A sermon preached on May 16, 1998 Little Rock AR

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The basis of all idolatry is that self-centered, rebellious human beings refuse to surrender themselves to worship the true God as He commands.

The people of this world do not understand how to worship God because they lack His Spirit.

"You shall not make for yourself any 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 nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Men fabricate images or image representations to aid them in worshiping a god they themselves have concocted. These images are called idols, icons, symbols or objects of devotion.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

OUTLINE

I. THE COMMAND

A. Images Dishonor God

B. Images Mislead Men

II. THE REASONS FOR THE COMMAND

A. God is a Jealous God

B. God Visits Those Who Disobey With Judgment

C. Disobedience to this Command is Hating God

D. God Visits Those Who Obey With Mercy

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second commandment forbids the use of physical "aids" in worshiping the invisible God. Such aids include statues or paintings of "Jesus" or "Mary", nativity scenes, crucifixes, steeples, stained-glass, pictures of god or Christ and many other things.

The second commandment does not condemn every picture or image, but as the command states. "You shall not bow down to them or serve them. It is the use of art or sculpture in worship that God condemns. God even instructed Solomon to ass 2 cherubim inside the holy of holies.

There were angels, trees, flowers and none of these were things Israel worshiped.

In their own minds, they had reduced God to something they could control, touch, and call upon when convenient.

When you think of the word "idolatry" what comes to mind? Do you picture Africans bowing low to a statue of some sort? Huge gold Buddhas in an oriental temple? Do you think of the evil-looking priests of Baal doing their dance around the altar?

Well, of course these things are clearly idolatrous in a very obvious way. But we all need to realize that there are also more subtle forms of idol worship. Things that don’t necessarily fit the picture that come to mind when we hear the term "idolatry."

Well, you can notice here--the first two commandments are closely related, aren’t they? On the surface, they seem very similar, and the similarity is--that they both deal with idolatry.

First command: "You shall have no other gods before Me."

Second command: "You shall not make for yourself any image...you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."

Idolatry.

Now if this second command stood all by itself, naturally, we would be thinking of the Babylonian idol worship, or the false gods that Israel allowed into its countryside, or the idolatry that you read about in Africa/Haiti.

But when you look at this second commandment in context, when you look at it after reading the first commandment ("You shall have no other gods before Me")--you realize that it can’t be saying exactly the same thing. God isn’t repeating Himself here. There’s a difference between the two.

Here’s the great difference between these first two commands:

In the first command--worshipping a false god is forbidden;

Dictionaries define an idol as "any object of ardent or excessive devotion or admiration" Even if we obey people with dictates, churches, or any group that is contrary to the direct commands of God, we are guilty of idolatry. The individual or group becomes the idol, replacing God.

Second commandment--the MODE/MANNER of our worship.

This second commandment points to a principle that, "Idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images." You get that? Let me repeat it: "Idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images."

If you were with us last week as we looked at that first commandment, we talked about the need we have, the necessity to have God for our God. You are to choose, worship and serve Yahweh as your God, and Him only. We said that He is to have no rival in your life. He is to be at the center of your life, and nothing else is to take His place, and if something does--it is an idol.

We said negatively, as the commandment reads, we must have no other gods. Literally, nothing else "before God’s face," or "in His presence." Anytime you are trusting in something more than God--you are making it an idol. Anytime you love anything or anyone more than God, you make it an idol--and the simple truth is that if you are worshipping false gods--you are renouncing/forsaking the one true God. You see, God wants your total commitment to Him. Its everything--or its nothing. If you’re holding on to the world--there’s no room for God.

God calls us into His own spiritual presence to worship Him directly. Whenever we stop short of our face-to-face relationship of worshiping God by placing a visible or remembered entity before Him, we break the second commandment.

So the first command--Have God for your God, and have no other gods before Him. And the second command centers around worshipping God in the right way, and making sure we don’t make or use images of God in our worship.

v. 4--"You shall not make for yourself any carved image..."

Now what is God talking about there? Is He banning/restricting the making of any images or pictures?

