THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: WORSHIP OF GOD
Exodus 20:4-6

INTRODUCTION:
The second commandment attempts to prevent us from making any kind of image of God, either out of wood or stone, or even out of our own ideas or concepts! It is a prohibition against trying to define God by any kind of image that would seek to restrict Him to that image or symbol and thus make Him less than He is.

I. SYMBOLS AS TOOLS Ex. 20:4-6; Num. 21:8-9
A. Defining Principles Num. 21:8-9
1. Many symbols have been used throughout Scripture to teach us about God’s character
2. In the desert when Israel disobeyed God snakes were sent to punish them. God had Moses make a bronze serpent and lift it up so that all who looked upon it would be healed, an act of faith required by looking at it
3. The problem begins when we confuse the images that help us understand God with God!

B. Developing Perspectives Ex. 20:4-6
1. God revealed Himself to Israel through many images or symbols in the hopes that they  might grasp certain perspectives about Him.e.g. Manna-Bread; Fatherhood of God.
2. God’s names in the Old Testament were meant to reveal new perspectives on God, but  not for each one to become a different idol to be worshipped.
3. We cannot use images or symbols to slant our view of God to a particular area while  avoiding other areas of His character…
4. When we have a desperate area of need we must be careful that God doesn’t only become the object of what our need is.

II. SYMBOLS AS TRAPS II Kings 18:3-5; Ex. 20:24-25
A. Dependency Problem II Kings 18:3-5
1.  Israel had become too dependent on the symbol and instead of pointing to God it now pointed them away from God!
2. There are many people today like this too with God, they don’t mind worshipping a God that allows them to live in sin or do as they please, but they don’t want to accept the God of the Bible that would confront them with their sin.

B. Destructive Pollution Ex. 20:24-25
1. What do you think of people who will travel the world to touch a certain holy   relic in the hopes of it giving them some kind of special touch by God.
2. We rely on things instead of on God.
3. All these relics are simply man’s creative dressed stones up to God!

CONCLUSION: False idols are not only made of wood and stone, they can be formed in our minds too! Whenever God is worshipped as the image in our own minds we are guilty of breaking the 2nd commandment. Your God can be too small when you define Him. Symbols help us understand Him, but we must worship the God that He is and not the one we have made Him to be in our own minds. How big is your God?

<=Click to read more=>