Of course, it is proverbial, “Seeing is believing!”  We like to make critical decisions based on what we see.  And attribute infallibility to our sense of sight.   We pity the fool who made a significant purchase ‘sight unseen.’  Our northerly neighbors have enshrined this mantra in their regional identity as the ‘Show Me State.’   We prefer books with pictures and treat words with a certain amount of suspicion.  Confident they are trap to prey upon our weak and unrefined vocabulary.   We believe in WYSIWYG!  “What you see is what you get.”

But does that line up with our experience?  Do we really get what we see?  Is our sight really an infallible guide to inerrant truth?   One pass by the carnival magician should be enough to give us pause.   And who has ever bought a fast-food hamburger that bore the slightest resemblance to the billboard?  We think a picture is worth a thousand words, but the opposite is actual reality.  A word is worth a thousand pictures. 

In a world awash in memes, we understand this well.  Virtually any picture can convey virtually any sentiment when supplied with the right caption.   Without the caption your guess is as good as mine as to the reality the image conveys.   Unfortunately, we are an image driven society.   We communicate ‘pictographically and not typographically.’  And so, we are informed by emotion and impression, rather than truthful expression.  

The ultimate meaning of all imagery depends largely upon the subjective context supplied by the beholder.   Thus, the maxim, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”   Go to any art museum and ask another patron, “what is going on in this painting?” And you will see this play out.  

Sight is not an infallible guide to truth.   We often say, “there is more here than meets the eye.”  In fact, in no sense are we more easily fooled than in our seeing.  Which is why the Bible exhorts us to “walk by faith, not by sight.”   And “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.”   The word of Christ – not a picture of him.

When God communicated the moral law to his people, Israel at the foot of Sinai, he was careful to give them sound, not sights.    He revealed his character, nature, and holiness through sound not sight, giving words, not pictures.   It is through words, his words, and later The Word that we are to understand, worship, and follow him.  

When Moses prepared the people to enter the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness, he recounted the law and warned them against the danger of seeking God through images.

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice… Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves. 

Deuteronomy 4:12, 15-16

In Exodus 20, God tells the people not only what to worship, but how to worship.   The first commandment warns the people not to worship, follow, love, or trust false gods. But the second commandment is no mere elaboration of the first.  It provides a warning not to worship the true God in false ways.    It cautions us to worship by faith, not by sight.  A faith that comes from hearing his word, not imagining what he might or must be like from our experience or emotion.  

The second commandment warns us to worship God only as he has revealed himself and as he has commanded us to worship him in his word.   Reformed Christians sometimes call this the ‘regulative principle.’  One early Reformer, Martin Bucer, said it best when he noted that the worship of God is to be ‘reformed according to Scripture.’  But what does that include?  And what does that exclude?

The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it succinctly.

50. What is required in the second commandment? The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His Word.

51. What is forbidden in the second commandment? The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word.

WEsminster Shorter Catechism, Questions 50-51

Join us as we examine Exodus 20:4-6 and consider what the second commandment requires, what it forbids, why it is given, and what it promises.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.