The Second Commandment: You shall not make for yourself a carved image…

Exodus 20:4-6

1. The Second Commandment forbids idolatry.
2. The Second Commandment reveals God’s commitment to His people.
   

   Why was idolatry attractive?

   1. Guaranteed
   2. Selfish
   3. Easy
   4. Convenient
   5. Logical
   6. Pleasing to the Senses
   7. Indulgent
   8. Erotic:[1]

3. The Second Commandment is broken by:
   • Fashioning our own gods
   • Fashioning God according to our own ideas

The Lord speaks to the people out of the fire, a powerful image, something bright and visible, capable of being seen and illuminating; but it is also dangerous and untouchable, a reality that is not subject to being “made” or handled in any way. Nor is it in the form of any likeness. To make an image is indeed an effort to domesticate God, to tame the fire and control it. [2]

1. Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, Vol. 2, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 450–454.
2. Patrick D. Miller, The Ten Commandments, Ed. Patrick D. Miller, First Edition., (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 51.