You know there are some people in this world, like some African tribes, who don’t want you to take their picture. I remember my father talking about places in Africa where the Africans didn’t want you to take their photograph. The missionaries would want to take a photo of some tribal scene, but the Africans wouldn’t allow it. The reason being--I think they felt that some part of you would be captured in the image, and if you took a picture--you would be capturing a part of them.

Well is that what God is prohibiting here? The taking of pictures, or painting nature scenes, or sculpting beautiful statues?

No! Not at all!

You have to look at this verse in context--look at verse 5 too...

God is forbidding us setting up images of HIM for our worship. "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..."

Now perhaps you’ve read that command and thought--"Why on earth is that command there? It doesn’t seem to fit! It seems out of place in the middle of these ten basic principles of godly living!" And at first sight, this command doesn’t seem to fit.

You might be thinking right now, "What harm is there, what is the problem in a person/worshipper surrounding himself/herself with pictures or statues to help him lift his heart up to God?"

You might be thinking--"Well isn’t that just a matter of personal taste? Isn’t that just a matter of opinion?" "Some like to use music in their worship, some don’t." "Some like to use pictures of Jesus, some don’t."

There are some who may say that these things help them focus on Christ. They might say that they help them worship more freely.

So what’s wrong with that?

Where is the harm in using pictures or images?

Why would God prohibit that?

Now there may even be some who say, "Well, isn’t God just prohibiting the use of bad images of God, or degrading representations of God? You know, stuff that is taken from pagan religions and the like..."

Well, look at that commandment again. "You shall not make for yourself ANY carved image...ANY likeness of ANYTHING..." God says quite categorically--"Don’t use ANY images." Period.

This command rules out the use of pictures/images of God. Not just pictures that picture Him as an animal, or some nature scene, but even the use of pictures that depict Him as the highest created thing we know--Man.

God is Spirit, the Bible says, and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

This command rules out the use of pictures and statues of Jesus Christ.

Now, apart from the fact that we do not know what Jesus looked like while He was on earth, we know that Jesus was and is Perfect God and Perfect Man at the same time. Its the fact that He is Perfect God and Perfect Man that makes Him to be Christ--so, if you’re going to make an image of Him, when there is no way to picture His Deity/Godhead--we’re making Him to be only HALF of what He is. We limit our perception of who He is.

Roman Catholics love to hang crucifixes in their churches. My friends, they are breaking this commandment. It is as clear as that. When they pray to Mary and hang up pictures of her, and when they pray to those they call the "patron saints,"--they break the first commandment. When the Catholics hang up images of Christ on the cross in their churches, they break the second command.

What are you doing when you hang up a statue or an image of the crucified Christ? You are hiding His glory. You are hiding the fact that He is Deity/He is God. You are leaving out His victory on the cross and His present work for the Kingdom. The image of the crucified Christ shows the human weakness of Christ, but DOESN’T show His divine strength. It shows his pain and sorrow, but leaves out his joy and power. Any image of God, that one included--is unworthy of Him. They never display the reality of who God is.

Can you imagine someone carving out an image of a snake, or painting a picture of a worm or spider and then saying--"Here’s a picture of the king. What do you think?" I’d say if the king found out about it--he’d want that man’s head, wouldn’t he?

Our God is infinite. He has no beginning. He has no end. He is God. He is eternal. He has no limits. He has no boundaries. He is God. So, how dare we make an image of Him, and use something finite to represent the Infinite. How dare we use something that is without life, to represent the Maker of all that is living! How is it possible to display the true character of our Mighty God through the use of images? It isn’t. It is impossible.

[ill.] Aaron’s golden calf. Meant to be a symbol of Yahweh, the Almighty God who brought His people out of slavery in Egypt. Now, I’m sure that Aaron wasn’t trying to dishonor God. I’m sure he was trying to make something beautiful and illustrate God’s great strength. But, of course, ANY image of God will come infinitely short of displaying God’s glory, as this one did, and it was quite an insult.

