In this second teaching in the Ten Commandments Series by God Honest Truth, we conduct an examination of the Second Commandment, focusing on the theological, historical, and linguistic implications of the biblical prohibition against graven images and idolatry.
This lesson will explore the Hebrew terms pesel (פֶּסֶל) and temunah (תְּמוּנָה) and their meanings, nuances, and contextual usage in the Hebrew Bible. We will examine the distinction between the First and Second Commandments, and why the Second is not merely a reiteration, but a deepening of the covenantal boundary regarding the worship of Yahweh. You will learn modern equivalents of idolatry and how contemporary believers may unintentionally violate this command through conceptual or representational distortions of the divine.
This is not merely a prohibition against sculpture—it is a mandate that God must be worshiped as He truly is, not as He is imagined to be. Join us for a biblically grounded, historically informed, and theologically rich study designed to deepen your understanding of divine worship and the spiritual significance of this often misunderstood commandment.
So join us as we learn the God Honest Truth about the second of the ten commandments. And don’t forget to subscribe to follow the full Ten Commandments series and be equipped to walk in deeper obedience to God’s revealed Word.
#SecondCommandment #TenCommandments #Idolatry #BiblicalStudies #Torah #Exodus20 #GodHonestTruth #HebrewBible #OldTestamentTheology
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God Honest Truth is a Messianic Ministry based in Western North Carolina. Our goal is to teach the truths of Yahweh’s word to anyone seeking to further their education and walk in faith. We believe in the inerrancy of scripture and that scripture alone, not any church decree or any word of man, can define what is and is not salvation. We will always strive to do Biblical things in Biblical ways instead of allowing the traditions of men to get in the way of scripture.
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The information and content in this content is for documentary, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Imitation or the use of any acts depicted in this content is solely AT YOUR OWN RISK. We (including but not limited to YouTube, LBRY, Rumble, BitChute, etc) will not be held liable for any injury to yourself or damage that may occur resulting from attempting anything shown in any of our content. We do not endorse any specific product and this content is not an attempt
This lesson will explore the Hebrew terms pesel (פֶּסֶל) and temunah (תְּמוּנָה) and their meanings, nuances, and contextual usage in the Hebrew Bible. We will examine the distinction between the First and Second Commandments, and why the Second is not merely a reiteration, but a deepening of the covenantal boundary regarding the worship of Yahweh. You will learn modern equivalents of idolatry and how contemporary believers may unintentionally violate this command through conceptual or representational distortions of the divine.
This is not merely a prohibition against sculpture—it is a mandate that God must be worshiped as He truly is, not as He is imagined to be. Join us for a biblically grounded, historically informed, and theologically rich study designed to deepen your understanding of divine worship and the spiritual significance of this often misunderstood commandment.
So join us as we learn the God Honest Truth about the second of the ten commandments. And don’t forget to subscribe to follow the full Ten Commandments series and be equipped to walk in deeper obedience to God’s revealed Word.
#SecondCommandment #TenCommandments #Idolatry #BiblicalStudies #Torah #Exodus20 #GodHonestTruth #HebrewBible #OldTestamentTheology
Video Chapters:
Article Post:
https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/2025/05/16/how-is-the-2nd-commandment-different-from-the-1st-god-honest-truth-live-stream-05-16-2025/
God Honest Truth is a Messianic Ministry based in Western North Carolina. Our goal is to teach the truths of Yahweh’s word to anyone seeking to further their education and walk in faith. We believe in the inerrancy of scripture and that scripture alone, not any church decree or any word of man, can define what is and is not salvation. We will always strive to do Biblical things in Biblical ways instead of allowing the traditions of men to get in the way of scripture.
https://www.GodHonestTruth.com
Team@GodHonestTruth.com
Donations:
Buy Me a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GodHonestTruth
Ko-fi:
https://ko-fi.com/godhonesttruth
Social Media Links:
https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/connect-socially/
######################################
Disclaimer
######################################
The information and content in this content is for documentary, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Imitation or the use of any acts depicted in this content is solely AT YOUR OWN RISK. We (including but not limited to YouTube, LBRY, Rumble, BitChute, etc) will not be held liable for any injury to yourself or damage that may occur resulting from attempting anything shown in any of our content. We do not endorse any specific product and this content is not an attempt
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LearningTranscript
00:00The second commandment.
00:03We think it's all straightforward and it's easy to understand and we can just take it
00:09as it comes off those first few words to us.
