Deuteronomy 4:18, commentary and pictures

The verse forbids fashioning any crawling creature or fish into a carved figure to be worshiped or to stand for God. It was given because Israel saw no visible form when God spoke at Horeb, so they were not to invent one and corrupt themselves with image worship. It belongs to the law spoken at Sinai to make them a holy people separate from the nations, and to the warning before entering an idolatrous land, with great promises if they would worship the Lord alone and keep His commandments. Its force never ends, for its words express the mind of God and call His people today to keep their minds fixed on the living God of heaven rather than turning anything He created into an object of worship. That same principle is to govern all service to God and to one another in love, justice, liberality and true courtesy, and it rebukes spending money and attention on pictures and photographs that idolize human beings and earthly things instead of forming God's image in mind, word and character.

Command and Its Setting

The likeness of anything creeping on the ground and the likeness of any fish in the waters beneath the earth were forbidden to be made into an image for worship, whether as an object of worship itself or as a likeness of God. That ban included images of creeping creatures and fish and every like representation, which were to be regarded as worthless rather than worshiped. The prohibition rested on the fact that Israel saw no visible form or likeness when God spoke at Horeb, so they were not to invent one and corrupt their worship through graven images or by worshiping created things.

The verse belongs to the law God gave Israel at Sinai, to the sacred directions spoken by His voice from the pillar of cloud telling what to do and what not to do, given as instruction about what He required for them to be a holy people unto Himself. It called Israel to worship the Lord alone and keep His commandments, and to remain separate from surrounding nations. It was part of the warning before entering a land where idol worship prevailed. That law carried wonderful promises for the people if they obeyed His commandments.

The whole fourth chapter of Deuteronomy is to be studied, with particular attention to knowing that the Lord He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath and there is none else. Attention is to be given also to keeping His statutes and commandments so that it may go well with them and with their children after them and they may prolong their days upon the earth God gives forever. The chapter upholds the sacredness of God's law and verifies His spoken word, showing that the people disobeyed and only two of the adults who left Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died in the wilderness. It warns that God will vindicate His word today if leaders depart from His commandments. Its specifications never lose their force because they are expressions of the mind of the infinite God, and every word is to be cherished and preached.

Worship Principle and Application

The prohibition covers making a likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or of any fish in the waters beneath the earth as an image for worship, guarding against turning created things into objects of worship. Israel was to regard idols and other representations as worthless and keep the mind directed to the living God of heaven. Created things are not God, but they testify of Him.

The charge given to ancient Israel applies to God's people today. It calls them to resist unsanctified desires and to serve God according to His Word and will.

Its specifications are to be acted out in principle in all religious service toward God and toward one another. This means being Christian gentlemen, loving as brethren, doing no injustice, and always showing liberality, tenderness, compassion, and true courtesy. These are the same principles expressed in James 3 and are the principles of the law of God. God will not be trifled with, and all who depart from His word in their actions misrepresent the character of God.

The prohibition applies to picture-taking and magazines when they encourage people to idolize human beings or anything on earth instead of serving the living God. The proper image to cultivate is God's image in the mind, words, and character. Its warning applies to the accumulation and production of pictures and photographs, where spending excessive money and attention on nonessential images is a species of idolatry. Such use diverts resources and attention from God and from missionary work.