4:15-18
We now come to explicit warnings against idolatry, beginning with a reminder that when God spoke to them at Horeb they “saw no form of any kind”. No idol can represent God, it will be a thing that cannot do nor say anything. God is a God who acts and who speaks to His people. An idol would be made in the form of an animal or some other creature. The golden calf fiasco is a clear demonstration of this.
4:19
Creating images of creatures that can be seen is one form of danger. Though a moment's thought should highlight the stupidity of it all. Mind you, there are plenty equally stupid ideas floating around today that some seem to take seriously. The other danger was to worship the sun or moon. In one sense worshipping these is less stupid than worshipping images of animals, for we are actually dependent upon the sun for life. But the sun, moon and stars were all created by God. We must worship the creator not the created. And these things were created by God for all the nations (see Matt 5:45).
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