Made in His image ( Genesis 1:26-27), human beings have the same drive to imagine, create, innovate, and express their designs in the works of their hands. Writing of the starry universe beyond earth, David writes, 'The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork' ( Psalm 19:1). From the tiny amoeba to the enormous blue whale, God's creative genius is unmistakable in every detail. The animals and plants that cover the earth are marvels of design, color, function, and imagination. His very creation glistens with light and beauty and complexity. However, He is not a dour, controlling, monochrome God. Had God commanded humans not to make art or use their creativity to express themselves, He could justifiably be accused of being a cruel tyrant or a monster! What a dull world it would be without the use of the creativity He Himself possesses and bestowed in measure on humanity at creation! The idea in verse 4-'You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything' in heaven, on the earth, or in the waters-taken alone, is incomplete. you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.' Most translators of this passage understand that the thought of verse 4 continues into and finishes in verse 5. Her narrow focus on the words 'any carved image' caused her to forget or ignore that the commandment continues for another two verses.Įxodus 20:5 begins, '. The pious woman who concluded that God forbids all images failed to do what so many students of the Bible also do: Not only did she not gather relevant verses from the rest of Scripture, she also failed to consider the entire context of the second commandment itself. Ironically, God places these cherubim on the Mercy Seat at the exact center of Israelite worship, the Holy of Holies, where God Himself dwells. Yet, the second commandment flatly disallows such a creative work- unless it does not forbid the creation of all images. In this passage, God commands Moses to fashion an image of cherubim, angelic beings who inhabit 'heaven above,' to adorn the top of the Mercy Seat. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And you shall make two cherubim of gold of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. The Mercy Seat was its lid, described in Exodus 25:17-22: An ark is essentially a box, and into this special box, Moses was to place the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Among the first items He discusses is the Ark of the Testimony or Ark of the Covenant. Just a few chapters after giving His law from Mount Sinai, He instructs Moses to organize and complete the construction of the Tabernacle of Meeting and all its furnishings and accessories. He does not ask more of human beings than He does of Himself. On the contrary, our God is a holy God whose laws codify His righteous character.

If this is true, however, God is not God if He forbids all images, He has broken His own law multiple times and is therefore unworthy of worship. As a result, she had rid her life of every photograph, painting, sculpture, or any other image she owned! She apprised us of her belief that God prohibits all images of any kind-that 'carved' implies any human creative process. She asked about our understanding of the second commandment, particularly the extent of God's injunction against 'any carved image, or any likeness of anything' ( Exodus 20:4 Deuteronomy 5:8). Years ago, the church received a question about idolatry from a pious American woman of uncertain religious affiliation.

Are pictures graven images