DEUTERONOMY 4
15 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. – Deuteronomy 4:15-24
DEUTERONOMY 4 FORBIDDEN TO MAKE IDOLS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Because God is Spirit, he didn’t present an image of himself
He didn’t want for any of us to make one for ourselves
All his covenant people were forbidden to carve images
No creature that God created should surpass his greatness
The Lord God is a jealous God and a consuming fire
If you turn against him and make an idol, you’ll have to face his wrath
He cannot condone any form of idols that will compete with him
It is a sin to replace the Almighty, the Creator of the earth and the heavens.
Why do you think God forbade humans to carve images? In this account, he explains the reason why it is prohibited for his people to make idols. He is Spirit and he didn’t present himself to his people in a physical form. I think that it is a good reminder for us humans that we are not just physical but spiritual, mental and emotional beings. Many of us are not even aware of our spirits. We study how our mind works through psychology and try to understand our behaviors based on our experiences and thoughts. Even at times, some Christians fail to worship God in Spirit and in truth and we become religious and we practice and follow church traditions and rituals which can miss out the true way of worshipping God. We read the bible and fail to follow it so we don’t get transformed by the truth. It is very clear that the command not to make idols is a clear protection and boundary for all those who belong to him.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think God forbade the carving of images?
