Bible Discussion Thread

The Beast and his image

Although I just thought of this as today's topic of focus; I believe it is a crucial task in order to really understand the first commandment. Let's review what it says in Exodus 20:2-7

2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 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.

5 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;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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,

In Deuteronomy 5 we see this caveat in verses 9-10:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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,

The passage ends with God's love demonstrated toward the thousands that do love Him; signaling an end to what may be described as "generational curses". I use that term with some reservations based on God's teaching in Ezekiel that a son is not held guilty for his father's sins IF he is righteous-I am not focusing on curses as such in this posting.

To better understand what conceptually is being studied here in regard to God's true image; as it were which clearly can't be represented either accurately or reverently we continue next post