irst Command! From the outset it is clear that the issue at hand is the people's constant tendency to resort to idolatry, which is the worship of physical things. And if you look at the historical context, idols almost always came in the form of animals, whether it be birds, mammals, or sea creatures. Thus, we have God's direct condemnation in Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth." It is important to note that this command comes directly after the proclamation, "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). That verse sums up the First Commandment, and then God gets more specific, citing the crafting of idols and the worship of them. All of this is directed toward and in reference to strange gods. Therefore, in Exodus 20:5, God specifies, "Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them." What is "them"? The idols (Exodus 20:4). What idols? The idols of strange gods (Exodus 20:3). This may be over-analyzing to a degree, but I feel the need to stress the simplicity of this command. I can't fathom that some Christians stretch this issue so far as to condemn the creation of any likeness or image, whether it be a sculpture or a painting or some other benign representation of a saint, Mary, an angel, or Jesus Himself. Granted, many Christians don't necessarily condemn the simple creation of these things but what they perceive to happen with these things, that is, the worship of them. But if this truly is what some Christians think, then they are plainly misinformed. Further, the Christian who thinks an image of, say, a saint is worshipped, must logically conclude that up until the 16th century, all Christians were idolaters! It's a viewpoint way off the mark, and it has no solid basis in Exodus 20:1-6, which is the direct denouncement of worshipping strange gods. Christian art, whether an ornate painting or a simple statue, is made to remind us of our ultimate duty to God, and I can personally testify that it does a good job of that. Some may say that we shouldn't need reminders to keep us focused, but they are forgetting the fallen nature of man. Look at how frequently, in these early books of the Bible, the people of God fell away and began to worship false gods. Moses gives to us a once-and-for-all condemnation of that practice. And we've since created beautiful and moving works of art to keep us on the right track, lest we fall away yet again. (As an end note, modern Christians may not fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving, say, a golden cow, but we surely should fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving the physical things of this modern world -- materialism is the new idolatry. We revere the television and cars and houses and clothes, etc., the way our ancestors revered the golden calf: we've put these superficial things on a higher pedestal than God Himself.)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Exodus 20:1-6 - The First Command
For the first time I'll be breaking up a chapter into verses, out of necessity. I've reached the Ten Commandments, and they require a more thorough analysis. Studying the First Commandment, which is often condensed to "I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me," was enlightening. It has been the source of much confusion over the centuries, but, after reading about it and contemplating it, in the end it appears to be a pretty straightforward, unequivocal commandment. It can be broken down into three steps: 1) Don't reject Me for other gods; 2) Don't create likenesses of these other gods; and 3) Don't worship these likenesses of other gods. Somehow or another, over the centuries, these steps have been muddled and misconstrued so that now some Christians think that the First Commandment forbids creating likenesses of, not strange gods, but the true God! But that is never even hinted at in the F
irst Command! From the outset it is clear that the issue at hand is the people's constant tendency to resort to idolatry, which is the worship of physical things. And if you look at the historical context, idols almost always came in the form of animals, whether it be birds, mammals, or sea creatures. Thus, we have God's direct condemnation in Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth." It is important to note that this command comes directly after the proclamation, "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). That verse sums up the First Commandment, and then God gets more specific, citing the crafting of idols and the worship of them. All of this is directed toward and in reference to strange gods. Therefore, in Exodus 20:5, God specifies, "Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them." What is "them"? The idols (Exodus 20:4). What idols? The idols of strange gods (Exodus 20:3). This may be over-analyzing to a degree, but I feel the need to stress the simplicity of this command. I can't fathom that some Christians stretch this issue so far as to condemn the creation of any likeness or image, whether it be a sculpture or a painting or some other benign representation of a saint, Mary, an angel, or Jesus Himself. Granted, many Christians don't necessarily condemn the simple creation of these things but what they perceive to happen with these things, that is, the worship of them. But if this truly is what some Christians think, then they are plainly misinformed. Further, the Christian who thinks an image of, say, a saint is worshipped, must logically conclude that up until the 16th century, all Christians were idolaters! It's a viewpoint way off the mark, and it has no solid basis in Exodus 20:1-6, which is the direct denouncement of worshipping strange gods. Christian art, whether an ornate painting or a simple statue, is made to remind us of our ultimate duty to God, and I can personally testify that it does a good job of that. Some may say that we shouldn't need reminders to keep us focused, but they are forgetting the fallen nature of man. Look at how frequently, in these early books of the Bible, the people of God fell away and began to worship false gods. Moses gives to us a once-and-for-all condemnation of that practice. And we've since created beautiful and moving works of art to keep us on the right track, lest we fall away yet again. (As an end note, modern Christians may not fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving, say, a golden cow, but we surely should fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving the physical things of this modern world -- materialism is the new idolatry. We revere the television and cars and houses and clothes, etc., the way our ancestors revered the golden calf: we've put these superficial things on a higher pedestal than God Himself.)
irst Command! From the outset it is clear that the issue at hand is the people's constant tendency to resort to idolatry, which is the worship of physical things. And if you look at the historical context, idols almost always came in the form of animals, whether it be birds, mammals, or sea creatures. Thus, we have God's direct condemnation in Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth." It is important to note that this command comes directly after the proclamation, "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). That verse sums up the First Commandment, and then God gets more specific, citing the crafting of idols and the worship of them. All of this is directed toward and in reference to strange gods. Therefore, in Exodus 20:5, God specifies, "Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them." What is "them"? The idols (Exodus 20:4). What idols? The idols of strange gods (Exodus 20:3). This may be over-analyzing to a degree, but I feel the need to stress the simplicity of this command. I can't fathom that some Christians stretch this issue so far as to condemn the creation of any likeness or image, whether it be a sculpture or a painting or some other benign representation of a saint, Mary, an angel, or Jesus Himself. Granted, many Christians don't necessarily condemn the simple creation of these things but what they perceive to happen with these things, that is, the worship of them. But if this truly is what some Christians think, then they are plainly misinformed. Further, the Christian who thinks an image of, say, a saint is worshipped, must logically conclude that up until the 16th century, all Christians were idolaters! It's a viewpoint way off the mark, and it has no solid basis in Exodus 20:1-6, which is the direct denouncement of worshipping strange gods. Christian art, whether an ornate painting or a simple statue, is made to remind us of our ultimate duty to God, and I can personally testify that it does a good job of that. Some may say that we shouldn't need reminders to keep us focused, but they are forgetting the fallen nature of man. Look at how frequently, in these early books of the Bible, the people of God fell away and began to worship false gods. Moses gives to us a once-and-for-all condemnation of that practice. And we've since created beautiful and moving works of art to keep us on the right track, lest we fall away yet again. (As an end note, modern Christians may not fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving, say, a golden cow, but we surely should fear falling into the sin of adoring and serving the physical things of this modern world -- materialism is the new idolatry. We revere the television and cars and houses and clothes, etc., the way our ancestors revered the golden calf: we've put these superficial things on a higher pedestal than God Himself.)
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