The Second Commandment

 The Second Commandment

 

HEADLINE:

 

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: 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 

 

God rejected the worship of the Israelites because of transgression against His ways, the 2^nd Commandment!.

 

Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

 

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 God tells John to write to the seven churches in Asia because they were not all living up to his standards.  Only Smyrna and Philadelphia passed muster.  It is not uncommon for God to reprove those who serve Him to make them acceptable to Him.

 

Now, we must use the Word of God as a mirror.  He “changes not”, Malachi 3:6.  That being the case, what do you think God’s opinion is concerning the worship today’s churches and Christian’s hope.  Will He accept it from their hands?  Consider what God sees, when He observes man’s worship!  Our HEADLINE now becomes the first rule of measure.  It clearly states, “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”. 

 

What does God see in pictures, stained glass windows, and graphic sculptures around the walls, windows and behind the pulpits in the typical “man-made church”?  Does He not see representations of Jesus, holy angels, “Mary and baby Jesus”, and Jesus’ disciples?  They tend to be “white like Europeans” and not at all like the persons He made in their earthly life-time.  Is this how Christians think God approves of what they do?   Are men today any better than the Jews in Isaiah’s day or the 7 churches of Asia?  There is more!  The children of Israel were dark-skin people.  “Solomon was black”, Son. 1:5.  Jesus was black, and so was Mary  The prophets of the Bible were black.  But in Christian churches, Jesus and the disciples all look like “white Europeans”.  Christian churches are surrounded by fraudulent depictions of Jesus, and his disciples, and the Jews of the Levant in that era.  Do you expect God to accept and bless such “tainted worship” in such a flagrantly false environment?  Those people were brown, not white like the Romans and Greeks, who were maintaining order their empires in those days.  They decided to assume control over the Christian religion to fortify their empires.  And after a while the likenesses of the peoples of the Levant gradually took on the European appearance in portrayals.  Why would Greeks and Romans want Jesus, the disciples and the Jewish people of that period to appear with European faces and profiles and paintings?  Well, if you are going to traffic in the slave-trade and push your religion on the slaves, it might help if you look like the holy people you promote!  That appearance might convince the slaves not to rebel and to accept their condition and your words. Even pictures of Heaven showed all the angels as a bunch of white people.

 

God cannot be “played”.  He knows human thought before men can finish thinking them.  He also knows when devils are providing influence and manipulating human conduct.

 

Amos 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

 

Psalms 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. :4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

 

Do you think you and your preacher are more loved by God than the Jews in Isaiah’s time or the worshippers in the “7-churches in Asia” in John’s day?  Can you imagine what He thinks of man’s religion when He looks at their worship services?

 

Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

 

Now Daniel was really a captive in Babylon in his day.  How did he deal with the problem of worshipping God?

 

Daniel 1:6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

 

If you know the story in Daniel, Belshazzar threw him into the lion’s den and his 3 friends were thrown into a fiery furnace.  I do not think any one will throw you into a fiery furnace or drop you into a den with starving lions.  What does God have to do to you to convince you to “leave Babylon” and follow the Holy Spirit and “be ye separate”?  Leave man’s world and join the spirit family in Heaven!

 

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion , and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

 

You can join the Heavenly Army upstairs in the comfort of your own home.  All you have to do is follow on and know the Lord.

 

Psalms 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. :6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

 

Psalms 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

 

You can sup with God in your personal “secret place”!  Your own mind is that “secret place”, where you and the Holy Spirit can commune in the privacy of your own head even if you are on a crowded bus or in a grocery store.  And no man will be able to eaves-drop on your conversations.  This is what Jesus meant when he said to a woman:

 

John 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

So the Spirit that said, “Come out of her my people” also invites you to “Come UP” and become one with the cloud of witnesses and partake of their supper.  You can do it!  All you have to do is ask your Father for His blessing, and He will hear you, if you are sincere and faithful!  Fear not!  God is your “Dad”, too!  He is gentle and He loves you dearly.

 

Ode of Solomon 8:1 Open ye, open ye your hearts to the exultation of the Lord: 2 And let your love be multiplied from the heart and even to the lips, 3 To bring forth fruit to the Lord, living [fruit], holy [fruit], and to talk with watchfulness in His light. 4 Rise up, and stand erect, ye who sometime were brought low: 5 Tell forth ye who were in silence, that your mouth hath been opened. 6 Ye, therefore, that were despised be henceforth lifted up, because your righteousness hath been exalted. 7 For the right hand of the Lord is with you: and He is your helper: 8. And peace was prepared for you, before ever your war was. 9. Hear the word of truth, and receive the knowledge of the Most High. 10 Your flesh has not known what I am saying to you: neither have your hearts known what I am showing to you. 11 Keep my secret, ye who are kept by it. l2 Keep my faith, ye who are kept by it. l3 And understand my knowledge, ye who know me in truth, 14 Love me with affection, ye who love! 15 For I do not turn away my face from them that are mine; 16 For I know them and before they came into being I took knowledge of them, and on their faces I set my seal: 17 I fashioned their members: my own breasts I prepared for them, that they might drink my holy milk and live thereby 18 I took pleasure in them and am not ashamed of them: 19 For my workmanship are they and the strength of my thoughts: 20 Who then shall rise up against my handiwork, or who is there that is not subject to them? 21 I willed and fashioned mind and heart: and they are mine, and by my own right hand I set my elect ones: 22 And my righteousness goeth before them and they shall not be deprived of my name, for it is with them. 23 Ask, and abound and abide in the love of the Lord, 24 And yet beloved ones in the Beloved: those who are kept, in Him that liveth: 25 And they that are saved in Him that was saved; 26 And ye shall be found incorrupt in all ages to the name of your Father. Hallelujah.

 

Amen!

 

Glorify God!

God did it!

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