Against The Use

Of

Images And Statues

By

The Man Who Saw God Face To Face

Raphael Okechukwu Nweze

1. God Commanded That Humanity Must Not Pray To Any Other Being.

"You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3

2. For Making One Image, So Many Israelites Were Killed In The Wilderness. So, How Do You Think That You Shall Be Saved By A Multitude Of Images?

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf .

Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

And the Lord said to Moses,” Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf , and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'" And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation. (I will make a new nation for you and from you, like I did for Abraham.) " Exodus 32:1-10

… And about three thousand men of the people fell (died) that day. Exodus 32:28

And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin." So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. Exodus 32:33-35

3. Images And Statues Are Unnecessary.

However well people defend the images and statues, all the images and statues are unnecessary in the sight of God. They are irrelevancies in the true worship of God in spirit and in truth. And they continue to turn people away from the true worship of God. What God wants from you is your heart and attention. Any other thing that occupies your heart and attention is an idol. (The cover picture of this book is only a picture of an Angel, bringing good message to humanity. You do not have to worship it.)

· For over 30 years, I have being in the presence of the Most High God, in spirit and physically.

· For over 30 years, I have seen Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Angels and the Saints.

· For over 30 years, I have being working with them, in spirit, in heaven, on earth, in dreams, in visions and in trances. And not even for one day have God Almighty, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Angels or Saints, mentioned Virgin Mary or used her images.

All the while I have kept silent. Now, the Lord Almighty has said to me, “It is time to start speaking. For many religions are like dead and rotten animal, which must be thrown away.” And what many call faith is nothing but stubbornness. – The persistent refusal to do what God has said.

4. God Commanded Against Making Images Or Bowing Down To Them. Even Images Of God Himself Is Not Allowed, Let Alone That Of Mary.

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6

People bow down to the image of Mary and serve it by carrying it about.

5. God Says There Is None Beside Him.

Remember the former thing, those of long ago;

I am God, and there is no other;

I am, and there is none like me.

I make know the end from the beginning,

From ancient times, what is still to come.

Isaiah 46:9,10

Jesus is God Himself that came in the midst of humanity.

6. God Warned The Israelites Against Making And Images.

I am the Lord, that is My name;

And My glory I will not give to another,

Nor My praise to carved images.

Behold, the former things have come to pass,

And new things I declare;

Before they spring forth I tell you of them."

Isaiah 42: 8, 9

7. God Made Known Beforehand How To Know All The Gods.

"To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal

And compare Me, that we should be alike?

They lavish gold out of the bag,

And weigh silver on the scales;

They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god;

They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.

They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it

And set it in its place, and it stands;

From its place it shall not move.

Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer

Nor save him out of his trouble.

Isaiah 46:5-6

8. God Warned Against Believing The Statutes.

Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;

Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,

Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them,

And my carved image and my molded image

Have commanded them.'

Isaiah 48: 5

9. God Did Not Say That Mary Shall Bruise The Head Of The Serpent.

Many have defended the statue of Mary marching on the head of a green snake, claiming that God said Mary shall bruise the head of Satan. God never said such a thing. God spoke about the son of Eve (Jesus), not about Mary:

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel."

Genesis 3:15

Besides, the story of Garden of Eden was fabricated by Satan and the antichrists, in order to confuse and deceive humanity. It was a folktale fabricated by the bible authors. You should read the book called The Golden Book, by Adam and Eve to know the true life account of what happened in the Garden of Eden.

The above salvation of God was confirmed to Abraham.

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son … In your seed (Jesus) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Genesis 22:15-19

10. The Prophecy Of Revelation Was Not About Virgin Mary.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. (In prophecy, a woman simply means the church of God. The sun simply means Truth. Moon means the blessings of God. Twelve stars mean the twelve tribes of Israel, for salvation is of the Jews, Israelites. )

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads (Seven means perfection: omnipotence. The Devil is claiming the position of God.) and ten horns (using ten kings), and seven diadems on his heads. His tail (his deception) drew a third of the stars of heaven (the fallen Angels) and threw them to the earth (dishonored them by making them evil spirits). And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (The son means the seed of Abraham, Jesus, who is God and the saviour of the world.) Then the woman (the church) fled into the wilderness (went into hiding), where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days (after which the true church/worship of God shall be restored). Revelation 12:1-6

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth (defeated), he persecuted the woman (the Holy Spirit, and also covenant church) who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood (In prophecy, waters means multitudes; flood means so many persecutors to intimidate the true saints of God.). But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth (How did the earth help the church? All the persecutors eventually died and were buried.). And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring (the true worshippers, the saints of God), who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Read world histories, records, encyclopedia or Internet. You will discover that the Devil used world powers and empires to persecute, kill many Christians.) Revelation 12:14-17

Spiritual Blindness

They turn people away from the truth. The Catholics are worshipping the images and statues of Mary and saints, but Mary and many of the saints have reincarnated and are still living here on earth, without people knowing it. Therefore, it is foolishness for people to be praying to somebody in their midst, hoping that the person is in heaven. That is spiritual blindness, ignorance and laziness.

Conclusions

The worship of Mary and the Saints is idolatry. That was why God denied the Israelites the knowledge of the location of the tombs of Aaron and Moses, so that the Israelites do not go to the tombs to pray and worship dead bodies.