Commandment 2 – Worshipping Images
“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. 5 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, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands[of generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. [Exodus 20:4-6]
This is always a hot topic, mainly because certain denominations use imagery extensively in their church buildings and their Christian life. Let's be clear here, the above verse is split into four parts, parts one and two, both prohibit, part three gives a warning of punishment, and part four declares the reward. We will look at each of these parts individually.
Part 1 & 2: Prohibition 1
It is obvious that these two prohibitions are linked together, the first part obviously prohibits the manufacture of images, for the express purpose specified in the second part. God is the Creator, and we are created in His image [Genesis 1:27], which explains man's need to create. Despite man's fallen nature, he has created many beautiful things from paintings to buildings, this need goes back to the earliest times when man felt the need to create pictures of his life on his cave walls. King David and other psalmists created beautiful music, and from the days of the first temple, he has created beautiful buildings to glorify God. We decorate our churches, and create stunning windows that tell the stories of Jesus, or illustrate Biblical themes. These things were created to glorify God, not made to worship.
The verse [4] specifically states, 'carved images', so seems to ignore two-dimensional images, paintings and drawings. My Cambridge Bible Dictionary, defines the graven image as: “an image of carved wood (sometimes enclosed in a metal casing, [Isaiah 30:22]) or stone, such as were common in antiquity, and are so, of course, still among heathen nations. [Deuteronomy 4:16]. So it would seem that Commandment Two refers to three-dimensional carvings of stone or wood. It was believed in ancient times that a idol needed to be three-dimensional so that the god could physically inhabit the effigy. The prohibition is general, in that it includes both images of Jehovah and false gods. It is therefore impossible to represent Jehovah with any physical likeness as He is a spiritual being, so the command is all-encompassing [Deuteronomy 4:15-19]. Despite this, images were commonly used by those who worshipped of Jehovah up until the time of the prophets when God spoke through His prophets.
It has been pointed out by some atheists, that God has double standards, this is of course impossible as God never changes. This view is based upon the account of Jehovah orders Moses to create a serpent of bronze and mount it on a pole [Numbers 21:8-9]. This was because many of the people rebelled, and groaned about their conditions and food, and God punished them by sending “fiery serpents“ and many died [Numbers 21:6]. Anyone who looks upon the bronze serpent would be healed of the snake-bite. Of course God, knowing where it will lead, realises that within short order His people will start to look upon the serpent as an idol and start to worship it. Later they started worshipping the serpent and even gave it a name 'Nehushtan', and King Hezekiah had to destroy it [2 Kings 18:4], along with the 'Asherah poles'. “Asherah poles is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honour the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El.” (ref: Wikipedia). So why did Jehovah-God order Moses to make this serpent when He knew what would happen? Some would say that the statue helped as a visual aid for God's power, majesty and mercy; others maintain that it was an early version of the cross, the ultimate sign of God's love. Still others may hold that the bronze serpent was a sign, rather like our use of virus' to combat viral infections, others as a test, which seems unlikely as God knew what would happen, Why do you think God gave the people an effigy for healing?
Again, later in Exodus, Jehovah orders Moses to build a special box in which the two tablets of the law should be stored and transported. He first instructs Moses to take a 'contribution' from the people [Exodus 25:1-9] from which the sanctuary was to be made. Jehovah then instructs Moses how to construct the box, the 'Ark of the Covenant', with precise measurements and materials [Exodus 25:10-16]. Next God gives instructions about the Mercy Seat, which shall be surmounted with golden cherubim [Exodus 25:18]. Here we have another, seemingly contradictory case of a graven (carved) image of a heavenly creature being ordered by God, but it seems that the mercy seat is not for man but for God Himself [Exodus 25:22]. Would these cherubim also encourage worship later? No. If we read about the Ark we find that the Ark, with the mercy seat and cherubim were always located in the 'Holy of Holies', the innermost part of sanctuary, and only the High Priest was allowed to enter, and then just once a year, on the 'Day of Atonement'. A study of the scriptures will reveal that the High Priest was never instructed to bow before the cherubim or to pray to the spiritual beings they represented. These cherubim were also embroidered into the drapes and tapestries from which the sanctuary was constructed [Exodus 26:1 & Exodus 26:31]. Again there is no indication that these images were ever bowed to or prayed to as worship of angels were strictly forbidden. When John the Evangelist once bowed to worship an angel, the angel quickly stopped him [Revelation 22:8-9] because the angel knew better. Later in the Hebrew history Solomon included statues of cherubim in his original temple [1 Kings 6:23], which God sanctioned and blessed. None of the images of angels in the Sanctuary involved angel worship, unlike today when the New Age followers pray and look upon angels as on the same level as God Himself, as do some who claim to be Christians.
