The Second Commandment; Make no Idols

Recap Series

Week one - You can have no other gods besides me

We cannot elevate anything to the level of God

This week - Do not make an idol for yourself

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ iniquity, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.

The first command was about not worshipping another god

this command is about not worshipping God in a false way

To illustrate this command, remember the story of the Israelites and the golden calf

Explain that this is taking place while Moses is up on the mountain receiving the law of God...

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” 2 Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party

He will come down the mountain with the stone tablets in his hand

2 Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” 2 Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party

Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party

It is so easy for us to cast judgement on people in the Bible

How could the disciples not seen what was right in front of them

sometimes for things that we do

How could the religious leaders not recognize that Jesus is the messiah

sometimes for the things we do not

How could the people of Israel not recognize that the God that brought them out of Egypt was out of this world...

that the God that parted the red sea for them to cross on dry ground was not some gold thing molded into the shape of a calf

the reaction of the people…

when we sit from afar it looks odd to us to think that anyone would create an image to worship

Making a true image of God is impossible

I like cows… maybe not as much as some of you

my love for cattle is strictly a consumption basis

you get a nice t-bone, filet mmmmmmmmm!

I cannot ever imagine getting to the point that I would believe that a statue of one would be God

He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

With whom will you compare God? What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?

There is nothing on the earth or outside of the earth that we can compare the likeness of God

We are made in his image

so should we make a statue of a man and worship that

of course not… how could we worship the image of a sinful being

To worship an image is absurd

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

We see this from our viewpoint now looking back, but what about today

where do we see this more than anything, Catholicism

over in over in the Catholic churches we see images of Jesus, images of the Father that are worshipped.

Popes have claimed that the symbol is just an avenue to get to the heart of worshipping the father or the son

can we not see how absurd that is…

Who would ever tell their spouse that they are in a physical relationship with another person, but only so that their heart will be closer to their spouse

Our hearts are like the Israelites… give us something to worship

Maybe we do not create an image of God… but we hang on to our crosses, we wear them around our necks put them on our vehicles and put them in public places as a statement to the world around us

Not that any of those things are bad in themselves

but our hearts must be guarded… they are not to be an avenue of worship, we do not bow down to a device that was used to torture our Lord!

John Stott’s morning prayer…

Good morning heavenly Father, good morning Lord Jesus, good morning Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.

John Stott’s morning prayer…

Good morning heavenly Father, good morning Lord Jesus, good morning Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.

I love this prayer because it speaks to distinctly about the trinity and who God is

How, when your mind is set like this to God, could you possibly begin to put an image to this God

God is Holy, Just and Good

Holy is a word that we use, a word that the angels cry out in the presence of God, but do we understand the actual meaning of the word

What use is a carved idol

after its craftsman carves it?

It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.

Definition of Holy - The root idea of holiness is that of “separation” or “withdrawal.” It is a divine quality, part of the intrinsic nature of God, but absent from a fallen world

For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it

and makes idols that cannot speak.

there is nothing holy about us separate from God, or anything in this world that is holy

19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!

this world is full of sin… and is powerless compared to God

what power do we really have

our politicians are constantly fighting for power and every election we hear how we need to elect a certain party to power or the country is doomed

scripture is clear, even the leaders of nations only have as much power as God allows

Satan himself only has as much power as God allows

Do you see how different, how set apart and different God is from everything else in creation, how could we ever assign an image to him to worship

or to mute stone: Come alive!

What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all. 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let the whole earth be silent in his presence.

Can it teach?

Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,

yet there is no breath in it at all.

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;

let the whole earth

be silent in his presence.

He is Just and Good

He does not use his power for evil, he repays the sins of those who do not repent

vengeance will be his…

but out of his goodness he makes a way for sinners to spend eternity with him.

Good

Do you see how different, how set apart and different God is from everything else in creation, how could we ever assign an image to him to worship

What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all. 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let the whole earth be silent in his presence.

You wonder, this God of grace and mercy… how upset does this really make him

We kind of roll along after we sin without thinking necessarily about the anger God may have to because of it…

We just hold onto the grace of God… He is loving, merciful, giving grace upon grace...

I mean we are actually talking about putting up an image that we would claim to worship the true God through

The fullness of God indwelled into one man

watch how the story of the Israelites goes…

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” 9 The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

You can read on how Moses stood in the gap and begged for the people to be spared.

7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” 9 The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

that it was about the reputation and the covenant of God and His reputation not the people

His response to this sin, is like the response to all other sin

His wrath… the wrath of God is poured out on sin and those who are sinful

We see it in two ways in scripture

We see the wrath of God poured out on the entirety of the world in as he floods the world because he is grieved at the sinfulness of man

We see it in after the great white throne judgment, in verse 15, those whose names are not written in the lambs book of life will be cast into Hell for all of eternity!

We see it in the crucifixion of Jesus

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

the wrath of God that was owed to you and I was poured out on the Son

That anger that we see in God because of the sin of the Israelites, is the righteous anger, the hatred that he has toward sin.

But because of the power of God, the grave could not hold Jesus!

He was crucified for us, dead and buried, but rose out of that grave

We are getting ready to celebrate that today.

as people come forward to be baptized

tell what a believers baptism is… why we have people helping.

The Second Commandment; Make no Idols

Introduction

Diminishing God

Conceive God Spiritually

Consequences of false worship