00:12But there's a lot more involved than just a graven image.
00:16There's a lot more that goes into it and there's a lot more of the nuance.
00:21So make sure to stay tuned for this particular episode and this study on the second commandment
00:27as it regards idols and graven images.
00:48So this teaching is going to be all about the second commandment as the second episode
00:53in a series on the 10 commandments.
00:56And this second commandment, this second episode is going to be all about not having
01:00any idols, any graven images or likenesses and stuff like that.
01:05So if you would like to know more or if you need more notes than what we give you here,
01:10go to our website at godhonesttruth.com, click on the post for this episode, you'll be able
01:17to find the on-demand video that you're seeing here.
01:20If you're watching on a video service, you'll be able to see the draw slides that you see
01:23here on your screen.
01:24You'll also be able to find the notes that we took for this episode and you'll be able
01:29to find the transcript if that so helps you.
01:32So go check it out today at godhonesttruth.com or go down below in the description and we've
01:38provided for you a convenient link to take you directly to that article post on godhonesttruth.com
01:44and the link in the description should be there whether you're watching on a video platform
01:49or an audio podcasting platform.
01:52So getting right into it, second commandment, number two, quote, you do not make for yourself
01:58a carved image or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above or which is in the
02:03earth beneath or which is in the waters under the earth, you do not bow down to them nor
02:08serve them.
02:09Now here is your King James rendition for those of you like me who grew up with a King
02:17James background, thou shalt not make into thee any graven image or any likeness of anything
02:24that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water
02:28under the earth.
02:29Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them.
02:33Now it seems a little confusing or I'm sorry, it seems rather straightforward when you just
02:37read it out loud and take it directly for what it is, but it can get kind of confusing
02:43if you take this verse and this commandment in the context of the entire scriptures.
02:48The command itself, like I said, comes from Exodus chapter 20, verses four through six.
02:55And we just read this and we're going to read it again.
02:57The whole thing in context from the scriptures 2009 translation, quote, you do not make for
03:03yourself a carved image or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above or which
03:08is in the earth beneath or which is in the waters under the earth.
03:12You do not bow down to them nor serve them for I Yahweh, your Elohim am a jealous L visiting
03:18the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those
03:23who hate me, but showing loving commitment to thousands to those who love me and guard
03:29my commands.
03:31And that comes from Exodus chapter 20 verses four through six.
03:34You can also find the 10 commandments reiterated in the book of Deuteronomy as well.
03:40So here you've got a lot going into this one commandment.
03:44You've got images, you've got likenesses, you've got bowing down, you've got worshiping,
03:47you've got blessings and curses, you've got all kinds of stuff.
03:51And we're going to go over these various points as we go through this particular teaching
03:57or dross.
03:58Now, a lot of people kind of combine the first and second commandments.
04:05So in one sense, they are distinct from one another.
04:09But in another sense, they're not really distinct from one another.
04:12In the first commandment, you have no other gods before me.
04:15And the second commandment is idols and you're not supposed to have any idols, anything like
04:20that.
04:21So is this really one commandment altogether?
04:25Or is this two different commandments?
04:27Well, it really comes from which tradition that you come from.
04:31If you're like me and you come from a Protestant background, then you have them just like we've
04:37had been presenting them.
04:40With verse three being the first commandment and verses four through six being the second
04:46commandment.
04:47However, if you're of the Jewish faith, or more specifically, Orthodox Judaism, then
04:56the first commandment is going to be in verse two, and that's going to be, apparently they
05:02consider it a command, I am the Lord thy God.
05:05I mean, take that for you will, agree or disagree, that's not really the point of this dross.
05:10This is what they consider as the first commandment.
05:12And then the second commandment, they combine what we Protestants would refer to as the
05:18first and second.
05:19So their second commandment in Judaism or Orthodox Judaism would be verses three through
05:24six.
05:25Now the Samaritans, or the Samaritan way of calculating the Ten Commandments, the Catholic
05:32way, the Lutheranism way, they combine the first and second together as the first command.
05:40So the first command for the Samaritans, Catholics, and Lutherans would be verses three through
05:45six.
05:47So is what we consider from the Protestant background, is the first and second commandment
05:55distinct from one another, or are they the same, or do they go together?
06:00Well, the whole Bible goes together, obviously, but the first and second, I would say is different.
06:05I would say that it really is distinct from the first commandment.
06:10The first commandment forbids you from worshiping or serving other gods.