That golden calf didn’t show God’s holiness. It couldn’t picture His love, or righteousness, or goodness, or any part of His glory. All it was, was a golden calf. It hid, it obscured God’s glory.

God is a Spirit. We can’t see Him. But through His Word, and through the work of His Son, we catch a glimpse of His glory.

Not only do images dishonor God--

If I were to hang up some sort of an image of God this morning, with all the right intentions, you know, I might say that I was trying to help you in your worship or whatever...do you know what I would be doing? I would be leading you astray. I would be misleading you. I would be deceiving you. You see, I’d be displaying, not a true image of God, but I’d be showing you a FALSE image of God. I’d be misrepresenting Him.

We can break all of the commands inwardly, this one included. So let me impress on you not to make up images of God in your mind either, but instead let the Bible reveal to you through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, who He really is. Don’t practice false worship. Don’t take ideas from the world about God, or ideas about God from your own mind and try to worship Him that way. Take what the Bible says about God. Take what He says about Himself.

So, first of all in our text we see the command. Its very clear.

Secondly, I want you to see

He says that in v. 5.

Now jealousy in humans--you and I--its usually not a good thing. It usually conveys the idea of distrust, or "I want what you have and I don’t like you because I haven’t got it..." Our jealousies feed on the pride we have. Its an obsessiveness.

But there is a good kind of jealousy. Its rare in sinful human beings, we don’t hear of it often--but its the idea of being zealous/enthusiastic to protect a love-relationship. Its the idea where a husband or wife wants to protect their marriage relationship. If you’re married and your marriage is threatened by someone else--there’s a zeal there, to protect the bond, not out of pride (which would be sinful), but out of love.

In a very perfect sense--that’s the kind of jealousy God has for us. He wants us for Himself. When we have idols in our lives, it is actually spiritual adultery, and God doesn’t want that. God wants our complete loyalty.

The Bible presents us (the Church) as the Bride of Christ, and He is the Bride-Groom. Therefore, God has a jealousy for His people, and He wants our total devotion to Him.

Note that this isn’t just for the one who is disobeying God, its for his family too! v. 5

You can see the workings of this principle throughout the Bible. Just look at the results of David’s sin... The descendants Gehazi (Elisha’s servant)--"Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever."

Why shouldn’t we disobey God here?

The principle here is that if you are going against what God has clearly said we are to do, or in this case, NOT to do--then it is hating Him.

Remember, Jesus said in John 15--"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

The opposite is true--disobedience to God’s commands, going contrary to God’s will, that is hating Him.

There’s an old Latin expression (I’m not much with Latin, but I found it translated) and it says, "She that loves another man, hates her own husband."

Let me leave you with this question people: To what extent are we obeying this command? Now I know that we don’t have any golden calves around here, and we don’t have a crucifix or statue of Mary around here, we may have some pictures of Jesus that we might need to think seriously about-- But the question I want you to really think about today is--are we sure that we are worshipping God in spirit and in truth? This is where it’s at, friends. True worship. Seeing God as He has revealed Himself.

How do we know if we’re obeying this command?

Well, the book of Hebrews tells us that God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that our worship centers around who Jesus is, and what He has done for us. We need to ask ourselves if our lives center around Him.

Now, note the differences in the legacy here: To the ones who disobey God here--"God visits the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation..." But look at God’s beautiful mercy here: "but showing mercy to THOUSANDS, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Do you love God? Well, if you do, you will be keeping His commands. You will be obeying Him.

We obey God--not because it will save us (because it won’t--we can never merit out salvation). We obey God because we love Him. It is a response to what He has done for us.

He sent His Son Jesus, to come and be our sin-offering. He came and willingly poured out His life that we might have life. Apart from the work of Christ--we stand condemned in our sins. In our sins we have no hope of eternal life. The Bible says the wages of sin is death that what we deserve. But, Christ came. He suffered and died in our place, and through faith in Him we can have forgiveness. We can have life.

If you have already come to Christ--love Him and show your love by your obedience. If you are NOT a Christian you need to come to Him today. He offers mercy and forgiveness. He offers grace. That is why we have available repentance and baptism.