Question 107. What is the second commandment?

 

Question 107. What is the second commandment?

Answer. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 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; but showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

The second commandment is from Deuteronomy 5:8-10, and is about idols. “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth… …” Do not make for yourself an image in your mind of the heavens, or of anything visible on the earth, in the waters, or in the waters.

In the doctrine, both idols and images are mentioned at the same time. Exodus is translated as image, and Deuteronomy is translated as idol, so it seems to follow this, but the Hebrew word for both is pesel. Pesel is image, and the image in the mind can be understood as an image, and the image visible to the eyes can be understood as a carved idol.

The reason Moses broke the two stone tablets was because the people had made an image of heaven (God) in the form of a golden calf. So God gave a general command not to carve any image, whether it was an image in the mind or an actual visible image.

Image is a visual image of God, and each person creates an image of God according to his or her own thoughts. Even today, the images of God that believers think of will be different for each person. There are images of a fearful and scary God, a God who blesses, a God who loves, etc. In the end, believers decide the image they think of as their identity for God. That is why the images of heaven and God are expressed in the form of the cross, the face of Jesus, a statue of Mary, a church building, etc.

 

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