06:15This isn't really a, as we went over last week, it's not per se like a physical, tangible
06:22thing like a golden statue or golden calf, things like that.
06:26It's more of the concept of what is master and God and Lord over your life.
06:32The second commandment forbids worshiping Yahweh in a false way.
06:38And this is particularly speaking about graven images and likenesses and things like that.
06:44Icons, as it were.
06:47Now don't take that too far right now.
06:51We're going to go into the nuances of that because it doesn't mean no pictures whatsoever.
06:56You can't take a Polaroid.
06:58It doesn't mean that, and we'll get into more of that in just a minute.
07:02But as far as the distinctions go, think of it like this.
07:05If the first commandment says, don't marry anyone else, like if we're going back to the
07:10whole marriage analogy thing, and the first commandment says, don't marry someone else,
07:15well then the second commandment is more like, don't misrepresent your spouse.
07:20And that's really what the heart of the second commandment comes down to is how Yahweh is
07:27being represented.
07:31And we're not to do that with images, with icons, with idols, with whatever, with sculptures.
07:42We're not to do that.
07:44That's what he's telling us here.
07:45And there's a whole lot more that goes into that, and we'll get to it here in just a minute.
07:48But just take it for what it is, that the second commandment as we're presenting it,
07:53and as we see it, is different from the first.
07:56It's distinct from the first.
07:58If you disagree, that's fine.
08:00Like I said, we're still brothers and sisters in Messiah.
08:03We're not going to anathematize you.
08:05We're not going to excommunicate you.
08:08That's fine.
08:09We can disagree on things like this and still break bed and fellowship and support each other.
08:14So you decide for yourselves.
08:17Now the second commandment, like we said, it is really dealing with sculptures and idols
08:23and things like that.
08:25Things made by hands.
08:28And it prohibits the physical representation of Yahweh himself.
08:34And we get into different words here.
08:36Get real nerdy like I like to do.
08:39But here in this second commandment, we have two different Hebrew words we're going to
08:43pay attention to here.
08:44The first one is going to be Strong's 8-6-4-5-9.
08:49That's the Hebrew word pesel, pesel.
08:53And that means a carved, sculpted, or engraved image.
08:57The second Hebrew word we're going to be looking at is Strong's 8-8-5-4-4.
09:04And that is the Hebrew word temunah, temunah, or temunah.
09:11You'll see here it's spelled two different ways, but it's temunah.
09:14And that means like a likeness or some sort of representation.
09:19And we don't want to take and make any sort of image or likeness or sculpture or idol
09:26and say that is Yahweh.
09:29That is what Yahweh looks like.
09:30That is where Yahweh resides.
09:32None of that.
09:34And all these things and everything is talking about here in the second commandment includes
09:39any visible attempt to portray Yahweh, whether it's as statues, drawings, pictures, symbols,
09:46whatever, that's used as part of a religious worship or service toward Yahweh.
09:54That's not what we're supposed to be doing.
09:55We're not supposed to say, hey, that's where Yahweh lives.
09:58That is a representation of Yahweh because that's the kind of thing that pagan cultures
10:04did, pagan societies.
10:06And we are not to worship Yahweh in the way the pagans worship their gods.
10:11For the nerds of you out there like me, here is your lexicon and dictionary entries for
10:17Pesel.
10:18And that's again Strong's 8-6-4-5-9 Pesel.
10:23You look at Strong's definition, idol, carved image, Groundriver Biggs, idol image, Thessalianus'
10:30Hebrew lexicon is graven image of an idol made of wood, molten image.
10:34And here's something that's really caught my attention going over it this week and putting
10:39together the research and the information is that you'll see here when we read the second
10:45commandment, we usually think of chiseling out of wood or chiseling out of stone, things
10:51like that.
10:53But we really don't consider like a molten image.
10:57And there is actually times in scripture where this word is used of a molten image, not just
11:02something that's formed by a hammer or something that's actually poured and molten.
11:08We'll get into that in just a moment.
11:10But here is your Jastral's dictionary of the Targums.
11:13Pretty much the same thing as image and idol, Klein's dictionary, an image, an idol.
11:19And I also listed out for you the various verses here where you can find this word being
11:24used in scripture itself, if that's hopefully something that helps you out there.
11:30And speaking of being used in the context of something that is molten and not just something
11:34that is carved or beaten or hammered or something like that.
11:38Look at Isaiah chapter 40, verses 18 through 19.
