July 31, 2018

The One True God

“You shall not make for yourself any 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, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”  Ex. 20:4-6

If we read carefully, we find that four elements make up this principle:

q  Do not have any other gods;

q  Do not make images of other gods;

q  Do not worship or serve other gods; and,

q  There are consequences for obedience and disobedience.

We may find no need to focus on the first of these four elements, but the Israelites of that era certainly needed the instruction.  They were surrounded by cultures that worshipped countless gods, and the Hebrew people believed there were other gods.  Yahweh was being as clear as He could in stating He was to be Israel’s One and Only God. 

It is interesting, if not fascinating, to see that God continues.  This is because He knows human nature.  His next statement instructs the people not to make any carved image or likeness of anything that could be a god or symbolize a god that would come from heaven, in the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.  God is telling His people that, in essence, any attempt to replicate in image who God is would be both insufficient (as God is not physical, but Spiritual) and – would feed human nature’s desire to worship what was created.  So, the Lord cuts off the Israelites at the start by telling them not to bother even making these images (or what we might call icons). 

Let’s pause for a moment and think about the religious symbols, images, and icons that we have encountered in our walk of faith.  Such symbols can create division – even within the Church!  It has fostered denominational disagreements and done a disservice to the Church that Jesus spoke of, built, and prayed for. 

Contrast those religious symbols with what was built and placed in the Tabernacle.  Not one item was a carved image or representation of Himself.  There were altars, arks, tables, lampstands and the like.  None of those items were designed to represent God.  They did however, play a significant role in learning about God and how to be in relationship with Him – pointing forward to the time of Jesus Christ.

Next is the third component of this principle: do not worship any such images.  This is idolatry and idolatry denies there is one true God.  As a point of emphasis, God states why idolatry is not part of His plan for His people: “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”  The word jealous in Hebrew is “qanna.”  It more appropriately means passion and intensity.  As it is used in this verse, we see that God is an intensely passionate God.  Who is He passionate for?  His chosen ones!  He wants us to be intensely passionate for Him.