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Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 152

"The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether." Psalm 19:9

Text: Exodus 20 : 4-6

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

The first commandment emphasizes an important truth- there is but One God, and Israel is not to acknowledge any other deity! The second commandment logically follows the first one.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image –
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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations
of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those
who love Me and keep My commandments.”
EXODUS 20:4-6

1. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…”

God was not to be expressed in any physical way! This simply means that no idols must ever be created to represent Him!

2. “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them”

If man is given free rein to portray God in the form of an idol, he would come up with a plurality of images! Once the idols are created, the danger of focusing on the idols as objects of worship is very high and real! These idols would become objects of veneration and the idea of the worship of God would be corrupted.

3. “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God”

The word “jealous” must be read carefully. It must be read within the context of the following words:-

a) “Iniquity”
To create and worship idols when it is expressly forbidden, would rightly be called “iniquity”.
b) “Hate”
Why would people go against an express commandment of God? The Lord described these as people who “hated” Him!
c) “Jealous”
This word describes God as One who guards His commandments and His Name most carefully. He expects Israel when it enters into a covenant relationship with Him to guard His name carefully too! His name is not to be besmirched by an iniquitous nation that worships idols and calls graven images “The LORD God of Israel”. God’s relationship with Israel may be compared to that of a husband to Israel (Cf. Hosea 2:16– The idea of jealousy with reference to God is a holy and righteous concept)!