| I Know, and am persuaded by the Lord
Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Romans14:14 |
Fellow Believers,A few readers have wondered why we removed in the last issue our logo a caricature of a dove radiating light upon a book. It was meant to convey the idea that we need the Holy Spirit to help us truly understand God's word. Well, it's because some believers charged that we had violated the Second Commandment as the logo showed an image of the Holy Spirit.
To avoid unnecessary debates, we dropped it in obedience to the teaching of Romans 14.That chapter begins, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs." Verse 15 then admonishes, "But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died."
It is indeed unfortunate that the Second Commandment has been widely misunderstood to mean that no one should show any image of God. The fact is, the latter is an impossible task, since no one can draw a picture or make an image of anyone or anything that is invisible.
What then does that Commandment proscribe? We read in Exodus 20:4: "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:"
Note that the prohibition applies not only to graven image or likeness of any thing this is in heaven above, but also to anything that is in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. The context at least suggests that the heaven in that verse refers to the created expanse, rather than the third heaven in which God dwells. At any rate, if it is unlawful to make any likeness of things in heaven, then it is equally a sin to take a picture or make a drawing of anything on earth or in the waters.
Thankfully, Exodus 20:4 is not a complete sentence. Verse 5 continues: "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."
Looking at this passage in its entirety, we can thus see that what God forbids us to do is to worship any image of created things. In short, we are not to engage in idolatry, which in the New Testament includes covetousness. This, dear ones, is the real meaning of the Second Commandment.
Second Quarter, 2001
Tom Holt, Editor
Second Quarter, 2001