The Ten Commandments - 3
The Second Commandment
These commandments were given to the people of Israel as a standard by which they were to order their lives. They were given to show that God is holy and that He alone is to be worshipped. And they were given to show how we should live with one another in this world.
The second commandment is found in verses 4 to 6. This is what the living God says:
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments".
Whatever the hand of sin touches it spoils, even a precious thing such as worship. This time on "Discovery" I'm going to ask four questions about this second commandment of God which forbids the worship of idols. The first question is this: "What is idolatry?" We can answer this simply in one sentence: "It is giving our worship to anything or anyone else, instead of to the living and true God".
When the Lord God gave this commandment to Moses to pass on to the Children of Israel, the nations around them made idols of wood often covered with a precious metal, and the people worshipped these and prayed to them. Abraham's ancestors were idolaters and he was called by God to leave all that behind when he left Ur of the Chaldees. Rebecca's brother, Laban, had household gods, and even Jacob's wife, Rachel, was a secret worshipper of idols. In the days of Israel's judges there were many idols being produced and made objects of worship. These idols were tangible objects designed to be worshipped and revered. They were put in the place of the only One Who should be worshipped.
Writing to the Romans many centuries later, the apostle Paul said this concerning mankind in chapter 1 verses 20 to 23:
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles".
So what is idolatry? It is worshipping anything other than the Living and True God. This is not just images of wood or stone, or living things, it is anything to which we devote ourselves to the exclusion of God, anything that is more important to us than God.
The second question we might ask is this: "What forms does idolatry take?" It can take many forms and can sometimes entangle us without our realising it. The veneration of religious objects and images can become a substitute for true worship of the Lord God. People idolise sports teams and pop singers and glorify all that they do, but never think to give God the glory due to Him as Lord of all. When we speak of idolatry we are thinking of the worship of what is false rather than true, of giving undue love and affection to someone, more than is given to God. Behind the worship of idols there is superstition which is belief based on fear or on ignorance and that is contrary to the truth as revealed in the Bible and in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians are to avoid all appearance of evil, and are not to be associated with any of the superstitions of the world around. The life of the Christian is in God's hands and so it is wrong, for example, to consult horoscopes or fortune tellers with their Tarot cards and their crystal gazing.
If idolatry is a superstitious substitute for God, then what about mysticism? This is the teaching that knowledge of spiritual truths can be acquired by intuition and meditation. God has given us the faculty of the mind, and the Bible teaches us that, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". God's Word alone is His revelation to us. Mysticism seeks direct revelation from God apart from His Holy Word, and that is wrong. Divine revelations apart from the Bible are a delusion. We should never switch off our minds at any time, seeking something new or exciting, that path is dangerous and leaves us open to the activities of Satan.
So, we've discovered "What idolatry is" and "What forms idolatry takes", now we ask, "Why is it wrong?" It is wrong because the Living God forbids it. In our Bible passage, Exodus chapter 20, verse 5, we read: "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God". The true God, the Creator of all, is the only God and this excludes all others. He alone commands and demands our worship. This is why He says, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not bow down to them or serve them". To engage in the worship of other gods so called is to hate and reject Him.
He goes on to say in verse 5, "I am a jealous God....visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me". This is a Semitic phrase which denotes continuity. It applies to those who hate God, to those who substitute other objects of worship for Him. It applies to those who reject the laws of the Living God, and to those who reject the great salvation God offers through His dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
When one generation rejects God's law it effects future generations because sin effects society. The actions of parents and peers influence children, and evil acts have their consequences across generations. You see this around the world today in many forms, such as child abuse, exploitation, abortion, pornography and immorality of every kind. Here is the clear teaching of God's Word that disregard of His Law brings certain punishment. Sin has its consequences in society and upon those who reject God, both now and in eternity.
So, we've looked briefly at these three questions: "What is idolatry?", "What forms does it take?", And "Why is it wrong?" The fourth question is: "What is the alternative?" The answer is found in verse 6 of Exodus chapter 20 where God says that He shows mercy "To thousands who love me and keep my commandments". To trust in anyone or anything other than the Living God is sinful, futile, foolish and hopeless. At the beginning of these commandments God reminded the people of Israel that it was He Who had "brought them out of Egypt and out of the land of slavery". It was not the false gods of Egypt, made of wood and stone, that had delivered them. They owed their liberty to God's mercy and God's love for them, and now He calls for their undivided love in return. He was calling them to love Him and to obey Him because He had shown them great mercy and He was their True and Living God. They would have been nothing but for this, still in slavery and captives in an alien land.
What is the alternative to trusting in gods that are no gods? What is the alternative to giving our lives over to materialism and the passing pleasures of a sinful world, to the exclusion of God? The alternative is to recognise that this eternal and living Lord is real and that He loves you and has given His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for your sins. He has done this to deliver you from this present evil age and from eternal punishment. The alternative to idolatry of whatever kind is to worship the One Who deserves your worship and the dedication of your life to Him.
Christians are those who love the Lord their God and keep His commandments. The evidence of love to God is obedience to His Word. May the Lord lead you into a life of full obedience and may you worship only Him Who is Lord of all.