“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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 nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-25
Memory Verse: Oh come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. Psalms 95:6
Introduction:
At first glance it may seem that the first two commandments are saying the same thing. Although idolatry was a common feature of the worship of other gods, the two were not identical. It is possible to make images of God, and it is also possible to worship other gods without making images of them.
God, in His wisdom, saw the need to make this distinction between the first and second commandments. In the first commandment, we learned that God alone is to be worshipped. In the second commandment, we see that God alone is to be worshipped and without any visible images of Himself. The second commandment prohibits the making of false idols, but also prohibits the making of idols of God.
We are not to know the true God through looking at images of Him. No matter how dramatic they portray our God, they will fall short of us understanding God. We are to know God through His creation (Psalm 19:1). We are to know God through His Scriptures (Psalm 19:7-8). And, we are to know God through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:18). We are not to know God through images or idols of any kind.
When God gave Solomon instructions to build His temple, He did not allow any images to be made of Himself. He instructed images made of created things, including the sea and cherubim and palm trees and flowers. His point was that He alone was to be worshipped and without any visible images of Himself. With this second commandment, we are directed to not have images or statues or pictures of the one we worship. Isaiah 40:18 says this very well, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?”
When the temple was finished, the ark of the covenant was brought into the temple and placed in the Most Holy Place. In 1 Kings 8:9, the contents of the ark are described. It did not contain an image of God. Inside the ark were the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb.
In John 4:19, when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, she opens up a discussion about where to worship. Jesus says God is not concerned about places. He said in John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” When we try to introduce any other element, such as a shrine or idol, to our worship, we are wrong.
This second commandment is important because images dishonor God. The problem with statues or shrines or pictures is that they conceal most of the truth about the nature and character of God. The way we think of God is very important. If images were important to God, He would have revealed Himself that way. No statue or painting can do God credit. It would only diminish our view of God. God alone is to be worshipped and without any visible symbols of Himself.
Lesson Questions:
- What does the second commandment prohibit? What does it require of us? Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10
- Does God forbid us from making likenesses of created things? Exodus 25:18-22. Read also Numbers 21:8-9; but see 2 Kings 18:4.
- Who did Aaron intend the idol to represent? Exodus 32:1-8. Were other commandments broken during this incident?
- Why does God forbid the worship of any image? Exodus 20:5; Isaiah 43:10-15
- Why was Moses instructed to destroy the images of the Amorites, Canaanites, and Hittites? Exodus 34:13-17
- Why did God bring His people out of Egypt and place them in the land of Canaan? Psalm 106:8; Ezekiel 20:9
- What was the sin of Jeroboam and how did it lead people to sin? 1 Kings 12:25-30. See also 2 Kings 10:29.
- What does the New Testament say about idolaters? Ephesians 5:5; Romans 1:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9
- What are modern-day examples of how we make graven images?