The Second Commandment

Exodus 20: 4(E) "You shall not make for yourself a carved 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. 5(F) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am(G) a jealous God,(H) visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments."

I remember once reading a book about the Second Commandment and learning that there was more to it than is commonly understood in modern times. Many people like myself have understood this commandment as simply prohibiting the worshipping idols, as opposed to God. Yet it is not merely foreign idols that are delineated in this commandment, but "carved images" of any sort. This includes images made of the true God. When I read this, I shared this information with fellow Reformed Christians who casually dismissed such an assertion, but as I continue to read--this is the traditional position of Reformed Christians since the Reformation and even existed in earlier centuries when the debate over the use of icons within the Church gained full steam.

In relation to the First Commandment's "who" with regard to worship, the Second Commandment provides the "how." Specifically-speaking, we are not to use any images in our worship of the Lord. Our faith is one belonging to the ear (the preached Word), with two specific sacraments offered for our visual edification (baptism and communion). It is God alone who reveals Himself and to pull Him down in any form not prescribed by Scripture is to "attempt a peek at God in the nude" (Luther). More broadly-speaking then, we are not to worship God on our own terms, but on His terms. This application has taken the form of the Regulative Principle of Worship in the Reformed community, which sets forth that our substantial elements of worship must be specifically prescribed by Scripture.

Of course, this new learning comes to one who watched "The Passion of the Christ" three times in the movie theaters. In our age of do-it-yourself Christianity, such traditional (and biblical) understandings of how we are to worship our God is difficult, but refreshing.