“What’s the second commandment?” That was the question I
asked my family as we drove home the other day.
Once one of my kids started with, “Honor thy father and…”
all of them chimed in to finish. I am failing at life, I thought to myself. And
while I am overjoyed that my children know that it is biblical to honor me and
my wife, I’d rather them know the correct answer in this instance.
After some momentary fumbling, I heard, “Have no other
gods before Me,” ring out from the back of the vehicle. Strike two for son
three. But then, like a melody from on high came this ringing sound, “Don’t
make idols!” Son two for the win. And most everyone would agree. But I think
they would be wrong. Or at least halfway to it.
In the twentieth chapter of the book of Exodus, God gives
to Moses the Decalogue. These ten commands formed the basis of God’s
expectations for the nation of Israel. The task assigned to me has been to take
the second commandment (verses 4-6) and apply it to our modern world in a
practical way. My task is complicated from a technical standpoint because the
second commandment appears to receive considerable overlap from the first. As a
result, this post may be a different style of writing than you are used to
reading on our blog. I mean that to whet your curiosity and not as a warning.
Ben brought the first commandment into our living rooms,
as it were, when he dealt with the beautifully simple but staggeringly
all-inclusive “thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” Dennis Prager says
this first commandment “is not only relevant to modern life; it is in many ways
the mother of all the other commandments. Today we have as many false gods as
the ancients did” (Prager, 2018, p. 228).
Because the first two commandments are so closely
related, my goal today is to separate them while showing that the second is as
applicable to us today as is the first. Truly, no one would doubt the
applicability of the first commandment – if you do, go back and read Ben’s post
– but the verdict may be out on the second. The post can be broken into two
sections with the first explaining the commandment and the second applying it
to our modern times.
Explanation
The second commandment forbids three actions represented
by verbs. Thou shalt not make, thou shalt not bow,
and thou shalt not serve. We typically only know and remember the first, but as we
will see, that narrow understanding will create some issues. Consequently, the
first question that needs to be addressed is: are the three to be taken as one?
To wit, is it okay to make as long as
one does not bow and serve? My proposition
is that the bowing and serving are the main prohibitions in this commandment,
but that all three should be taken together.
It would have been difficult for the Israelites to
prostitute themselves before the golden calf had Aaron not made one, but the
making of a golden calf did not cause them to worship it. Furthermore, God
specifically told the Israelites to make both cherubim to adorn the Ark of the
Covenant (Exodus 25:18-21) and a bronze serpent to raise in the wilderness
(Numbers 21:8-9). Obviously, these are not examples of God breaking His own
commandment, even if they are graven (created, fashioned) images.
We could take this first question even further and go
into the realm of motivation. But, in so doing, I could write all day and I do
not have the time for that. Suffice it to say, even the making of a statue
could be wrong dependent upon the motivation, whether it was worshipped or not.
This internal barometer is the sum of much of the teachings of Christ. For now,
we will focus on making with the intention of bowing and serving.
Here is a noticeable differentiation between the first
and second commandment. In the first commandment, we are not to have and in the second we are not to make. Granted, the second two of our
three verbs apply to both, even if in an implied way for the first commandment.
The question becomes: doesn’t the first commandment imply the second? In short,
the answer is no.
The first commandment deals with elevating something that
is else into the position that God alone holds. The second commandment deals
with bringing God down into a form we can handle and understand. Of the second
commandment, Dennis Prager writes, “the primary purpose of this commandment is
to prohibit images intended to be representations of God” (Prager, 2018, p.
238). We know this is the case because the command doesn’t stop at making the
image, it continues on into the bowing and serving.
In order to fully understand this commandment, we must
understand what it meant for the Israelites. Adam Clarke sums it up: “this
commandment includes in its prohibitions every species of idolatry known to
have been practiced among the Egyptians” (Clarke, 1825). Clarke dives into
specifics, and even connects the plagues of Egypt, but those discussions lie
outside the scope of this post. In short, the Israelites knew what it was like
to worship an image in the place of a
god. They had seen it. And they were forbidden from doing it.
Who can forget the dramatic scene of Yul Brynner as
Pharaoh placing his deceased son on the outstretched arms of the black statue
of Sokar in the movie, The Ten Commandments? He says, “Sokar, great lord of the lower
world, I, who have denied the gods of Egypt, bow before you now.” We know that
the statue is not the god because Pharaoh’s request includes guiding the soul
of the deceased boy back into the world of the living. The statue wasn’t about
to move, but it represented a god that could. And this scene perfectly
describes what is specifically forbidden by the second commandment.
So, the second commandment could be explained as not
serving and bowing before a representation of God, regardless of what it looks
like. This is especially important because God is not made of human hands, or
of anything physical at all (Deuteronomy 4:15). There is always “a danger that
if God is depicted visually, people will confuse the depiction with God”
(Prager, 2018, p. 238). We are not to have a manmade image of God (or a god) in
our mind that will mess up or interfere with our worship.
Why?
Application
The New Testament consistently uses the phrase made with hands. In Acts 7, it is said
that the Israelites “rejoiced in the works of their own hands” when worshipping
the calf (v. 41). A few verses later, we are told that “the most High dwelleth
not in temples made with hands…” (Acts 7:48). We are reminded of the same in
Acts 17, and in Acts 19 Paul turned many people to the truth by saying “they be
no gods, which are made with hands” (v. 26). In the book of Hebrews, we are
told that Christ is a high priest in a tabernacle “not made with hands” and he
did not enter “into the holy places made with hands” (Hebrews 9:11, 24).
