Please turn with me in your Bibles to:

Exodus 20:4-6 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

One of my heroes of the faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was a pastor in Nazi Germany. Rather than “Go along to get along” he actively taught against and stood up to the Nazi atrocities committed in the concentration camps. Bonhoeffer could have taken the easy way out and run away when the Nazis began executing and burning Jews and other prisoners of war. He was martyred for standing up to evil, strangled and hung up naked in the very concentration camps he fought against. Bonhoeffer wrote:

“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”

Many people today are on the “wrong train”. Many are on a “long, black train” like Josh Turner sings about.

There’s a long black train comin’ down the line
Feedin’ off the souls that are lost and cryin’
Rails of sin, only evil remains
Watch out, brother, for that long black train

You get on a “Long, Black Train” when you get away from God’s Ten Commandments.

Last week we studied the First Commandment, where the Lord said:

Exodus 20:2-3 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

This is the first place the devil will come when he tries to damn a soul. He told Jesus,

“The whole world I’ll give you if You fall down and worship Me.” Matthew 4:9 (AP)

Jesus was very quick to refer to the First Commandment. He said “Get away, Satan. It is written, you shall WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, and Him only you shall serve” (Matthew 4:10 AP). The First Commandment is that “God is NUMBER ONE. I will worship and serve Him only.”.

The Second Commandment states:

Exodus 20:4-5 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them

Once we make a decision to worship other than the God of Scripture, it isn’t long before we are making a graven image or an idol. This can be money, a rabbit’s foot or lucky item, a Cross, a building, a horoscope, or some relic we have made “holy”.

The Danger Of Worshiping Other Than God

We are to remember Who saved us (God), but we are also to treat God and only God with the respect due our God. As we study the Ten Commandments, we’ll see the danger of violating the Second Commandment.

There is a Ten Commandments recognized by the Catholic Church, and a Ten Commandments recognized by the Christian Church. As you can see in the following chart, the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments skips the command against making graven images.

Slide 5

The Catholic Church removes the Second Commandment, and makes the Third Commandment the Second Commandment. Why do they do this? Some say it is because Saint Augustine, and early Roman Catholic Pastor, used that format for the Ten Commandments. But that’s not what the problem is. Even though the Roman Catholic Catechism states,

“Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons, power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2113)

Catholics bow down to and venerate icons, religious images of Jesus, statues of the virgin Mary and the Saints.

The Catholics teach that the “relics” or remains of the saints are to be venerated because, as Friar Mario Conte, executive Editor of the Messenger of Saint Anthony magazine said:

“Saints’ relics help people overcome the abstract and make a connection with the holy … Saints do not perform miracles. Only God performs miracles, but saints are intercessors.”

An “intercessor” or a “mediator” is a person or an object that we address in order to get to the Presence of God. Catholics bow down to statues of the virgin Mary and other “Saints” who are recognized by their Church because they believe these “mediators” will speak to God or Christ on their behalf. Catholics will bow down and kiss the ring of the Pope, the Cardinals, or the Bishops. By bowing down and showing veneration to statues or crosses, or by kissing the ring of upper echelon officials in the Church, the “faith” secure “indulgences”.

“… an indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven. Among the equivalent terms used in antiquity were pax, remissio, donatio, condonatio.”

In 787 AD the Second Council of Nicaea decreed that every Catholic altar should contain a relic. One source notes,

“Churches were generally built over the remains of martyrs, but when not possible a first-class relic was placed within the altar and covered by a stone slab. The Second Council of Nicaea would later decree that all churches were to have altars containing relics of saints. Eventually, the practice became ecclesiastical law, with early editions of the Roman Pontifical mandating altars to contain first-class relics from two separate saints, one of which a martyr.

The Second Vatican Council affirmed and simplified the ancient practice:

“The practice of placing relics of Saints, even those not Martyrs, under the altar to be dedicated is fittingly retained. Care should be taken, however, to ensure the authenticity of such relics.” – Roman Missal (302)

When the priest kisses the altar while celebrating Mass, he shows reverence not only for Jesus Christ as the literal cornerstone of the Church the altar represents, but also continues the ancient tradition of showing reverence for the sacrifice of martyrs. It serves as a continual reminder that when in celebrating Mass, we celebrate with all the saints and angels in Heaven.”

The Catholics bow down to and worship “relics”, bones of saints, or religious “icons” like the Shroud of Turan. The Catholic Church considers the Shroud of Turan to be a venerated “icon”. The 14 foot linen cloth supposedly bears the imprints of the front and back of a crucified man that many think may be the image of Christ. Pope Clement VII declared the Shroud was not the true burial cloth of Christ, though the Church could display at as a man-made religious “icon”. Pope Francis said that the Shroud was “An Icon of Love”.