11:43And to whom would you liken El?
11:46And what likeness would you compare to him?
11:49The workman molds a graven image and the goldsmith overspreads it with gold and the
11:55silversmith cast silver chains.
11:59Now here, this first word that I emphasize, that word molds is Strong's H5258, Nasak.
12:09And that literally means like an image of something being poured out, especially something
12:14like a libation, something that's being cast or melted, things like that, like liquid metal
12:20being molded, like molten metal.
12:24So here is this graven image.
12:26This cell is being used in reference to something that's being molten.
12:30So that was kind of interesting.
12:33Hopefully you did as well.
12:35And then we go on and we look at Tamuna or Tamana and that is Strong's H544.
12:43Here you've got Strong's definition, meaning something portioned, it's shaped, it's embodied.
12:48I'm sorry.
12:49It's an embodiment of something else, a phantom, a manifestation, image likeness, similitude,
12:55run driver bricks, print the same thing, likeness, form, representation, semblance.
13:01Went on to Jesenius' Hebrew lexicon, meaning this Tamuna, meaning appearance or form image,
13:07Jastrell's meaning form or shape, Klein Dictionary, defining it as likeness, image, form, description,
13:13image, geometric figure.
13:15And once again, I have looked up various verses that you can find this word being used in
13:20scripture.
13:21So going on from the nerdy part, let's look at some possible reasoning for why it is that
13:27we have the second commandment at all.
13:30Well, obviously it's because Yahweh is incomparable to anything that we can see, anything that
13:36we can create, or anything that we can imagine.
13:40He's just that great and awesome and so far above us.
13:46As scripture tells us that no man has seen Yahweh and lived.
13:51Moses saw his back, various things like that, and there's been representations as when he's
13:58spoken through the angel of the Lord, but no one has actually ever seen Yahweh.
14:03So no one actually knows exactly what Yahweh looks like.
14:09As such, we really cannot, in addition to should not, make idols or representations
14:16of Yahweh himself.
14:18Also, Yahweh cannot be reduced in any way to a form or a likeness of anything again
14:26that we could make or shape or think of or imagine.
14:30The images that we might produce, something like that, it would unfortunately shape our
14:39conception of Yahweh himself and it would eventually replace our real thoughts of Yahweh
14:47and what he has or how he has revealed himself in scripture.
14:50They would replace our concept of Yahweh with the imagined or the created.
14:56When Yahweh is not created, Yahweh is uncreated and eternal.
15:01And even if intended as a representation of Yahweh, image-based worship quickly devolves
15:07into worship of the image itself, idolatry.
15:11The biggest and most prominent example that comes into at least my mind and probably your
15:16mind out there as well is the example of the golden calf.
15:20I won't read it to you because you probably know it by heart already, but if you want
15:24to look it up for yourself, it's Exodus chapter 32 verses 1 through 25.
15:29That's the incident with the golden calf.
15:31But in a nutshell, what the people did is when they were at the base of Mount Sinai,
15:36Moses had went up to receive the two stone tablets and the Ten Commandments, the Torah.
15:43While he was up there for so long, the people thought something had happened to him.
15:46They thought he had died and they thought they needed a mediator.
15:52So they did what they were used to back in Egypt.
15:57They created an idol.
15:58They created this golden calf and they said, behold, your God who delivered you from Egypt.
16:06And they were going to party and feast and sacrifice to it.
16:11And they talked Aaron into it and this did not turn out well for them.
16:16They were trying to worship and serve Yahweh in the way of the pagan Egyptians.
16:25And this did not turn out well for them.
16:28It's a lesson for all of us.
16:30We should not do things our way.
16:32We should not do things according to the traditions of the world.
16:38We should do things according to scripture.
16:42And what is scripture?
16:43It's the word of Yahweh.
16:44What he tells us to do and how to do it.
16:48That's how we should worship and serve Yahweh.
16:53And the Egyptians weren't just the only ones having an influence over the Hebrews or the
17:02nation of Israel.
17:03There were other nations all around too.
17:05And that's part of the reason I would say for the Second Commandments itself is the
17:10context of the nations that surrounded them pretty much their whole life, their whole
17:16existence.
17:17Even today with the Arabs, I'm sorry, the Muslims that are surrounding them even today.
17:25But back in the day, the pagan nations, they had their idols, they had their statues, and
17:30they believed that these idols, these statues that they'd created were the dwelling places
17:36of their gods.
