The 10 Commandments are tough. Most evangelical Christians do not have them memorized. Most don’t even know off hand the book or chapter in which they can be found. We are going to help you with that. Today we are in the 2nd commandment.
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.
We are endeavoring to teach the kids at Million Friends the 10 commandments. Why? To teach them that they are impossible to keep! We are all sinners (another word for commandment breakers). The wages of sin is death (Going to hell). The 10 commandments, the beatitudes, the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke all show us that we can not go to heaven on our own Righteousness (obeying the 10 Commandments). Last week we learned not to have any God’s before the True one and only God. For example? How many mothers will put their beautiful baby before God? I am guessing many of them. Their baby is their God to them. They are a sinner, they deserve hell, but the Good News is Jesus died for all of us sinners.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Now God said to not have graven images! First thing that comes to mind is what exactly are graven images?? Comic strips? TVs, iPhones and computer screens? Confusing right? What about flags, crosses, crucifixes, art, tattoos, and sculptures? A graven image in the 2nd commandment is something you worship instead of God. Is TV a graven image to me? No. But it might be for an old lady who can not stop watching TV 24/7. iPhones? Not for me, it’s how I take care of and provide for Million Friends. But it might be for a teenager or bored housewife. A Graven Image is anything you look at to worship in place of God.
The law kills. Sometimes people get so frustrated trying to be right with God that they quit trying and just walk away. God’s not looking for perfection, He knows us too well, but we think we have to be. Look at the rich ruler. Luke 18:18-30 He was trying hard. But he quit and sadly walked away. Just hearing about Jesus’ exploits, seeing a lot of better Christians than me, reading the 10 commandments and the beatitudes makes me just want to throw in the towel sometimes. I don’t measure up. Then I remember little Deannie and Winnie Jr learning how to walk. They would fall down. Laugh. Get up, and come at papa again and again. The 10 commandments and the law teach us to get up again and again to run towards Jesus.
Matthew 18:2-5 ‘The Good News’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Understanding the 10 commandments gets easier once you understand one thing. The first 5 commandments cover our relationship with God. The last 5 commandments cover our relationships with our fellow man. You may see that the total would be 11 commandments right? Wrong. The fifth commandment covers both. How you treat your mom and dad says a lot about your relationship with God and man.
Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
I digressed. What does Exodus 20:4 (Graven Images) mean? First off, it says don’t make a graven image for yourselves. There is a need for all of us to worship something. Everyone has that need to worship, even avowed atheists. Go into any 12 year old girl’s room. Pure idolatry haha. Pictures of Ricky Martin or whatever plastered on the walls. Pictures of their bffs. Drawings etc. These images are needed by all human beings from a young age. Indians that I worked with in Panama and Colombia had their little ugly gods made out of corn husks etc. that they gave cocaine, cigarettes and whisky to. Voodoo and Santeria followers have their even uglier images. We all do. It’s a need that’s built into our DNA long before we were born to have a need to worship something that is greater than ourselves. It’s called ‘the law written in their hearts’. Indians who never heard the Gospel know that something created them, and that the creator is not happy. They intrinsically know that lying, stealing and murder is wrong. No Christian missionary has to tell them that.
Romans 2:15 “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;”
I was talking to my Catholic brother and I asked him why Catholics liked Rosary beads and statues. Without a pause he asked why evangelicals like ‘the Chosen’ and ‘the Jesus movie’. Ok, he got me! (You DO know it’s ok to be nice and have conversations with people who don’t believe like you do right?). We all have our need to worship something, or to help us to worship something. The catch is, do we make our own image to worship or do we worship God Almighty in spirit and in truth? Evangelicals, Catholics, Indians etc. All have their graven images to help them worship God. Go to your Baptist church. You’ll see graven images (the old rugged cross, the Baptist flag, the enormous Bible turned to Psalm 91, the altar, the pulpit etc). The only group I know of that goes out of their way to have no graven images are the Amish (ie their Raggedy Ann dolls don’t have faces. Their snowmen neither). The rest of us make all kinds of graven images. We are also creating graven images when we sketch birds and volcanoes. We create graven images when we take pictures, videos, illustrate books or write comic books.
When Moses took so long getting the 10 commandments, the rest of the Israelites started making the golden calf. As God wrote ‘don’t make Graven images’. God is all knowing, and everywhere at the same time. You can see how God doesn’t like people worshiping other things right?
Exodus 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
God Himself guided them out, not a calf, and they created a graven image unto themselves. It was all sin. What else can be worshipped in God’s place? Answer the question with a question? Where are the bones of Moses? Where are most of the original manuscripts of the Bible? Where’s the Ark of the Covenant? Where’s the Cross? For the same reason that we shouldn’t make for ourselves a heaven image. God knows we will worship things instead of Himself. God is Spirit. You can’t touch or see a Spirit. He’s jealous! He doesn’t want you looking for images on trees or tears coming out of statues. He wants you looking at Him in the spirit. Nothing more. Not a mold spot or water stain. Not a statue. Not a painting.
John 4:24 God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The expats (old, angry, bitter Americans living down here) are a tough crowd. They, for the most part, like what we do. They all say something similar. ‘We will help you IF you stop talking about Jesus.’ Well, no thank you. I don’t need that kind of help. I am not doing this so people say ‘Praise Dean’. Nor do I want them saying ‘praise the rich Gringo for donating a hundred dollars’. Do not worship any one or anything except God. We are the bride of Christ. God is a jealous husband.
Deuteronomy 6:15 For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you
The ONLY reason we at Million Friends do what we do is to bring God all the glory and honor. Our only goal is to hear people say ‘Praise the Lord, Praise Jesus!’ and that they get saved. That they look to the only true God that can and will deliver them from the Egypt of sin, bondage and death. People love to post stupid memes and comments criticizing overseas Christian missionaries for posting pictures of feeding centers and what we do, insinuating that we do this as a business. The Holy Spirit never mocks. That is satanic.
Personally, I was an extremely successful businessman before I got saved. Without Jesus, I would still be that selfish, competitive, self absorbed successful businessman in the states. There are some great Christian businessmen, who God anointed to provide for missionaries, but I wasn’t one of them. I even tried to go back to Egypt to make bricks for Pharaoh, but I was a dismal failure. I only want to do this. Time is short. I get a nice retirement to cover my own expenses and give the rest to Million Friends. I do what I do because Jesus rolled up His sleeve and pulled me out of that stinky garbage can that I personally called ‘success’ and saved my soul, and gave me an abundant life here on earth, and an eternal life in heaven. What we do in Million Friends is to bring God all the glory.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The take away is, evaluate your life. What do you worship in your life that isn’t God? What is your graven image? A fantasy? An age old trauma? Kids? Money? Your great or horrible health? What is the first thing you think of in the morning and last thing you think of before you go to sleep? That probably is your god. Watch out! Focus on God. Be in God’s presence and abide in Him. He is more than enough. Get quiet with Him and rest at His feet. Our God is Christ and Him Crucified. Look only at Him. He is more than enough.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Don’t forget, there are still 40 kidnapped children in Gaza. Pray for them and the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee!