They omit this commandment and separate the tenth commandment into two in their canon. It is important to note that the practice of statue/effigy inspired worship is so widespread in that church that the Catholics have a different ten commandments. If it was a choice between going with what a denomination states and going with what is in the bible, then I would choose the inspired, infallible word of God every single time. That is simply what is being said here.Īgain I would not lump one group or denomination as a “stock lot”, whilst there are folks within that denomination who use the “holy statues” as an aid to prayer (and in some cases pray to specific ones such as the Virgin Mary and certain Saints) this is not true for all members of this denomination. They should not be in place of God, they should not be used to imitate God or images used to glorify a created being or replace God. Really what I am trying to state is that it is how it is on the page that we should not be making things in order to worship them. Just because I have never seen the point of giving glory, worship or honor to an inanimate object, that is not to say that others would not have that same conviction. Like so many other contentious topics in the bible it is all about the heart of the person who is reading it. I have never had the compulsion to bow down and worship them though! This is not talking about art I have been in art galleries in both Scotland and England and have had a decent appreciation for both the sculptures, pottery, statues, canvas artwork and all other artifacts. This is summed up beautifully in Exodus chapter 32, when Moses comes of the mountain and his people are worshipping a golden calf! While he was up on the mountain the children of Israel coerced Aaron into agreeing to melt all the jewelry and make an idol. God is monotheistic (means we have to be worshipping him and him alone) and jealous, we were created to worship him, to do so is to fulfil our purpose here on earth. We are not to create anything to worship. We looked at the idea of idols in the last article, in this command God makes it plain what he means as far as idols are concerned. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. God continues with commandment two of the ten in verse four:Įxodus 20:4 (ESV) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. We pick up the account in the fourth verse of chapter twenty where we see the second of the Ten Commandments. The first tablet contains the instructions for man’s relationship with God. Moses receives these words from God on top of the mountain and he receives the commands on two tablets. This is a series on the “Decalogue” or “Ten Commandments” these are found in the second book of the bible Exodus in chapter 20.
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