For someone to say that a statue helps her keep Jesus in mind is like a woman saying she goes out with other men to keep her husband in mind. Even the greatest artist can’t begin to comprehend the glory of the Almighty. But that’s how God feels when we use images of him. Suppose someone said, “I’ve put a picture of a spider on the wall to remind me of you.” You’d be insulted. Sometimes people argue that using religious images is simply an “aid” to worship because it focuses the mind. Because religious images focus attention on the creation instead of the Creator. Because religious images breed superstition. Why is this so wrong? Because religious images promote the worship of false gods. Thus with one sweeping statement God rules out pagan worship involving statues, pictures, beads, trinkets and holy objects. We are not to worship to such images or through such images. That includes statues, pictures, stained glass, printed images, painted images, hand-woven images, images of animals, birds, reptiles, or even images of biblical characters. This is a total prohibition that allows no exceptions whatsoever. It covers the heavens, the earth and the sea. This Commandment clearly forbids the worship of man-made religious images. We have such a narrow, cramped view of idolatry that if we’re not actually bowing down to a statue somewhere, we think this doesn’t really apply to us. Our problem is entirely in the other direction: We think this Commandment is the most irrelevant of the 10. That one point should tip us off to pay special attention because (as we shall see) the threat of idolatry is still with us today. It is repeated in various ways over and over and over again in the Old Testament because idolatry was a continuing problem for the people of God. In one we are told that our focus must be on God alone in the other we are told that we must not use accept any spiritual substitutes.Īs we begin thinking about the Second Commandment, perhaps it will be helpful to know that of the 10 Commandments, this is the one most often repeated in the Bible. The 1st Commandment tells us who we worship the Second Commandment tells us how we worship.
What’s the difference between the First and the Second Commandments? We might state the difference this way. Our response must be complete obedience. The spiritual results must be catastrophic. Idolatry must be a recurring temptation. Even a brief reading leads to the following conclusions: We want to do anything but face God on the issue of personal allegiance. We want to do what this Com-mandment forbids. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Let’s begin by getting this Commandment in clear focus: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. That leads me to say that anyone reading these words might be an idolator-and if you are, you almost certainly don’t recognize it. If the proper answer is yes to all those questions, then idolatry can pop up anywhere in life, even in places we usually don’t associate with religion. Is it possible to love sexual fulfillment too much? Is it possible to love the praise of others too much? Is it possible to love success too much? Is it possible to love your house or your car too much? Is it possible to love another person too much? At what point does “loving deeply” cross the line into idolatrous worship? We all understand that liking something is not the same as worshiping something. Obviously there is a huge difference between # 1 and # 3.
Pushing onward, we discover that “adore” has three different meanings: If adoration is the issue, then perhaps idolatry is closer than we think. The second part reads “one that is adored.” Hmmmm. At least most of us don’t.īut that’s not the only definition. We’re far beyond that … aren’t we? We don’t use On that ground most modern Americans can claim innocence.
What is an idol anyway? The dictionary offers this definition: “an image used as an object of worship.” That sounds like those pictures we’ve seen in National Geographic of squatting Buddhas surrounded by candles. “The only thing I worship is my brand-new car.” “Me? An idol-worshiper? What do you take me for? A pagan?” “That’s what they have in Africa, right?”
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