Feb 23
19
*****
Baptist Catechism 56 & 57
Q. 56. What is forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word. (Rom. 1:22,23; Deut. 4:15,16; Matt. 15:9; Col. 2:18)
Q. 57. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment, are, God’s sovereignty over us, His propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship. (Ps. 45:11; Ex. 34:14; 1 Cor. 10:22)
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 4:15–19
“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, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 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.” (Deuteronomy 4:15–19, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
*****
Introduction
A bit of review is in order. We have learned what the second commandment is: “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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20:4–5, ESV)
We have learned what it requires: “The second commandment [requires] the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in His Word” (BC 55).
And so we have made the observation that while the first commandment teaches us who is to be worshipped — God alone is to be worshipped — the second commandment tells us something about how God is to be worshipped.
Two main principles may be drawn from the second commandment. One, it is God who determines how he is to be worshipped, and not man. Think of it. In the moment God said, “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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…”, he claimed the right to be worshipped on his terms, and not on our terms. This is a very important principle. We are to worship God alone, and we are to worship him as he has revealed in his word. Two, we see clearly that God is not to be worshipped by images.
*****
Baptist Catechism 56
Both of these principles are contained in Baptist Catechism 56 which says, “The second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word.”
So why are we forbidden from worshipping God using images? I suppose the most simple answer would be, because God said so! And that would be correct and sufficient. But I think we can say more. Why no images? Well, it is because God is a most pure spirit. He is invisible. He is infinite. There are no boundaries to God that lines on a paper or edges to a sculpture could accurately represent. An image — no matter how grand or beautiful — is incapable of communicating the truth about God, for he is boundless. Every image that man makes in an attempt to represent him is a lie, therefore.
This is what Deuteronomy 4:15-19 warns against. Hear it again. “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, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 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.” (Deuteronomy 4:15–19, ESV)
You would do well to notice that all images are forbidden. The people of Israel were warned against making any carved images, “in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth”, etc. In other words, they were forbidden from attempting to make an image of God, and they were also forbidden from making images of created things to represent God.
You remember the episode of the golden calf, don’t you? The Hebrews had barely escaped the Egyptians when they, with Aaron at the lead, gathered gold and made a calf to bow down to it. I do not doubt that they wished to give worship to the God who had redeemed them. At least it seems like that was Aarons desire. But where did they go astray? They made an image. It is understandable, isn’t it? These people were raised in Egypt. This is how the Egyptians worshipped. And so this is how they wanted to worship. Their actions are understandable, but they were inexcusable, for the God had already commanded them not to make images. It was in Exodus 20:23 that the LORD said, “You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.” The episode involving the golden calf happened after that.
I have already warned you in previous sermons about our propensity to worship the creation rather than the Creator. That is clearly forbidden in the first commandment. Here the warning is a bit more nuanced. Not only are we forbidden from worshipping the creation instead of the Creator, we are also forbidden from worshiping the Creator with images of created things.
So I will return to the question of why? Why no images? Answer: because all images of God, or all images used to represent God, are a lie. They are incapable of telling us the truth about him. They portray God as physical when he is truly spiritual. They confine God to a locality when in reality he is omnipresent. Images limit the One who is infinite and beyond measure. In brief, images make God small in the hearts and minds of those who see them. They bring God down and make him into an object to be manipulated and controlled by the hands of men and formed according to their wills and imaginations.
Some may push back saying, but the artist knows that God is not really bound by the image. And the worshipper understands that these are merely representations of the infinite one. Do they? Do they understand this? And the question is not so much what the artist understands, but what the artist communicates to others. Will future generations understand when they run to images rather than to the Word of God to understand the truth regarding who God is.
And be sure of this, they will certainly run to the images, and not to the Word of God. The images appeal much more strongly to our fleshly desires than does God’s Word. Images appeal to the mind of man, for an image can be understood. Images appeal to the heart of man, for an image may be crafted to suit one’s desires. And images appeal to the will of man, for an image is under our control. We are able to manipulate it, take it where we wish, and use it as we wish. But the God who has revealed himself in history and in the scriptures is beyond our comprehension. He claims Lordship over us. He demands that we conform to his will and desire what he desires, for he has made us – we have not made him.
No images of God are to be made. And neither are we to make images of earthly things to represent God. Both approaches are incapable of telling the truth regarding God, but will always tell a lie, leading to false beliefs concerning his nature.
So what about images of Jesus? Should we have them? This is a controversial question. It didn’t used to be amongst protestants and the Reformed. In times past most protestants stood unified against Rome and their use of images of Christ in worship. But today, few protestants even stop to ask, should we make images of Jesus?
Some say, no, never. Others say, no, certainly not for use in worship (but perhaps for other purposes). And still others say, yes, it is permitted, for nowhere do the scriptures say “thou shalt not make an image of Jesus”. Those who are of this last opinion will reason thus: since the Son of God took on flesh in the incarnation, we are therefore free to make images of him, for he is the image of the invisible God.
But let’s think about this. I have a series of questions for you.
One, is Jesus to be worshipped? Answer: yes, he is to be worshipped. God the Father is to be worshipped through faith in him. But Jesus is also be worshipped.
Two, do we worship Jesus Christ according to his divinity or his humanity? Answer: We worship Jesus because he is divine. In Jesus, there are two natures, the human and the divine. And it is the person of the Son, the second person of the Triune God, who is the person, or acting subject, in Christ.
