And take great heed to your souls (for ye saw no form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire),
Moses' appeal rests on something Israel did not see. At Horeb God spoke out of the fire but showed no shape, and from that absence Moses draws a command: guard yourselves.
God showed Israel no shape of Himself. He gave them words to obey instead of an image to copy.
They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take any bodily shape from which they could form an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them. They had no need to imagine what God was like. In fact, this was the very sin they were warned against so faithfully. They were called to hear God's voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him.
The word translated "form" is worth a closer look. The same word appears in the next verse, which forbids carved images:
temunah, "form, appearance," which may not imply likeness. Num. 12:8; Deut. 4:12, 15, 16.
They stood as close to God as anyone could, and still saw no shape. That left them nothing to copy.
The point urged here is this. They came and stood in the presence of God, as far as anyone then could stand. Yet they had seen no form of Jehovah. What a guard this was against the misuse of outward forms! God Himself did not disclose Himself by an external creature-shape. Jehovah their God did not make Himself visible to them by any form. So here is a heavy blow struck at the tendency towards idolatry.
(Older translations render "form" here as "similitude".)
The danger was not just in theory. Israel had already done the very thing Moses names.
Again Moses insists that Israel saw no form when the Lord spoke to them at Horeb. The danger was real that they might corrupt themselves by making a carved image. It could be in the shape of a male or female, or of any animal, bird, reptile or fish (vv. 16-18). Israel's history had shown the need for such a warning. Right after they received the law, they made the golden calf. They broke the first law they had promised to keep (Ex. 32:1-4).
Moses tells Israel to watch themselves, and the word "corrupt" shows why. The damage of an idol falls first on the worshipper.
The people are taught in plain words. When they made an image and bowed down to it, they lowered and corrupted themselves. So when they made the golden calf, the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than what he worships. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the beasts that perish.
Israel had only what God said. The same holds for us: what was a voice at the mountain is now a book.
At Mount Horeb, Israel had only the "voice" of God, and was warned against any form. In the same way, we have only holy Scripture. We are warned against everything that would draw us away from that holy and all-sufficient standard, even by the breadth of a hair. We must not listen to the suggestions of our own minds, nor to those of any other human mind. We must absolutely and firmly refuse to listen to anything but the voice of God — the voice of holy Scripture. Here is true security, true rest.
Horeb is not the last word on seeing God. What no image could give, a Person has given.
He is the invisible God, remember, though there are glories belonging to Him that can be shown. Moses had to be told that no man could see Him and live. But He who is the image of the invisible God, the only begotten Son, has declared Him.
- No form. God spoke at Horeb out of the fire but showed no shape. He gave Israel a voice to obey, not an appearance to copy.
- So, no image. They saw no shape, so any image could only come out of their own minds. Moses bans images on that very ground.
- Idols drag you down. The worshipper always stands below what he worships. Bowing to a calf put Israel beneath the animals.
- Still true today. Israel had only God's voice; we have only Scripture. Refuse anything else that claims to reveal God.
- The form God did give. The God no one has seen has made Himself known in His Son, the image of the invisible God.
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the form of any figure, the pattern of male or female,
At Horeb, the mountain where God gave the Ten Commandments, Israel heard a voice out of the fire but saw no shape to copy. That silence is the ground of this command: how could a people raised among the idols of Egypt honour a God they could not picture?
The whole warning turns on what Israel did not see on the day God spoke. Commentators say God held back any shape on purpose. That one fact struck at idolatry before it could take hold.
The point urged here is this. They came and stood in the presence of God, as far as anyone then could stand. Yet they had seen no likeness of Jehovah. What a guard this was against the misuse of outward forms! God Himself did not disclose Himself by an external creature-shape... So there is here a heavy blow struck at the tendency towards idolatry. When cut off from Christ, outward forms only became a snare to people. It is even more so now that Christ has come: misused forms are the same thing in principle, as Galatians 4 teaches.
The Hebrew word behind "form" in this verse is worth a look.
temunah, "form, appearance," which may not imply likeness. Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 4:12, 15, 16.
Israel received words, not a shape. That difference sets the pattern for knowing God.
They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take on any bodily shape of which they might form an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them... God called them to hear His voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him. Superstition vainly tries to honour God by forming and worshipping an image. Faith, on the contrary, lovingly receives and reverently obeys His holy commandments.
