4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The commandment echoed

Lev 19:4

From the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

• The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.
• The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.
• The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship.

Sovereignty:

Supreme power and rule

Propriety:

Established rules and customs; fitness

Zeal:

Passionate ardor; fervent earnestness

From Calvin's Institutes:

Lawful worship must avoid all superstitious rites, and remain a true spiritual worship as He established it. In forbidding idols, God forbids us to attempt bringing His incomprehensible nature down to our perceivable ideas. God warns of His jealousy as warning of the seriousness of this commandment. Mighty is our God, and He will not leave unpunished those who attempt to usurp His position with idolatrous worship.

God is our husband, and He is a holy and chaste husband. As such, He cannot bear our infidelities when we worship another, or otherwise pollute His rightful worship. In expanding the curse for failing this commandment into subsequent generations, God points out that the one who forsakes His true worship will inevitably follow a ruinous path, and his children - being trained by him - will follow after, and so through generations. This is not the punishing of the innocent for another's sins, but the outcome of grace removed.

The sins the following generations are punished for are their own, but flow from their parents in the absence of grace. To balance the curse, there is the promised blessing. This is the heritage a righteous man passes to his children, that God's grace will not be removed from them. These two - the blessing and the curse - are general rules, and do not abrogate God's election.

The Serpent in the Desert

At its surface, this seems like a continuation of the first commandment, but it is a different issue being addressed. Why such great concern over statues and images and the like? I think a lot of it has to do with the culture that surrounded God's people. All the peoples around Israel at the time were of a mind to have statues representing the pantheon of "gods" that they opted to worship. In truth, some of the examples in Scripture show that the actual worship was directed toward the statue itself, and the concern over anything that might happen to it is telling. Israel showed much the same propensity for becoming overly connected with the image and forgetting God. The serpent in the desert is a primary example of this.

4 He [Hezekiah] removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

The serpent was not a demonic image. God would not require the manufacture of such a thing, nor would David have tolerated its continued existence. Beyond that, Jesus would not have claimed it as an example for His own purpose in the crucifixion.

14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.

The image was not the issue. The issue is in the heart. God knows our weakness. He knows the pull of our physical senses upon our attention. Thus, He has set a boundary about us, to ward off the temptation that must come to our distracted senses. He breaks through into the physical as He must. He manifests Himself to gain our attention, and yet, He must remind us that His manifestation is for a time and a purpose. When we cling to the memory of His manifest presence, and take our focus off of Him who was made manifest, we have created an idol.

Ex 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

What has this got to do with us?

How does this fit us today? What has it to do with our lives? I think the aspect we need to carry with us daily is that we are not to conform to the ways of those around us, our lives should be distinctly different - perceivably different. Our habits are to be holy, our words are to be holy, our lives are to be set aside to God.

How often are we shamed by the efforts and good deeds that the nonbeliever next to us is doing? How often does it appear to our senses that God's people are the least helpful of people on the planet? But we must remember we serve an ineffable God, a God beyond our power to describe. And, as such, much of the work of God's people is ineffable itself - it cannot be directly seen. Now, if we are truly being sluggards, neither doing fleshly works nor spiritual, then perhaps condemnation is just. But, more likely is the idea that our works are more in the spiritual, and not directly visible in the natural. "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much."

Another aspect of the idol / image issue that strikes me is that all such idols and images were attempts to bring this ineffable God down to our level, to make of His awesome greatness something we can grasp. To those who had such statuary, it was a way they could manipulate their "gods" into being beneficent towards themselves.

We serve a different and true God. He is not to be manipulated, though it often seems our prayers try to do just that. He will be what He is, He will do as He will. And, He has presented us with the one "image" that we are allowed in Christ Jesus. This is our image of God. This is the means God chose to come down to our level - not for us to bring Him to our level, but Himself willingly offering Himself at our level. This remains a thing for us to be concerned with today. If there is anything in us which is attempting to bring God down to our level, we've missed the point; He's already done so. If anything other than Jesus has called to us as being God's representation, we've been deceived.

