CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.
Exodus XX, 4-6: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing 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 shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
This command prohibits the making of images to be used in religious worship, and the using of images in religious worship. It is not the engraver's skill, nor the printer's art, but the people's idolatry that is condemned—not the ingenuity in making, but the stupidity in worshiping those dumb representatives that is here forbidden. The brazen serpent and the cherubim are proof of this.
This prohibition, therefore, must be interpreted according to the subject-matter of it, which is divine worship. It is not unlawful to represent to the eye any visible thing by an artificial image of it, but when God says, Thou shalt not make, and thou shalt not worship, the meaning is, thou shalt not make any thing with an intention of worship, and thou shalt not worship any thing which thou or others have made.
As negative commands enjoin the performance of the opposite positive duties, so this command enjoins whatever appertains to the external and visible worship of God, as the first command, by prohibiting the owning or cleaving to false gods, enjoins the acknowledging, and cleaving to, and spiritually worshiping the true God.
1. The Use of Images Forbidden.
Ex. XX, 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5. 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.
Ex. XXXIV, 17. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
Lev. XIX, 4. Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.