THE DECALOGUE by J. W. Watt

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 10, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 45.

THE DECALOGUE.

By J. W. Watt

Second Commandment.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 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; 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” Ex. 20: 4-6.

In this commandment God gives His children a warning against taking the first step away from Himself, and tells us what the result will be if we depart from Him.

Very early in the history of our race men departed from God and worshiped the material things of earth. In about sixteen hundred years from the time that Adam was created, according to our English Bible, God destroyed the inhabitants of the world by a flood, because of their great wickedness. Had they always worshiped the invisible God, they would not have been destroyed. Since the flood we have frequent mention of idolatry in the Bible. Egypt was an idolatrous nation long before the children of Israel went to sojourn in that country. The Egyptians worshiped domestic animals and various other visible objects. When Aaron made a golden calf to worship, he was but perpetuating the idolatrous Egyptian worship of Apis. Ex. 32: 22-24. But what has been the effect of idolatry upon the world?—To-day less than one-fourth of its population worship the true God, or even profess to worship Him.

When man has formed a graven image, what has he in reality done?—He has simply put his own thoughts into tangible form so that he can see them. The worship, then, which he renders to that thing is self-worship. This could in no way be acceptable to the true God.

Again, when man makes an idol and bows down to it, he is bowing to a thing that is not equal to himself either in strength or wisdom. He would because of this soon be led to consider himself equal to, or even greater than, the God he worships. So Satan would have him believe; for Satan was cast out of heaven for considering himself equal with God, when he was not. Self-exaltation is one of the things God warns us against in the second commandment.

The intelligent Catholic will tell you that he does not worship the image that is before him, but that the image is there to remind him of the object he worships, adores, or whose aid he seeks; but even this is forbidden by the Lord. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.” Bowing to an idol, or in its presence, is just as truly a violation of the law as to serve or worship it; both are forbidden.

As God is invisible, it is wholly inconsistent to connect with His worship a visible object of any kind; for the invisible God is greater than any visible thing which He has created, and to bow down before the created thing would soon lead us to place the less before the greater. Like begets like; therefore God well knew that man would become like that which was continually before his mind in worship. If he worships the invisible God, he will become like Him in character so far as he is able to understand that character; for by beholding we are “changed into the same image.” 2 Cor. 3: 18.

God says of those who go into idolatry that He will visit their iniquities upon them from father to son unto the third and fourth generation. Can we believe that God will work a miracle upon each individual of all these millions of idolaters, in order to punish them for their idolatry?—No; He visits their iniquities upon them by natural law. God has established in the nature of man certain laws, which, when violated, bring their sure result,—physical weakness. It is a well-established fact in medical science that the physical weaknesses of the father may appear in his children to the third and fourth generation.

But is it true that idolatry has led to physical degeneracy?—Certainly it is. The medical missionaries who have been sent into heathen countries are witnesses to this fact. In how many cases is it necessary first to heal the bodies of the people before we can teach them of the great Healer, who is able to heal the soul! All this is because by false systems of worship men have been led to violate, not only the moral law, but the law of God which has been written upon every muscle, bone, and nerve of their bodies. Paul, writing to the church at Rome, brings this clearly to view. Rom. 1: 21-27.

But this is only one phase of this great question. What would have been the result if all men had obeyed the second commandment of God’s law?—All men would have sought for the highest degree of physical culture to which they were able to attain in this mortal life. Being obedient to God’s moral law, they would also have been obedient to the laws He has written in their physical frame; for they would have understood that the better condition they

were in physically, the stronger they would be mentally and morally, and the better service they would be able to render to God. In the second commandment, then, we find a sure foundation for all health and temperance principles.

We can now understand why it is that, as God leads His people back to the keeping of His commandments, He will lead them to try to take proper care of their bodies, that they may be strong physically to work for Him. The man who knowingly violates natural law is knowingly violating the law of God. It is not God’s will that any of His servants should be sick; and when they learn to know His commandments and keep them, they will be full of health and vigor, and able to glorify God in their bodies, which are His. 1 Cor. 6: 20.

J. W. WATT.

(Concluded next week.)