“The Only Way to Worship the Only True God” Exodus 20:4-6
In our last study we examined the purpose of the Law and the essence of the first Commandment. We saw that it was the right of God by creation as well as redemption that God can give His Law to His People. The Ten Commandments state God’s Covenant Commands for those whom He has saved. It is fitting for man as well as the duty of man to worship the One and Only True God as He has revealed Himself; and it is God’s command to worship Him alone.
Even saved man does not do this perfectly: That is why Jesus came in the flesh from Heaven. He came to live a perfect life of submission and obedience to the Father and then to become the perfect substitutionary sacrifice, taking upon Himself the sin of the world so that those who will believe in Him might graciously receive forgiveness and life by faith in His work.
Today we focus on verses 4-6, the second commandment, but we’ll read Exodus 20:1-6: And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image (an idol), 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; 5 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, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
The first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me”. The Lord alone is to be the ONLY object of our worship (and the most important of our lives!) The second command is, “You shall not make for yourself a carved (or graven) image, or any likeness of anything…nor bow down to them!” Here we understand “HOW” we are to worship God.
Imageless worship
God’s people are set apart to the ONE and Only God so it would stand to reason that God’s people are forbidden to make images of any false gods. There is also the command that God’s people are not to make an image of the One True God because God is infinite. Man could only MIS-represent God in any vain attempt at making a likeness of God, which would also be a gross sin. God is spirit and not made of material. This One God who created and redeemed also commands that there should be NO images or idols made of Him with anything created.
The heathen nations built idols of all kinds and of any and all materials and for all kinds of reasons. Pagans would bow down and worship before these lifeless idols, bringing sacrifices and waiting in vain for answers and help. The Hebrew God, Yahweh was the eternal LIVING God. “I AM that I AM”. He created all things, revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and now came to speak to all of the Israelites, commanding He NOT be worshiped by or through manmade images.
Isaiah 40:17-18 says this: “17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” In Chapter 44, Isaiah goes on to say how ludicrous it is for man to try and “capture” the essence of the eternal God with either metals or wood. It explains that a person cuts down a tree, carves an image from part of it and prays to it, but burns the rest of the same tree to stay warm. How ludicrous!
We are not to bow down or worship anything that God has created. We don’t need a mediator made from created matter or the created order. We do not worship “through” the created; we worship the CREATOR and Redeemer by faith because He has revealed His greatness through what He has created. Our focus in worship is upon the unseen but Almighty God, Yahweh, who has done all things well. We worship Him by faith but NOT without substance: He has revealed Himself mightily and clearly in Creation, Redemption, by His Word, by His Spirit, and in these last days, by His own Son, the Lord Jesus.
And so the One True God is to be worshiped through “imageless worship”. His greatness cannot be duplicated. The Creator cannot be re-created. Believers worship the God who we believe and worship by faith and we do so as He has dictated in His Word. The only way to worship our Great God is in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24); These are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks, worshiping God from your very heart and spirit in and through the Truth of the Lord Jesus Himself and who He is.
The command is also given by God that “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” Reverence, respect, honor, sacrifice, devotion and worship is due to God, Himself, and to God alone. Worship begins and ends with the One True Yahweh, not with artifacts, statues or images of God as we might imagine Him, and worship of Our God is corporate, that is communal, but it extends into all areas of our lives.
Present-day Idols
In our day there is the temptation to say, “We’re so much more sophisticated in our day. We don’t make” idols” and worship them.” But nothing could be further from the truth. Remember that the Ten Commandments were given to God’s people whom He had redeemed, and throughout Old Testament history, they would continually make and serve idols. When Jesus came and ministered, He spoke of different kinds of idols.
Look at Luke 18:18-24 with me: “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' " 21 And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."
The young man was certain that he had kept the second table of the law, which in itself was a lie. Verse 22 continues: “So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”
Today as in Jesus’ day, people are entrenched in all types of idolatry. For this young man, he served the god of money and wealth. Jesus said that he lacked one thing: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.”
Romans 1:24-25 speaks of a different idolatry: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Sinful man’s departure from true worship of the true God results in all kind of sexual idolatry and perversion. Sinful mankind adores and loves the creation but refuses to worship the Holy and Mighty God who created all things.
God is a jealous God
But God is a jealous God and His Holy Jealousy is not something to be tested, and God gives very clear and righteous reasons to obey! God is perfectly passionate for His Holy name; His jealousy is a zeal which demands the undivided devotions of His people.
In part, we can compare God’s expectations to that of marriage. In a marriage, a husband and a wife have a right to expect faithfulness and fidelity between each other. In fact, they have made a covenant to be loyal to each other and forsake all others. God has made a covenant with Israel to be their God alone and they have promised to worship God alone. God’s jealousy warns that Israel guard themselves against spiritual adultery. Those who blatantly “chase after” other gods will suffer the pain of being “divorced” from God and His love.
The words “hate” and “love” used in verses 5-6 were conventionally used in the context of covenants and indicated rejection OF or loyalty TO the Lord’s covenant. Severe punishment is promised for idolaters “to the third and fourth generations.” This would generally pertain to a household at any one time; if you love your children and grandchildren and want them to be blessed in their lifetimes, then commit to worship God alone and teach your household to do the same.
On the other hand, God’s favor, mercy, lovingkindness and blessing is promised to His people who are lovers of God. There is no stronger word used in the Old Testament to express God’s unending devotion than the word for mercy, namely, “hesed”. It is the free and faithful grace of His abiding love.
Fulfillment of the Second Commandment
Ultimately, this mercy is fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the “husband” of God’s people and God’s people (the Church) are His bride. Listen to the glorious description of Jesus in Colossians 1:15-20; Speaking of Jesus it says:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Jesus is the only “image” of God to be worshiped because He alone is the exact representation of God but revealed in the flesh. In this sense, Jesus fulfills the second commandment. Throughout His earthly life Jesus was worshiped. The infant Jesus was worshiped by the shepherds and wise men: They bowed down and worshiped Him. Jesus was worshiped after stilling the tempest on Galilee. He was worshiped after the resurrection of Lazarus, and a week later on His own Resurrection Day. Songs of Worship were sung for Jesus a week before His death on Palm Sunday: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ (Matt 21:9; John 12:13) In the book of Revelation the Son of God is worshiped and adored as the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This is because Jesus came as the only perfect way to the only true God, being Himself God. In John 14:6, Jesus declared this truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus reconciled us to God, making peace through His blood on the cross. That is why Philippians 2:9-11 promises this, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Thank you, Sovereign God, for revealing your great love to us in the Lord Jesus. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. You are the true God and eternal life. Lord God, keep us from idols, to the praise and glory of your name. Amen.
OUTLINE
I. The Prohibition in the Second Commandment: Do not make an image of God.
A. Do not worship God by/through images: The One True God is to be worshiped through “imageless worship”. (Isa. 40:17-18)
B. “Do not bow down to them.” Reverence, respect, honor, sacrifice, devotion is due to God alone. Worship begins and ends with the One True Yahweh.
C. Sinful man is guilty of all kinds of present-day idolatry: sex, “money”, people, creation. (Luke 18:18-24, Rom. 1:24-25)
II. “God is a jealous God.”
A. Guard against spiritual adultery.
B. Severe punishment is promised for idolaters.
C. God’s favor and blessing is promised to lovers of God.
III. Jesus came in fullness in regard to the second commandment.
A. The only image of God to be worshiped came in the flesh. (Col. 1:15-20, Matt 21:9; John 12:13)
B. Jesus came as the only perfect way to the only true God. (John 14:6, Phil 2:9-11, Rev.)
