TEN COMMANDMENTS
THOU SHALT NOT MAKE FOR THYSELF ANY GRAVEN IMAGE
DR. JIM DIXON
EXODUS 20:1-20
JANUARY 26, 1992
“Thou shalt not make fur thyself any graven image.” This is the second commandment. This is also the commandment most misunderstood. There are a lot of people who seem to think that the second commandment forbids our use of idols and images and the worship of pagan gods and deities. That is not the primary meaning of this second commandment. The worship of pagan gods and deities has already been forbidden in the first commandment. What god is saying in this second commandment is that we are not to use idols or images in the worship of the one true God. That is His primary message here. God does not want us to use idols or images in worshipping Him. He does not want us to use the image of anything in heaven or on earth in the worship of Him. One of the reasons, perhaps, God feels this way is that these idols and images inevitably misrepresent Him. Whether you use the image of something in heaven or on earth. Whether you use a winged cherub or a snow-white dove, inevitably that image cannot convey the totality of God’s nature in person and inevitably that image will convey something that misrepresents His character, nature and person. It’s kind of like when you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and you get your picture taken on your license. You get that and you look at it and it looks like you are on a “Most Wanted” list of criminals. You don’t like that picture because you feel it doesn’t represent you or it misrepresents who you feel you really are and what you really look like. God feels that way about idols and images. Whatever they are, they misrepresent Him.
But that’s not really the primary concern here and that’s not the primary reason that God said, “Don’t use idols or images in worshipping.” To understand God’s thinking here, we need to understand how idols and images were used in the pagan and ancient world. They were used in two ways. First of all, idols and images were used to control the presence of God. People, men and women who lived in biblical times, used idols or images to try to control the presence of the deity they worshipped. Now, today, in Sri Lanka, in the town of Condi, there is an incredible temple that is called the “Delada Malagwa,” the “Glorious Temple of the Tooth.” In this temple, there is a tooth and the tooth rests on a golden lotus, surrounded by rubies in a sea of flowers. The tooth is discolored, and the tooth is very old. Yet for almost four hundred million Buddhists perceive that tooth is the most sacred object in this world because, they believe, it is the tooth of Buddha, taken from his funeral pyre in the year 543 BC and kept for 800 years and then carried to the region that is now called Sri Lanka. This tooth is visited every year annually, by hundreds of thousands of Buddhists. They come to the temple called “Delada Malagwa,” the “Glorious Temple of the Tooth.” They come to see the tooth. And why do they do that? They do that because they believe that somehow the presence of Buddha attends that tooth, that the presence of Buddha surrounds that tooth.
That is how idols were used and still are used in the world in which we live. People who use idols believe that somehow the presence of the deity that the idol is made to serve, that the presence of the deity surrounds and attends the idol itself. that by having the idol, they can guarantee that the god will be present, in their midst and in their home and with their person. God is saying to us “You cannot control my presence like that.” In fact God wants us to know biblically that He is omnipresent. He is everywhere present. The Bible doesn’t speak of God’s omnipresence in the pantheistic sense of the eastern religions because, biblically, God stands separate from the creation. God stands separate from the cosmos, but the Bible is saying that no matter where you are in the cosmos… no matter where you go in the universe, no matter where you are in heaven or on earth, God is there. He’s everywhere present and that is why, in the Bible, it is said “Whether shall I flee from Thy presence. If I ascend to the highest heaven, Thou art there. If I make my bed in the depths of shoal, Thou art there. If I take the winds of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, oven there, Thou art with me.” Omnipresence And yet biblically we must agree there’s a sense in which God is sometimes present in a special way. God has a special presence. The Bible refers to it with the word “dwelling.” God is present in a special sense. He dwells in a special way in heaven. God was present in a special way with the tabernacle, with the temple and in the Holy of Holies and over the arch of the covenant. God was present in a special way with the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. God was present in a special way in the glory cloud and in the pillar of fire. God was present in a special way on Mt. Sinai as the law was given to Moses and inscribed in stone. In all of these special senses in which God was present, the Jews referred to as the “Shekinah,” the “dwelling.’ The Bible tells us that for us, as Christians, as we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there is a special sense in which God is present in us, a special sense in which God dwells in us as He sent His very spirit to live, to dwell within us. We know, as Christians, that sometimes God attends His people in a special way, that God makes His presence known and felt and experienced at special times and in special ways, that God’s presence sometimes falls upon His people in a special way that the spirit of God descends upon a room in a special way. But God wants us to know we cannot control His presence. Now the ancient people used idols and images to control the presence of the gods they believed in and sometimes they would carry miniature idols and images on their person to make sure that that god was always with them. I think most Christians think “Well I don’t have a problem with this.” Most Christians think “You know, I don’t try to control God’s presence” but I think we really do. Some Christians carry a cross, or they carry a dove or an ickthys. An ickthys, by the way, is a fish. You see an ickthys on a car sometimes when a Christian places one there. The Greek word “ickthys” means fish but it is an acrostic. The letters mean “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” Sometimes it is made into jewelry. I do not think there is anything wrong with an ickthys. I mean understand me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an ickthys. I do not think there is anything wrong with carrying a cross. