TULIP GEMS

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

 

 

 

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any GRAVEN IMAGE, 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:

 

 

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.”   (Exodus 20:4-6)   (Emphasis mine)

 

 

 

How does this command fit with the Pope, and millions of Catholics, BOWING before a GRAVEN IMAGE (Statue) of the Virgin Mary?  No wonder the Vatican removed the Second Commandment from the Ten Commandments in Catholic Catechisms.

 

 

They divided the last commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife” into two (2) commandments.  Thus, to the unaware, it appears they still have all Ten Commandments.

 

 

But they don't.  And God warns against DELETING any part of His Word.

 

 

 

“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”   (Revelation 22:19)

 

 

 

GOD IS BIGGER AND BETTER

 

 

 

God is infinitely bigger and better than any image or likeness that man can make (or imagine) of Him.  Any man-made image is thus a perversion of the glory of the living God.  It falls far short of who God really is.

 

 

 

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

 

 

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”   (Romans 1:22-25)

 

 

 

Statues, paintings and medallions of Jesus -- as objects of (or aids to) worship -- are thus forbidden.  The four Gospel Accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) NEVER SAY A WORD about the physical appearance of Jesus.

 

 

This was not by accident.  It was designed to prevent idolatry.

 

 

The four Gospels do have much to say of His Teachings, Miracles, Death and Resurrection.  This is the true picture of Christ that God wants us to have.  To know Him is to know His mind and heart -- His Spirit.

 

 

But NEVER do the Gospels say a word about the height, body build, complexion, eye or hair color of Jesus.  Ditto with Mary.

 

 

Any images of them are probably inaccurate -- we have no record of their appearance.  Their images are just the imagination of an engraver or painter.

 

 

 

PAGANISM AND POWER

 

 

 

From the Tower of Babel until now, one of the hallmarks of paganism has always been idol worship.   Sacrifices are made to these idols.

 

 

The idea is to gain favor with the idol, to win protection and power for the idol worshipper.  And sometimes it works.  God tells us why.

 

 

 

“Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.”  (Psalm 106:37-38)

 

 

“What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”

 

(1 Corinthians 10:19-20)

 

 

 

Devils (demons) are fallen angels in Satan's service.  Like him, they know they are condemned to eternal punishment.  They are at war with God.

 

 

Like the suicidal, heavily armed criminal, surrounded by the FBI, they want to “take as many with them” as they can.  By leading pagans away from the one true God, devils take as many with them (to Hell) as they can.

 

 

One way to lead pagans astray is to give them certain answers to prayer, magical powers, clairvoyance, etc.  The pagan then is certain to serve his idol-god in return for power.

 

 

The problem is that the pagan is bypassing the one true to God to get what he wants -- POWER.  This is an act of treachery and rebellion against the God of the Bible.

 

 

And it will be punished.  God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children -- for generations to come.

 

 

 

PAGANIZED CHRISTIANITY

 

 

 

In the fourth century after Christ, a marriage of the apostate segments of the Church was made with the State.  Constantine began this in 313 A.D.  Theodosius completed it from 380 to 395 A.D.

 

 

Statues of pagan gods Isis and Horus were renamed Mary and Jesus.[1]

 

 

Pope Leo I (440-461) boasted that St. Peter and St. Paul had replaced Romulus and Remus as [Rome's] protecting patrons.[2]

 

 

The Roman Pantheon (full of statues of pagan gods) became the Church of the Blessed Virgin and All Martyrs (the statues were renamed).[3]   The Catholic Church was now subsidized by the Roman Empire.

 

 

Pagan priests and multitudes could feel right at home in the idolatry of the new religion.  Constantine gave sun-worshippers “Sunday”.  Saturnalia, a pagan feast of banqueting and reveling, celebrated up to the Winter Solstice, was renamed Christmas.

 

 

For three centuries before, no one knew Christ's date of birth  (the Bible is silent on it).  Pagan elements from northern Europe were later added to Christmas.

 

 

And on and on it went.  In Ireland, pagan Druids with magical powers were taken into the monastery as monks.[4] Their pagan feast of Samhain (Satan) became the basis for Halloween -- on the Autumnal Equinox.

 

 

Mary became the pagan “Queen of Heaven” condemned long before by God (Jeremiah 44 :17-25).  Prayer to her and the saints became a part of Catholic worship.  Even today in Haiti and Brazil, Catholic worship incorporates Voodoo -- to keep the local pagans happy.

 

 

To whom do we owe worship -- to the God of the Bible -- or to a graven image (statue or picture) with a devil behind it?  Do we owe loyalty to the Creator -- or to a creature?

 

 

 

The Second Commandment and Daniel  3

 

 

[1] Dave Hunt, A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST (Harvest House Publishers:  Eugene, OR, 1994) p. 419.

 

[2] Ibid.

 

[3] FUNK & WAGNALLS STANDARD REFERENCE ENCYCLOPEDIA (Standard Reference Works Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, 1967) Article on All Saints Day.

 

[4] “Halloween” Battle Cry, Sept./Oct. 1987 Issue, p. 3.  See also: AMERICAN PEOPLES ENCYCLOPEDIA (Spencer Press, Inc.: Chicago, Illinois, 1948) Article on Druids.