You can already start to see how classes and segregation of people would seep into an ideology where only certain people were considered image-bearers of the divine. This made the king special and separate from his people.
Kings were often so closely tied to the gods that they were considered divine themselves. These special, chosen rulers were representations of the gods, ruling and reigning on their behalf. The “image of God” was also a title reserved for kings. The idol stood there as the mediating representation of the god’s power and presence. Rather, the idol was meant to be an image of the divine.
It was not thought of as the actual deity. The idol then functioned as a reflection and embodiment of the god. Idols were placed within a temple, the place where the gods and humans were connected.
In the Ancient Near East, an idol served a few purposes.
