“They say that the first inhabitants of the earth, glorying in their own strength and size and despising the gods, undertook to raise a tower whose top should reach the sky, in the place in which Babylon now stands; but when it approached the heaven, the wind assisted the gods and overthrew the work upon its contrivers, and its ruins are said to be still at Babylon; and the gods introduced a diversity of tongues among men, who till that time had all spoken the same language; and a war arose between Chronus and Titan. The place in which they built the tower is now called Babylon, on account of the confusion of tongues, for confusion is by the Hebrews called Babel.” WHAT HAS THE BIBLE TO SAY ABOUT IDOLATRY? There is another aspect of the relation of the Bible to the heathen religions, to which we should call attention. In what terms does the Bible speak of the worship of false gods and idols? The Israelites were brought into contact with idolatry very early in their history. The patriarchs were familiar with it, both as they journeyed abroad and among their neighbors at home. Abraham’s parents were at least partially idolatrous. Jacob, while living with Laban, was accustomed to the sight of the teraphim and other gods. Joseph had for his wife the daughter of a heathen Egyptian priest. Jacob and his children, during their life in Egypt, were surrounded by temples, idol groves, sacred beasts and all the paraphernalia of heathen worship. Moses was brought up in all the learning of the Egyptians. Undoubtedly, as was customary in Egypt, he had for his teachers Egyptian priests. When Israel made its exodus from Egypt, the miraculous power which God gave to Moses was brought into contact with the power of the sorcerers and magicians of Pharaoh’s court. After they had left Egypt they remembered the idol-worship they had been accustomed to see. The first idol ever made and worshiped by the Hebrews, was the golden calf. Side by side with this incident, is the first plain command against idolatry: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.”