Now they sin more and more, And have made themselves molten images of their silver, Even idols according to their own understanding, All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves."
"According to their own understanding ..." This exceedingly important phrase is generally ignored by commentators; but it contains the germ of all that was wrong in Israel's worship.  It represented their ideas, their devices, their inventions, their innovations, and their preferences, as contrasted with what God had commanded them to do.  "This is comparable to what Paul wrote in  Colossians 2:23 regarding `will-worship.' Men are not to be wise above that which is written, or follow their own understanding, but God's command in worship."[9]