There has been much in the news lately about statues being torn down. While reading about this, I also finished reading about the life of David in my daily Bible reading. David, a well known and much loved man. A man after God's heart, but so flawed. He defeated Goliath, but he was also an adulterer and murderer. He brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem, but he also abused his power. I wonder, will the statue of David by Michelangelo be on the list of statues that fall?
This post isn't about statues coming down, but rather why statues should not go up in the first place. Last year I wrote about the superhero movie craze. Mankind has always looked for heroes. We often find them in the wrong places and doing the wrong things. Several times I've posted about my brother Rod and what a hero he was to me. I've also written about his words to me regarding heroes:
"Kathy, that's why you have to be careful who you
make your heroes. You can't choose athletes as heroes. They might do
great things on the field, but that doesn't make them great people.
True heroes are people of God."
We find the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. The first two commandments are:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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:
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;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Regarding the first commandment, Adam Clark's Commentary on the Bible put its well:
This commandment prohibits every species of mental idolatry, and all inordinate attachment to earthly and sensible things. As God is the fountain of happiness, and no intelligent creature can be happy but through him, whoever seeks happiness in the creature is necessarily an idolater; as he puts the creature in the place of the Creator, expecting that from the gratification of his passions, in the use or abuse of earthly things, which is to be found in God alone.
The very first commandment of the whole series is divinely calculated to prevent man’s misery and promote his happiness, by taking him off from all false dependence, and leading him to God himself, the fountain of all good.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible had much to say about graven images:
The prohibition: we are here forbidden to worship even the true God by images.
The Jews (at least after the captivity) thought themselves forbidden by this commandment to make any image or picture whatsoever. Hence the very images which the Roman armies had in their ensigns are called an abomination to them, especially when they were set up in the holy place.
It is certain that it forbids making any image of God (for to whom can we liken him?), or the image of any creature for a religious use. It is called the changing of the truth of God into a lie (Romans 1:25), for an image is a teacher of lies; it insinuates to us that God has a body, whereas he is an infinite spirit.
It also forbids us to make images of God in our fancies, as if he were a man as we are. Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination. They must not make such images or pictures as the heathen worshiped, lest they also should be tempted to worship them. Those who would be kept from sin must keep themselves from the occasions of it.
They must not bow down to them occasionally, that is, show any sign of respect or honor to them, much less serve them constantly, by sacrifice or incense, or any other act of religious worship. When they paid their devotion to the true God, they must not have any image before them, for the directing, exciting, or assisting of their devotion.
Though the worship was designed to terminate in God, it would not please him if it came to him through an image. The best and most ancient lawgivers among the heathen forbade the setting up of images in their temples. This practice was forbidden in Rome by Numa, a pagan prince; yet commanded in Rome by the pope, a Christian bishop, but, in this, anti-christian.
The use of images in the church of Rome, at this day, is so plainly contrary to the letter of this command, and so impossible to be reconciled to it, that in all their catechisms and books of devotion, which they put into the hands of the people, they leave out this commandment, joining the reason of it to the first; and so the third commandment they call the second, the fourth the third, etc.; only, to make up the number ten, they divide the tenth into two. Thus have they committed two great evils, in which they persist, and from which they hate to be reformed; they take away from God's word, and add to his worship.
That final paragraph is amazing. Having been in
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, I've seen the multitude of statues and images that fill it. I'm not suggesting we ransack the building, but in all its glory, it definitely goes against God's commandments.
We are a society of idol worshipers. From actors and athletes, to politicians and musicians. We cheer, clap, and worship other gods. No matter how great the person, none of them deserve a statue. I think we should remember and honor good men and women, but our remembrance must not turn in to worship. Putting other gods before the one true God has only brought trouble.