17:38Their gods would actually live inside the statues that they made.
17:42And they could go and they could talk to the statue, they could hold it, kiss it, things
17:45like that.
17:46Like you do with, or like you see with Catholics nowadays, kissing the feet of Jupiter, the
17:52statues of Jupiter in the Vatican.
17:56They thought that their gods back then actually lived in these statues.
18:00And this is not how we are to think about and serve and worship Yahweh himself.
18:06That is the pagan way of doing things.
18:10Yahweh reveals himself in word through his scripture, through the revelations that he
18:17has given us, and he hasn't revealed himself through form.
18:22We know him by his attributes, what he has said, what he has done, the miracles, but
18:28not any physical representation.
18:30That's what's going back to the heart of the Second Commandment.
18:35You look at Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 15 through 19.
18:40Therefore, diligently guard yourselves, for you saw no form when Yahweh spoke to you at
18:46Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you should do corruptly and shall make for yourselves
18:52a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness
18:56of any beast that is on the earth, or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in
19:01the heavens, the likeness of any creature that creeps on the ground, or the likeness
19:05of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
19:08And lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and shall see the sun and the moon and the
19:12stars, all the hosts of the heavens, and you be drawn away into bowing down to them and
19:19serving them, which Yahweh your Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under all the
19:24heavens.
19:26Here's another point.
19:27A lot of the sun-worshipping pagan cultures around them would look up and they would see
19:33the stars, they would see the moon, they would see the sun, and they would think of these
19:39as gods.
19:40I mean, after all, we refer to it as sun-god worship, because usually the sun was the chief
19:48god in these pagan cultures.
19:53And that's not so.
19:55Sun representations, or even things you see in the heavens, cannot contain or accurately
20:00represent all of Yahweh.
20:03Those are things He created, and Yahweh is uncreated.
20:06Israel, on the other hand, Yahweh's people, those of us who have joined ourselves to Him
20:14to devote ourselves to Him, we are Israel.
20:18And Israel was unique.
20:19They were the only nation without a divine image, or idol, in the temple, in the Holy
20:26of Holies.
20:27Now, of course, when Antiochus IV came in, they put the statue of Zeus in the temple,
20:33but that was all defilement.
20:35That wasn't according to Torah.
20:38It wasn't according to Scripture.
20:40So Israel was unique, and they were to be unique, and that sense of unique is what we
20:47call set-apart, and the Hebrew word for set-apart is translated into our English word, holy.
20:55Holy means set-apart.
20:56So by being set-apart, by being holy, that means doing what Yahweh says, not having any
21:02graven images or likenesses.
21:07The second commandment also reflects covenant loyalty.
21:10We looked at a little bit last time about how our relationship with Yahweh is like a
21:17marriage relationship, where we are the bride, we are the wife, and Yahweh is the husband.
21:25And having other gods is spiritual idolatry, I'm sorry, spiritual adultery.
21:30What goes on in idols and graven images are pretty much the same thing.
21:34They're still spiritual adultery.
21:37The phrase, I am a jealous God, when we look at the second commandment, especially verse
21:41five, it reveals a marital or covenantal context.
21:46Idolatry, again, like we looked at last time, throughout Scripture, idolatry is oftentimes
21:53equated with spiritual adultery.
21:56And Yahweh's desire for us and towards us is for us to be exclusive towards Him, to
22:02be faithful towards Him, like a good, faithful wife would be toward her husband.
22:10And the second commandment also includes a warning and a blessing.
22:16We look at the specific parts here from the second commandment, but showing loving commitment
22:21to thousands, to those who love me and guard my commands.
22:27This reflects generational consequences of idolatry.
22:32And so you get the generational blessings there, and that mixed around.
22:37Anyways, yep, you get the generational blessings there, and it doesn't mean because I do good
22:44and follow the commandments that my children will automatically have everything they've
22:48ever wanted.
22:49No, something like that is probably going to mean more along the context of, if I do
22:53good and I am blessed, that sets my children up ahead of the crowd for other things in
23:00life.
23:01It gives them a step up.
23:03Likewise, we look at the other part, the curses, I'm sorry, the warning or the curses.
23:09We read in verse six, for I, Yahweh, your Elohim, am a jealous El, visiting the crookedness
23:16of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
23:21showing loving commitment to thousands, to those who love me and guard my commands.
23:25So once again, to break this commandment, and especially this commandment, but all other
23:31the commandments as well, here we're just talking about the second one, but this also
23:35comes with a generational cursing.
