clefty
Phoron
I am noticing two main arguments Christian tradition continues in favor of images.
1. We can make images as worship aids because God had Israel do so.
2. It's not actually worship but merely veneration this use of images to commune with Him.
Let's explore the first here which was instructed to Israel and to "da joo" Bezalel specifically.
Moving past the irony that most Christians reject the OT covenant as "only to...and for... da joos" (and have for centuries made heretics of any who dare "joodiaze" them in their "New Covenant") we should come to an immediate realization, namely that these Divinely ordained images are an odd icon.
As once completed these Cherubim were NOT SEEN for over 800 years except by ONE person and that but ONCE a year. Anyone else who might see them was killed. Ask Uzzah who was struck dead on the spot just for touching the ox cart transporting them. Struck dead for wishing to stabilize it...imagine if he kissed it. Odd icon indeed.
Here is a lesson on how specific and detailed Yah is.
David had good intentions by building a new ox cart to transport the Cherubim, he meant well, reasoned his good idea as appropriate, but there were instructions on how to do so that he did not follow. Lesson learned. "Because you, the priests, did not carry the ark the first time, God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek him according to the due order" (1Chronicles 15:13).
Again, according to His "due order" these Cherubim were only visibly seen by the high priest, his yearly ritual, only because of His Spirit's presence. His radiant glory was literally there in the inner room which had no other light. No candles or lamp stands were needed for illumination.
In fact NOTHING was in this darkened inner room during the 600 year Second Temple period. No icon at all, certainly not His Spirit.
But I already addressed all this.
To insist "we can make images to venerate cuz joos did it too!" undermines His main point "For God so loved the world that He gave His..."...gave of Himself and already in the OT. His Spirit was manifested in this ONE place.
Unlike later images which people now bow and serve, these Cherubim were NOT a likeness of Him or even a window into heaven but a Mercy seat. Here suddenly it was "ON EARTH as it is in heaven"...the "I AM" was here at a specific location. Rather than being transported upwards spiritually to a prototype adored in the heavens, it was heaven had come down and glory filled where He rested, literally.
Here is His main point.
In all the Universe the all Sovereign had chosen to come here...one spot...not even at various temples throughout Israel but just one. And in this specific and unique manner to focus man's attention to Him Who was now literally with them...and not accessed through multiple "visual doorways written to educate the illiterate" everywhere. Small wonder we are to "seek Him according to due order".
And when the movable tabernacle became a more permanent temple here the I AM resided. Even this place, where His name had been carried to, was not all of Israel the promised land or even all of Joorusalem, but the spot He chose had meaning and specific purpose as it was the threshing floor of Ornan. David had insisted to buy this field as it was the place God stopped killing Israel as punishment for David "going it alone" again.
So the very Temple's location was a grim reminder of all who came to worship Him to not "think it wise" to make their own tradition without His consent...or specific instruction. As just because He had commanded David to attack his enemies did NOT mean he could whenever he wanted. "But I thought I could cuz previously you said I should..." was not the case as a new standard does not reverse prior instruction.
Please recall that God didn't even want a Temple but David insisted to build one as when visitors from other nations came to see him they were impressed by his palace but when they asked "so... where does your God live?" it got awkward. So David desired to make a grander palace for Him than the one out back covered in "carpets".
The Cherubim, as already explained, were actually finally lost, but again, it wasn't about the icon itself but His Spirit. It is not the material or shape it is formed into but that the Spirit is made present...breathed into it...giving it Life and "more abundantly".
As with the "icon" lifted in the wilderness a foreshadow of the Messiah "lifted up". The lesson here was not the bronze of the metal or its being shaped into the likeness of a snake but that He witnessed Israel obey His instructions to "seek Him according to due order". It was His Spirit present there which healed those that looked at His commissioned work.
It remains the lesson still today that it is not that which is created by human hands which heals Israel, but the Creator Himself and in Truth and Spirit.
As when His Spirit departed neither the bronze nor the graven shape had any more power to heal and there was certainly no reason to burn incense to it. The snake had to be destroyed because "remember when?...thus maybe again?". But the snake was useless as soon as His Spirit left the mission being completed. Just like when Balaam's donkey spoke only by divine intervention opening its mouth but when this intervention was completed it no longer spoke. Any replicated "snake on a pole" souvenirs or "talking donkey" trinkets would be impotent of power and a distraction...an abomination to Him actually.
His Spirit seeks communion with the fallen world He so loves especially those that "seek Him according to His due order" which He sanctioned and sanctified. His Love specifically sets apart and makes Holy be it things or places or times. His Love works on His Creation to make us Holy more like Him more in the image of His Icon. And that which does NOT remain Holy His Spirit will depart and it will be destroyed. Just like the bronze snake, the Temple, the Cherubim.
In the end “...people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord." Jeremiah 3:16-17
Because we worship in Spirit and in Truth...seeking Him according to His "due order"...
