What is the true meaning of the second commandment?

Question: "What is the true meaning of the second commandment?"

Answer: The Ten Commandments are recorded in the Bible in Exodus 20:1–17 and
Deuteronomy 5:6–21. The second of those commandments, in its entirety, is this: “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, 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 20:4; Deuteronomy 5:8).

This command is closely linked with the first, which says, “You shall have no other gods
before Me.” Having other gods is idolatry. Idol worship was rampant among the nations
surrounding Israel. Most of those nations had carved images to which they bowed, sacrificed,
and performed various acts of worship. Often that pagan worship involved infanticide and
prostitution (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 23:17). The Israelites were strictly warned to keep
themselves separate from the pagan nations around them and to avoid any activities that
resembled their vile worship rites (Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:15; Ezekiel 11:12).

God hates idolatry in any form (Deuteronomy 6:14–15; 32:21; Jeremiah 2:5; Leviticus 26:1). It
steals the attention and honor that belong only to God (Deuteronomy 6:5; Luke 10:27). In
many nations today, carved gods and goddesses are still an obvious violation of this
commandment. However, the sin of idolatry is ultimately a sin of the heart. An idol is
anything we depend upon to meet the deep needs of the heart—love, security, worth, or
significance. When we seek to find identity and security in something besides God, we have
made it an idol. John Calvin said, “The human heart is an idol factory.” We often search for
peace or identity through relationships, substances, money, or entertainment. Addictions are
forms of idolatry, as are a host of other worldly enticements that cannot ultimately satisfy.
When we give ourselves to the pursuit of manmade gods, we are breaking the second
commandment.

Even good things can become idols if we are not careful. Ministry, hobbies, charity work, or
family can usurp the rightful place only God should hold in our lives. When we emotionally
rely on anything other than our relationship with Him to validate us, we are breaking the
second commandment.

This commandment also contains a warning for future generations. God is saying that, if we
don’t deal with idolatry in our generation, we will pass it down to our children and to their
children. Children learn to handle life by watching their parents. When children observe mom
and dad running to a bottle, a pill, another romance, or a shopping spree to make them feel
good about themselves, they follow that pattern. When children watch their parents spend
time, money and energy on worldly pursuits, they naturally copy those values and will raise
their own children to do the same.
However, God also promises blessing for those who model godly values for their children
(Deuteronomy 7:9). Just as children learn to run to idols by watching their parents do so, they
can also learn to turn away from idols by observing their parents giving God His rightful place
in their lives. When we make Him our hiding place (Psalm 32:7), He fills our deepest heart
needs like nothing else can. When we have no gods but Him, He is faithful to shelter us with
His love and protection (Psalm 36:7; 144:2; Malachi 3:17–18). Psalm 103:17 says, “The LORD’s
love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” We
must give the Holy Spirit free rein to smash any idols our hearts have erected. When we allow
Him to remove anything that has established itself as an idol, we can then be filled with His
joy and peace (Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 6:18).

Second Commandment?

In the 1st of the Ten Commandments, God says “have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:3). We are not
to have, serve, or worship any god other than the true God. In the 2nd commandment, we learn that we
are not to “make any carved image” nor “bow down to them” in worship (Ex. 20:4-5). So,
commandment #1 is “Don’t worship other gods”. Commandment #2 is “Don’t worship carved images
(idols)”. It seems on the surface as though God is repeating Himself.

In taking a closer look, however, we see that God was not stuttering or stammering when He gave the
Ten Commandments. The 1st and 2nd commandments are different. The 1st commandment has to do
with who we worship, and the 2nd deals with how we worship.

A good illustration of the difference between the 1st and 2nd commandments can be found in the
account of Israel and the infamous golden calf incident. In Exodus 32, we find the children of Israel
growing restless. Moses has been on the mountain, conversing with God for 40 days, and the Israelites
decide it’s time for a new leader. They ask Aaron to make for them a god (or gods) to go before them (v.
1). Aaron obliges, and makes for them an idol, a golden calf (v. 4). Israel was breaking the 2nd
commandment, but believe it or not, they were not breaking the 1st commandment.

When the golden calf was finished, the Israelites exclaimed that the calf was the god that brought
them out of Egypt (v. 4). The Israelites may have been a stiff-necked people (v. 9), but they were not so
dumb as to think that the recently-made calf was the one to bring them out of Egypt. God had brought
Israel out of Egypt over three months prior to that, and Israel knew that the calf didn’t even exist at the
time they left Egypt. This calf could not have brought them out of Egypt, and they knew it. For them, this
calf was a representation of the true God who had led them out of Egypt.
 The fact that Israel was worshiping the right God is confirmed in verses 5-6 as well. Their “feast” was
done “to the LORD”. Whenever you see the word “LORD” in all capital letters, that means that it is
translated from the Hebrew word “Yahweh” (or Jehovah). The word “Elohim” (God), can refer to any
god, the true God or a false one. But Yahweh is God’s personal name, it is only used to refer to the God
of the Bible.

So Israel was worshiping Yahweh, the one who brought them out of Egypt. They were worshiping the
right God, but they were worshiping Him in the wrong way. They were worshiping Him through the use
of an idol. This was a clear violation of the 2nd commandment.

I am certainly not the first to come to the conclusion that the 1st command deals with who we
worship, and the 2nd command deals with how we worship. The great Matthew Henry (1662-1714) has
this to say in his famous commentary (commenting on Ex. 20):

“The first commandment concerns the object of our worship, Jehovah, and him only.”

“The second commandment concerns the ordinances of worship, or the way in which God will be
worshiped…”

Years later, Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) wrote a catechism in which he discusses the Ten
Commandments (a catechism is a small book used to teach theology to children or new believers in a
question and answer format).

Question #43 asks: “What is required in the first commandment?”

Answer: “The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true
God, and our God, and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.”

Question #45 asks: “What is required in the second commandment?”

Question #46 asks: “What is forbidden in the second commandment?”

Answer: “The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images, or any other way
not appointed in His word.”

The modern Christian would certainly affirm that we may only worship the God of the Bible.
Unfortunately, we are not always as careful to worship God only in the way He has told us to. In ancient
Israel, the issue was the use of carved images, like the ones that were being used by the unbelieving
nations around them. In our day, we may not be carving images, but often times the modern church
looks to the unbelieving world for ideas of what to do in our worship services. This is a violation of the
2nd commandment. We may only worship God as He has told us to in His word.