The verse warns that by making an image Israel would ruin themselves. Commentators explain where that damage lands.
The people are expressly taught that in making any image and bowing down to it, they in reality lowered and corrupted themselves. So when they made the golden calf, the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than the object he worships. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the beasts that perish.
This was not a warning about a distant risk. The nation had already done it.
Israel's history had shown the need for such a warning. Right after God gave the law, they made the golden calf. They broke the first law they had promised to keep (Exodus 32:1-4).
The verse starts its list of forbidden images with "male or female." The order that follows is not random.
Idolatry makes progress, but it is in degradation. First, man, who was made in the image of God, is turned into a god. Then come birds of the air, four-footed beasts, and down to the crawling insects, each step sinking lower. Look at the great temples of Egypt, where building reached its height of grandeur. Grand avenues lead up to them, with their outer court and inner sanctuary. But enthroned in the innermost room of all this splendour sits a hideous beetle, a creeping thing — as though Satan delighted to insult God by such a likeness.
God gave no visible form, so how can He be known? The answer is a Person — and it sets a limit on the imagination.
Jesus is declared to be the brightness of God's glory and the exact impression of His substance. He could say, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." So the Son reveals the Father. And we know anything of the Son by the word, through the power of the Holy Spirit. So if anyone tries, by any effort of his mind or working of his imagination, to form an image of God or of Christ, that is simply idolatry.
- Nothing seen. At Horeb God gave a voice and no shape. That missing form is why no one may carve an image.
- Nothing imagined. What God kept from the eye, He also keeps from the mind. Picturing Him in your imagination breaks the same command as carving Him.
- Nothing gained. The worshipper always stands below what he worships, so an image does not raise God — it lowers the man who bows to it.
- Nothing new. With the golden calf, Israel had already broken the very first command they promised to keep. The warning names a proven weakness.
- Nothing lacking. God shows Himself in His Son and makes Himself known through His word, so no one needs an image.
the pattern of any beast that is on the earth, the pattern of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven,
Moses is retelling the day at Horeb, when Israel heard God speak from the fire but saw no shape of Him. From that fact he bans every carved animal and bird: if God never showed Himself in a creature's form, why picture Him in one?
Moses points them back to what happened in God's presence at Horeb.
They came and stood in the presence of God, as far as anyone then could stand. And they saw no likeness of the Lord. That is the point pressed here. What a guard this was against the misuse of outward forms! God Himself did not disclose Himself by an external creature-shape. The Lord their God did not make Himself visible to them by a likeness. So this strikes a heavy blow at the tendency towards idolatry.
God gave them words instead. That makes Israel a listening people, not a looking one.
They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take on any bodily shape of which they might form an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them. There was no need for them to imagine what God was like. That was the very sin they were so faithfully warned against. They were called to hear God's voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him. Superstition vainly tries to honour God by forming and worshipping an image. Faith, on the contrary, lovingly receives and reverently obeys His holy commandments.
Israel had just come out of Egypt, a land that worshipped animals.
All animal worship insults humanity and degrades the divine Being. It lowers in man's eyes the place the Creator gave him, and the result can only be degrading. After the flood, God said to Noah and his sons: "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens... Into your hand they are delivered." (Gen. 9:2.) According to the Egyptian religion men might say, "into their hands you are delivered."
Mackintosh explains what an image does to the person bowing to it.
The people are expressly taught that in making any image and bowing down to it, they in reality lowered and corrupted themselves. So when they made the golden calf, the Lord spoke to Moses. "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than the object of his worship. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the beasts that perish.
The order of the list is itself a descent. One writer follows that slide down to its end in Egypt.
Idolatry, therefore, is a falling away. The only development that Scripture records is a development away from God… Notice the order here. Idolatry makes progress, but its progress is in degradation. First, man, who was made in the image of God, is treated as a god. Then come the birds of the air, then four-footed beasts, down to the grovelling, creeping insects. Each step shows the progress of degradation. You can see it in the magnificent temples of Egypt, where architecture reached its height of grandeur. Wide avenues lead up to grand temples with their outer court and inner sanctuary. But enthroned in the innermost room of all this magnificence is a hideous scarab beetle, a creeping thing — as though Satan delighted to insult God by such a likeness.
The same limit falls on us today, in a new form.
