THE Decalogue, as revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, sets forth in the second commandment this farreaching and vital law: "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." The statements following these words show the results of iniquity, and also give assurance of God's mercy to all who love Him and keep His commandments. All who love His laws and render obedience thereto — not grudgingly or compromisingly, but gladly, gratefully, whole-heartedly — know His mercy. Because God's laws are perfect, unalterable, unchangeable, wholly good, and all-powerful, nothing could possibly be gained from a divided allegiance or by departing from the true path.
Is one inclined to regard the Commandments as being especially intended for the instruction of little folk in the Sunday school? In the Church Manual, under the subject "Sunday School" (Art. XX, Sect. 3) Mrs. Eddy says that the first lessons of the children should include the Ten Commandments. But this in no way implies that the study and usefulness of the Ten Commandments terminate with "the first lessons of the children." On the contrary, the deeper significance, the fuller spiritual import of the Commandments, is gained only through progressive study and application; for, as Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy, "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." And students of Christian Science are profoundly grateful to their divinely inspired Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, for her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," since through their faithful study of the Bible in connection with this precious volume all can learn the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures.
One might be tempted to think of graven images as applying exclusively to a past age of idol worshiping, and to associate them definitely with the pagan peoples of ancient times. The Old Testament is replete with colorful and vivid accounts of service to false gods, with its attendant woes and disappointments; yet this practice does not seem to have vanished entirely with the remote past. From before the time of the "molten calf" of temporary Israelitish idolatry down through the ages mankind has been found worshiping at the shrine of some false god. While on his healing and teaching mission in Asia Minor, as recorded in the fourteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul encountered an especial evidence of the false tendency. Following his healing of the man who had been a cripple from birth, the Lycaonians would have deified him, saying, "The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men." Paul vehemently denounced this mortal ignorance and told them to "turn from these vanities unto the living God."