So we see that the two prohibitions must be linked together, images and statuary are acceptable as long as we do not bow to them in worship or prat to them or the physical creature they represent. The New Testament then builds upon and fulfils the Old Testament, and this is true when it comes to religious imagery, as well. See, for example, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:15-22. Jesus was manoeuvred into a trap here asking if it was right to pay tax to Caesar? Jesus knew their intent and asked them whose image was on the denarius coin He had been given, He answered “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” [Matthew22:21] Whilst therefore, the coin was in the image of Caesar, each of us, including Caesar, is made in the image of God [Genesis 1:27], so we should give everything to Him. Jesus uses here a graven image of Caesar to make the point, the very person who demanded worship from his subjects as a living god.
Because Jehovah-God is of spirit there is nothing in heaven or Earth that can represent Him in any physical way, we are reminded of this in Acts 17:29, that God we cannot thing of God as being gold, silver or stone or any image formed by man. There is however another facet to this commandment and that is the things we look to as our idles, the things we view as our ideals for life, the things consume our lives. Those things may be sexual immorality, passion for something other than God, our evil desires, and the things we covet, that we hold as aspirations for our lives [Colossians 3:5]. Today idols are common place, from musicians to to movie stars and millionaires, riches to fame, motor cars and houses, and You Tube personalities. We may not physically bow down to them but many worship them anyway. Here in the UK we had a comedy show called 'The Vicar of Dibley', which was about a female vicar of the Church of England, it was a hit. Several times the vicar, kissed a picture of Jesus that hung on the vicarage wall, I could never decide whether this counted a idol worship or not, how would you perceive this action.
Whilst certain denominations seem to ignore this commandment, they are not on their own, for many other denominations would also fall into this trap. We must not hold anything up as a worshipful image, whether it be ambition or our favourite celebrity, but we must worship in Spirit and truth [John 4:23-24]. Otherwise we can be sure that no immoral or impure person, an idolater, will enter the kingdom [Ephesians 5:5]. Do not be deceived because as we approach many believers will be drawn away from the faith by deceitful spirits and wrong teaching [1 Timothy 4:1]. The will listen to people who who will teach myths [New Age] rather than the truth and follow their own passions (idols) [2 Timothy 4:3-4]
Part 2 - Warnings
In verse five of Exodus 20 there is a frightening warning about breaking this commandment where God states that He will punish (or withdraw His blessing/protection on the third and forth generations of those that bow down to other gods [Exodus 20:7]. The much disputed and disregarded principle of visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, is a fact under God's law and government. Many diseases are handed down genetically from one generation to the next, and the latest DNA research confirms that it takes three to four generations to overcome. A parents extravagance can cause their offspring to live in poverty, and being the offspring of a felon can be a a millstone around their necks. We have all seen the result of drug taking upon the children of drug abusers, from transmitted addictions to malformation in the womb, defects that also take several generations to dissipate. We all tend to inherit many disadvantages through our distant ancestors Adam and Eve, and if only people would realise that our sin will affect our children, there may be less sin in the world. The penalty on our children, however is not final, and can be reversible as each of us must bear our own burden. God says through His prophet Ezekiel that the son will not bear the fathers sin, but through their own righteousness, but if the son is wicked the sin will be laid upon him [Ezekiel 18:20]. This is dependent upon the children walking in the footsteps of the father, and rather than a punish is more about God withdrawing His divine protection, which happened when the Israelites were delivered into slavery and therefore several generations. We now have Jesus Christ as out deliverer who rescues us from the slavery of sin, but if our offspring turn their backs on God, having learned of His saving grace, they will surely come under the curse of the law. Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children.
Part Three - Reward
God promises that He will show 'steadfast love' to those who keep His commandments [Exodus 20:6]. This seems as if it is a general promise, rather than one that is specific to this commandment 'miswa', meaning just a command or ordinance. Here we find a hint that the Ten Commandments are to be regarded as one law, a whole, which cannot be separated one from another, and contains no specific reference to a single command. God's love is to protect His people from the evil that abounds this world, which, seems to explain why there is so much sickness within His people, because we are almost all in disobedience to Hi laws.
Jehovah-God, did not give the Ten Commandments to Moses just for that small group of people who had become His own people, He gave these laws for all of mankind. It was not just for that obscure time in history, for an iron-age people, it was for everyone, all the peoples and nations yet to come. It was one of the rare occasions where Jehovah directly interacted with man, and as such is a momentous event that we should take heed of. Let us stand by faith and worship in the spirit, God is not in a statue on a plastic cross, nor is He in an icon or an artist's impression, He is all around us and in us through His Holy Spirit, omnipresent and omniscient, He is!