Once again, when they were saying these prayers, while staring at the celluloid image of the "weak" Jesus which was in their mind, who was receiving the praise?
I don't know what was on their minds nor in their hearts and neither do you.
S&T:
I noticed that you had an "Icon" posted on your profile. To each his own. What is a Liturgical Baptist ?
Liturgical Baptists believe the best and most proper form of worship is liturgical. That is another discussion however.
Deu 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, [or] the likeness of any [thing], which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
Act 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
Then be sure to burn your family album, driver's license. Let us also tear down Mt. Rushmore, Iwo Jima Memorial. Get rid of GI Joe's etc
I think the Amish are the only ones to be consistent on this.
What God prohibited was making of idols to worship. God did not violate His own law by calling for cherubuim and the Bronze Serpent to be made.
There is great Controversy over Images in worship.Why is God angered about the Golden calf, images of Baal, Ashoroth, Molech and orders
their destruction. On the other hand we see that God authorized the building of images such as the Cherubuim that were in the Holy of Holies, the Bronze serpent and there were images in Solomon's palace.
Why Did God Permit certain Images and not others?
The New American Standard and Amplified Bible does a better job of getting this across because they are more literal,
Ex 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. (NASB)
Lev 19:4 'Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.(NASB)
Lev 26:1 'You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God. (NASB)
Ex 20:4 You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it]or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;(Amplified Bible)
Deuteronomy 6:15 Beware lest you become corrupt by making for yourselves [to worship] a graven image in the form of any figure, the
likeness of male or female (Amplified Bible)
The emphasis is making such images to worship. If we take a total prohibition against images then God violated his own commandments plus even pictures of ourselves and our families are forbidden. What God is emphasizing is that to make any image for worship is forbidden,
NOT the making of images in of themselves.
There were 2 Images or Representations of God made in scripture. One was acceptable. The other was a abomination.
Exodus 32:1-8 THE GOLDEN CALF
1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." 2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives,
your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4
He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD ." 6 So the
next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and
drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been
quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O
Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' (NIV)
Some things to note here
1. The people ask Aaron make us gods. (idolatry) The golden calf many believe was the image of the Egyptian god Apis.
2. Aaron made it as only a representation of God but that was not the motive for the people. Aaron tried to sanitize this idol into a image of God. But the whole reason it was built was because the people cried out, make us gods. (idolatry)
3. The people sacrificed to it and worshipped it. (idolatry)
4. The people said "These are your gods, O israel" (idolatry)
The golden calf was a idol made to worship and God was angered by this abomination.
THE BRONZE SERPENT - Numbers 21:4-9
"4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people
and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the
LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole;
anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. "(NIV)
Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
John 3:14-15 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life"
The Bronze Serpent was a picture of Christ on the cross. Bronze is a symbol of judgment, the serpent is a picture of the curse. On the
cross Christ would endure the judgment of God.
Why was the Bronze Serpent acceptable and not the Golden calf in that both the Bronze Serpent and the Golden Calf were representations of
God?
Answer:The Motive.
The Golden Calf was made to venerate and worship. The Bronze Serpent was made as a symbol of faith. It is true that during the time of the
kings (probably that of Ahaz) that the Bronze Serpent (2 Kings 18:4) became a object of worship. Some say that means Moses should have
destroyed it after the Numbers 21 incident. There is no reason to suggest this however since God did not order it destroyed.
The most likely sceneraio is it was a symbol of God's grace through the reign of Moses, Joshua, Judges, early kings of Israel until the
image was perverted to pagan use. It was in a sense, the first crucifix. It was only when people began to worship it that it was
destroyed by Hezekiah.
Most Protestants have the Puritan misunderstanding of the Old Testament Law on this. Luther however understood in his own writings that images were not prohited, else you have God contradicting and violating His own Law by having the Bronze serpent as well as other images made for the Tabernacle. What God prohibited is the making of Idols not images in general. The Bible does not forbid crosses, crucifixes, manger scenes, church art. It does forbid worshipping such objects. The emphasis in the Commandmaents is the worship of objects not the making of them, else God violated His own commandments in the Temple and with the brazen serpent.