What is the problem with this? Can the saints, the Pope, the Cardinals or Bishops of the Catholic Church be “mediators” for us? The Bible says NO. The Scripture declares:

1 Timothy 2:3-6 (NKJV) … For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time …

There is no Mediator that stands between us and God … but GOD Himself. God said in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 43:11-12 (NKJV) I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you …

The only way to be saved is to come to God our Savior. But the only way to approach our God is through Jesus Christ. The Bible is adamant that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”. There is no other Mediator. Catholics argue that, yes, the Bible says that there is only One Mediator in the strictest sense, but that there are other “lesser and subordinate mediators”. The Bible does not support this. The Scripture says:

Hebrews 7:24-25(NKJV)…{Jesus}, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore {Jesus} is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

We Are To Bow Down And Worship Only God

Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Word Study The words “graven image” is the Hebrew pesel, which means “something carved or molded into a likeness”. The word “likeness” is the Hebrew tᵊmûnâ, which means a representation or image of something in the natural world. God does not care that we make sculptures or statues of things, or draw pictures of the world around us. In my office there is a picture of an artist’s rendering of Jesus that my mother gave me. I love looking at it, and remembering the mom who gave it to me.

God does not care if we do artwork, or take photos. He just doesn’t want us making these man made objects into things we WORSHIP.

Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down (šāḥâ) thyself to them, nor serve them…

Word Study The words translated “BOW DOWN” is the Hebrew šāḥâ (pronounced shaw-khaw’). The word means “to revere, to show obeisance to or reverence, to display outward homage to”. When Abram saw God coming to his tent he “bowed himself toward the ground” (Genesis 18:2). His nephew Lot, on the other hand, “bowed himself with his face toward the ground” (Genesis 19:1) when he encountered angels of God.

We are not to worship or venerate the bones of saints, or linen cloths, or statues or paintings. We are not to bow down to ideas or social concepts. We are not to prostrate ourselves to any but God. In the Book of Revelation the Apostle John met an angel. The Bible says:

Revelation 22:8-9 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Only God is to be venerated. Only God is to be worshiped. It is a dangerous thing to worship anyone outside of God. God tells us,

Exodus 20:5Thou shalt not bow down (šāḥâ) thyself to them, nor serve (ʿāḇaḏ) them…

Word Study The word translated “SERVE” is the Hebrew ʿāḇaḏ (pronounced aw-bad’), which means “to labor or work for”. God wants us to work. The Bible says,

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (ESV) … If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

We are to work. Work was even in Paradise, as God told Adam “to work and keep the Garden” (Genesis 2:15, ESV). But God does not want our jobs to be our gods. He does not want our money or prosperity to be our gods. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:24 (ESV) No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

We should not humble ourselves before any but God. When Peter went to visit the Gentile Cornelius:

Acts 10:25-26 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

Men should not be worshiped. Women should not be worshiped. The creations of our hands should not be worshiped. Nature itself should not be worshiped. Only God is to be worshiped.

There Is A Punishment For Violating
The 2^nd Commandment

Exodus 20:5-6 for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

God saves us because He loves us. God is a “jealous God”. The difference between ENVY and JEALOUSY is that ENVY is sinful, for it COVETS what another has. On the other hand JEALOUSY is to guard that which is YOURS. God is jealous when we worship anyone other than Him. God said that He would “visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children”. Worship of anyone or anything outside of the God of Scripture is considered “iniquity” (ʿāôn, pronounced aw-vone’). This word means “guilt of sin, perversity, depravity”. Creation of false gods and goddesses ultimately leads to sexual perversity. The Apostle Paul spoke of this in

Romans 1:21-23 (ESV) … although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

When people violate the Second Commandment, making God into an image like “corruptible man, or creatures from the natural world” it is not long before sexual perversity creeps in. Paul went on the write:

Romans 1:25-27 (ESV) who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Violating the Second Commandment, they “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”. They bowed down to man made gods. What followed? Making a god in their own image to follow, they moved into sexual perversity, what God calls “vile passions”. We are told “their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another ”. Why do we have a proliferation of homosexuality, lesbian activity, and transgenderism? The Bible says it is because the Second Commandment was violated repeatedly. When you make the True God into a little “g” god, it isn’t long before you leave your divine design for that which is vile and perverse. God says that those who make idols “hate me”. In time God “gives them over to a debased mind, to do that which is not fitting” (Romans 1:28). Rejecting the God of the Scripture, they move into gender dysphoria and confusion.

God alone is to be worshiped.

Is It A Violation Of The Second Commandment
To Worship Jesus?

The simple answer is – NO! Jesus is “Emmanuel – God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). When the Wise Men came from the east to find the Messiah, the Bible says:

Matthew 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Jesus Christ is the One Mediator between God and Man. He is the One Messiah, the very Son of God. He is God with us. When Jesus calmed the storm when the disciples were out on the Sea, we read:

Matthew 14:33 (NKJV) Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

Not only did these disciples worship Jesus – but Jesus received that worship. He did the same thing when Jesus healed the man born blind from birth. When the Pharisees cast this healed man out of the Synagogue, our Lord Jesus went to him. We read:

Luke 24:35-38 (NKJV) Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

Jesus received that worship. Following His resurrection, the women who saw the Lord worshiped Him – and again, he received that worship.

Matthew 28:9-10 (NKJV) And as {the women} went to tell His disciples {that Christ was risen}, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

And on the day that Christ ascended into glory, we read:

Luke 24:51-53 (NKJV) Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

When we get to Heaven one day (if we have received Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior) we will worship Him. Jesus is worthy of worship. John the Revelator wrote:

Revelation 5:11-14 (NKJV) Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

We bow down to no one but our God. We obey and live for the Holy One Who is Father, Son, and Spirit. And one day we will worship Him in glory forever. I pray that you know Him. I pray that you have called on Jesus for salvation. Amen and Amen.