1. We can make images as worship aids because God had Israel do so.
2. It's not actually worship but merely veneration this use of images to commune with Him.
Let's explore the first here which was instructed to Israel and to "da joo" Bezalel specifically.
Moving past the irony that most Christians reject the OT covenant as "only to...and for... da joos" (and have for centuries made heretics of any who dare "joodiaze" them in their "New Covenant") we should come to an immediate realization, namely that these Divinely ordained images are an odd icon.
As once completed these Cherubim were NOT SEEN for over 800 years except by ONE person and that but ONCE a year. Anyone else who might see them was killed. Ask Uzzah who was struck dead on the spot just for touching the ox cart transporting them. Struck dead for wishing to stabilize it...imagine if he kissed it. Odd icon indeed.
Here is a lesson on how specific and detailed Yah is.
David had good intentions by building a new ox cart to transport the Cherubim, he meant well, reasoned his good idea as appropriate, but there were instructions on how to do so that he did not follow. Lesson learned. "Because you, the priests, did not carry the ark the first time, God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek him according to the due order" (1Chronicles 15:13).
Again, according to His "due order" these Cherubim were only visibly seen by the high priest, his yearly ritual, only because of His Spirit's presence. His radiant glory was literally there in the inner room which had no other light. No candles or lamp stands were needed for illumination.
In fact NOTHING was in this darkened inner room during the 600 year Second Temple period. No icon at all, certainly not His Spirit.
But I already addressed all this.
To insist "we can make images to venerate cuz joos did it too!" undermines His main point "For God so loved the world that He gave His..."...gave of Himself and already in the OT. His Spirit was manifested in this ONE place.
Unlike later images which people now bow and serve, these Cherubim were NOT a likeness of Him or even a window into heaven but a Mercy seat. Here suddenly it was "ON EARTH as it is in heaven"...the "I AM" was here at a specific location. Rather than being transported upwards spiritually to a prototype adored in the heavens, it was heaven had come down and glory filled where He rested, literally.
Here is His main point.
In all the Universe the all Sovereign had chosen to come here...one spot...not even at various temples throughout Israel but just one. And in this specific and unique manner to focus man's attention to Him Who was now literally with them...and not accessed through multiple "visual doorways written to educate the illiterate" everywhere. Small wonder we are to "seek Him according to due order".
And when the movable tabernacle became a more permanent temple here the I AM resided. Even this place, where His name had been carried to, was not all of Israel the promised land or even all of Joorusalem, but the spot He chose had meaning and specific purpose as it was the threshing floor of Ornan. David had insisted to buy this field as it was the place God stopped killing Israel as punishment for David "going it alone" again.
So the very Temple's location was a grim reminder of all who came to worship Him to not "think it wise" to make their own tradition without His consent...or specific instruction. As just because He had commanded David to attack his enemies did NOT mean he could whenever he wanted. "But I thought I could cuz previously you said I should..." was not the case as a new standard does not reverse prior instruction.
Please recall that God didn't even want a Temple but David insisted to build one as when visitors from other nations came to see him they were impressed by his palace but when they asked "so... where does your God live?" it got awkward. So David desired to make a grander palace for Him than the one out back covered in "carpets".
The Cherubim, as already explained, were actually finally lost, but again, it wasn't about the icon itself but His Spirit. It is not the material or shape it is formed into but that the Spirit is made present...breathed into it...giving it Life and "more abundantly".
As with the "icon" lifted in the wilderness a foreshadow of the Messiah "lifted up". The lesson here was not the bronze of the metal or its being shaped into the likeness of a snake but that He witnessed Israel obey His instructions to "seek Him according to due order". It was His Spirit present there which healed those that looked at His commissioned work.
It remains the lesson still today that it is not that which is created by human hands which heals Israel, but the Creator Himself and in Truth and Spirit.
As when His Spirit departed neither the bronze nor the graven shape had any more power to heal and there was certainly no reason to burn incense to it. The snake had to be destroyed because "remember when?...thus maybe again?". But the snake was useless as soon as His Spirit left the mission being completed. Just like when Balaam's donkey spoke only by divine intervention opening its mouth but when this intervention was completed it no longer spoke. Any replicated "snake on a pole" souvenirs or "talking donkey" trinkets would be impotent of power and a distraction...an abomination to Him actually.
His Spirit seeks communion with the fallen world He so loves especially those that "seek Him according to His due order" which He sanctioned and sanctified. His Love specifically sets apart and makes Holy be it things or places or times. His Love works on His Creation to make us Holy more like Him more in the image of His Icon. And that which does NOT remain Holy His Spirit will depart and it will be destroyed. Just like the bronze snake, the Temple, the Cherubim.
In the end “...people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord." Jeremiah 3:16-17
Because we worship in Spirit and in Truth...seeking Him according to His "due order"...
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