At Mount Horeb, Israel was shut up to the "voice" of God and warned against any likeness. In the same way, we are shut up to holy Scripture. We are warned against everything that would draw us away, by the breadth of a hair, from that holy and all-sufficient standard. We must not listen to the suggestions of our own minds, nor to those of any other human mind.
- No form. God spoke from the fire and showed no shape. No carved beast or bird can stand for Him.
- Only a voice. God gave words, so Israel's task was to hear and obey. Faith receives commandments; superstition makes images.
- Downward. Idolatry never climbs. It goes down from man to bird to beast to the creeping thing, ending with a beetle in Egypt's grandest temple.
- Below the beasts. The worshipper is always lower than what he worships. Bowing to a calf put Israel below the animals.
- Our fence. Israel was shut up to a voice. We are shut up to Scripture, and we refuse every other source of ideas about God.
the pattern of anything that creepeth on the ground, the pattern of any fish that is in the waters under the earth;
Moses is naming, one creature at a time, everything Israel must never carve into an object of worship. Verse 18 reaches the bottom of the list: the things that crawl and the things that swim. Why may a people who heard God at Horeb never picture Him?
The ban rests on what happened at the mountain. God gave words, not a shape.
The point pressed here is this. They came and stood in the presence of God, as far as anyone then could stand. Yet they had seen no likeness of the LORD. What a safeguard this was against the misuse of outward forms! God Himself did not disclose Himself by an outward creature-shape. As a result, this strikes a heavy blow at the tendency towards idolatry.
Israel had nothing to copy, and so no excuse to invent.
Here lies the solid ground of the appeal against idolatry. They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take any bodily shape from which they might form an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them. There was no need for them to set about imagining what God was like. In fact, this was the very sin they were so faithfully warned against. They were called to hear God's voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him.
Verses 16–18 move from human figures to animals, then birds, then crawling things and fish. That order is not random.
Notice the order here. Idolatry makes progress, but it is progress in degradation. First, man, whom God made in His own image, is treated as a god. Then come birds of the air, four-footed beasts, and down to the grovelling, creeping insects. They show the progress of degradation. You can see it in the great temples of Egypt, where architecture reached its peak. Grand avenues lead up to the temples, with their outer court and inner room. Yet enthroned in the innermost place of all that splendour is a hideous scarab beetle — a creeping thing. It is as though Satan delighted to insult God by such a likeness.
Israel had just left the country where that descent ran its full course.
What was it, in fact, that Egypt worshipped everywhere? Plainly and everywhere, the creature, and not the Creator. Egypt bore witness to the true God, yet it took up everything that was His total opposite. It made gods of a hundred beast-like objects, and so dragged its worshippers below the beasts.
Verse 16 warns Israel not to act corruptly by making an image. One writer explains the danger by a simple rule about worship.
The people are plainly taught that making any image and bowing down to it lowered and corrupted them. So when they made the golden calf, the LORD spoke to Moses. He said: "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than the object of his worship. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the beasts that perish.
Their own recent past proved the danger.
Again Moses insists that Israel saw no form when the LORD spoke to them at Horeb. The danger was present that they might corrupt themselves by making a carved image — in the form of a male or female, or any animal, bird, reptile or fish (vv. 16–18). Israel's history had shown the need for such a warning. Right after God gave the law they made the golden calf, breaking the first law they had promised to keep (Ex. 32:1-4).
The list of creatures can make this sin look far from us. One writer points past the carving to the principle behind it.
Idolatry takes various shapes. So it is not a question of the shape of the thing, but of the thing itself. It is not the outward form, but the root or principle of it. We read that covetousness is idolatry, and that a covetous man is an idolater. That is, a man who wants more than God has given him is an idolater. He is guilty of the very sin of Israel when they made the golden calf and worshipped it... What do those closing words of the first letter of John mean, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols"? Do they not tell us that we are in danger of worshipping idols?
- No form — At Horeb God gave a voice and no visible shape, so Israel had nothing to copy and no excuse to invent.
- No image — Verse 18 ends a list that keeps sinking. Idolatry always moves downward, right down to the crawling creature in Egypt's inner shrine.
- No lift — The worshipper is always below what he worships, so bowing to a calf put Israel beneath the beasts.
- No exemption — Israel made the golden calf right after promising to obey. So Moses repeats the warning before they enter the land.
- No statue needed — Whatever commands the heart is an idol. Scripture calls covetousness idolatry, so the warning still reaches those who own no images.