Second Commandment

 

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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 nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:4-6

This second Commandment compliments very well the first. After making it clear that He is the only One, one of His biggest differences is precisely in this Commandment: He does not need an image to be recognized, appreciated or served.

All other “gods” need to be physically seen in some way. Not the God of Israel. He is the invisible God, and to have contact with Him you need to have faith. Faith that He is listening to your prayers. Faith that He understands you. Faith that He is present, even if your eyes can’t see Him.

Now you understand better the Bible verse that says:

Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10:38

Only through our faith we are able to communicate with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When we are in doubt, undecided in life, fearful, concerned it is because we are far from Him…

All that He asks of you is to believe in what He promised in such a way that you live according to His Word without the need to have favorable circumstances around you.

People distance themselves from God because of this — they want to see, hold, touch, hear and feel… all because they did not see immediate results of their faith. For not always feeling His presence. For not being able to resist the pressure of sin. They want to treat God as they treat the other “gods” out there, that can be carried around, used, wrinkled, hung and can get lost.

He who lives by what they see and feel, can only achieve what this enables them to reach. He who lives by what they believe, achieve what they could never reach: God and all His promises.