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a dove on a chain, but if you view that as somehow controlling the presence of God. If you view that as somehow having power to make God present with you in some special sense, then that is a violation of the second commandment. As Christians, we build churches. We build church buildings and we’re in the midst Of building a church building now or planning one and that’s, well and good because the church of Jesus Christ needs buildings, but if we think that by building a building, we can control the presence of God, we are violating the second commandment of God. When we build a church building, it is not a guarantee that God is going to make himself peculiarly present in that building. Certainly wherever two or three Christians are gathered in His name, He is in our midst and He visits us, but there are special visits and we cannot control those special visits. God wants us to know that sovereignty. That’s what the second commandment is all about. God is sovereign. He is in control. We cannot control Him, and we cannot control His presence. We need to understand in the ancient and biblical world, idols and images were not simply used to make God present but they were also used to make God absent. I mean sometimes with the Roman and Greek gods; you didn’t want that God around all the time. Their gods had special functions and sometimes you just didn’t want them around. So maybe you would take an image of a particular God and you would not carry it with you that day. Or in their homes, they would take a covering, or a blanket and they would put it over the idol so that god would no longer be present or they would close the door to that room and leave that room so that they were away from the presence of that god. They would use idols and images to make the god absent. God wants us to know we cannot do that either. We can’t do that He’s with us wherever we are and wherever we go. When you leave church, He’s still watching. Some people, I think, they kind of live one life around church and they get out of church and out into the world and they live a different life. God wants you to know that just does not work. He is everywhere present. You do not leave God at church or in the building. The Bible says, “Before God, no creature is hidden but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
When I worked at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora years ago, a man came into my office for counseling. He was in the midst of having an affair, a married man. He was committing adultery. He told me that his wife worked twice a week. When she was at work, he and this woman would go to the house and there in his own bedroom they would commit adultery. He said he always felt guilty about that He said he felt horribly guilty, and he would sometimes take the Bible in the room and take it out of the room before going ahead. He had a picture of Christ on the wall. He said he would take it down. It is strange how some people view the presence of God and their ability to control it You see, he was not only violating the seventh commandment in committing adultery, but he was also violating the second commandment in thinking that in any sense he could control the presence of God.
Now there was another use of idols and images in the biblical world. In the biblical world, sometimes people used idols and images… and I really must say I think this is the most important teaching we have this morning… some people in the biblical world would use idols and images to try to control the power of God. You see, they believed that the idol, the image, was a means of accessing that god’s power and then channeling it for their use Of course there are many kinds of power. On March 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helen’s in the Cascade Range in Washington state exploded, and it was the most visible manifestation of the power of nature the modern world has ever witnessed. That explosion was equal to ten million tons of TNT. Incredibly it was equal to 500 Hiroshima. And at 8:32 AM, when the explosion took place, the top 1300 feet of Mt. St. Helens just was ripped away and blown into the sky. Of course people had been evacuated because scientists knew it was coming but still, 60 people died. Sixty people died from 300-degree temperatures that were radiating outward from the epicenter at 200 miles per hour. Some of those people died sixteen miles away. Seventeen miles away, 150-foot Douglas fir trees were toppled to the ground, just blown down. In fact, billion board feet of lumber was destroyed enough to build 200,000 3-bedroom homes. Unbelievable power but of course, the power of a volcano cannot be controlled by mankind. I mean we know the power is great, but we cannot harness it. We cannot control it. You see, men and women love to control power and we seek to control whatever power there is. We have gained some measure of control over certain forms of power. We have some measure of control over solar power. We can harness it. We can use it for our purposes and we have some measure of control over hydropower. We can harness it and we can use it for our purposes. We have some measure of control over pneumatic power or wind power… some measure of control over atomic power. We can harness it and use it. Though it is very dangerous, we can harness it and use it for our purposes. But you see, there is no power greater than the power of God. God is omnipotent. He has all power. He created the heavens and the earth. He created the cosmos, the universe. His power is beyond our comprehension, but God wants us to know and understand we cannot harness it and we cannot control it. You see, people in the ancient world, they thought they could control and harness the power of the gods that they imagined and conceived of They built idols and images that they might access the power of the gods and then use those idols and images to channel that power for their use and their purposes.
