THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Lesson 3 - No Idols

“The Second Commandment: No Graven Images”

• Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
• Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:…

There is only one God. He has no peer. He has no competitor. God alone is God! As one scholar put it, “the second commandment is a corollary to the first commandment and a logical continuation of it”. It is certainly true that the second naturally follows the first.

The second commandment has more ramifications than not having a heathen idol. “In the first commandment, worshipping a false god is forbidden; in this, worshipping the true God in a false manner (is forbidden).” - Thomas Watson

 God forbids that man make any creation of anything which is supposed to be a representation of Him, to assist man in worship. God knew that wanting things, symbols, and statues to aid in worship was in the wicked heart of man. So in the second commandment God said NO to making any image to assist in worship.

I like the way F.B Meyer put it. "The mind shrinks from the intellectual effort of grappling with the subtle essences of things, and loves to have truth wrapped up in a form which can easily be taken in by the eye, the ear, the sense of touch. This explains why there is such a tendency toward ritualism in the Romanish and Anglican Churches. Where man's spiritual life is strong, it is independent of the outward form; but when it is weak it leans feebly on external aids." - F.B. Meyer "There is ever a tendency in the human heart toward a religion of rites. It is so much easier to observe the prescriptions of an outward ceremonial than to brace the soul to faith and love and spiritual worship." - F.B. Meyer

It is extremely important to accept by faith and trust the revelation that God has made of Himself. Any time you hear someone say, “this is how I like to think of God” or “I’ve always likened God to …” When you hear that you are about to hear a pitiful effort to explain God, who is far greater, higher, and mightier than man’s imagination and ridiculous comparisons.

First let’s look at what is not forbidden by God.

God did not disallow any images of any kind ever. (Some have gone to the extreme against any paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc.) I have a picture in my house of an eagle flying. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just a picture of one of God’s creatures. Having a picture is not a problem. In fact God used pictures. Immediately following the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses was given the pattern for making the Tabernacle and all associated with it. Two graven cherubim were to overshadow the ark in the Holy of Holies. The gate of the Tabernacle and the ceiling of the Holy Place all had pictures on them. The priestly garments were to have on them bells of gold and pomegranates of blue and purple. God had pictures put on the ceiling of the holy place. So just an image is not a problem. God had two graven cherubim made. So any and all statues are not a problem. If you have a figurine of some kind in your house, you don’t have to worry.

So what is forbidden?

1. Man is forbidden to make anything that is supposed to be a representation of God.

2. Man is to make no representation of God as an aid to worship.

The beginning of verse 5 makes the context of verse 4 very clear. Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:…

The images that are forbidden are any that you bow down to or serve.  What is forbidden is not only any image of any false god, but also any image that you use to represent the one true God.

“…any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above…” God is not like angels and cherubim; He is not like the moon, sun, and stars; He is not like the clouds, birds, and flying things. All the things God created of the first, second, and third heavens are wonderful creations. They are pitifully and woefully short of God’s likeness. “…or that is in the earth beneath…” God is not like man; God is not like an ox or a horse or a bull or a ram, etc. etc. All of His creation on earth is wonderful and marvelous to behold; however, they are all woefully short of representing God.

“…or that is in the water under the earth:” God is not like the whale, or any other creature of the sea. His creation and the works of His hands are in the waters. They just cannot represent Him. No image can.

There are those who claim to worship the same God we do. And yet they use images. This is clearly forbidden by the 2nd commandment. So what is their excuse?  They will say than an image or idol assists them in thinking of God; it gives them tangible help. However, the very fact that a man needs “help” to worship God, reveals his lack of ability in making an appropriate representation of God. His views or thoughts of God are already erroneous, so whatever he makes to represent God is also erroneous, which makes any worship also erroneous. Images and idols cannot give any tangible help in worshiping God. Instead they replace true worship with something false.

The Bible is clear on how we are to worship God.

John 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit, and must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth. We are to worship God in our hearts. God explicitly forbids that there be anything made that is to be a representation of Himself.

IMAGES ARE FORBIDDEN BECAUSE THEY BECOME THE OBJECTS OF WORSHIP.