If our prayer life has become a manipulative tool, we need to repent of that immediately. Yes, we are told to make our needs known to our God, for He is our provider. Yes, we are told to be persistent in prayer. We are, in essence, told to talk to God as our Father, for such He is. As a parent (and an ex-child), I know the difference between the trusting conversation of child and father, and the attempts by the child to get their own way. We know the difference, and yet we are willing to approach our Father attempting to get our own way.

God, help us to recall Your holiness to mind when we approach You. Though we approach boldly in the name of Your Son, though we come to You a needy people, keep us mindful of Who we come to. Help us, Lord, to accept the truth that we have seen You in Your Son. Keep us, oh God, from accepting any other proffered representative, for Christ alone is Your chosen One.

Written that We Might Learn

Studying this commandment led me into the midst of Ezekiel 8. The more I looked at the surroundings of the verse I was pointed to, the more this whole passage seemed to shout out to be heard here and now. The danger of idolatry within the Church is an ever present danger. We have not left it behind. God has mercifully left us with examples like that in Ezekiel to keep us forewarned. It is up to us to learn from what He has said.

Jealousy at the Entrance

Eze 8:1-8:18
1 And it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. 3 And He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

If memory serves, this is the passage referred to at the conference last week, when we were reminding us of the whirlwind of the Lord's appearance. The Lord is at the gate, but within the gate, His people have set up an idol of jealousy. What is this? What have His people done? All too often, we are an entirely jealous people. We are concerned for appearances. Far too many churches are watchful over their doors to ensure that only the 'right' people get in. There is jealousy over reputation.

Denominations distrust each other, more concerned with being 'right' than with being effective. We are too jealous of our take on the truth to be caught associated with those heathens from the church down the street. We are too busy condemning the sins in those other dead religions to take care of the glaring issues in our own house. There is jealousy over position.

There is jealousy over the very gifts and talents that God has given us as He has determined. We see one with talent, and feel slighted. Or, worse yet, we are blessed with talent, and cannot bear to see any other attempting to use his or her talents in the same area. We forget that the gift glorifies the Giver, and allow pride to poison all that we would do with that gift. There is

5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes, now, toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, that I should be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations."

We want our church to be an open gate, a door to heaven, an entrance into the altar, into the Holy of Holies. This can never be, so long as there is jealousy at the entrance. So long as jealousy blocks the gates, no man will pass through to worship here.

Man-Made Worship

7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 And He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here." 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 And standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'" 13 And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing."

Now, this Shaphan was the very one who had read the words of the Law to Josiah (remember Greg mentioning him last week?) Indeed, this son of Shaphan was named 'Jehovah hears.' Yet, here he is leading Israel in a practice they convince themselves that Jehovah does not see. There is no guarantee in holy parents. Each of us must make our own choice. However, the guilt is greater for one who chooses idols in spite of a godly upbringing.

The problem, however, is not simply that the son of a godly man is present. Nor is the whole of the problem that there are idols in the house of God, although this is crime enough. Idolatry leads to greater sins. What begins there will not end there. Having allowed these manipulated gods to be their focus, the elders of Israel had lost their sense of the holy. No reverence or fear remained in them for anything.

There was no longer any concern on their part for what God had ordained. There was no longer an interest in order. God had laid out what was proper for His worship. He had declared what was to be done, and who was to do it, and yet, here were the elders of Israel offering incense in the house of God. Never mind that they were offering it up to the wrong things. They were the wrong ones to be doing the offering!

This is the inherent danger of worship designed by man for man. Do we want church to be relevant? Beware! God is entirely relevant, regardless what the world may think of Him. He has given His message with divine words. He doesn't really need for us to pretty it up for Him.

