I find I am working on a 3d edition of Embracing Torah. As I study more, I find I’m not as smart as I thought I was (hopefully we are all this way). I felt that a major revision was needed to my analysis of the 2d Commandment. I want to get this right – but is it even possible to think that I can make it error-free?
The trick is to know when I’ve done enough to warrant a 3d edition . . . and then begin work on the 4th edition.
Enjoy.
The 2d Commandment:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
This one is actually pretty easy to keep. John 4:24 states, “God is Spirit”. That is a pretty hard one to paint or sculpture. Nevertheless, Michelangelo painted a vision of Yahweh on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican that is considered iconic. How many people have a poster of that in their homes?
Some argue that the context is the ‘worshipping’ of these images and that would absolutely be idolatry; even if it is an image of Yahweh, because an image is not Yahweh. I believe in angels (because the Word says there are angels), but I do not worship them. I believe that if one doesn’t make the idols, one cannot “bow down nor serve” them.
Do you own a video of George Burns or Morgan Freeman playing Yahweh? I always thought Orson Welles or James Earl Jones (“Yeshua . . . I am your Father”) would be a better choice, but that still begs the issue – Do you have ‘images’ of Yahweh in your home? Do you revere them? Please tell me you don’t venerate these blokes.
Yahweh directs Moses to place Cherubims atop the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18-20). This would absolutely qualify as a “likeness of something in heaven above”, but the cherubs were not to be worshipped . . . the God of the Ark was to be.
You need to decide whether figurines of angels or images of Yahweh cross the line. Angelic youths kissing on your mantle may look cute, but a houseful of cherubs may cross the line.
I have many paintings and figures of Yeshua (who is alive and well in heaven above) in my home to help me focus on the man who gave his life in atonement for my sins and guaranteed me a place in paradise. I do not worship the images.