"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...

[JTC]

On 2/1/2020 at 2:29 AM, AngelInTraining93 said:

I have heard pastors using this commandment to rebuke people for wearing necklaces with images of the moon. Is that the proper interpretation?

If someone was wearing a necklace of the moon because she felt the moon is just beautiful it probably be okay, but people used to worship the moon, the stars, the sun etc. and that's why the pastor rebuked her.

[Billiards Ball]

On 2/1/2020 at 2:29 AM, AngelInTraining93 said:

...or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Exodus 20:4.

How did it slip my mind to ask this until now?

What is the proper interpretation of this scripture? I understand why Christians should refrain from drawing/making pentagrams and those such things, but what exactly is God saying here? I have heard pastors using this commandment to rebuke people for wearing necklaces with images of the moon. Is that the proper interpretation? What scriptures can I read to gain a full understanding of this?

Per Romans, if something bothers you, don't do it. If your pastor says no moon necklaces, don't wear them, but most evangelical AND fundamentalist churches have no problem here. Read Romans 14 to understand the situation here...

[JohnD]

On 2/1/2020 at 1:29 AM, AngelInTraining93 said:

...or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Exodus 20:4.

How did it slip my mind to ask this until now?

What is the proper interpretation of this scripture? I understand why Christians should refrain from drawing/making pentagrams and those such things, but what exactly is God saying here? I have heard pastors using this commandment to rebuke people for wearing necklaces with images of the moon. Is that the proper interpretation? What scriptures can I read to gain a full understanding of this?

I believe the purest interpretation to this is (given the nature of humanity)

nothing in the God - to - you relationship

but God and you.

Anything else distracts,

gets in the way,

can even become something

people worship.

Here's a good example:

2 Kings 18:4 (AV)
4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

This refers back to the tools Moses used to show the people God has unlimited resources for healing, salvation, deliverance...

Numbers 21:4–9 (AV)
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

If we found splinters from the Ark of Noah or

the Cross of Christ,

somewhere somebody

would venerate them to the point of worship.

The shroud of Turin...?

[JTC]

On 3/14/2020 at 10:27 AM, JohnD said:

If we found splinters from the Ark of Noah or

the Cross of Christ,

somewhere somebody

would venerate them to the point of worship.

Agreed... part of the problem is that people want something (to worship) that they can see. Jesus knew this and He hinted at it when He told the people If they couldn't love Him, who they could see, how would they ever be able to love God, who they can't see. This is what's behind the use of statues and images in worship. I suppose if an image is used only to focus your love and attention it's not so bad. But I've been in many churches where the people refer to the statue as "he" or "she". God knows all this too, so how He will eventually deal with it is up to Him. But IMO the safest thing to do is to have no images whatsoever.

[canada]

And in addition to the REAL ten commandments ... call no man father upon the earth, for there is one Father and he in heaven.

The RCC "has a way with words".

Edited March 16, 2020 by canada

[Daniel Marsh]

16 hours ago, Taranis said:

I am SURE the Catholic Church got rid of this simply by changing the Ten Commandments.

...

Exodus 20:2-17 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall not have other gods beside me.[a] 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; 5 you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation[c]; 6 but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.[d] For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain.

8 Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy.[e] 9 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.[f]

12 [g]Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not kill.[h]

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Footnotes:
20:3
Beside me: this commandment is traditionally understood as an outright denial of the existence of other gods except the God of Israel; however, in the context of the more general prohibitions in vv. 4–5, v. 3 is, more precisely, God’s demand for Israel’s exclusive worship and allegiance.

The Hebrew phrase underlying the translation “beside me” is, nonetheless, problematic and has been variously translated, e.g., “except me,” “in addition to me,” “in preference to me,” “in defiance of me,” and “in front of me” or “before my face.” The latter translation, with its concrete, spatial nuances, has suggested to some that the prohibition once sought to exclude from the Lord’s sanctuary the cult images or idols of other gods, such as the asherah, or stylized sacred tree of life, associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah (34:13). Over the course of time, as vv. 4–5 suggest, the original scope of v. 3 was expanded.

