Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.īut thus shall ye deal with them ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.Ĭonfounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.Īs my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria Īs they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.įor they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.Ī drought is upon her waters and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. We must worship Him in spirit and in truth, for only then do we show our love.They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Our thoughts and our actions, therefore, must be bound by the Word of God. Whenever we imagine God in any way contrary to what He has revealed Himself to be, we are making an idol. It is easier than one might think to break this command.
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We show our love for God when we obey His commands: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” But those who do not keep His law hate Him, and they (and their posterity) will suffer the consequences of such sin.
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And this is exactly what is involved here: our love. He will not allow us to set our love upon another. Like a jealous husband, God will allow no rival to Himself. We are not God, and He has not given us the authorization to make such representations.Īll rites that do not correspond with the spiritual worship of God are here forbidden. God choosing to manifest Himself in a physical form is far different from a human being choosing to fashion an image of the invisible God.
#Graven images biblical license
But this fact does not give us license to break the second commandment and fashion an image of God according to our own imaginations. Now it is certainly true that God revealed Himself in physical manifestations to the prophets and others in Old Testament times.
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God is insulted not only when we worship an image, but when we represent Him by any outward form, for He is spirit.
#Graven images biblical free
Consequently, we are not to make any image of Him, whether we intend to worship it or not, for, as Calvin so aptly puts it, “As soon as any one has permitted himself to devise an image of God, he immediately falls into false worship.” We should, therefore, take these two aspects of the second commandment together, not in the sense that we are free to make any graven image as long as we don’t worship it, but that we are not to make any graven image at all because as soon as we do, we are transferring to an image what should be reserved for God only: our adoration and worship. Nothing can adequately or comprehensively represent Him. God is spiritual and invisible nothing, therefore, in the earth or in the heavens above corresponds with His nature. The essence of the second commandment is that the worship of God must be spiritual so that it will correspond with His nature.