Second Commandment and Images to Represent God
“Thou shalt not make unto thee 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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20: 3-6)
This commandment FORBIDS the making of any images to represent God in any way.
Here are some purposes of the Second Commandment:
(1) “The words of these ( stone ) tablets were a kind of spiritual portrait of the God of Israel, who could not be pictured in a bodily form” (Wilhelm Lotz, “Ark of the Covenant” )
(2) Jesus is the only man who has fulfilled the Law
(3) “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil” ( Matthew 5:17 )
(4) When Jesus fulfilled the Law he “filled-full” all the Law’s shadowy outlines.
(5) The Law is the picture that God gave us of Jesus so that we could have a picture by which to know Him.
Quoting J. Virgil Dunbar ( “Christ Can’t be Pictured, God is Not Like Art”)
“The second commandment teaches that God and the universe are separate beings – separate realities. Created images cannot be our concept of God. We must not use the things of the created world to serve our minds as images and likenesses of God. WHY? The second commandment forbids images and likenesses of God. God is not to be confused with the world. The created world is not God. We MUST NOT substitute any part of the world to be our concept of God. Instead, the second commandment takes us to God’s Word for the revelation of who He is, and what He is like, and how He is to be worshiped.”
“The second commandment teaches us that God is a being other than the created world. God is LOVE, not an image.”
“Thou shalt not make unto thee…” These are six words in English, but in the original Hebrew they are lo-taesha laech meaning “no-make” or “don’t make.”
This commandment holds people responsible for any false image(s) claiming to represent God. False images lead to false concepts. False images of God give false concepts of God and thereby deceive people about God. No wonder that the Bible refers to demons using images to deceive people about God: false images accepted as images of God are the perfect instrument for deceiving people. Dunbar continues: “People always claim that they themselves worship only that which the image is supposed to represent.” Images deceive people into having a man-made concept of God, and the second commandment is designed (by God) to protect people from this deception.
Comments: In deliverance ministry ( the casting out of demonic spirits and breaking of generational curses ) we encounter demons that somehow have attached themselves to what are called “contact objects”. Steve Bell ( The Key Ministries ) says in his book “No Other Gods” ( IMAGES, pgs 6-8 ) that “Most people will say that don’t worship such imagery in their possession. But honest study and interpretation of the Scriptures says not to make them, much less bow down to them. We have encountered many problems due to Believers just possessing such items.” Dolls and Stuffed Animals, Puppets, Photos and Pictures.
The “false pictures of the supposed ‘Christ’, the Last Supper and other so called truthful images of Christ stir demonic activity.
Apostle Ivory Hopkins ( Pilgrims Church of Deliverance ) states on page 44 in his manual “Deliverance from Evil Soul Ties”, a somewhat humorous but serious take on what Jesus really looks like. “You can stop feeling so anxious in front of that picture of Jesus you have on your living room wall. Whichever one it is – the white Jesus, the Italian Jesus, or the Black Brother – neither one of them is Jesus. If you put an APB ( all points bulletin) out on Jesus the police would be confused. Can you imagine them saying. “OK, Sir, Yes indeedy, we have a picture of Jesus right here. In this picture he looks like a nice Italian man with a little beard. OK, let’s go get him. Wait a minute. Is this another picture of Jesus? It’s a white guy with blonde hair and a beard. What’s up with this? Hold it, someone just handed me a picture of a Black man with nappy hair and a beard. Who is this?” “That’s Jesus”, you say, because he’s a brother like you. Now, we got the Italian Jesus, the Anglo Jesus, and the Black Jesus. So which Jesus are we looking for?” I’m looking for the one that died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again from the grave".
I’m looking for the one that was conceived and born of the seed of David a Hebrew, whether his skin be olive, or pale, or black, I could care less as long as He is the Son of the Living God. Now put an APB out on that. I fully understand the ethnicity and the lineage of Jesus. I understand that Jesus was not a White man. So don’t play me into some religious game with a picture that’s so sacred in your living room that you cannot kiss your husband because Jesus is watching. I know that there are people like that – just as bound as they can be. That’s not always the case, but if it’s you then you need to take that picture down and get rid of it. You cannot do less in front of a picture than you would do at your job. Jesus is in your heart. That picture on the wall should not be controlling you.
You should not have any pictures, images, icons, crucifixes or anything that in any way resembles Jesus. These "contact objects" do attract demons, and your home will become infested with curses if you allow these objects in your home, car, your church or on your person. DEUT 7:25-26. We invite you to study the Word of God, pray about anything that you consider doubtful in this area, including your pierced earrings, tattoos, photos, dolls, stuffed animals, symbols, crosses, gemstones, certain images in and on clothing, etc.
We worship God according to the Word of God: JOHN 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth"