“Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.””Isaiah 21:9 ESV
Reflection: why is God so against “carved images” of gods?
Walking into many oriental stores, restaurants, even homes, you often see a small figurine of a cat with one waving arm placed close to the entryway. These are most likely a “maneki-neko”, defined as “a Japanese figurine that symbolizes good luck and prosperity. The raised paw gesture is meant to beckon customers or wealth, with the left paw attracting customers and the right paw inviting wealth”. Most are familiar with many such good luck figurines, as well as gods of different religions. In some religions and beliefs, one can see various “offerings” placed in front of the image, whether it is a picture, or made out of stone, metal, wood, or whatever. The history of creating images that represent various deities goes back to the very beginning of time.
Let’s consider the second half of Isaiah’s vision of the fall of Babylon. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.””Isaiah 21:9 ESV Notice that with the fall of this evil city, there is also a clear association of evil with idol worship of carved images of gods. And notice the message from the Lord here, as He will destroy the city of Babylon, He will also “shatter to the ground” the carved images of gods. They were repulsive to the Lord, because there is only one God.
In fact, this goes all the way back to when God instructed the Israelites through Moses about making images. ““You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:3-6 ESV.
We understand that this is primarily focused on “other gods”, of images of other gods. But what about a carved image of Almighty God? How do we square that with “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth”? In the church I grew up in, a Lutheran church in Norway, we have a giant woven tapestry, an image of the crucified Jesus, hanging on the cross at the front of the building. While it is a beautiful piece of art, it is clearly depicting Jesus, our Lord. I have no doubt that, neither the artist who made the image, nor the people who decided to hang this image in the church had any other intention than to honor our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice He made for us. But is such an image pleasing, or is it offensive to our Lord, based on the first commandment?
When Paul came to Athens, he noticed all the images of gods they worshipped; even an image of the unknown god. “So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”” Acts 17:22-31 ESV. So what does this mean for us today? Jesus asked us to do communion in remembrance of Him, and we serve a risen Lord who conquered sin and death. Perhaps we should seek the Lord in prayer, to ask for discernment of what images are pleasing to Him, and what we might have to get rid of.