When God said don't bow down to graven images...?

Question

Exodus 20:5

Was it a command? If so, why do some Christians bow down to statues?

Please take not that I didn't say "worship", I said "bow down".

Answer 1

Here God's command is connected to false worship.

Deut. 5:9 - God's command, "you shall not bow down to them" means "do not worship them."

Not all bowing is worship.

Rev. 3:9 - Jesus said people would bow down before the faithful members of the church of Philadelphia.

This bowing before the faithful is Not worship, just as kissing a picture of a family member is not worship.

1 Kings 1:23 - the prophet Nathan bows down before King David.

1 Sam. 28:14 - Saul bows down before Samuel with his face to the ground in honor and veneration.

Answer 2

When that command was said, it was a very common practice in the zone to worship idols. Therefore, it was forbidden to bow, or worship images.

After Jesus came, and modified some of the terms of the Old Testament, it was studied and the conclusion was that the Catholics ( I don't know about other denominations ) can revere the representations of the Saints and Jesus. It should be made clear ( even if for some people is not ) that those are wooden images , without any value by themselves

And we DO pray to God Himself

Answer 3

Other people in some cases bow down to statues because that's what they were taught in their religion, such as Catholics. I know because I was one. God still wants us to place no other above Him.

Answer 4

Yes, it was a commandment.  When you bow down to a statue you are putting it before the Almighty.  Christians do not bow down to statues. A very large group around the world does, that professes Messiah, but even He said to follow all the commandments, and they don't.  

Answer 5

Everything in the old testimony is still "applicable."  The new testament, Jesus, came to fulfill the old testament, not to throw it out and make it useless.

I don't really see the point in it either, but I'm not really educated when it comes to the catholic religion.  I wonder why they just can't pray to God Himself...

Answer 6

If you actually stopped to READ your bible, you would realise that Jesus came to abolish the practices of the prophets and teachings that came before him. The laws given to the Jewish people were meant to tie them over until their 'king' came down and gave them an update (think Judaism 2.0).

OT laws do not apply to those who follow Jesus, NT teachings. Moses' law said stone the adulterer, Jesus said 'let those without sin cast the first stone.'

Any who look to the past, before the NT, deny the teachings of the NT and thus do not follow the laws and practices, no matter what they say. It is not the statue that breaks the law, it is the heart that stands before it.

Answer 7

we do not bow down to statues

Answer 8

i completely agree with you!

i am a Christian...i attend no church....

most churches i have seen have statues and crosses..... and a lot of religions do bow down with these things at the front of the church....not to mention the priest.

i feel it is wrong.

even if they dont think they are worshiping these things.....do they look at the cross or the staue of Jesus while they pray...it could just be by accident!

statues and crosses dont belong in the church...and dont bow down to any man standing at the front !

Answer 9

It's number 2 commandment

'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'  

Answer 10

The word used is "idols" and not "graven images."  It's an inaccurate translation.

Since God commanded Cherubim to be engraved on the Ark of the Covenant it is not a sin to make holy images, but it is a sin to make images of demons and false Gods.

Likewise God - Who is invisible and transcending form and image - became a man and was seen by mankind.

Regarding bowing down, it must be said as one saint of the Orthodox Church has said, "The honor bestowed to the image ascends to the prototype."   That is, we do not worship the icon, but since we do not have the saint or Mother of God or Jesus Christ right in front of us, we honor the image as we would honor them.

The issue of holy images was dealt with in the 7th Ecumenical Council, way back in around the 700's or 800's.  At this time there was only one Church.  Many people were murdered for defending icons...

Answer 11

Catholics do not bow down to statues. When we genuflect in our Churches we are bowing to Christ present in the most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar. Other times we are kneeling to pray and using that statue as a visual aide to bring us into a more prayerful state of mind to speak with God.

Answer 12

This question made me laugh cause I'm a former catholic.

Yeah we were told not to bow down to graven images but we on the same coin told to bow down to saint figures. I mean wtf?

I so don't miss those days.