Hello and welcome to another teaching by 119 Ministries.
Our ministry teaches that the whole Bible is true and is all still relevant to believers
today.
If you would like to learn more on what we believe and teach, please visit us at testeverything.net
and examineelototo.net.
We hope that you enjoy studying and testing the following teaching.
Exodus chapter 20 verses 4 through 6, 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, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast
love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Perhaps you have heard it said before that the word of God clearly says that we are not
to make an image of any likeness in heaven above or the earth below.
Thus we need to throw away that picture on the wall, photos of our family or any artistic
rendering of anything remotely close to being an image found in heaven or on earth.
Following that claim, one might go on to hear it said that the very word of God is very
clear on this matter and then reference what we just read in Exodus 20.
The emphasis is on verse 4, 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.
If one stops there and fails to keep reading for context, then one might certainly come
to the conclusion that nearly all art, sculptures, graphics, etc. are an abomination to Yahweh
and suddenly the trash cans become very full.
Suddenly do not get us wrong because if that was indeed the correct understanding of that
commandment, then we would most certainly want to follow and teach His instructions
consistent with that conclusion.
However, is that really what God is stating here?
As always, we encourage all to test everything.
We are big believers in context and context on this matter is critical.
We don't apply context by reading verses before or after other verses, we can walk away with
some rather disturbing doctrines.
In Psalm 10-4 and 14-1, it clearly says that there is no God.
Now anyone who has read any of the rest of the Bible can easily see that such a claim
does not line up with the rest of the word of God.
In fact, there is no such thing as the word of God if there is no God.
It is when the words before and after the verse are read and comprehended that the true
understanding of Psalm 10-4 and 14-1 are understood correctly.
Likewise, understanding the second commandment includes the same approach.
The solution to understanding the second commandment is inclusive of reading the whole commandment,
not just a portion of it in verse 4.
When we examine the whole context of the second commandment, it is quickly discovered that
it is about making objects in order to worship them or bow down to them.
Exodus chapter 20 verses 4 through 6, 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 fourth generation
of those who hate me, by showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and
keep my commandments.
What makes more sense?
Let's consider two different examples of circumstances.
Are we to suggest that Yahweh Elohim would be a jealous God if we painted or took a photo
of a bird?
Those only focusing on verse 4 would suggest so, or does it make more sense that if we
painted or sculpted a bird, let's say an owl in this case, and then bowed down to it
as the sun-god Molek, then Yahweh would then be a jealous God?
Those focusing on the whole context of the second commandment would find this example
to be true and valid.
Is the difference clear?
See how both examples include making an object found in heaven or on earth, but one includes
worship to false gods and the other does not.
The difference between those two presented scenarios is the exact same difference we
find in Exodus 20 in which one pays attention to verse 4 only or includes the whole context
of verses 4 through 6.
We are certainly not to worship creation, but that doesn't mean that God is again showing
appreciation for its beauty by taking its picture.
Let's read the commandment again noting the clear difference in application we just discussed
as compared with the whole context of the commandment.
Exodus 20 verses 4 through 6, 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.
And in what way are we not to make such images?
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation
of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and
keep my commandments.
Now for most that would be enough to understand the whole context of the commandment and then
live it out in their daily practice of walking the Torah.
But we will provide another example of how the context always includes the worshiping
and bowing down to creation and false gods.
Deuteronomy chapter 4, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves
in the form of any figure in 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, and the
likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water
under the earth.
That seems to be very clear to the person who stops here.
However, the context and purpose continues in the very next verse, and we should want
to take every bit of context into account.
Verse 19, and beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the
moon and the stars, all the hosts of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and
serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole
heaven.
There are also other examples in the Torah relating to not making images relating to
the heaven above or the earth below.
However, in every instance, the context is about worshiping and bowing down to them.
Again, that should be enough to settle the matter for most people.
However, there is still even more evidence to consider if one is not yet convinced.
We should all agree that God's character, holiness, and righteousness is defined by
his own law, his Torah.
Meaning this, it is against God's character and definition of the standard of holiness
and righteousness, for whom to define what is good and then violate that same standard.
Would we want to accuse God of violating what he calls good, holy, and righteous?
Would we want to accuse God of breaking the Torah?
