Expert: Brenda Martin - 9/21/2010

Question
hey,
i was reading a book called animals in the bible land, and it said that there were findings of cat amulets of egyptian origin found someplace in the bible lands. it also said that egyptian influences spread throughout the nation. my question is would ancient jews or early christians have worn a cat amulet/necklace maybe becasue of the egyptian influence?

Answer
The use of amulets is a form of idolatry—something clearly condemned in God’s Word. (Exodus 20:4, 5) The Bible, at 1 John 5:21, counsels Christians: “Guard yourselves from idols.”

So a True Christian would not have worn an amulet.

However the Jews did fall short of God's righteous standards on many occassions--

"Idolatrous Egyptian worship, which associated gods with cows, bulls, and other animals, likely had influenced the Israelites to a great extent, causing them to adopt calf worship so soon after being liberated from Egypt. This is confirmed by Stephen’s words: “In their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us to go ahead of us. . . . ’ So they made a calf in those days and brought up a sacrifice to the idol and began to enjoy themselves in the works of their hands.”—Ac 7:39-41".

all the best
Brenda