Command 2

“You shall not make unto you any graven 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:  You shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I Yahuah (Heavenly Father) your Elohim am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;  And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my Commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6.

The 2nd Commandment differs from the 1st in that it explains that in our worship, we must not reduce Elohim (Almighty) to a likeness of a physical object. Doing so is unacceptable to Elohim. This 2nd Command explicitly forbids the use of any type of inanimate or lifeless imagery, “any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,” in the worship of the living Elohim.

Our Creator is a living Elohim, not an inanimate statue, figurine or picture. To make any representation of Him distorts and limits our perception of what He is really like and so damages our relationship with Him.

Not only did Yahuah make humans in His image, He created us to become even more like Him. Being like Elohim and developing His own character in us is what our existence is all about.

In one sense, in the 2nd Commandment Yahauh tells mankind: “Don't try to tell Me what I am like. I will tell you what I am like! It is important that you correctly understand that I will accept no representations of Me.” However, we are not without a perfect pattern of Yahuah's character.

Messiah as a human being so perfectly represented what Yahuah is like that He told His disciples, “He that has seen me has seen the Father…” John 14:9. The time is coming when Yahuah will transform those who have become like Him in heart and truth from a physical to a spiritual existence.

Yahuah holds us accountable for our words and deeds. Bowing before an idol to pay homage to one's own image of Elohim may appear to be an act of great devotion if one is ignorant of Elohim's great purpose for human beings. But Yahuah expects those who worship Him in truth and understanding to demonstrate their love for Him by keeping His Commandments from the heart, not by going through useless rites in front of any object. Messiah made this clear when He said, “Yahuah is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” - John 4:24.

We are not to worship Elohim with images and meaningless rituals.

Messiah explained that “the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” - John 4:23.

Once we gain an understanding of Yahuah's revelation, He holds us accountable for what we know. Only those who do what they learn they should do are true worshipers of Elohim (Romans 2:13; James 1:22-25).

The apostle John was clear, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” -1 John 2:4. Obeying Elohim is worshiping Him by emulating Him, by thinking and living as He would. We allow Him to spiritually fashion us into His likeness. We honour and praise Him by the way we live.

A physical image, painting or picture of a deity has neither life nor power. He asks that we read about Him, learn what He is like and emulate Him. Yahuah wanted the Israelites to remember that they were to worship the living Elohim, not an idol, and always to direct their worship toward their Creator and never toward objects within His creation. He commanded them, “Take heed unto yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahuah your Elohim, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything, which Yahuah your Elohim has forbidden you” - Deuteronomy 4:23.

Idolatry in any form is soundly condemned in the New Testament as well as the Old. Paul warned others, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” - 1 Corinthians 10:14.

Buried deep within icons and the other imagery of idolatry, the unseen hand of Satan is at work. Satan conditions people to visualize in their mind's eye even the Son of Yahuah as a lifeless, inanimate image.

Satan's object is to divert attention from Messiah as the vibrant and perfect living image of the living Creator described in the four Gospels. By blinding most of mankind (Revelation 12:9) to the importance of Yahuah's Commandments, Satan has successfully deflected much of the Believer world's professed adoration for Messiah toward icons and pictures contrary to the clear instruction of the 2nd Commandment.

The 2nd Commandment reminds us that Yahuah is far greater than anything we can see or imagine. We must never let that knowledge be pushed aside by the use of some image or likeness in our worship of Yahuah.