Three, do images of Jesus communicate the truth regarding the object of our worship, or do they tell a lie. Answer: they most certainly tell a lie. They do with Jesus, who was and is the Son of God incarnate, the very same thing that images of God do. They misrepresent him. They limit him. They mislead.
It is not difficult to demonstrate that images of Jesus are misleading.
For one, no one knows what Jesus looked like. No one who saw Jesus in the flesh decided to draw pictures of him or carve statues of him. Think about that for a moment. Why didn’t they? If it was so important for the church to have images of Jesus to remember him by, then why was this not a priority of the eyewitnesses of Jesus? They did not paint or carve, brothers and sisters. They wrote. And I cannot help but think that the second commandment had something to do with that. We don’t have any pictures of Jesus dating back to the first or second centuries. So no one knows what he looked like. This means that every picture you have ever seen of Jesus is false. Some are probably more accurate than others. It is all but certain that he did not have blond hair and blue eyes! But all are wrong. No one is correct. And yet Jesus is to be worshipped.
Two — and I think this is even more significant — every picture of Jesus is misleading because a picture can only portray his human nature, and not his divine nature, and yet we know that “two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion; which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man” (2LBC 8.2). And I ask you, how do we know this? How do we know that in the one Christ there are two natures, human and divine? Did any of you learn that from looking at an image? Of course not. We know this to be true from the Word of God.
So you are recognizing a common theme, I hope. How can we come to know and worship God in truth? Through special revelation, and not images. And how can we come to know and worship Christ in truth? Again, through special revelation (i.e. the scriptures) and not images.
So what is my view regarding images of Christ? Certainly, they are never to be used in worship. Never should we pray to them, or to God and Christ through them. This is a clear violation of the second commandment. And concerning images of Jesus in movies, manger scenes, and children’s story Bibles — I would urge you, brothers and sisters, to think very carefully about them. My convictions have changed over the years leading me to say that I will not have them in my home. I would urge you to come to the same conclusion, but will also acknowledge that godly men and women do disagree on this application.
So how will we teach our children and others about Jesus then if not with pictures? Brothers and sisters, we are to teach the whole truth concerning the whole Christ from the Word of God. We are to say what the scriptures say. Things like this: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16, ESV). Imagine trying to communicate that with an image. Or better yet, imagine trying to form an image that will not distort that truth.
And how are we to remember Christ and the work that he has accomplished for us if not with pictures? Answer: We are to remember him in the way that God has commanded, through Word and Sacrament. God has given to us baptism and the Lord’s Supper as visible signs which remind us of the work that Christ has accomplished for and done in us. And it is the Word of God that explains their meaning.
You are probably recognizing that this comes back to the question, how is God to be worshipped? Is it the normative principle that we are to adopt — the one that says, we are free to worship as we wish provided that God’s word does not directly forbid it? Or is it the regulative principle that we are to adopt — the one that says, we are free to worship God in the way that he has commanded, not more or less? This second view is ours.
*****
Baptist Catechism 57
As we begin to move now to a conclusion I would like to briefly address Baptist Catechism 57 which asks, “What are the reasons annexed [added]to the second commandment?”
The second commandment is, in brief, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image”, but in verses 5-6 of Exodus 20, and in verses 9-10 of Deuteronomy 5, we find that God states his reason for this commandment with the words, “for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV).
And our catechism is right to summarize the reasons for the second commandment in this way: “ The reasons annexed to the second commandment, are, God’s sovereignty over us, His propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship.” In other words, God says “for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…”, etc. because of “God’s sovereignty over us, His propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship.”
Some are disturbed by the words, “for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” Many assume that all jealousy is sinful, and so it sounds very strange to hear God say, I “am a jealous God.” But is all jealousy sinful? No, it is not. Just as there is a difference between righteous anger and unrighteous anger, so too there is a difference between righteous jealousy and unrighteous jealousy. Jealousy is sinful when it is covetous. It is sin to be jealous of what others have wishing that it belonged to you! But it is right to be jealous for what is yours. If I say to you, I am jealous for my wifes’ faithfulness, I have not confessed sin to you, have I? Nor have I claimed that she has sinned. I have only said that she is mine, and I am hers, and I am eager to keep it that way. Now, even righteous jealousy like this can overflow its proper and reasonable bounds and become a consuming passion. But our God is not driven by passions. And neither is he jealous for things that are not rightfully his. His jealousy is not like ours tends to be, therefore. No, his is perfectly right and pure.
So what is God jealous for? Answer: worship from his creatures. Just as it is right for a husband to be jealous for his wife’s faithfulness, and a wife to be jealous for her husband’s faithfulness, so too it is right for God to be jealous to have worship from his creatures. Or to put it in a more shocking way, God would sin if he was not jealous for the worship of his name. It is only right that he be worshiped, and it is a great evil when he is not, for he is our God, and we are his creatures. And this is especially true of those whom he has redeemed. We owe him worship, brothers and sisters. We owe him worship that is true, for he is our Creator and Redeemer. He is sovereign over us. He is our Lord and king. He has propriety in us, meaning, he has the right to call us to conform to his will. And he is zealous to be worshipped. And this is right. It is right for God to have as his highest aim the glory of his name, for he is God.
*****
Conclusion
Q. 56. What is forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word. (Rom. 1:22,23; Deut. 4:15,16; Matt. 15:9; Col. 2:18)
Q. 57. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment, are, God’s sovereignty over us, His propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship. (Ps. 45:11; Ex. 34:14; 1 Cor. 10:22)
