You Shall Not Worship Idols
The Second Commandment reads like this, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6 ESV).
Think of the
pictures, paintings, statuettes, and other man made items that attempt to
depict God in an artistic way. These items can be purchased in many
Christian bookstores.
In most cases,
these items were created by a person, or persons, who truly desired to worship
God with the
fruit of their labors.
Are these people breaking the Second
Commandment?
How are we to
understand this Commandment and how are we to apply it to our current society?
Let us see if we can shed some light on this subject, so that we may know how
God wants us to understand this Commandment today.
The Biblical record
This commandment is
repeated, in one form or another, several other times in the Bible:
Deuteronomy 4:15-19, 23; 5:8-10.
Even the New
Testament has something similar to say; in Acts, we read, “…we ought not to think that the divine being is like
gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man” (Acts 17:29 ESV).
Therefore, it is
legitimate to consider it a very important word from God. These passages
make it clear that God forbids the making, and worshiping, of idols.
What is an idol?
Is an idol only
something that is obviously not God, or is it something that is a
misrepresentation of the true God?
We know that to
worship something
other than God is idolatry.
other than God is idolatry.
Is it not also
idolatry to worship an incorrect understanding of the true God?
The prophet Isaiah
asks, “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness
compare with him?” (Isaiah
40:18 ESV).
God warns His Old
Testament people with these words, “Therefore watch yourselves very
carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb
out of the midst of the fire…” (Deuteronomy
4:15 ESV).
He then proceeds to
forbid them to attempt to make any carved image representing Him.
The First
Commandment instructs us to worship only the true God.
The Second
Commandment instructs us to worship Him as He truly is not as something we
imagine Him to be.
It is not enough to
worship the correct God. We must worship the correct God correctly.
This Second
Commandment is a prevention to keep us from inventing a god of our own design.
Imagine how my wife would respond if she found a picture in my wallet of
another woman and then, when she demanded an explanation, I said, “Oh, I look
at that picture while I’m thinking of how much I love you”.
That does not make
much sense, does it? My wife would rightly question my love for her, or
my sanity, or both. In a much grander, and holier way, that is how it is
when we approach man-made pictures, sculptures, etc. as if they were true
images of God.
It seems very clear
that God’s people, in the Old Testament, were forbidden from making any
man-made objects that attempted to represent God. But, how does this
prohibition apply to Christians today?
The Danger of
Breaking the Second Commandment Today
There are those who
believe that some tangible image of Jesus makes them feel closer to Him.
However, I do not
believe this is biblical for several reasons:
First,
the Bible tells us that, “…we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians
5:7 ESV).
Again,
the apostle Paul tells us, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who
hopes for what he sees?” (Romans 8:24 ESV).
Even those symbols
we have that remind us of God and His goodness, glory, and love, can become
idols when we allow them to replace the true God in our hearts and minds. When
we set aside this commandment by tolerating images in worship, our
understanding of God is inevitably distorted.
I can still
remember paintings of Jesus I saw as a child, and to this day, if I’m not careful,
when I think of Jesus, I see the Jesus of those paintings. And who can
forget, if they have seen it, Michelangelo’s depiction of David and God?
Could that be where so many people have gotten the idea that God is “the big
man upstairs”?
There is also the
danger of attributing, whether knowingly or unknowingly, powers to those images
of God or Jesus. Is the person bowing before the crucifix focused on God
or are they more focused on the physical structure in front of them?
Surely, the motives
of most believers are pure; however, there is the very real danger of the act
of worship becoming merely superstition if I believe that my prayer cloth helps
me get more from God than a simple honest heartfelt prayer.
Obviously we have
no pictures of God or of Jesus Christ; therefore, any representation we
construct will be inadequate, our representation will portray an inferior
depiction of our perfect Creator.
There is nothing
humans can make that can adequately represent God.
Whether it be a
picture, a sculpture, a work of religious fiction, or anything else we devise
to represent God, it will end up a shrunken deity of our own imagination.
By forbidding the use of images, whether metal or mental,
God restrains our waywardness. He frees us from the stupidity and
emptiness of our speculation when we live in obedience to this command.
This second Commandment helps us keep our focus on the true God of the Bible
and prevents us from inventing a god of our own making…which is idolatry of the
worst kind.
When we are not
worshiping the God who is revealed in the Bible, most clearly in Jesus Christ,
we are worshiping a false god.
Conclusion
God commanded His
people not to worship physical representations of anything; not even Him.
While there exist
many paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc. that depict either God or Jesus,
great care must be taken to prevent us from inadvertently worship something
other than God while thinking that we are worshiping the true God in a true
manner.
I believe that is
the reason God gave the Second Commandment. God is spirit, and we are
instructed to worship in spirit and in truth. When we reduce our concept of God
(or Jesus) down to a material object, we depict a transcendent God in a less
than truthful way.
But He did not. He
wanted to be worshipped in spirit and in truth.
Visible
representations of Him can never reveal His glory, His
love, or His holiness.
Only when one meets
Him through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ will we know what the true
God is like.
Why
not accept God's gift of salvation and become His child?
Open
your heart and say this prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and
my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn
away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid
sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died
for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my
life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that
according to your Word, I am now born again.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me
obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life.
Please use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
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lyrics
Oh,
let the Son of God enfold you
with his Spirit and his love;
Let
him fill your heart and satisfy your soul.
Oh, let him have the things that hold you,
and his Spirit, like a dove,
Will descend upon your life and make you whole.
Jesus,
O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
Jesus,
O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
Oh,
come and sing the song with gladness
as
your hearts are filled with joy.
Lift
your hands in sweet surrender to his name.
Oh,
give him all your tears and sadness,
give
him all your years of pain,
And
you'll enter into life in Jesus' name.
Jesus,
O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
Jesus,
O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
Oh,
let the Son of God enfold you
with
his Spirit and his love;
Let
him fill your heart and satisfy your soul.
Oh,
let him have the things that hold you,
and
his Spirit, like a dove,
Will
descend upon your life and make you whole.
Will
descend upon your life and make you whole.
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