Worship Methods Do Matter (31mb)

(To download an MP3 file of this sermon, click on the title above. To listen now online, click on the play button of the audio player shown above.)

This sermon is the third in a series of messages on the Ten Commandments. This message discusses the second commandment, "Do not make any graven image."

Written Excerpts:

Exodus 20:4-6 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…”

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Introduction:

Let me just offer a reminder from our introduction a couple of weeks ago… God’s Word says that His law is what makes us aware of our need for Christ and the power of His Spirit. So, as we go through this ongoing study on the Ten Commandments, let us keep our minds and hearts open to anything that God wants to point out to us about our lives. Let us be alert to any areas we need to confess. That is, areas where we have failed to live up to His standard and His will, and then let us ask for His power and grace to enable us to live pleasing to Him.

In our last discussion we addressed the first commandment in which God established who we were to worship or who is to be the focus of our affections and lifestyle. Today we are going to address the question of how we must worship the Lord.

II.     Thou Shalt Not Make Any Graven Image

A. Negative Meaning: Do not use material objects to represent God.

Let me give the definition of some words that are used here as we explain the negative meaning.

(v.4) The word “graven” is - pesel: A noun meaning idol, a graven image. This word comes from the verb pāsal, meaning to hew or to cut, which was done to create an idol. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament – QuickVerse)

The word “likeness” a Hebrew word meaning likeness or similarity. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament – QuickVerse)

[The word] applies to any real or imagined pictorial representations of deities. (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward Old Testament Ethics)

(v.5) “bow down” – A verb meaning …to prostrate oneself, to crouch, …to humbly beseech, to do reverence, or to worship. The primary meaning of the word is to bow down. This verb is used to indicate bowing before a monarch or a superior and paying homage to him or her.     (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament – QuickVerse)

So the command is literally forbidding the use of any images carved in the likeness or similarity of anything in heaven or earth and meant to represent God as a means to facilitate our worship.

The classic violation of this command is the worship of the golden calf that was crafted by Aaron while Moses was up on the mountain. They bowed down before this idol that they watched Aaron create and they said, “These be thy gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 32:4)

It seems that they really were giving credit to the Lord, but they wanted a material, tangible object that they could see. They apparently didn’t like the idea of an invisible God.

B. Positive Principle: External worship is sacred.

As we have already stated earlier, this command does not refer to the object of our worship (i.e. other gods, or false gods). That issue was already addressed in the first commandment. Rather, it has to do with the manner of our worship to the true God.

The positive principle I mentioned a moment ago, “external worship is sacred,” means that each one of us needs to periodically evaluate whether anything we are doing in worship is distorting the true nature of God and leading us down the path of eventually placing more emphasis on the form than we are on God Himself.

C. Exposition – Now for the exposition of the commandment.

How are we to understand the meaning and apply this command in everyday life? What are the lessons we need to learn?

1. The command does not forbid pictures or items that symbolize various aspects of our faith.

God Himself gave instructions to Moses for the creation of artistic representations on the veil in the Tabernacle (W.C. Kaiser). There appears to be a distinction and sometimes a “fine line” between the use of pictures, sculptures and images to represent and symbolize key aspects of our faith, versus using them to represent deity in our worship.

(Beacon Commentary) Sculptured work was used in the Tabernacle… and in the first Temple… Idolatry consists in making an image an object of worship and ascribing to it the powers of the god it represents. If pictures or images of people [or any other beings/objects] are looked upon as possessing divine powers and are adored, they become idols.

Even in the New Testament, the emblems used in the Lord’s Supper were commanded by our Lord as an ongoing memorial of His sacrifice. I acknowledge that fact that the bread and the juice are not “carved images.” They are real food. However, it is possible that one could begin to think of the emblems as representing the Lord Himself rather than something the Lord has done.

Incidentally, I think this might be a possible argument to support the Protestant view of communion over the Roman Catholic view (transubstantiation).

2. Images distort our perceptions of God and what He is like.

Images cannot properly represent “spirit,” omni-presence, infinity and other qualities of God.

(Beacon Comm. – quoting Rawlinson) As the first commandment asserts the unity of God, and is a protest against polytheism, so the second asserts His spirituality, and is a protest against idolatry and materialism.

Is. 40:18 The prophet asks, “To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?”

This is a rhetorical question that has no answer. God is so far above anyone or anything we know that there is nothing that could adequately represent His being or likeness.There is nothing that represents His spirituality. There is nothing that can adequately represent His infinity. There is no possible way to materially represent any of His divine attributes.

3. Images require worship to be limited to certain locations.

It doesn’t have to be a carved idol in order for this error to occur. Many people fall prey to this error in other ways as well.

I’ve already mentioned the misunderstanding that some have regarding communion. They act as though they are in the presence of God at the Lord’s Supper, but not at other times or places in their lives.

It can be: church buildings, certain people, or specific objects that “make us feel closer to God.” Whatever that “image” is, it can be a violation of the second commandment if it makes me think of God in terms that are not consistent with His true nature.

God is everywhere at all times and He is Spirit, so that means I can be in His presence and communicate with Him anywhere at anytime. This was the error Jesus addressed with the Samaritan woman at the well when she asked Jesus which was correct, worshiping God in the mountain or in Jerusalem.

4. Images can become so important that they eventually become the object of worship.

It truly appears as though the Lord is trying to get us to realize that even though the carving of an image or idol seems innocent enough at first (after all, it’s only for the purpose of helping me worship God better), it is inevitable, over time, that the image will become so important to us that it becomes the object of our worship and adoration. This can also be true about rituals and forms that have become more important than the Lord Himself.

5. This command can apply to false mental images.

(David Bubb, Living Life At a Perfect Ten) “This principle deals with your picture of God which affects the way you worship God…. This second commandment shows us that as we worship, we must never reduce God to some figment of our imagination or to some distorted view.”

Some people can honestly say that they have not carved out or molded any kind of image and bowed down to it. But, they have images and concepts in their mind about God that are nothing like what the Bible says God is. They too have violated the spirit of this commandment.

Conclusion:

Dear friends, God declares that He is a jealous God. We talked about that in our discussion of the first commandment. He won’t tolerate a divided affection or loyalty in our heart. Our heart and soul must be wholly committed to Him.

Neither will He tolerate our worship being directed to Him through a man-made image. The stated reason is because He is a jealous God. Nothing can compete for our worship.

The next sermon in this series is: Words Mean Things (link available in blog archive on right)