23:38Now, once again, just because say I, as a father, do wrong, I break the commandments
23:44that my children are therefore automatically going to be punished for my sins.
23:49When we went over the episode on original sin, we saw for ourselves from scripture that
23:56other people are not punished or judged for the sins of others.
24:03However, just like the blessing part, the context here I would put forth is that the
24:10curse or the warning part and the visiting of the crookedness would be such that if I
24:16do wrong, I break the commandments, and I am cursed or punished for breaking that, that
24:23my children and the generations after me will automatically be set back because of how low
24:30in life I was.
24:31Is that making sense?
24:32Hopefully I'm explaining that like I'm thinking of it, but that's what I'm thinking of.
24:37My children are not going to be punished for my sins, but they're going to be in a situation
24:41that was created because of what I did right or what I did wrong, and that's the context
24:46I think is going on here with this whole warning and blessing of the second commandment.
24:52Now, as you think about this whole image of Yahweh, this whole sculpture, this whole graven
25:00idols, things like that, one thing that might come to mind is the concept and the thought
25:08of Messiah, because it does say that Messiah was the image of Yahweh himself.
25:16Look at Colossians chapter 115, for instance, where it uses that very particular language
25:22that Messiah is the image of the invisible God, but this doesn't mean that Messiah was
25:29a sculpture or a graven image.
25:32No, in context, what it's resembling in context, what Colossians 115 is referring to here is
25:41the representation, how Yahweh interacts, how he treats people, how he acts himself,
25:52the miracles he performs, what he does for others.
25:56That's the kind of representation and the kind of image that Yeshua put out, the representation
26:02that he put out, not the actual physical representation of Yahweh.
26:09In fact, Messiah makes known Yahweh through his person and work, not by encouraging or
26:16portraying a visual iconography.
26:20We looked at, I'm sorry, let's look at John chapter 14, verse 9.
26:24Yeshua said, ìHe who has seen me has seen the Father.î Now this Greek word that's used
26:30here for ìseenî can also be translated, and validly so, as ìdiscernedî and some
26:36other things as well.
26:37But we take this as ìdiscernedî, and Yeshua would be saying in another way of translating
26:43that, ìHe who has discerned me has discerned the Father.î
26:48Now obviously, you make your own decisions, once again, and come to your own conclusions
26:53about the Godhead, but we don't hold to Yeshua being the Father himself.
26:59We hold that Yeshua is different than the Father.
27:04So just because he says that ìhe who has seen me has seen the Fatherî doesn't mean
27:08that he who has seen Yeshua has seen the Father because Yeshua is the Father.
27:12No.
27:13What he's saying here is, if you have discerned and understood Yeshua the Son, then you have
27:19discerned and understood the character and the representation of the Father.
27:25That's what he's really getting at, or that's what we would put forth that he's really getting
27:29at here.
27:31But this whole concept of the second commandment, not having any graven images or likenesses
27:37and stuff like that, also portrays the concept of having right worship, and right worship
27:44requires right representation.
27:48You see that true worship must be, number one, based on revelation and not our own imagination.
27:55How has Yahweh revealed himself, not how have we imagined Yahweh to be.
28:02True worship should be spirit-led and truth-centered.
28:05As Yeshua himself said in John 4, verse 24, ìElohim is spirit, and those who worship
28:11him need to worship in spirit and truth.î We cannot worship him in truth.
28:18If we have an idol, if we have a graven image, because, number one, he said don't do that.
28:24Number two, there's no possible way we could ever accurately or even close to accurately
28:30capture what Yahweh actually looks like or represent Yahweh in anything close to the
28:36way he actually is.
28:39And finally, true worship must be faithful to Yahweh's self-disclosure in scripture.
28:45It goes back to that very first one.
28:47It should be according to Yahweh's self-disclosure is revelation of himself and not our own imaginings.
28:57Now in the spirit of full disclosure, some of you out there may be thinking of some verses
29:02in your head.
29:03You were already thinking of this when you heard what this episode was going to be about.
29:10And we're going to address these right now.
29:12You may be thinking to yourself, okay, well, the second commandment says do not make or
29:17have any graven images or sculptures or things like that.
29:23But what about those times when we are actually commanded to make graven images or sculptures
29:31or things like that?
29:32Take, for instance, the Ark, the Ark of the Covenant.
29:39And on top of the Ark of the Covenant was the Lid of Atonement.
