Exodus 20:4–5 NKJV
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; 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 upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.
This Command Is Closely Linked With The First, Which Says, “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me.” Idol Worship Was Rampant Among The Nations Surrounding Israel. Most Of Those Nations Had Carved Images To Which They Bowed, Sacrificed, And Performed Various Acts Of Worship. Often That Pagan Worship Involved Killing Infants And Prostitution .
The Israelites Were Strictly Warned To Keep Themselves Separate From The Pagan Nations Surrounding Them And To Avoid Any Activities That Resembled Their Vile Worship Rites .
God Himself Reminded The People About When He Appeared To Them:
Deuteronomy 4:15–20 NKJV
“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
God Hates Idolatry In Any Form . It Steals The Attention And Honor That Belongs Only To God . In Many Nations Today, Carved Gods And Goddesses Are Still An Obvious Violation Of This Commandment. However, The Sin Of Idolatry Is Ultimately A Sin Of The Heart.
An Idol Is Anything We Depend Upon To Meet The Deep Needs Of The Heart—Love, Security, Worth, Or Significance. When We Seek To Find Identity And Security In Something Besides God, We Have Made It An Idol.
John Calvin Said, “The Human Heart Is An Idol Factory.”
We Often Search For Peace Or Identity Through Relationships, Substances, Money, Or Entertainment. Addictions Are Forms Of Idolatry.
Even Good Things Can Become Idols If We Are Not Careful. Ministry, Hobbies, Charity Work, Or Family Can Usurp The Rightful Place Only God Should Hold In Our Lives. When We Emotionally Rely On Anything Other Than Our Relationship With Him To Validate Us, We Are Breaking The Second Commandment.
This Commandment Also Contains A Warning For Future Generations. God Is Saying That, If We Don’t Deal With Idolatry In Our Generation, We Will Pass It Down To Our Children And To Their Children. Children Learn To Handle Life By Watching Their Parents. When Children Observe Mom And Dad Running To A Bottle, A Pill, Another Romance, Or A Shopping Spree To Make Them Feel Good About Themselves, They Follow That Pattern. When Children Watch Their Parents Spend Time, Money And Energy On Worldly Pursuits, They Naturally Copy Those Values And , They In Turn ,Will Raise Their Own Children To Do The Same.
For A Vivid Account Of Idolatry We'll Look At Aaron's Idolatry While Moses Was Meeting With God On The Mountain.
Exodus 32:1-5 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Gold Calf
32 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, [ Exodus 24: 18 Tells Us Moses Was Up There 40 Days And Nights- So It Was A Long Time.] the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us [a]gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron Made A Proclamation And Said, “Tomorrow Is A Feast To The LORD.”
Well, To Say God Was Upset,Would Be An Understatement- He Had Just Given The People His Commandments ,And Already They Were Breaking 2 Of Them ( The 1st & 2nd)
Exodus 32:7-10 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a [a]stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may [b]consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
God Called These People "Stiff-Necked" Because Of Their Hard Hearts. They Had Witnessed The Awesome Power Of God While Fleeing Slavery In Egypt, But Already They Were Attributing Those Miracles To Other Gods. Aaron Himself Was Faithless, Too, Attempting To Create A False Idol And Claiming It Was Meant To Represent God.
Cows Are Very Stupid? The Israelites Actually Built An Idol Of A Calf To Represent God. Cattle Raisers Say They Are The Dumbest Animals On Earth. You Can Look Into Their Eyes And See No Brain Activity Happening Inside Their Heads. They Eat, Drink, Relieve Themselves, And Sleep, And That Was About All.
Aaron Used A Dumb Cow To Represent God.
We Do The Same Thing, But It Just Looks A Little Different.
With The NT, The Question Arises What Now?
How Do We Break This Command Today?
In The NT, Jesus Didn’t speak a lot about Idolatry.
However, We Can Turn To The New Testament Authors For More Examples Of How People Committed Idolatry.
During This Era A Shift Had Taken Place In Regards To Physical Idolatry. As Christianity Expanded Into Lands Previously Rejecting God, Idol Worship Was Plentiful. Paul Witnessed The Practice In Athens, Greece, "He Saw That The City Was Given Over To Idols" (Acts 17:16). We Know The Romans Practiced Idolatry, As Well.
Acts 17:29-30 New Living Translation (NLT)
29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.
Christians Don't Usually Practice Explicit Idolatry Now By Bowing To Statues, But They Worship False Idols In Another Way.
Paul says in
Colossians 3:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.[a]
Paul In Ephesians Says Much The Same,
Ephesians 5:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.
Since We Are Not Supposed To Worship With Idols, How Do We Worship?
John 4:24 NKJV
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Follow The Leadership Of God's Spirit. Be Sensitive To Him. His Spirit Will Lever Lead Against His Word. Spiritual Worship brings Us To A Higher Level Of Spiritual Commitment. God Sees Our Hearts, And Actually Lives In Our Hearts .
Romans 8:5-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[a] because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
It Is Vitally Important To Rid Our Hearts Of These Internal Idols That Steal The Love That Is Meant For God Alone
