THE "PROBLEM" OF THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

     “The 'Problem' of  the 2nd Commandment"
                       Exodus 20: 4-6                
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the wa-
ter under the  earth.  Thous  shalt  not  bow  down
thyself to them, now 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 thaqt hate me; and shewing 
mercy unto them that love me, and keep my com-
mandments.  Exodus20: 4-6

    As we look at this commandment from the 
Lord to the Children of Israel through Moses 
at Sinai,  we see three probable  purposes for 
the command.  First,  consider  only the  part  
normally quoted  as it's essence:  
"Thou shall not make unto thee any graven 
image..."  Although  Scripture continues to
detail  specific instructions as to things that 
must not be  copied in  sculpture or graphic 
art, we will consider this as it applies, speci-
fically to the construction of "supposed ima-
ges' of the Deity.
   
      The  first of  the  Possible objections is the 
tendency of  mankind  to worship or be caught 
up in the things observed through the five sen-
ses.  We are certainly aware that concrete  or 
visible objects seem to  be more real than that 
experience through faith alone, and are there-
fore invisible and untouchable. This command 
teaches the unseen is permanent, the seen tem-
porary?   Would we knowingly  worship some-
thing  temporary?  There is also  the potential 
of our worship going to a thing we create.

  With this in mind, we  might make a  case for 
 dispensing  with any work of  art, but we  first 
must consider the most important aspect of the
command.  That  refers  back to the  first com-
mandment.  "Thou  shalt  have no  other  gods
before me."  (No explanation.)  Since we  have
this tendency, that may  be the  main  conside-
ration  for the  commandment.  Anything  that
comes  between  me/you and God  the  Father,
henders worship of  the "True and  the Living
God," and is an idol.  

   (I personally, heard a"man of the cloth" 
   say a man could  love his wife too much 
  and that would be a transgression of this 
   command.  In  the  vernacular, He  was 
   in my view, "all Wet.")

   The second possible reason for prohibiting
the creation of images of the Eternal God is,
any attempt would be poor without a possibi-
lity of a  likeness to the Father, Son or Holy
Spirit.  Since it is a given;  any  likeness  we 
create  would result in mankind accepting a
distorted and deficient view of our Lord. 
Any "image" a man might make would result
in  an inadequate view of our Lord and make
him seem equal or even  inferior  to mankind.
  Although Adam was created in the image of
God, sin entered and that image was marred
leaving us without a true view of what God is
like, until the coming of  God the Son into the
world as a  human child.  (There is one other
thing  to  consider.)  
   Our Lord, Jesus Christ was/is  the  express  
image  of  God  the Father, God  is Spirit, in 
human form. He is the Second Adam, the one   
to  whom we look when we want to know God 
the Father, or to know about God the Father. 
We are able to be in a relationship with  Him 
by  Grace through  faith, not  through any of 
our five senses. Any image or supposed  like-
ness of the Deity  will detract  from  worship, 
praise and adoration of our Lord.  It  would 
color our relationship with Him and must be considered sin.
  
      Since there is not one soul remaining on 
earth who saw our Lord as he lived on earth,
any portrait, sculpture or artist rendering in
any medium would be a misrepresentation of
God  the Son,  reflecting  poorly on  God the
Son, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

This brief article is certainly not comprehen-
sive by any measure, but with the abusesseen 
every day,  within the church and  as various "shrines,"  it is something we  must  consider 
 serious. We are on the verge of  becoming a
pagan culture.  This may well be caused by a
deficient,  distorted view of  God, the Creator
of all that is;  the God of Scripture, Jehovah/
YAWEH.

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/07/thou-shalt-not-take-name-of-lord-thy.html

It will be impossible to exhaust this subject and it is
likely to be edited at times.  Thanks for reading and
God bless... 

donporter 12.05.12  edited on 12.14.13, 11.07.14, 11.20.14, 1.20.15, 1.27.15, 5.07.15, 11.30.15,
8.18.16,