If breaking the Torah is sin, do we want to accuse God of being sinful?
Of course not.
Such thinking should be considered absurd for all believers in the faith.
That all being said, there is something very important to realize and consider.
Consider the Ark of the Covenant, Exodus chapter 25, and you shall make two cherubim
of gold, of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.
Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end, of one piece with the mercy
seat, shall you make the cherubim on its two ends.
The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their
wings, their faces to one another, toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim
be.
Cherub are heavenly beings, so if the second commandment specifies that God's people
should not make images of anything in heaven above, and here we find in Exodus 25 that
God's people are commanded to make images of things in heaven above, will we not consider
that a contradiction?
It most certainly would be.
In other words, to interpret the second commandment in such a way that we are not permitted to
make any images of anything in heaven above or the earth below is clearly misguided.
When you miss the context of it being related to using images to worship false gods, it
is easy to see how we can make such an error.
But such a strict understanding of the second commandment is certainly not compatible with
the word.
Did Yahweh instruct Moses to sin when he made an image of a serpent, which is an image found
in the earth below, Numbers 21?
And Yahweh said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who has
bitten and sees it shall live.
So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, and if a serpent bit anyone, he
would look at the bronze serpent and live.
So did Moses sin by making an image of the earth below?
Clearly not.
Yahweh does not instruct us to sin.
However, the serpent became an issue when Israel began to worship it.
It was at that time that it escalated to a matter of breaking the second commandment
in the Torah.
Second Kings verse 18.
He removed the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the ashrah.
And when he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days
the people of Israel had made offerings to it.
It was called Nehustam.
Consider even the ancient Hebrew pictograph lettering.
The ancient Hebrew characters were full of various images.
And this is the alphabet system that got himself used with Israel.
Let's consider the Hebrew letter Aleph.
The ancient pictograph of that letter was the picture of an ox.
Now if the second commandment forbid us to not make images of the earth below, then how
would they have drawn the letter Aleph in the time of Moses?
And that is simply one example of one letter.
That means if the second commandment literally forbid us to not make any images of heaven
above and the earth below, then when the Torah was written down and copied in the time of
Moses because they would have been using ancient pictograph Hebrew, they would have been sinning.
It would have been a sin to write the Torah.
Even more strangely, using this example, it would have been breaking the second commandment
to even write the second commandment.
All of this should serve well to properly illustrate the importance of considering context.
When the second commandment was spoken to Israel in Exodus 20, there is more to it than
simply verse 4.
In the Torah, there are examples of those making images of heaven above and the earth
below.
It was and is not an issue unless they are being bowed down to or being worshiped.
We hope that this teaching has blessed you, and remember, continue to test everything.
Shalom.
There you have it.
ancient occult practices which can be traced back to Babylon?
Babylonian Sun God worship has evolved throughout the centuries
and has branched out into several major religions.
Many professing believers have also adopted several of these pagan customs
unaware. Even today, all throughout Catholicism
and daughter denominations, there are still dozens of popular monuments
and symbols that were at one time dedicated to various Sun Gods.
What became this very same organization also instituted
Christmas and Easter.
Secular and Christian scholars alike all record that the Christmas tree,
wreaths, boughs of holly, and mistletoe were all
objects used in pagan Sun God fertility fights. This of course
begs the question, what are they doing in the homes of believers today?
Discover how Mithra and the Norse Odin evolved
into the imaginary Saint Wino today as Nicholas and how
he became the key figure in the celebration of Christmas.
In ancient folklore, Saint Nicholas was accompanied by a dark
counterpart known as the Krampus and had a striking resemblance to other
false deities. The Easter Bunny and the dying of Easter
eggs are also symbols of fertility connected to Ishtar, Biblically
referenced as the Queen of Heaven. Long before the birth
of our Messiah, December 25th was a day used to celebrate
the rebirth of the Sun God. All of this and more has all been
justified by man for hundreds of years, but when was the last time we
considered what our Creator had to say regarding all of this?
Do we care? Should we care?
We reveal an opportunity and faith center challenge to worship
and practice the faith as he stated he desires for all his
people, not according to us, not according to men, but instead
according to his way, according to his word.
That is, if you are ready to test everything.
To order this two-part teaching visit
www.testeverything.net or watch it for free in our video section.
