Exodus 20:4-6 Study Guide: The Second Commandment Jealous God

Community Group Study Guide — The Second Commandment - Jealous God 
Exodus 20:4-6

Study Information:
Does God hate art? The second command prohibits the creation of “any image or likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth or in the water under the earth.” Do you have a picture in your living room of a nature scene? Throw it out. How about a decorative statute, maybe even a nativity set? Crush it! Do you have a picture of your dog on a mug…? Sinner! Kidding aside, the church has had a fraught relationship with art throughout history. Early Christian art gives us an idea of what church life and worship looked like, but over time art was embraced as a means of worship in some circles and hard reactions to those situations has led to art being vilified as a false practice. When we read Exodus 20:4-5 it is important to note that the prohibition is the connection of art to the worship of false gods. We see similar language with Paul’s words in Romans 1:23 saying that people exchanged the glory of the immortal god for images of man, birds, animals and creeping things. We should not worship anything in creation whether that is through an image or in our heart. And more than that, this commandment is linked to some core concepts about God’s character namely his jealousy, justice and steadfast love. 

Those Who Make Idols Become Like Them
Exodus 20:4, Psalm 115:1-8
The people of God just came out of a culture that worshiped gods for almost anything and everything. That was normal for the ancient world, many things had a god attached to them from childbirth, agriculture, rain, pleasure, etc. These gods were personified with images and carved statues. Israel was to be different, their God was not to be imaged because he already made something in his image (more on that later), and they were not to worship idols because only one God was worthy of their worship. 

One of the Old Testament warnings about idolatry was that false gods are hollow and cannot deliver on their promises and those who make them become like them. This means your false gods will let you down and leave you more and more hollow. Psalm 115 talked about this starting off by declaring that God is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases and then the psalmist moved to the idols of silver and gold who have an image of a mouth, ears and nose but they do not speak, hear or smell (Psalm 115:1-7). The Psalmist made his point in verse 8 when he wrote “those who make them become like them.” So rather than being full and satisfied in our infinite God, when we worship created things we become more and more empty and hollow. The rest of the psalm is a call to trust in God who is the creator of heaven and earth and dearly cares for his children. Creating and worshipping images of things in creation leads to giving our trust to a lesser thing rather than our infinite God. 

The Character of God
Exodus 20:5-6
The second commandment was also rooted in God’s character. God is jealous, measured in his judgment and overwhelming in his steadfast love for his people. God’s jealousy is not like human jealousy, which is typically rooted in need and envy. Rather, the jealousy of God is rooted in his protective love. God guards his people from worship of idols because we belong to him and he has given himself fully to us (Romans 8:32). It would not be honoring to God or fitting to our nature if we worshipped anything other than God himself. So the commands are designed to help us to stay focused on him and to give him our entire lives. 

God also connected his attribute of justice or judgment to this commandment. Out of his divine jealousy he judged or “visited” the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generation of those who hated him. We should not read this as a guarantee or some sort of generational curse, specifically because God connected it to the individual with the term of “those who hate me,” putting it back on the actions of the individual. In context for Exodus, this was also likely looking back at Egypt and the curse they experienced from their lack of repentance towards God. With that said, what stands out in stark contrast is the limit of God’s justice to the third and fourth generation compared to what comes next in Exodus 20:6… God showing steadfast love to thousands. 

God’s steadfast love comes with abundance to thousands of those who love God and keep his commandments. Taken in connection with Gods’ jealousy and judgment we should be certain that no individual is doomed because of their parents or culture. God shows love and grace in abundance to the undeserving. Just as your faith in Jesus needs to become your own and not something you get vicariously through your parents, so too you’re not doomed to be stuck in cycles of sin inherited from them. Change is possible and it beings with a love for God and his grace. 

Humanity and the Image of God 
Colossians 1:15, 19
Not only do images of other gods draw us away from God himself, but we should not forget that we have an image of the invisible God already. First, Humanity bears the image of God in a way that no carving, or art creation could replicate. God made humanity in his image and likeness to reflect his goodness to the world as we participate in his work (Genesis 1:26-28). This does not mean that we are perfect, we are still people who sin and need God’s work of sanctification. Because of sin we image God in a diminished way, but something about humanity still points to who God is. 

Second, Christ alone truly reflects the image of God perfectly. As God the Son in flesh, Jesus is the image of the invisible God in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col 1:15, 19). God has displayed his character and holiness perfectly in Christ. We grow in holiness and love for God as we get to know Jesus and as God works through his grace to help us fight sin and walk in faithfulness to him. 

What Do With the Second Commandment? 
First, we make no compromises in our worship of God. We are to put away our false gods, our idols. We should not metaphorically take up stone or wood or paint and create idols that draw our hearts away from worship of God. 

Second, we remember the right motive for our undivided worship of God specifically his divine jealousy and steadfast love. His grace and love is overwhelming and God has claimed his people as his own so we’d prosper and flourish instead of being enslaved to rival gods like money, fame, success, beauty, etc. 

Finally, look to Jesus who is the image of the invisible God. We do not need to carve statues or create images of an imaginary god because God himself has revealed his character fully in Jesus in whom we become more and more like in our thoughts and actions as God’s power is at work in us.

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 20:1-17

What does the second commandment prohibit followers of Jesus from doing? Why would God restrict this?

This commandment is rooted in God’s attributes of jealousy, judgment and love. How does God’s jealousy differ from how we talk about human jealousy? What are some reasons God highlights the contrast between his justice and love?

What are some reasons people could be drawn towards worshipping and serving created things, specifically through images?

Colossians 1:15-19 describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. How does looking at the life and ministry of Jesus help you know and worship God more?