29:44We look at Exodus chapter 25 verses 17 through 22.
29:49And here is the relevant portion for our discussion this evening.
29:54Here we see that it's referencing the Lid of Atonement and Yahweh says, and you shall
29:59make two cherubim of gold, make them of beaten work at the two ends of the Lid of Atonement
30:06and make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end, make the cherubim
30:11from the Lid of Atonement at its two ends.
30:15So here we see Yahweh himself commanding the design of the Lid of Atonement.
30:21And he's saying, put these two, what we call angels, a type of angel on either end of this
30:28lid.
30:29Okay.
30:30Well, that is a sculpture that has been graven and it's a, what'd you call it?
30:39A representation of something that's in the heavens, right?
30:44So how does this jive with the second commandment or remember, we'll go back to second commandment.
30:51This is all about how we relate to Yahweh and trying to make any kind of image or representation
30:58or idol of Yahweh is to put it softly and fuzzy.
31:05It is disrespectful.
31:08Now we don't want to do like the pagans did and make an idol and say, this is Yahweh or
31:13Yahweh lives here because that is forbidden, but we could make things like we see here.
31:20We see in scripture itself, we can make things of other representations like representation
31:25or a sculpture of a carob of a, or a cherub, however you want to spell it, of a type of
31:32angel.
31:33And that is not breaking the commandment.
31:35So we see Yahweh commanding it, but it's not a representation of Yahweh.
31:40And we're certainly not going to worship and bow down to it.
31:44We're just going to put it up there for pretty much decoration.
31:48And because Yahweh said to do it on the Lid of Atonement, but this isn't the only place
31:54where we see sculptures and things like that, or carvings in scripture that are being done
32:02and produced by the righteous.
32:04We look at the temple of Solomon in first Kings chapter six, verses 23 through 35.
32:12And here are the relevant parts.
32:15And he made two cherubim again, cherubim of olive wood, and these are going to be really
32:20big ones.
32:21Okay.
32:22And then he overlaid the cherubim with gold and he carved all the walls of the house all
32:26around both inside and outside with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open
32:32flowers.
32:33And he carved on them figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers and overlaid
32:38them with gold.
32:40Now here it's not just cherubim that he's creating images of, or it's not just cherubim
32:48he's making graven images with.
32:50He's doing the cherubim, which is a heavenly thing.
32:55He's also doing palm trees, which is an earthly thing in the earth and open flowers.
33:01So again, these are things that are okay to do because they are not objects of worship.
33:07We're not going to bow down and serve them.
33:09And we're certainly not even going to think about claiming that is any sort of representation
33:16of Yahweh.
33:18One more that I'm going to bring up real quick here too, another example of a sculpture or
33:25a graven image, if you would say, but this is the famous bronze serpent that Moses made
33:32while they were in the desert.
33:33This comes from Numbers chapter 21 verses six through nine, and here are just the relevant
33:39parts.
33:40Yahweh said to Moshe, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole and it shall be that
33:46everyone who is bitten when he looks at it shall live.
33:50So Moshe made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole and it came to be if a serpent had
33:56bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
34:02Once again, let's think about the context here and how it relates to the second commandment.
34:08This bronze serpent is not being bowed down to, it's not being worshiped, it's not being
34:14served, and it's not being spoken of as a representation of Yahweh or somewhere that
34:21Yahweh lives.
34:22So again, this is okay, and that's how this whole thing of making these statues like the
34:29bronze serpent, like the cherubim on the Little Atonement and in the temple, how all of this
34:34is okay because it's not being worshiped and served, it's not being represented as a representation
34:42of Yahweh.
34:44So that's how it all jives.
34:47I certainly hope I have not confused anyone with my wordplay here, but yeah, it's all
34:53about worship and service and the devotion that you put to it and who you say that's
34:59representing.
35:00It shouldn't be representing anything, it should just be for decoration.
35:04So anyways, going on and looking at the summary of this particular drash or teaching, we see
35:15that at least in our opinion, there is a distinction between the second commandment and the first
35:22commandment.
35:23The first is who you worship, being no other gods, and the second is more related to how
35:30you worship.
35:31Some people who are lacking brain cells might worship an idol, but pretty much the second
35:39commandment is dealing with how you worship.
35:42The second commandment is a prohibition of the physical representation of Yahweh because
35:48Yahweh cannot be physically represented in any way.
