Deuteronomy 4:15-31 - No idols

Now they are given a very serious command, they must not worship idols. At the end of his first letter John tells his readers to keep their lives free from idols. We are constantly trying to make an image of God. This is absolutely wrong. God reminds them here that they never saw any form of Him. 

Why is this so serious? It is because we are the image of God, we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26). When God came to earth He came as a man in the form of Jesus Christ. If we make an image we start worshipping the image. In Moses' day we see this in the stone and metal images that people bowed down to. We see it today when churches make an idol out of a system. They may start off with very good intentions, but we always end up serving the system instead of serving God.

We are also warned to worship the stars. Now we might think all this is just for simple pagan folk and we are too sophisticated for this now, but I am not so sure. Recently the BBC showed a series called the Wonders of the Universe by Professor Brian Cox. The series was very good and interesting scientifically, but through it there seemed to be a thread of pantheism. 

Part of the reason for God refusing to let Moses in was to demonstrate the importance of obedience to Him alone. So Moses knows that his command not to make idols is of paramount importance.

Moses seems to know that the people will indeed turn to idols, but he also knows that even if they do, if they repent and turn back to God then the Lord will graciously welcome them back. No matter how far someone has wandered from the Lord, there is always hope if they will repent and turn to Him.

Note that the Bible is clear that idols are worthless and useless. As it says in verse 28, they cannot see or smell. People sometimes think that the Bible is naive, and faith is for naive and simple people. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is only those who know the Lord who are truly wise.