Art and Idols

Day 66

OT Reading: Deuteronomy 3-4

NT Reading: Mark 11:20-33

The name "Deuteronomy" actually means "second law." In other words this is a second telling of the much of the law that we read in Exodus. In fact tomorrow we'll go back through the ten commandments once again. Therefore if you're getting the feeling of deja vu...that's why.

There is one idea though that I'd like to deal with briefly, and it has to do with the second commandment which is usually summed up in something like, "You shall not make for yourself an idol." In today's reading I saw a reference to this same concept. It was in Deuteronomy 4:16-19 which reads:

so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)

I'm not sure if you're into history at all, but I am. And what we learn from history is that over the centuries, the Hebrews/Jews took this idea very seriously. This was taken so seriously in fact that artisans in these cultures would not even paint, sculpt or craft their artwork into any form that resembled an animal, the sun, a person, etc. Jewish pieces of artwork, tile floors, sculptures, everything we have from prior to the time of Jesus was entirely geometric in nature, thereby trying to ensure that their art could not be an object of worship like was mentioned in the passage. Legalistic? One could argue that point. But regardless I find it interesting that God's people were so concerned about following the ways of God to even take steps like these.