Speaking of the idols the nations worshiped, God tried to reason with wayward Israel in Jeremiah 10:8, 9 say, "They are all unreasoning and stupid. Instruction from a tree is an utter delusion. Silver plates are imported from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman, of the hands of a metalworker. Their clothing is blue thread and purple wool. They are all made by skilled workers." With God "calling a spade a spade," one would have to wonder how idol worshippers could possibly justify such stupidity in their minds. Acts 19:35 enlightens us -- they claim that heaven itself provided the image. (Context here.) The context, of course, makes it very evident that those making the images knew it was nothing more than a money-making venture.
When I read the phrase “the great goddess Artemis,” (vs. 27) I had to wonder if this wasn’t the Catholic Church’s origins of Mary worship. This might explain the visions of Mary such as the famous “Lady of Fatima.” The Catholics have deified Mary, praying to her, essentially putting her in the place of Jesus as an intercessor to God. Regardless of the origin, the position the Catholic Church has allowed its adherents to give to Mary amounts to idolatry.
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