Question: Is the second Commandment redundant since the first Commandment already forbids other gods? What's the difference?
- Phil Gay, area director for Young Life, Prince William County, Va.
Answer: The first of the Ten Commandments is found in Exodus 20:3 and repeated in Deuteronomy 5:7. We state it as God saying, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me (besides me, or in addition to me)." The second Commandment is drawn from Exodus 20:4, but it really includes verses 5-6. Deuteronomy 5:8-10 repeats it. We usually summarize it as, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." Note that, although the Commandments were a covenant for all Israel, they're to be kept by each individual. Although these 2 Commandments sound repetitious, they deal with separate aspects of our relationship with the Creator God.
The first Commandment is predicated on Exodus 20:2 and the revealed power of the True God. It's saying, "Make the only Almighty God your priority." Thoughtfully, we could ask: "Are there really any other Gods?" Of course, the answer is, "There are no other Gods (capitol G)." Isaiah 45:5 says, "I am Yahweh and there is none else, no God besides me." However, there are pantheons of other gods (little g). The Israelites were exposed to many gods in Egypt. Men have invented gods in the stars and the zodiac, mythological gods, gods of nature and beasts, gods of ancestors and saints, and gods of culture and world religions. Satan and men have conjured gods of their imagination, specters of man and beasts. Of course, Satan's purpose is to lead us from worshipping his arch Enemy, but men have an innate nature to worship a higher power because they can't handle life alone. Therefore, this Commandment calls for loyalty to the "King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Timothy 1:17).
The second Commandment forbids worship of man-made things that represent false gods. We usually think of "graven images" as idols, but we can make idols of anything we place before Jehovah. Here, God was covering all bases. Not only must we not place any imagined god ahead of the Lord, but we must not confine the omnipresent God to an image made with our minds or hands. God is above and beyond even his own creation. He cannot be contained in physical images. Even a cross used as a good luck charm or worn as a popular fad is a graven image if one doesn't know the Christ of the Cross. This Commandment is teaching that nothing should take the place of the personal presence of the Invisible God. Remember: He sets the standards by which we may relate to him, and we must each come to him on his terms - repentance and faith in his Son, Jesus.
- Dr. Tom Lovorn is pastor of God's Storehouse Baptist Church in Richmond [www.godsstorehousebc.org]. He writes a weekly column on religion for The Progress-Index in Petersburg. Columns and audio sermons may be found at the church's website. Readers are invited to submit their questions to tomlovorn@comcast.net .
