If
we were to look ahead in Exodus to chapter 32, what we find is one of the most
well-known scenes in the Old Testament; it is the episode of the golden
calf. Now, we know that it was a sin for
Aaron (and the people of Israel) to fashion this calf and we know that they was
punished for it and would have been punished much more severely had Moses not
interceded. But I want you to hear the
words of verse 4 in Exodus 32, “And they
said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up of Egypt.’” It goes on to find Aaron saying, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” You see, the golden calf was the fashioning
of some earthly material into God so that it could be worshipped. There was no malice meant towards God, but
Israel actually thought they were honoring God.
This is the type of thing that the second commandment is aimed at when
it speaks of “any likeness of anything
that is in heaven.” Even the most
well-intentioned depictions and images of God are, according to God Himself, a
violation of how we are to live. It’s
not like the only improper images of God are the ones coming out of
Hollywood. When artists draw beautiful
pictures of what they think God looks like, that is still a violation against
God. Even if the most wholesome of
Peanuts cartoons contained a depiction of God that was in no way meant to
offend, it would still be offensive to God.
I
think that now is an important time to answer a question that you might be
asking. You might be wondering if it
really is that severe or if I’m just taking things to an extreme measure. While I absolutely don’t mind being called an
extremist when it comes to God, I don’t really think that I’m going overboard
with this. I’ve said throughout this
study that each commandment has within it two commands; one for a particular
action and one against. In this case,
the second commandment is forbidding our worship of idols, even if they are
meant to represent God. The other side
of that coin is why we shouldn’t worship idols or even use them. You see, if I were to see a picture of God,
even just someone’s opinion, then that image is likely to come into my mind
when thinking of Him. But shouldn’t the
only source of our “vision” of God be Scripture. Shouldn’t the only source that shapes our
understanding and image of God be that of His divine Word? I’ll put it like this; can you honestly tell
me that when you think of Moses that you don’t picture him as Charlton Heston? Can you tell me that the image that comes to
mind when you think of Jesus isn’t that of Jim Caviezel or Brian Deacon, the
two men who played him in the Passion of the Christ and the Jesus film
respectively? Of course that’s who you
picture, and that’s alright. It’s
alright because these were actual people who walked the face of the earth. However, it isn’t alright when it comes to
God. God is revealed to us by His Word. That’s what he is warn us against and
commanding us not to do. He does not
want us to depict Him in some painting or statue because He is beyond imagining. For us, in our finite and limited minds, to
create an image of God is to lessen God’s actual nature. I like the way that Q. 51 of the WSC puts
it: What does the second command
forbid? The second command forbids our
worshipping God with images or in any other way not established in his word.
You
see, God isn’t just concerned for who we worship (the first commandment as well
as foreign idols), but he’s also concerned for how we worship. We don’t worship God through statues and
paintings and monuments, but we worship him through his Son. After all, the Son is part of the Trinity and
thus is still God. “For I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” Now this word “jealous” helps to set up the
rest of the commandment. When we’re
jealous, we are extreme about something.
When we’re jealous, even the most seemingly innocent behaviors can come
across as an act of betrayal. God tells Israel
that when they disobey him, that they and their future generations will be
punished for their hate of Him. Notice
that God sees our disobedience as hate.
We may think that this is too strong or too much of a reach, but it
isn’t. Remember, we’re not the ones
who are setting the standard. It’s
always up to the superior party to set the standard in a relationship. When it comes to children, parents set the
standard. When it comes to work, bosses
set the standard. Well, when it comes to
everything, God sets the standard. After
all, He’s the one who created this world and everything in it.
I’m
not going to do the typical ending to a sermon on the second commandment and
ask what idols exist in your life. I’m
not going to end by basically repeating the charge from a few weeks ago that
says to find out what things other than God you are worshipping and get them
into their proper place. No, I want to
end this week by simply remind you of how glorious, yet basic, worship of God
is. We don’t need trinkets, bracelets,
necklaces, certain buildings, or anything else to worship God. God has given us the only thing that we need
to come before him; his one and only Son.
When we look at the Old Testament, and in particular the Ten
Commandments, through the lens of the New Testament, the lens of Jesus Christ,
we see a fulfillment. We see the
sacrifice that don’t render the Law useless, but renders it completed and
satisfied. I want each of us to
remember, as we approach God daily in prayer, that He alone is God, and that we
can come to Him in all of our shame and misery and failure not because of
something that we have or do, but because of what He has done on our
behalf. Glory be to God; in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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