20:4 Or a likeness of anything: compare this formulation to that found in Dt 5:8, which understands this phrase and the following phrases as specifications of the prohibited idol (Hebrew pesel), which usually refers to an image that is carved or hewn rather than cast.
20:5 Jealous: demanding exclusive allegiance. Inflicting punishment…the third and fourth generation: the intended emphasis is on God’s mercy by the contrast between punishment and mercy (“to the thousandth generation”—v. 6). Other Old Testament texts repudiate the idea of punishment devolving on later generations (cf. Dt 24:16; Jer 31:29–30; Ez 18:2–4). Yet it is known that later generations may suffer the punishing effects of sins of earlier generations, but not the guilt.
20:7 In vain: i.e., to no good purpose, a general framing of the prohibition which includes swearing falsely, especially in the context of a legal proceeding, but also goes beyond it (cf. Lv 24:16; Prv 30:8–9).
20:8 Keep it holy: i.e., to set it apart from the other days of the week, in part, as the following verse explains, by not doing work that is ordinarily done in the course of a week. The special importance of this command can be seen in the fact that, together with vv. 9–11, it represents the longest of the Decalogue’s precepts.
20:11 Here, in a formulation which reflects Priestly theology, the veneration of the sabbath is grounded in God’s own hallowing of the sabbath in creation. Compare 31:13; Dt 5:15.
20:12–17 The Decalogue falls into two parts: the preceding precepts refer to God, the following refer primarily to one’s fellow Israelites.
20:13 Kill: as frequent instances of killing in the context of war or certain crimes (see vv. 12–18) demonstrate in the Old Testament, not all killing comes within the scope of the commandment. For this reason, the Hebrew verb translated here as “kill” is often understood as “murder,” although it is in fact used in the Old Testament at times for unintentional acts of killing (e.g., Dt 4:41; Jos 20:3) and for legally sanctioned killing (Nm 35:30). The term may originally have designated any killing of another Israelite, including acts of manslaughter, for which the victim’s kin could exact vengeance. In the present context, it denotes the killing of one Israelite by another, motivated by hatred or the like (Nm 35:20; cf. Hos 6:9).
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition  

Deuteronomy 5:6-21 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
The Decalogue. 6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 You shall not have other gods beside me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; 9 [a]you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, bringing punishment for their parents’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation, 10 but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain.

12 Observe the sabbath day—keep it holy, as the Lord, your God, commanded you. 13 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey or any work animal, or the resident alien within your gates, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you too were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, your God, brought you out from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you, that you may have a long life and that you may prosper in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 You shall not kill.[c]

18 You shall not commit adultery.

19 You shall not steal.

20 You shall not bear dishonest witness against your neighbor.

21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

You shall not desire your neighbor’s house or field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Footnotes:
5:9–10 Israel is confronted with a choice, to “love” or to “hate” the Lord, and with the consequences of each choice. “Wickedness” works destruction not only on those who do it but also down the generations, in a sort of ripple effect. Yet, if Israel keeps the commandments, they will experience the Lord’s hesed (“love”) down to the thousandth generation. Thus the Lord’s merciful love is disproportionate to the evil results of iniquity (“down to the third and fourth generation”). To the thousandth generation: lit., “to thousands”; cf. 7:9.
5:9 Jealous: see note on 4:24.
5:17 Kill: see note on Ex 20:13.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition  

[Prycejosh1987]

On 2/1/2020 at 7:29 AM, AngelInTraining93 said:

...or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Exodus 20:4.

How did it slip my mind to ask this until now?

What is the proper interpretation of this scripture? I understand why Christians should refrain from drawing/making pentagrams and those such things, but what exactly is God saying here? I have heard pastors using this commandment to rebuke people for wearing necklaces with images of the moon. Is that the proper interpretation? What scriptures can I read to gain a full understanding of this?

He is basically saying people should only see him as the god and sustain-er of their lives and no one and nothing else.