Here are some examples of what is forbidden by the 2nd commandment. 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 4:14-19 God’s own commentary on the second commandment.

• Deu 4:14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
• Deu 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
• Deu 4:16 Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
• Deu 4:17 The likeness of any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
• Deu 4:18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that [is] in the waters beneath the earth:
• Deu 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, [even] all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

It is clear. God says if man makes something to assist him in a tangible way to worship, that tangible thing will bit by bit become the object of worship. God did not let them see any similitude of Him in verse 15 and in verse 16 He says why. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image. God says that graven images are corruption.

See Zephaniah 1:4-5. Lo, and behold; Jews worshipped the host of heaven upon their housetops! It is Idolatry!  People are prone to it.  Over and over again in the Bible you see people turn to it. 

• Zep 1:4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
• Zep 1:5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

Read Isaiah 44:9-20

• Isa 44:9 They that make a graven image [are] all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they [are] their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
• Isa 44:10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image [that] is profitable for nothing?
• Isa 44:11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they [are] of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; [yet] they shall fear, [and] they shall be ashamed together.
• Isa 44:12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
• Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out [his] rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
• Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish [it].
• Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth [it], and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth [it]; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
• Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth [himself], and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
• Isa 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, [even] his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth [it], and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou [art] my god.
• Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand.
• Isa 44:19 And none considereth in his heart, neither [is there] knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten [it]: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
• Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, [Is there] not a lie in my right hand?

The Bible is full of illustrations of idolatry. It is a horrible thing.

In Numbers 21, Moses lifted up the serpent of brass and all who looked, believing God, were healed of serpent bites. By II Kings 18:4, Israel was burning incense to it in worship, and King Hezekiah destroyed it , calling it Nehushtan: a piece of brass!

Such idolatry is seen everywhere in Roman Catholicism.

The crucifix has become an idol. Bowing to and praying to statues of Mary and to the “saints” is nothing short of abominable idolatry, clearly forbidden in the second commandment. God said make no image and then says, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them”

What do you think bowing to a statue of Mary is? It is doing exactly what God forbids in His second commandment.  Even a statue of Christ is nothing but a piece of carved wood and constitutes idolatry in its simplest form.

THERE IS ALSO A MORE BROAD APPLICATION.

An idol is something that replaces God. Many people use statues of various types and then bow down to the statue. The statue becomes not a tangible aid but a replacement.

There are many things that man will use to replace God with. It is not always a statue.

A man’s god is that which he deems the most important thing in life. Whatever he gives his devotion to instead of giving it to God.

A career can become a man’s god. It is what he gives his energy and devotion and affection to. A sport can become a man’s god and constitute idolatry. Complete devotion and affection and energy is given to a sport by many a “Christian” athlete who gives lip service to Christ or to God.

A hobby can become a god. Money can be a god. The possibilities are almost endless.

Another form of idolatry is a view of God as we wish Him to be.

Read this quote of Carroll Simcox: Let us suppose that we are good average people of our own time and culture – typical mid-twentieth century Americans. Being such, we either think, or are strongly inclined to think, the following things about God: (a) He is our Father in Heaven (although many of us actually think He is more like a Grandfather in Heaven); (b) He is wonderfully broad-minded and tolerant – the Divine Democrat who agrees to disagree with us, graciously and to the limit; (c) He wants everybody to enjoy and exercise self-expression; (d) He keeps abreast of the changing times, and whereas He may once have disapproved of certain kinds of self-expression, especially in matters like sex, He now recognizes that we know more than we used to and can be trusted to do as we please; (e) He wants the clergy to preach the broad spirit of religion rather than the narrow dogmas of what used to be called “the Faith”.

He went on to say that “the liberal god of liberal people is a figment of the liberal mind, and an idol”. To this I say AMEN!

This is why our thoughts of God must be shaped only by His revelation of Himself in the Word. Otherwise, we make our own imagination the creator of an idol god. A figment of our imagination that is far from the truth. A self-made false idol god that is our replacement for the One true God of the Bible.

One more quote from Mr. Simcox. “An overmastering realization that we are the children of the one true God who forbids us to give our hearts to the services of any but Him: this alone is the answer to the problem of keeping ourselves from idols.”

1Jo 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

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