How much application has the second commandment in the Mosaic Decalogue for us today? We are not likely to kneel in worship before an image-god, sacrifice to the sun or the moon, or propitiate ancient deities believed to inhabit the seas.
This commandment specifically says: "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: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Ex. 20:4-6;
Actually the second commandment has great and urgent application, for we do make unto ourselves graven images. They are less obvious and more subtle than those of an earlier age, but they are just as injurious to intelligence and progress. They are mental images, and they are "graven" upon mortal consciousness. When we believe in them, we bow down to them and serve them. We need the law of the second commandment if we are to free ourselves from this latter-day idolatry. We need it if we are not to go on bequeathing to future generations the erroneous thoughts and acts of material so-called life.
