I MYSELF, Gen. 6:17. God uses this
pronoun with peculiarly solemn emphasis,
to indicate His self-existence, eternity,
and creating omnipotence, Exod. 3:14;
Isa. 41:4-10; 44:6.
IB'HAR, [h] (chosen), one of the sons
of
David, 2 Sam. 5:15.
IDOLATRY, the practice of worshipping
idols, Acts 17:16. This wicked
and
degrading custom appears to have arisen
soon after the days of Noah, even if it
had not existed in his time, and before
the deluge. Abraham and his father
Terah are the earliest mentioned as guilty
of this sin, which they committed
in
their native country, Josh. 24:2-15;
and the abomination continued in
some
branches of his family after the call of
Abraham, as is manifest from the idol
gods of Laban, Gen. 31:9, 30, 34.
Idolatry prevailed dreadfully among the Canaanites, Deut. 29:17; and even
among the Israelites in the times of the
Judges, Judg. 8:33; 11:24; 16:23;
and afterwards, especially under the
sanction of king Solomon, 1 Kings 11:4-
7; of king Jeroboam, 12:28-38; and of
king Ahab, 16:30, 31: it became the
ruin of the kingdom of the ten tribes of
Israel, 2 Kings 17:12-16; and, at length,
the cause of the captivity of the Jews in
Babylon, 2 Chron. 36:14, 16; Jer. 2:
11, 17, 28, 34. Enormities the most
shocking, even to murder and suicide,
have ever attended this outrage upon
reason; the deluded worshippers "sacri-
ficing their sons and their daughters unto
devils," Psal. 106:37, 38; and these crimes
are still committed by idolators among
the heathen, of whom it is computed
there are still 600,000,000 of the human
family! Christianity itself has been cor-
rupted by "abominable idolatries;" of
which Roman Catholics are still guilty,
in worshipping the virgin Mary, saints,
and angels, and their images, and images
of Christ and of his cross: this guilt
however, educated persons among them
deny, or palliate; alleging that their
worship of these persons and things is
not supreme adoration, which they offer
alone to God: but the same has always
been the manner of apology among the
more educated pagans. Worshipping
angels and images is condemned through-
out the sacred Scriptures, Exod. 20:3, 4;
Col. 2:18.
IDOLATRY (spiritual). Idolatry
may be
cherished in the heart, of which it is
certain that many are guilty: such is
covetousness, Col. 3:5, and indulgence
of appetite, Phil. 3:19.
IDUME'A or EDOM,
[h] (red, earthy),
the country of the Edomites, in Arabia,
south-east of Canaan: its eastern
capital
was Bozrah, Gen. 36:33; Jer. 49:13,
and its southern was Selah, 2 Kings 14:
7, now called Petra, whose ruins astonish
travellers, while they illustrate the pre-
dictions of Jeremiah, who foretold the
overthrow and ruin of the Edomites, on
account of their wickedness, Jer. 48:
24; 49:13, 22; Amos 1:12. See EDOM.
ILLYRICUM, [g] (exhilaration, or making joyful), a country of Europe, now
called Albania and Sclavonia: it is about
480 miles long and 120 broad, lying on the
east of the gulf of Venice, having Austria
and Hungaria on the north, and Adria
and Macedonia on the south. The gospel
was successfully preached here by the
apostle Paul, and Christians were found
here for several centuries, Rom. 15:19.
IMAGE, a likeness or representation,
as a statue or stamp of a man, or of an
ideal existence, especially an idol, 2
Kings 3:2; 10:26; Isa. 44:10-13; Dan.
3:1-5; Matt. 22:20. Man being created
in the image and likeness of God, denotes
his intellectual and moral nature, and
originally distinguished by his "know-
ledge, righteousness, and true holiness,"
Gen. 1:26, 27; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10. Christ, as the Son of God, is
"the image
of the invisible God," Col. 1:[15], "the
brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person," Heb. 1:3.
IMAGERY, the idols and instruments
of false worship, Ezek. 8:12.
IMAGE-WORK, sculpture or carved work,
2 Chron. 3:10.
IMAGINATION, a conception of the
mind, Gen. 6:5; Psal. 38:12. The
imaginations of fallen man are naturally
corrupt, Rom. 1:21; 2 Cor. 10:5.
IMAGINE, to fancy or form concep-
tions in the mind, Nah. 1:11.
IMAGINED, did imagine, purpose, or
contrive, Gen. 11:6; Psal. 10:2.
IMMORTALITY, independence of death
or decay, Rom. 2:7. "God only hath
immortality" essentially, 1 Tim. 6:16:
but this favour He grants to angels and
to His saints, Luke 20:36; 1 Cor. 15:
53, 54; 2 Tim. 1:10.
IMPLACABLE, not to be pacified, ma-
licious, Rom. 1:31.
IMPLEAD, to accuse of crimes before
a judge, Acts 19:38.
IMPORTUNITY, earnestness in request-
ing, Luke 11:8.
IMPOSE, to lay on, as a tax, Ezra 7:
24.
IMPOSED, enjoined by authority, Heb.
9:10.
IMPOSSIBLE, that which
cannot be
done; as God cannot violate His
word,
Heb. 6:18: that which is difficult to be
done, ver. 4. Nothing that is right or
good is impossible with God, Luke 1:57;
Matt. 19:26.
IMPOTENT, feeble or lame, as being
diseased, John 5:3-7.
IMPOVERISH, to bring to want and
misery, Jer. 5:17.
IMPOVERISHED, distressed by poverty,
Judg. 6:6; Isa. 40:20.
IMPRISONED, did shut up in prison,
Acts 22:19.
IMPRISONMENT, the state of being
imprisoned, Ezra 7:26; Heb. 11:36.
IMPUDENT, bold in wickedness, Prov.
8:3; Ezek. 3:7.
IMPUTE, to reckon or place to the
account of any one for punishment or
reward: thus Shimei prayed that David
would not impute his treason to him for
punishment, 2 Sam. 19:19. God, in
forgiving sinners, imputes not their guilt,
Rom. 4:8.
IMPUTED, reckoned or charged to the
account of any one, Lev. 17:4. God
reckoned or imputed the sin of the world
to Christ, 2 Cor. 5:19; and on this ac-
count He "suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to
God," 1 Pet. 3:18; thus He "laid on
him the iniquity of us all[,]" "mak[ing] his
soul an offering for sin," so that He
be-
came "the propitiation...for the sins of
the whole world[,]" Isa. 53:5, 10, 12;
Rom. 3:24; 1 John 2:2. God does
"not impute sin[,]" when He pardons us
for the sake of Christ, Rom. 4:6-8; and
He imputes righteousness to believers for
their justification, when He gives them
an interest in the merit, worthiness, or
righteousness of Christ, which secures
to them eternal life and glory, Rom. 3:
22-26; 5:17-21; 2 Cor. 5:19, 21.