You know in Acts, Chapter 8, how Simon the magician, in the region of Samaria sought the power of God. He wanted to control it Simon the magician was a man of great renown in Samaria. People of all classes called him the great power. That is what they called Simon- They called him the great power but when Simon the magician saw. Philip the evangelist and saw Philip perform miracles and saw Philip perform healings, Simon thought “I want this power.” When he understood that it was the power of -God, Simon said “I want the power of God.” Than when Simon saw Peter and John as they came to his region and he saw the power of God at work in them and through them, Simon wanted that power. He came to Peter, and he came to John, and he gave silver to them. He said, “Let me buy this power.” Peter said to Simon, “May you perish, and your silver perish with you. You cannot buy God’s power.” The truth is, by any reasonable summary of biblical teaching, you cannot control His power either. I think most Christians probably think “Well, I don’t have a problem there. I do not try to control the power of God”, but I think many times, as Christians, we do. try to control the power of God. I think we do this in many ways. I think sometimes Christians try to control the power of God through manipulative prayer. I think some Christians use manipulative prayer techniques in an effort to try to control the power of God. I think some Christians think that if they can just visualize as done what they are asking God to do, that they can make God do it I have talked to Christians who clearly think that way. If they can just visualize as done what they want God to do, they can make God do it What they’re asking God to do in prayer, they just visualize as done, thinking they can control God. Or they think if they just add the name Jesus to whatever their request is that God’s hands are tied. Whatever they ask for, if they just say In Jesus’ name,” they think they have control over God and they’re going to get it Or they think if they can just get enough confidence that it’s going to happen, that God’s got to do it They have control of God. Or they think if they can just get two or three other Christians to agree with them on what they want that they can control God. Like God’s up there thinking “Oh no two or three have just agreed… I guess I’ve got to do it.” Manipulative prayer techniques and misunderstandings of biblical teachings on prayer. God does want us to pray prayers of faith, but a prayer of faith believes the promises of God. A prayer of faith believes what God is offering. A prayer of faith does not believe what God has not promised. A prayer of faith does not believe what God has not offered. When you try to use faith like that you’re manipulative, trying to control God. And, of course, we are to pray in the name of Jesus is the character of Christ, the character of Jesus. God wants us to pray in His character and His will, in His nature. And even when two or three come in agreement, unless they are praying in the character of Christ and in the will of the Father, God’s power will not flow. God is sovereign. We do not control Him. I think sometimes Christians try to control God through what they might consider to be sacred objects. I mean we have mentioned the ichthus and of course, the cross and the dove, various items of jewelry that people sometimes carry. I think that’s fine but if you think that somehow God’s power to protect you attends that object, that somehow by wearing that cross you have a special dose of God’s protective power.by wearing that ichthus, by wearing that dove, that somehow you have a special… by putting that Bible by the bed, you’ve got a little extra protection, it’s an effort to control the power of God. Of course I think sometimes people try to control the power of God through what they might call the saints. People in the eastern religions and Roman Catholicism are particularly prone to do that They view certain saints who have died, outstanding Christians who have died, as able to channel the power of God to people in the world today. So they talk to these saints of old, asking them to appeal the Father that the power might be used, the power of God, for the purposes that they have on earth. If they are taking a journey, they might talk to St. Christopher and ask him to use the power of God to protect. They might even put a St. Christopher in the car or wear a St. Christopher on their person. If their child is going into battle, they may talk to St. George and they ask St. George to appeal the Father that His power might give protection to their. children. If they need healing or miracle, they talk to St. Bernadette. If their birthday falls on a Saint’s day, then they consider that saint their patron saint and they appeal to that saint constantly for the release be God’s power for their purposes. All of these things are simply violations of God’s intent and violations truly of the spirit of the second commandment given by God.
The truth is that Jesus Christ has all power. Jesus Christ has all power in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” That is what -Jesus said and if you are a Christian, do not try to control the power of God. If you’re a Christian, just lave Christ^ Just serve Christ. Just obey Christ. Just trust Christ. As we love Christ and as we serve Christ and as we trust Christ, as we obey Christ, we will see His power flow for His purposes. We will be blessed, and the kingdom will be blessed. Ask what you will, but do not try to control. Do not think you can control And above all else, seek to love, serve, trust and obey Christ and know that God’s power will flow by His sovereign will for the service of His kingdom in and through us. You know, at the conclusion of the 9th century, there was a counsel in Nicaea called the Second. Counsel. They dealt with what was called the iconoclastic controversy. Iconoclastic controversy had to do with images and idols and the use of images and idols by Christians in the worship of God. It was decided at that Second Counsel of Nicaea in the year 843 AD that Christians could venerate images and icons but could not worship them. I must say, in light of the second commandment and its true meaning, they didn’t go far enough. They did not go far enough. In the truest sense of the word, we all need to become iconoclasts, image breakers, idol breakers. We need to make sure that we live for God and we are not trying to make God live for us. God’s not some kind of a magic genie, Aladdin’s lamp that we can rub in prayer and make a wish and it binds His will God is sovereign and we are called to be His people. Let us close with a word of prayer.