The Second Commandment – God All Around

The Second Commandment

God All Around

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Leviticus 26:1

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.”

Pagans in ancient Canaan often used various kinds of standing objects as “connecting points” between heaven and earth—totems, pillars, standing stones, and so forth. These became focal points for worship as they were thought to provide a bridge or avenue from earth to heaven and heaven to earth.

God will have none of this. Earth and heaven are one for those who know the Lord. He is all around us, in everything, sustains and upholds the world, and invites us to consider His glory in the things He has made. This does not forbid making items of culture to the glory of God. It does, however, prohibit creating any items for the worship of God which are considered essential bridges to the Deity.

Celtic Christians, when they could not move the enormous standing stones of the people they led to Christ, carved them into crosses and used them as teaching stations, not facilitators of worship. God will be worshiped in Spirit and in truth, not by the works of our hands.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.