Welcome to Baja

[Lonewolf]

^ ^ are these type of "statues & images" prohibited in the Bible?

[Lonewolf]

no comments

[1over137]

You basically want to discuss this:
Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I myself am curious what others think.

[B. W.]

^ ^ are these type of "statues & images" prohibited in the Bible?

Is this Baja Florida or some other place in Florida???

Rick ought to know
-
-
-

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I have no problem with a statue of the Sacred Heart, although I wouldn't put one on my land. Such statues are fairly common in Roman Catholic areas, and the photo may have been taken in Mexico.

I'd much rather see a statue commemorating a Christian saint than a statue of the Buddha or one of Mahatma Ghandi or - worse - the erection of a mosque.

FL

[RickD]

^ ^ are these type of "statues & images" prohibited in the Bible?

Is this Baja Florida or some other place in Florida???

Rick ought to know
-
-
-

Most likely, Baja California. Mexico. The land in the picture is too dry to be Florida.

[Philip]

The fact that it is LAND instead of marsh, bog or swamp is a hint .

[RickD]

The fact that it is LAND instead of marsh, bog or swamp is a hint .

And a hill. No hills in Florida.

[Philip]

Actually, Rick, there is a MOUNTAIN in Florida: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarloaf_ ... Florida%29

[Lonewolf]

Back to the topic question..

I have a lot of various answers so far, some good and some not so good. It just surprises me that Christians can be reading the Bible but have different answers for the same question. As far as "idols", it only is idolatry if a person worships the object itself. If it is just for decorative purposes, or a symbolic gesture, or a representation of a character in the Bible, it's totally ok to have these things. An portrait of your parents can be idolatrous if it's worshiped. I think any object can be an idol. If God forbade to have these things made, God wouldn't have commanded Moses to make the ark of the covenant with cherubim decorated on top. Solomon's Holy Temple wouldn't have any images at all either. Having them in the church or not is ok, as long as the focus is on Christ alone.

Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.

Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."

Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.

Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).

Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.

Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.

Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.

I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.

2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.

1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.

2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.

Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.

Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Back to the topic question..

You are quoting plenty of OT passages which forbid the making of images of God, etc. If you are Jewish, you would do well to heed them. If you are Christian, you may voluntarily place yourself under the OT injunctions against graven images, or you may just decide to have a statue of Jesus, Mary & Joseph on your front lawn. The choice is yours: you have that freedom.

Do you think God will send you to hell because you erect a statue?

FL

[PaulSacramento]

Its funny that we have that prohibition from Exodus:
Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

YET God commanded that they put two Cherubs on the ark...

I think the context is that they were not to make and worship ANY image because worship is for God alone.
Now, with the images of Christ and the cross, people are worshiping and bowing down to who? The Son of God who is fully God.

[Lonewolf]

I think the context is that they were not to make and worship ANY image because worship is for God alone.
Now, with the images of Christ and the cross, people are worshiping and bowing down to who? The Son of God who is fully God.

[Proinsias]

Reminds me of the old Bruce Lee quote about concentrating on the finger pointing to the moon and missing all the heavenly glory it is pointing to.

[PaulSacramento]

Reminds me of the old Bruce Lee quote about concentrating on the finger pointing to the moon and missing all the heavenly glory it is pointing to.

I quote that I use a lot, even in reference to the Bible.