The imperative of Exodus 20:4-6 is not saying: “Make all of the images you like so long as you do not worship them.” Instead, the passage forbids us from even making unsanctioned images in the first place. Because God knows how quickly our hearts will leap into worship, He has not only forbidden the worship of idols, but the making of them. He not only has forbidden us from worshipping Jonathan Roumie and Jim Caviezel, He has forbidden these men and us from casting the most precious image of God in their human and finite likeness. 

Nore: In this series, I take our law homily from our church gathering each week (The law homily is where we read from the law of God and let His law examine our hearts so that we can be a tender-hearted and repenting people), and I post them here for your edification.

“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; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. – Exodus 20:4-6

Introduction

In a world saturated with images and icons, where visual aids are touted as essential for enhancing our spiritual experience, we are confronted with a crucial question: What does God require of us in worship? Or to say it a different way, in our well-meaning attempts to relate to the Almighty, are we inadvertently defiling our worship?

The Westminster Larger Catechism speaks to this very question. It instructs us that one of the duties required in the second commandment is to “keep pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in His Word.” What the catechism is saying, is that the only way to know whether our worship is proper and true, is to consult with the Word of God, since God has perfectly revealed how we are to worship Him within the pages of Holy Scripture. 

If you are familiar with the theological phrase, the Catechism draws from and builds upon a concept known as the “Regulative Principle of Worship,” which is a foundational concept in Reformed theology and worship. The Regulative Principle asserts that God instituted the acceptable way of worshipping Him in the Scriptures and that anything not commanded in the Scriptures concerning worship is strictly forbidden. We may only do what God has commanded when it comes to worship. And if God has not explicitly commanded something, we have no permission to do it in worship.

The Fury of God Toward’s Images

As previously mentioned, God explicitly dictates how we are to worship Him. We do not have the liberty to offer any ritualistic act we fancy and expect He will respond with joyful pleasure. He is not like the doting mother who puts every sub-par scribbling prominently positioned on her fridge. He has revealed what pleases Him, which is worship conducted in accordance with the Scripture. If we deviate from Scripture, and do things God has not sanctioned, we do not invite His pleasure, but instead His wrath.

Take Cain, for instance. He arrogantly assumed that he could present whatever withered vegetable he wanted, thinking God would have to accept it. The text tells us that He brought “some of the fruits” of the ground, whereas his brother brought the very best of the flock for his sacrifice. In this, God had great regard for Abel and his offering. But, for Cain, God did not have regard and eventually put him under a life and world-altering curse.

Remember also the Israelites, who in their foolishness, fashioned a golden calf and declared, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). They even had the audacity to call this idol Yahweh, thinking they could worship the true God through a graven image. Rather than God praising their effort, or awarding them a participation trophy for trying their best, God responded with swift and torrential fury. God commanded the Levites to go all throughout the cam slaughtering their kin, resulting in three thousand deaths. The people might have thought, “What’s the big deal? We’re still worshiping Yahweh, we are just doing so with a visual aid to help us connect with Him better.” But God did not grant any validity to their line of thinking.

Consider one more example: Nadab and Abihu. These men were of the priestly order; they were Aaron’s sons, and they were given specific instructions on how to bring holy fire into the sanctuary of God. Unfortunately, Nadab and Abihu presumed upon the grace of God. They downplayed His holy prescriptions, presented fire in an unregulated way, and God responded to them, by raining fire on top of their heads (Leviticus 10:1-2). And as the ashes of his dead sons still smoked, God told Aaron not to shed a tear about it, since there boys dared to provoke the fury of God (Leviticus 10:6).

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