Images
The Second Commandment and Its Meaning
The prohibition against images stands at the heart of Israel's covenant with God. The Second Commandment declares, "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them" (Exodus 20:4-5). This commandment did not forbid all art or decoration; it specifically prohibited creating images intended as objects of worship or as representations of God.
This distinction is important because Solomon's temple was richly decorated with carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers (1 Kings 6:29-35), and the Ark of the Covenant itself bore golden cherubim (Exodus 25:18-20). These were artistic representations within the worship space, not objects of worship themselves. The line was crossed when any physical object became a substitute for, or a means of controlling, the living God.
The prohibition reflects a fundamental truth about God's nature: he is spirit (John 4:24), invisible (Colossians 1:15), and transcendent beyond any created form. Any image that claims to represent God inevitably diminishes him, reducing the infinite to the finite and the Creator to the level of creation.
Types of Images in the Ancient Near East
The cultures surrounding Israel were saturated with religious imagery. Several types of sacred objects appear in the biblical narrative:
Standing stones (matstsevah): Upright stone pillars used as markers for sacred sites. Jacob set up a stone pillar at Bethel (Genesis 28:18), and this practice was acceptable in early Israelite worship. However, standing stones associated with Canaanite worship were condemned (Deuteronomy 12:3).
Asherah poles: Wooden objects associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah, planted beside altars. Their presence in Israelite worship spaces was repeatedly condemned by the prophets and reforming kings (Judges 6:25-26; 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 23:6).
Sun pillars (chammanim): Incense altars or pillars connected with solar worship, condemned in passages like Isaiah 17:8 and 2 Chronicles 34:4.
Teraphim: Household gods or figurines, apparently widespread in Israelite homes despite official prohibition. Rachel stole her father Laban's teraphim (Genesis 31:19), and Micah had teraphim in his household shrine (Judges 17:5). David's wife Michal used a teraphim to deceive Saul's messengers (1 Samuel 19:13).
Notable Image Incidents in Israel's History
Several episodes involving images mark turning points in Israel's story:
The golden calf at Sinai (Exodus 32) represents the foundational act of image-worship rebellion. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the covenant, Aaron fashioned a golden calf from the people's jewelry and declared, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt" (Exodus 32:4). This was not necessarily the worship of a foreign deity but the attempt to represent the true God in visible form, a violation that drew God's fierce anger and Moses' dramatic response of shattering the stone tablets.
Jeroboam's golden calves (1 Kings 12:25-33) replicated Aaron's sin on a national scale. After the kingdom split, Jeroboam set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel to prevent the northern tribes from traveling to Jerusalem's temple. This act became the defining sin of the northern kingdom, referenced throughout 1 and 2 Kings as the persistent evil that led to Israel's destruction.
The bronze serpent (Numbers 21:4-9) presents a complex case. God himself commanded Moses to make it, and looking at it brought healing from deadly snake bites. Yet centuries later, King Hezekiah destroyed it because the Israelites had begun burning incense to it (2 Kings 18:4). An object originally created at God's command had become an idol, illustrating how easily legitimate symbols can become illegitimate objects of worship.
The Prophetic Critique of Idolatry
The prophets of Israel mounted the most sustained and powerful critique of image worship in ancient literature. Isaiah's satire on idol-making is devastating: a man cuts down a tree, burns half of it for warmth and cooking, and from the other half carves a god to which he prays, "Save me! You are my god!" (Isaiah 44:13-20). The prophet marvels at the blindness of someone who cannot see the absurdity of worshiping what he has made with his own hands.
Jeremiah compares idols to scarecrows in a cucumber field: "They cannot speak; they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good" (Jeremiah 10:5). Habakkuk asks, "Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?" (Habakkuk 2:18). The psalmist observes that idols have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, and warns that "those who make them will be like them" (Psalm 115:4-8), a profound insight that people become like what they worship.
Images in the New Testament
The New Testament carries forward the Old Testament prohibition while expanding its application. Paul encounters a city "full of idols" in Athens (Acts 17:16) and argues that the God who made the world "does not live in temples built by human hands" and should not be represented by "an image made by human design and skill" (Acts 17:24, 29).
Paul warns the Corinthians against idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14) and broadens the concept beyond physical statues to include anything that displaces God in human devotion. Colossians 3:5 identifies greed as idolatry, and 1 John closes with the warning, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).
In a stunning reversal, the New Testament reveals that humanity does have an image of God: Jesus Christ himself. "The Son is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3). What no stone or wooden image could accomplish, God accomplished through the incarnation. Christ is the true and living image of the invisible God.
Biblical Context
The prohibition of images appears in the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 5:8-9). Key narratives include the golden calf (Exodus 32), Jeroboam's calves (1 Kings 12:25-33), the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:4-9; 2 Kings 18:4), Gideon's ephod (Judges 8:27), and Micah's shrine (Judges 17-18). The prophetic critique runs through Isaiah 40-48, Jeremiah 10, Habakkuk 2, and Psalms 115 and 135. New Testament treatment appears in Acts 17:16-31, Romans 1:21-25, 1 Corinthians 8-10, and 1 John 5:21. Christ as the true image of God is proclaimed in Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3.
Theological Significance
The prohibition of images reveals that God cannot be captured, contained, or controlled by any human representation. It protects the Creator-creature distinction that is fundamental to biblical theology. Idolatry is not merely a cultic offense but a distortion of reality that affects the worshiper's character (Psalm 115:8; Romans 1:21-25). The ultimate theological resolution comes in Christ, who is the true image of the invisible God, demonstrating that God reveals himself on his own terms, not through human craftsmanship but through incarnation.
Historical Background
Archaeological excavations throughout the ancient Near East have uncovered thousands of cult images, from massive temple statues in Mesopotamia and Egypt to small household figurines found in nearly every Israelite dwelling site. The Judean pillar figurines, common in Iron Age II sites in Judah, suggest that household goddess worship persisted despite official prohibitions. The temple of Arad in the Negev provides evidence of an Israelite worship site with standing stones. Egyptian mouth-opening rituals, in which statues were believed to be animated by the deity's spirit, illuminate why the prophets mocked the idea of worshiping man-made objects. Israel's aniconic (imageless) worship was remarkable in the ancient world and remains one of its most distinctive religious contributions.