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 for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:Thou shalt not make unto 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 water under the earth:Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing 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
the problem, the problem is not the physical thing. The problem is who worships it. And that's why the second commandment tells us in Exodus 20 verse four, it says, you must not make for yourselves an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heaven or on the earth or in the sea. Verse five, why? You must not bow down to them or worship them. that's what he wants he doesn't want you to worship them he said for the lord the lord your god i'm a jealous god who will not tolerate listen this your affection for any other god some of y'all are too deep right now your car can be an idol you wash it clean it get tune-ups on it spend thousands of dollars on it you spend hours and hours making sure it's buffed just in case it rains you built a carport for it you did all of these different things for something you're going to trade in five years from now but your spirit man you won't even give five minutes to. What I'm saying is it's not what your idol is. It's that you are worshiping it. …
… Exodus chapter 20, the second commandment starts in verse 4, following that great promise and gospel history lesson at the beginning of the commandments. 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 …
… There is nothing that we can come up with that communicates the majesty of our maker. Exodus chapter 20, verses 4 through 6. And this text is pregnant with power and theology. 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. …