide seven undeniable, explicit biblical examples.

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Saints & Purgatory & Penance

worshiping God through images

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