Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

“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; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-6, KJV).

Today we consider the second of the Ten Commandments. Akin to the first, limiting worship to one God (“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”), the second one tells us that the God we worship is not to be represented by images. No visual aid or physical likeness of God is to be made. The Creator cannot be pictured by anything which He Himself has created. Jesus clarified this point when he taught: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). When Moses taught the people about God making His covenant with them on Mt. Sinai, he said, “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain…Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice…Therefore, take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure” (Deut. 4:11-12, 15-16, NIV). In all the archaeological finds of the Hebrew people, no image of God has been uncovered. The word of the Lord not to make graven images was generally obeyed except when they went after pagan gods.

But what if we make images to worship--not “graven,” or from artistic renderings of what we perceptualize God to be like? God forbids our making anything a god other than Himself. He is a “jealous” God, one who treasures His relationship with believers (His children). That word can also be rendered zealous, meaning He will hang onto us with tenacity as His beloved children. He is so worthy of our worship that there is no need to set up any other representation to worship and obey. He alone is worthy, honorable and “our Father.” If we do replace the one true God, whether by idol worship, putting something ahead of our adoration of God, or through sheer neglect of worship and service to Him, our sins of apostasy will be visited on our children even to the 3rd and 4th generations. Someone has wisely observed that we are only one generation away from paganism if we fail to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If they see us worshipping idols, whether images made by hands or some pursuit which we love more than God, they, too, will follow our ungodly example. We should ever guard against that apostasy. Yet if we are faithful to God, that blessing, too, will benefit our children and point them to faith in Him.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, August 6, 2010