35:54There's absolutely no way we could ever even come close to accurately representing him
35:58in some sort of physical manner.
36:01The second commandment prohibits creating or using physical objects or images to represent
36:06Yahweh.
36:07The second commandment is about Yahweh's invisibility and incomparability.
36:13And once again, we don't know what he looks like, we can't see him, so there's no way
36:17we can actually ever physically represent him.
36:20Yahweh cannot be seen or shaped in any attempt to depict him.
36:25It really does limit Yahweh.
36:28We cannot put him in a box, we cannot put him in an idol, we cannot put him in any kind
36:33of constraint because Yahweh created the universe.
36:39Think about that.
36:40How is something we make with our hands going to come anywhere close to representing Yahweh?
36:47Our worship must align with Yahweh's self-revelation, not our own imaginings.
36:54If we make any kind of idols or graven images, things like that, often and pretty much always
37:00lead to idolatry, even if it's something that's unintended.
37:04Even images of Yahweh, like the golden calf that we looked at, distort who Yahweh actually
37:10is, and he says, do not worship me in the way the pagans worship their gods.
37:16Humans tend to transfer reverence to the image itself, and this is another thing that we
37:21didn't hit on and we should have, is that if you have an idol, you start thinking more
37:26of your reverence towards the idol than the actual God itself.
37:31Then you start thinking the actual idol is the God, and it gets all sorts of confusing,
37:37and that's something that the second commandment is there to prohibit and prevent.
37:44The surrounding cultures, we looked at that a little bit, they had all sorts of images
37:48and idols and things like that, but in pagan cultures, these idols were thought of to be
37:54the dwelling place of their particular gods, and it really depends on which pagan culture
37:59you're talking about, because once again, some pagan cultures worship the things in
38:04the heavens, like the sun, moon, and stars, so this really depends on which god and which
38:09pagan culture you're speaking about and which context.
38:14We also saw, and know not just from the second commandment, but in many places in scripture,
38:20that Yahweh reveals himself as a jealous god, and that worshiping images is a form of spiritual
38:27adultery.
38:28We see time and time again that we're told in scripture, the analogy of Yahweh being
38:34our husband, we being his bride, and that idolatry, including the worshiping of images
38:40or idols, is a form of spiritual adultery.
38:45Blessings and curses are around this particular commandment.
38:49Remember, if you disobey this particular commandment, then there's generational curses that come
38:55upon you and your offspring, but if you do it, there are generational blessings that
39:00come upon you and your offspring.
39:03There are various modern forms of idolatry as well, and this is not just about statues.
39:09This tends to meld and go back into the first commandment, as we discussed last time, but
39:18this can be a form of idolism, making an idol out of various ideas and things like that,
39:26where it's not just about statues, it can be about things like false theological portrayals
39:32of Yahweh himself, your own personal version that you've come up with, instead of the self-revelation
39:39that comes out of scripture.
39:41It can also be shaped, and your idol can be the tradition that you were handed down, that
39:47you hold onto, in spite of what scripture actually says.
39:53Another idol is something that, well, like I said, just kind of blends in with the first
39:58one.
39:59Another idol, another kind of god, would be a political or cultural ideology that masquerades
40:05as the will of God.
40:08I don't want to get into specifics, but yeah, okay, we'll leave it like that.
40:16It could be a political or cultural ideology that can be your idol or your god.
40:21But Christ, as we saw, is the image of Yahweh, but he is not the image for the purposes of
40:27idolatry.
40:28Remember, he's not the physical representation, but he is more of the, how should I put this
40:36correctly, he portrays the attributes of the father, Yahweh, he's not the physical representation.
40:47He is Yahweh's self-disclosure in person, he's not the graven image of Yahweh.
40:54Right worship requires right representation.
40:58Our worship and our service to Yahweh must be guided by scripture, and it must be guided
41:06by spirit.
41:07It should be free of distortions, both physical and conceptual.
41:11It goes back to, I guess, what we were talking about with Messiah being the image of Yahweh.
41:18Yahweh is the conceptual image of Yahweh, not the physical representation of Yahweh.
41:25And it should be rooted in Yahweh's revelation, not what we're speculating Yahweh to be, not
41:31what we are imagining Yahweh to be, but what Yahweh has actually revealed himself to be
41:37in scripture.
41:40And that's just the God-honest truth.
41:44So thank you for joining us for this particular episode on the Second Commandment in the series
41:49on the Ten Commandments.
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