The Second Commandment: Worship the True God

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. You shall not worship them or serve them.

–Exodus 20:4–5

I have always been fascinated with historical locations. When I visited the Alamo as a boy, I imagined what it was like for Santa Anna and his troops to scale those walls. When I’ve had the privilege of attending ceremonies in the East Room of the White House, I’ve wondered what it was like for John and Abigail Adams to live there and to hang their laundry in that very room. But of all the historical locations I’ve visited, the one that has meant the most to me is the land of Israel. There’s something faith-affirming about walking on the same stones where Jesus walked and standing on the Mount of Olives, where He will return one day.

It’s natural for us to want tangible representations of our faith. After all, when Jesus came to earth, He was born in the flesh. We desire physical representations of our faith because we are physical beings. But if we’re not careful, the objects that represent our faith can become the objects of our faith. And that’s not a minor technicality; it is prohibited by the second commandment.

Last week, we studied the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). We are to esteem God alone. The second commandment flows naturally out of the first: “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. You shall not worship them or serve them” (vv. 4–5). The first commandment is about Whom we are to worship; the second commandment is about how we are to worship. We are not to worship a man-made image of God.

Does that mean we are never to create an artistic representation of “what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth”? If that’s the case, then God violated His own command–in Exodus 31, He directed skilled craftsmen to make artistic designs for the tabernacle, including the two angels on the lid of the ark of the covenant. The second commandment doesn’t prohibit all artwork; it prohibits using these objects or images as a necessary part of our worship or assigning supernatural significance to them. We are to worship the true God, not a man-made image of Him.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “The Second Commandment: Worship the True God” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2023.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.