Are we being 'seeker-friendly?' Beware! If we are seeker-friendly, then we are only giving the seeker what he wants, which may be the most unfriendly thing we could ever do. God is calling His church to give the seeker what he needs, not what he wants. No man has ever wanted Jesus, except Jesus changed their hearts first. But every man needs Him, needs Him desperately.

Whenever we allow ourselves to modify what God has decreed, whenever we decide we have a better way, we have begun to serve an idol. Whenever we try to make God look 'better,' whenever we only present a part of Christ, and not the whole, we have begun to serve an idol. If we preach forgiveness without conviction of sin, if we preach God's love without making mention of His justness, if we think only of Daddy, and not of our sovereign Lord and King, we are no longer serving God, but some creation of our own.

As Calvin said, God is our husband, a most jealous and holy husband. He cannot be expected to tolerate our harlotries, especially when they are done in His very house. Especially when we dance our wanton dances in His face, and call it worship. (No, I am not saying that dancing is evil. I am saying that doing our own thing, and calling it holy, is evil.)

The Shepherd Slain

14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these."

What is this that is happening in the Lord's house? Who is this Tammuz that they weep for? Tammuz was the Babylonian sun-god. It was his death, so they claimed, that brought on the winter, and so, there was a day of mourning set aside for him, in hopes of his return, bringing on spring. What is truly stunning to me is that his image was that of the shepherd slain.

This image rather scares me to consider in light of our own time. Indeed, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but He is far from slain. He was slain, but He is slain no more. Do we do well, I wonder, to put so much into the symbol of the cross? I don't know. Again, it parallels the issue of the Jews with the serpent Moses made. It was made for a time and a place. When it was allowed to continue beyond its time, it became a distracting idol. That which was designed to break a curse became a curse itself.

I fear lest the cross become likewise a curse for us. It still serves a purpose, I think, in God's plans, but do we allow it to loom larger in our thoughts than it should? What do we see in the cross, but the shepherd slain? We may as well go to the tomb. He is not there. He is not on the cross. He was, but He arose. I don't know. It's too easy to love the cross, and forget the Christ. It's too easy to see Him dead and beyond us, when He is most certainly and vibrantly alive and in our midst. We would do far better to see Him seated on the throne of our Father, and know Him victorious.

The God of Science

16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 "Therefore, I indeed shall deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor shall I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I shall not listen to them."

Here is the most obvious idol of the day: science. Mankind no longer looks to the mountains and high places. No, he looks to the heavens in hopes of finding proof that he is god. Scientists look to the skies and tell us of the incredible age of the universe around us. Never mind that the answer changes monthly. It doesn't matter that their ignorance is shown to them repeatedly, as theories must be revised or thrown out to match the latest evidence.

Theories are not bad. Seeking to understand the universe around us is not bad. Knowledge is not bad. What is bad is that we have allowed scientists to be elevated to the point that they can expound a theory, and it is taken as gospel. We have allowed scientists to take up the seats of morality. What has science to do with morality? As well ask the thief to decide what constitutes theft. Morality belongs to God. It is His to determine, and His to declare.

In the name of science, and on its say so, we have allowed abominations to be committed in the land. Science as god has declared acceptable what was recognized as reprehensible. Science has given the OK to the murder of children. Topheth has changed his name. Science as god has seen the power at the core of the stars, and turned it to the destruction of men.

Conclusion

Science is also not bad. It has become a base for sin, just as the Law had become a base for sin. We must be careful not to misinterpret events. God, through Paul, has shown us that it is not the things that are bad, it's the use of things. Nothing is an idol until it is worshiped. A statue is not evil. Worshiping a statue is evil. Sin will use whatever tools it has at its disposal to attack us, to turn us from God. That does not make the thing used evil, it makes sin evil. Sin will cheerfully use the godly man to attack even the Son of God (remember Peter?).

It is for us to be ever on guard that the things that surround us, the knowledge of the age, our knowledge of Scripture, our personal viewpoints, not be allowed to outgrow their proper use. None of these things may have our worship.

1 Jn 5:21 - Guard yourselves from idols.