Growing up and memorizing the Ten Commandments, the second commandment seemed so obvious that it’s not even necessary to teach it today. Right? “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Ex. 20:4). That’s so “3,500 years ago”! Fast forward about 700 years from Exodus 20 and God’s people had hung on to “the bronze serpent” Moses made in Numbers 20 to save the people from the fiery serpents, and for centuries they worshiped and “burned incense to it” (2 Kgs. 18:4). Something innocent had become a god to them. What about us?
Is there anything today (even something “innocent” in and of itself) that has become a graven image or mini-god to us? For some, the earth itself has become a god to be worshiped. For others, it’s the remote control. Our phones. Our computers. Our social media. Our kids’ ball games. Our jobs. Our prestige. Our money. Our credit cards. Our bucket list.
It is very easy for something to get in the way of our relationship with God. That’s the purpose of the second commandment 3,500 years ago. What graven image do you need to take down?