You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.“You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor 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:
3 sermons cite this verse
… And the first commandment, Exodus chapter 20, verse 4, says this. 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. 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 fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. the heidelberg catechism lord's day 35 question number 96 you can see in your bulletin summarizes and explains the principles behind this second commandment what is god's will for us that we in no way make any image of god nor worship him in any other way than has been commanded in God's word. I'd like to say it this way this evening, the holy God is jealous for your faithful worship. Let's explain what we mean by that. If we talk about worshiping the living and true God, we are talking about a form of worship that is laid out for us in scripture, not because our God is arbitrary, not because our God loves to set out rules, but because as a jealous God, he wants what is best for his people. He wants to bless us. He wants to feed us. He wants to sustain us week to week as we make pilgrim journeys. And so loving God looks like worshiping him the way that …
… Exodus chapter 20, verses four through six. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 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 to them nor serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. To give you a little bit of a backstory on this text, God had miraculously led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. And it's very interesting theologically to understand they were first redeemed, then God resourced them with how to live. So he said, okay, here's where to walk, And here is how to walk. God had performed all of these feats of strength, you could say, turning the Nile red, sending the ten plagues, water out of a rock, these aren't in specific order, parting of the Red Sea, and leading 2.5 million Jews through the desert. …
there are four classes of sins mentioned here. First, Paul mentions sins of lust—adultery, which violates the most sacred ties—fornication, which defiles the body. Uncleanness, which is secret, not known to others, but which is fully known to God. Fleshly thoughts, fleshly words and fleshly acts—lasciviousness, the outward uncleanness which "society" condemns, yet often practices. He who is doing any of these things is sowing to his flesh and he will, most surely, "of the flesh reap corruption." You who are true Christians, of course, hate all these things, as Jude says, "hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." But mind that you also hate all books in which these things are worked up into attractive narratives, for you cannot even casually glance at such books, much less read them, without polluting your whole being! But as for those who practice these sins, which the Apostle here enumerates, let them not dream that they can be saved while they continue to love that which God hates with a perfect hatred! The next sins in the Apostle's black catalog are idolatry and witchcraft. Idolatry, which is forbidden by the Second Commandment—"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 yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me: and strewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments." To bow in worship before a so-called "altar," or a cross, or an image or picture of a saint, or before a real or supposed "holy" relic, or anything of the kind, is nothing but sheer idolatry! Yet multitudes are committing this great sin under the notion that they are doing God service! There is a form of idolatry which is not so gross as this, yet it is also sinful—the idolatry of loving ourselves, or our wife, or husband, or child, or father, or mother, or sister, or brother more than we love the Lord. …