Applying the Second Commandment (Love in Theology Pt 1 Series, 4 of 6)

Second Commandment: You shall not make false images of God in worship.

"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 the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Ex. 20:4–6)

What is the Command?

The second commandment is, "You shall not make false images of God in worship." You must worship the only true God as he reveals himself in the Bible, and not as a false image.

The first commandment has to do with the object of your worship. You must worship the right God. The second commandment has to do with how you worship. You must worship the right God the right way.

In the first commandment God forbids you to worship other gods and commands you to worship him alone. But in the second commandment God warns you about another type of idolatry that worships him as something less than he really is.

Visible images of God can cause you to have false mental images of God in worship. The reason God commands you not to have visible images of him is because all visible images drawn from creation are false images, because they cannot convey true mental images of the invisible, uncreated God.

What is Forbidden?

In this commandment, God commands you not to have false images of him in worship. The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 51 reads, "The second commandment forbids the worshiping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his word."

In Exodus 32 we learn that at the very time God was giving this commandment to Moses, the Israelites were making a golden calf. In verse 4, Aaron points to this statue and says, "This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt." Then in verse 5 we read that Aaron built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD (Yahweh)."

The sin of the Israelites was not the worship of another god but that, in their worship of the true God "who brought them up out of Egypt," they were using a visible image made from creation (a golden calf) to represent the invisible, uncreated God. Since God is invisible and beyond our ability to comprehend fully, no created image could ever fully represent him.

The primary problem being addressed in the second commandment is not creating physical idols with our hands. Instead, it's creating mental idols with our minds and hearts. It's imposing wrong images or conceptions of God on God. It's scaling God down and reducing him to the realm of his creation.

There are many descriptions of God found in the Bible, including descriptions of him as a rock, a light, a fire, an eagle, a father, a king, a judge, a warrior, a shepherd, and many others. It can be good for you to think about God in all these ways. But all these individual descriptions, even from the Bible, must be seen as very limited analogies drawn from creation that ultimately fall short because it's not possible to use any analogy drawn from God’s finite creation to fully reveal the infinite, uncreated God.

However, this doesn't mean it's impossible for you to understand what God is like. There are significant similarities between the Bible's descriptions of God, drawn from creation, and what God is really like. Although your knowledge of God is limited, it can be true and good knowledge. 

For example, it's good to see God like a loving father, but if you see him as only loving (not also just), that is a wrong image of God. It's good to see God like a just judge, but if you see him as only just (not also loving) that's also a wrong image of God. God is much greater than any one image or analogy can convey, so you must never allow your image of God to be limited by any earthly image. To do so would be to dishonor God.  

God ends the second commandment by revealing that he is not only a jealous God who demands your total loyalty, and a just God who rightly judges his enemies. But he is also a gracious God who shows his steadfast love to thousands.

What is Required?

In this commandment, God requires you to worship him in spirit and truth. This requires having a true mental image of him in your worship. It's not possible to have no mental image of God, or to have a perfect mental image of God. The issue is whether your mental images of God are true.

So, how should you form your true thoughts about God? The good news is that in the Bible God has revealed to us who he is and what he does, especially through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals the one God as the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable Father, Son, and Spirit. And the Bible uses powerful imagery as it reveals the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Spirit as Restorer of all things lost in the world because of sin. The Bible also reveals this triune Lord as holy, loving, just, powerful, sovereign, faithful, good, merciful, true, and much, much more.

Jesus teaches what is required of us in this commandment when he says, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). We worship the ultimately incomprehensible, invisible God in spirit and truth when we allow the truth of God's revelation of himself in the Bible, by his Spirit, to keep renewing our minds so that we worship and enjoy him more and more for who he really is.

Your image of the invisible God must be shaped by God's revelation of himself in the Bible. And this is not only through your personal Bible reading, study, and meditation, but also through being in a church where you are being discipled under Christ-centered preaching and teaching as a way of life.

The second commandment answers the question, "How do you worship?" It addresses the method of your worship and commands you to worship God truthfully—without false images. The second commandment reveals the role of your imagination that must worship the right God rightly—in spirit and truth.

Catechism Questions

What is the Second Commandment?

The second commandment is, "You shall not make false images of God in worship."

What is forbidden in the Second Commandment?

God forbids me to have false images of him in worship.

What is required by God in the Second Commandment?

God requires me to worship him in spirit and truth.