Romans chapter one gives us a glimpse into the modern
danger when Paul writes that fools have “changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things” (v. 23). This is the breaking of the second
commandment. It “changes the truth of God into a lie” and causes us to worship
and serve the “creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:24-25).
How can we make the truth of God into a lie by creating a
physical representation to worship through? I cannot help but go toward the
religious iconography of Catholicism and other denominations, but that seems
like low-hanging fruit. Besides I do not want to waste an opportunity to think through something that I feel deeply about. My prayer is that it causes you to think as well, even if we disagree at the end.
For the next few moments, I am going to attempt to bring this commandment into our modern world in a practical way by using The Chosen television series. My proposition is that this show, and others like it, actually violate the second commandment. How far one takes this - passion plays, nativity scenes -is beyond my purview.
In an effort at full disclosure, I have seen the show. I
watched the first two episodes. I felt feelings, and I get the draw. And that
is exactly my issue. In one scene, Jesus is at a camp in the wilderness alone,
and two children come upon the campsite. I watched the interaction between
Jesus and the children and was all kinds of emotional in watching it. But that
isn’t Jesus and every single thing that actor did turns the truth of God, at
least a little bit, into a lie. The fact of the matter is “The Chosen depicts a
Jesus that is not the Jesus of the Scriptures. Based on other social media
comments, it is clear that…viewers have created a Jesus that’s a figment of
their own imagination” (Rhetts, 2021).
I understand fully that I am on the lonely side of this argument.
In fact, I do not personally know anyone who agrees with me (correction: my
wife proofread this and said she agrees). But check out the Facebook comment
provided by a Bonny Simmons – and realize that this is what I have heard most
from people about the show. Bonny writes, “This series is amazing. It shows
Jesus as I never imagined Him” (Rhetts, 2021). Of course it does, Bonny,
because God revealed the life of Christ to you through the written Word, and
the show translates it into something else.
What can be known about Christ has been made known
through the completed revelation of God. And if cascades of people coming to
know Jesus as He is portrayed on a TV show instead of how He is in Scripture
doesn’t bother you, check out the included Facebook post from show’s creators.
It allows you to choose your mood based upon faces that Jesus is making in the
show.
But that isn’t Jesus. Not even close. In a blog post, a
blogger named Brian writes, “If you try to image God, you’ll totally ruin your
ability to know him. You’ll settle for less than God, and put some thing in
between you and God, and block yourself off from knowing him at all” (Brian,
2020). I agree, Brian, well done.
Brian wrestled with some of the same thoughts I did while
watching the show. He asked questions such as: “Is it ‘making an image of God,’
to enjoy seeing Jesus portrayed like this” (Brian, 2020)? Eventually, Brain
concludes that “It could be wrong…I
could make that my image of Jesus when I pray to him. I could find the Bible
boring and the show exciting. I could need
the show to feel close to God. And that would be idolatry” (Brian, 2020,
emphasis in the original). Again, I find myself in agreement with Brian.
And still Brian and I reach different conclusions.
Brian uses the incarnation of the Son of God as a proof
for why The Chosen, in general, is okay. God has already provided to us
a human image of Himself. In that, Brian is not wrong. The Scripture he quotes
is sound. John 1:14 does say “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.” Hebrews 1:3 does say that Christ is “the brightness
of his [God’s] glory, and the express image of his [God’s] person….”
This leads Brian to conclude, “In Jesus, we saw what
Moses didn’t see—we saw God’s glory, visible, in a face. A human face” (Brian,
2020). I find myself agreeing with Brian, even here, and yet this confirms even
more so my belief that The Chosen, and even movies like The Passion
of the Christ violate the second commandment.
I didn’t see Jesus while He walked this earth. And
neither did you. And neither did Brian. And if God had wanted sketches of His Son
to remain to us, He could have preserved them as a part of Scripture. When I
watch The Chosen, I am not seeing the express brightness of God’s glory.
I am seeing an actor trying to represent what Christ might have done. I am
seeing a director attempting to recreate facial expressions and body language
that the Son of God might have had. And I am seeing a television show that
attempts to fill-in between the lines of Scripture.
Regarding the second commandment, I think the great
threat we face in our modern world is becoming so comfortable with a
representation of God, or Christ, that we fail to see Him the way He intended us to.
He has revealed Himself to us through His Word. If we have an image of Him that
we slowly begin to worship and serve, the reality gets lost. Don’t let a
representation of God rob you from the Scriptures.
In 1959, the movie Ben-Hur showed a representation
of Christ. Out of reverence, the actor playing Jesus was only seen from the
back, or had his face blurred. In fact, the actor wasn’t even credited in the
movie. Today, you can choose your mood based on Jesus’ facial expressions.
You may disagree with me completely. My hope was that you
would think and engage. But I cannot help but feel that The Chosen
turns the truth of God into a lie, even if it is a little one. And that is
enough for me.
References:
Clarke, A. (1825). Exodus 20 - Clarke’s commentary -
Bible commentaries. StudyLight.Org. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/exodus-20.html
Brian. (2020). Idolatry,
the chosen, and the face of God. PHILLY YOUNG ADULTS | Ccphilly.Org.
http://youngadults.ccphilly.org/idolatry-the-chosen-and-the-face-of-god/
Prager, D. (2018). The
rational Bible: Exodus. Regnery Faith.
Rhetts, B. (2021). A
preliminary analysis of the “Christian” TV series ‘The Chosen.’ The
Expositor. https://www.theexpositor.tv/blog/a-preliminary-analysis-of-the-christian-tv-series-the-chosen/
