No Idols! (pt 2)

Intro:

I heard a story of a little boy who was talking to his pastor one day and doodling on a piece of paper at the same time. The pastor said to him, “Son, are you drawing on that piece of paper?” The boy said, “Yes, sire.” The pastor asked, “Well, what are your drawing?” The boy said, “A picture of God.” The pastor said, “But, we don’t know what God looks like.” The little boy said, “Well, you will when I’m finished.”

Today, we’re looking at the second of the 10 commandments. It’s found here in . What we will find is that God says don’t try to create a picture or an image of what I look like, because when you do, you cross the line of idolatry.

So, this morning, I want to show you 2 things from the second commandment concerning idols and idolatry.

1. PROBLEMS OF IDOLATRY (4-5)

A. IDOLATRY PROMOTES SELF-WORSHIP (4A).

Notice how v. 4 begins— “you shall not MAKE FOR YOURSELF an idol.”

What is idolatry? Idolatry is an attempt to represent a supernatural God in a natural way.

What is an idol? An idol is a physical representation of God used in worship.

But notice from this verse who idols are for…are they for the one being worshipped? NO! They are for yourself. God said, “do not MAKE FOR YOURSELF an idol.”

God is crystal clear on this command, because God knows that we are beings who make things. And when we make things, we take pleasure in them. We build a house and we can live in it. We build a boat and we can sail in it. We build a table and we can eat at it. We make all kinds of things, material and immaterial, and we find great pleasure in them. And this is the problem of making an idol of God. Making an idol or image of God, leads to seduction and allure and draws our worship to the idol of God instead of God Himself.

God said do not do this!

B. IDOLATRY PERVERTS TRUE WORSHIP (V.4B).

Have you ever noticed some of the signs and rules that you see in certain places?

“Do not climb on fence.” It’s there because someone climbed on the fence.

“Do not block fire exit.” It’s there because at some point someone blocked a fire exit.

Well, the second commandment - “do not make for yourself an idol” is here because guess what—Israel had made for themselves an idol.

God goes so far as to be very specific with his warning - don’t make an idol of something in the heaven/that is the sky (like the sun, moon, stars) or on the earth (like animals) or in the waters below (like fish, or other sea life). The making of any idol to any of these was forbidden by God, because God is a jealous God.

TURN OVER TO (READ)

So, God gave this commandment and said don’t make an image of worship.

It may surprise you to learn that this is the most repeated commandment of all the Ten Commandments in the entire Bible. The word ''idol'' or ''idolatry'' appears over 220 times in the Bible. There is more denunciation of idolatry that any other sin you find in God's Word.

For God idolatry is public enemy #1. If God had a most wanted list idolaters would be at the top. The reason is simple. Everybody worships some kind of god. Everybody believes in some kind of deity. It may be nature, science, or the god of self, but everybody worships some god.

5. For God idolatry is public enemy #1. If God had a most wanted list idolaters would be at the top. The reason is simple. Everybody worships some kind of god. Everybody believes in some kind of deity. It may be nature, science, or the god of self, but everybody worships some god.

We say today, well, I don’t worship an idols in my life.

Truth is - we may not worship idols with our hands, but today, we worship idols with our hearts. You see our idols don’t have to be METAL, they can be MENTAL.

Listen to Ezekiel 14:6-7

Ezekiel 14:6–7 NASB95

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. “For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the Lord will be brought to answer him in My own person.

Ezekiel 14:

C. IDOLATRY PROVOKES GOD’S WRATH (5).

Let me illustrate it this way, ''How many of you have ever seen Mt. Everest?'' (Ask for a show of hands). You mean the vast majority of you have never experienced the grandeur and the beauty of the highest mountain peak in the world? Well, I have a treat for you. [Play-Doh Illustration]

God says he is a jealous God.

Word “jealous” means “to burn.” God burns with jealous when He sees idolatry.

God has a right to be jealous because God has a monopoly on being God.

Let me explain to you why God is a jealous God. It is because God has a monopoly on being God. He has the exclusive copyright. He has the eternal patent. You can't share His files with anybody else. He has cornered the market on being God.

No human being ever has the right to be jealous of another human being because you are not the only human being that there is. No preacher has the right to be jealous of another preacher, because there are other preachers in the world. No musician has the right to be jealous of another musician, because there are other musicians in the world. No athlete has the right to be jealous of other athletes, because there are other athletes in the world. God has a right to be jealous, because there are no other gods.

4. No human being ever has the right to be jealous of another human being because you are not the only human being that there is. No preacher has the right to be jealous of another preacher, because there are other preachers in the world. No musician has the right to be jealous of another musician, because there are other musicians in the world. No athlete has the right to be jealous of other athletes, because there are other athletes in the world. God has a right to be jealous, because there are no other gods.

This is why the second commandment comes with a curse here in v. 5. The reason the children are punished is because their parents continue to worship the gods their fathers did.

Here me on this parents—for all of us moms and dads— THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN EVER DO FOR YOUR FAMILY IS TO MAKE SURE THEY LEARN TO LOVE AND WORSHIP THE RIGHT GOD IN THE RIGHT WAY.

Look at the curse - it’s for 3 or 4 generations.

And notice this - the second commandment is the only commandment of the 10 in which God says if you disobey this commandment, you hate Me. You see idol worship is all out hatred against God and it provokes His wrath.

I know you realize how absurd it is for me to try to capture Mt. Everest with a mound of Play-doh and that is the problem with any idol. An idol makes the infinite God finite, the invisible God visible, the omnipotent God impotent, the ever present God local, the eternal God temporal, the heavenly God earthly, the living God dead and the spiritual God material. That is why a created god limits real worship.

2. PROMISE OF RIGHT WORSHIP (6).

What is right worship? Right worship is loving God and keeping His commandments. Notice the blessing here—it’s to thousands! The curse was upon 3-4 generations, but the blessing to those who worship God rightly—that is who love Him and keep His commandments—the blessing is upon thousands.

What is the blessing? It’s the lovingkindness of God.

It’s the Hebrew word “hesed” it means “covenant keeping love and mercy.” You see here it is— GOD SAYS WHEN YOU WORSHIP ME, AND ONLY ME, AND WHEN YOU WORSHIP ME IN THE RIGHT WAY, I MAKE A COVENANT WITH YOU, A COVENANT OF LOVE AND MERCY TO THOUSANDS (IT COULD BE TRANSLATED THOUSANDS OF GENERATIONS)…THE IDEA IS FOREVER!

CONCLUSION:

God is clear with the second commandment - you should not make for yourself an idol.

Sometimes people think, oh idols are only talked about in the OT, but do you know that there is an idol mentioned in the NT?

Check this out---turn to

The Greek word for ''image'' is the word that gives us the English word ''icon.” Jesus is the exact icon - the complete image of God.

10. Jesus was not made after the image of God and He was not made in the image of God; Jesus is the image of God.

Jesus was not made after the image of God and He was not made in the image of God; Jesus is the image of God.

11. You don't have to settle for anything less than the real thing. That is why when you put God first and you worship the right God in the right way and you get to know the real image of God, by getting to know Jesus Christ, you can secure your home both in this life and in the life to come.

You don't have to settle for anything less than the real thing. That is why when you put God first and you worship the right God in the right way and you get to know the real image of God, by getting to know Jesus Christ.

Do you want to know God, worship God, and serve God? Then know Jesus, worship Jesus, and serve Jesus!