Exodus 20:4-6

4             “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.

5             You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

6             but showing favor to thousands, to those love Me and keep my commandments.

No Idols or Likenesses

The second commandment: do not make an idol or any likeness of heaven, earth, or hell; do not worship or serve idols. The more I look to the verse, the more I realize how deep this command is. I never thought about the fact that God forbids making idols and treating any likenesses as something to worship or serve. The issue is not the art itself, but turning created things into replacements for the Creator.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What does this focus on creating likenesses of heaven, earth, or the waters below say to you?

What is an Idol?

Idols were physical representations of deities. An “idol” in Hebrew can also mean a “graven image.” This can also include idols of carved or crafted representation intended for worship.

• These images cannot be celestial bodies or beings (think sun, moon, or angels.) Many cultures created deities out of these things. The Israelites were taught to understand that these creations were made by God and not to be worshiped on their own.
• These images were to be of earthly creatures (thinking humans or animals.) Many religions worshiped gods as animals or hybrid. The Israelites were taught a higher understanding of God, who isn’t confined to any earthly form.
• These images were not to be creatures of the water, for similar reasons to earthly creatures. The Israelites needed to remember that God is powerful over all creation.

Overall, the idea is to be fully devoted to God. God cannot be properly represented in anything physical.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Does this breakdown of idols change your view on this commandment? If so, how?

Our Modern Allegiances

With these idols, the Israelites were taught not to worship them. The Israelites were called to serve only Yahweh. The act of bowing down represents submission, allegiance, which should be left only for God. Now, I’m sure you have the imagery of a golden statue of something sitting in front of someone and them bowing down to it. This is the classic imagery of the Golden Calf incident that would happen in Exodus 32. However, we do tend to have allegiance to certain things. An allegiance is defined as “loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior of an individual to a group or cause.” These allegiances happen all the time. We see it a lot in politics, where people are dedicated to a specific party or the principles of a certain platform. We see it in technology: people choose iPhones over Android, Xbox over PlayStation, and more. Do they treat these things as gods? Sometimes, but it’s the fact that it’s easy for our human minds to get into that godly mindset. The struggle is when these allegiances start to develop into our personality and identity. It becomes who we are more so than being an image of our Almighty God. Consumer capitalism is a thing of the world that slowly indoctrinates us into these mindsets, and we need to be aware how to fight this with grace, peace, and tenacity. Thankfully, Jesus teaches us something in John 4:24.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Look back over your life. Do you have these allegiances? What are they? Are they healthy or a problem?

Truest Ways to Worship

24          For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

God is non-material. Jesus speaks about this to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. He’s describing the differences between the physical location of worship with the spiritual nature of worship. The view of God as non-material brings us back to the creation story in Genesis, where God breathed life into humanity – a spiritual action.

Worship is a fundamental response to God’s nature and actions. In the context of the story, we must know that the Jews and Samaritans had different ways of worship. Jesus is guiding her towards a more personal type of worship, one that isn’t confined to a routine or ritual. Worship is a requirement to follow God.

Jesus teaches two forms of Worship: in spirit and in truth. To worship in spirit means to engage with God on a spiritual level. It’s embracing the Holy Spirit that resides within us. The teachings and principles of God are written on our hearts, and it’s our responsibility to embraces what those teachings are and to always live them out in our lives. Worshipping in truth involves being sincere and aligned with God’s Word. God wants worship that is genuine and based on who He is. Like in Spirit, it requires a commitment to living according to God’s Word and acknowledging who Jesus is.

Worshiping God is about creating and honoring a relationship with Him through the teachings and principles that are written on our heart. It’s about engaging with those laws genuinely, ensuring that they are aligned with His plan for us. It’s not about a proper routine or ritual. It’s not about how others do it. It’s engaging with our heavenly Father in a way that’s genuine and authentic. The world forces many of us to create a false identity of ourselves. To create our social media platforms to be greater than how we live. To not be authentic in our relationships, not wanting to burden anyone with the truth. We believe that no one wants to see our real selves that we even try to hide them from God. God sees everything though. The idols that we honor. The personality we develop because of “fitting in.” The lifestyle we force ourselves to align with the world. Nothing is hidden from God. When we can separate ourselves from all the outside forces and sit in the quiet and reflect on things with God. The more we can be genuine and authentic, the stronger our relationship is with God. The stronger that relationship gets, the more confidence we find, and the more chances we will seek to live out that genuine and authentic life. We will no longer worry about what others will think but will remain focused on what God thinks.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How can you check in with God today? Seek ways that you can embrace His laws over the world’s influence.

Next part: More Than Words || I Command You || Part 3