The Idolatry of thefe Heathens confifted in giving divine Worship where they fhould not, which might be to any one falfe God; but their Polytheifm confifted in heaping up Deities, and having more Gods than they fhould: So that tho all Polytheifm be Idolatry, yet all Idolatry is not Polytheism. Now to prevent both thefe, to which the World was at that time too much addicted, God Almighty gave this ftrait Charge, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.

Indeed the very Notion of a God implies Unity, and cannot be more than One: 'Tis abfurd to affirm, there can be two first Caufes of all things, nor can there be more independent Beings upon which all Things elfe depend, both which are imply'd in the Notion of a Deity; and therefore to have more Gods than one, is in effect to have none at all.

Thus we fee both what is requir'd in this firft Commandment, viz. to have the only true God for our God, and to love, fear, truft, and honour him accordingly; and likewife what is forbidden in it, namely, the having of no God, a falfe God, or many Gods: all which are highly offenfive to our Maker, and deftructive of all Religion. To conclude then,

Let us hence learn to demean our felves as we ought to God Almighty, not fubftituting any thing in his room, nor taking any in Co-partnership with him, but making him the fole and entire Object of our Honour and Adoration.

VOL. II.

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DISCOURSE VI.

EXODUS XX. 4, 5, 6.

Thou shalt not make to thy felf any graven Image, nor the Likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or in the Earth beneath, or in the Water under the Earth: Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, vifiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, to the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me, and fhewing Mercy to thoufands, in them that love me, and keep my Commandments.

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OD Almighty having in the first Commandment fettled the true Object of divine Worship, and confin'd it wholly to himself, in oppofition to all manner of Idols or falfe Gods; he proceeds in this fecond Commandment to direct us in the right manner of performing it: which is not by any Images or vifible Representations of him, but in a more fpiritual manner, and in a way futed to his Nature and Will. This is the Defign of these words, Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven Image, &c.

Now this Commandment being Negative, I muft confider firft what is forbidden, and then what is commanded in it. I begin then with what is forbidden, and that is chiefly thefe two Things, the Making, and the Worshipping of any graven Image. For the

First, We are here exprefly forbidden to make to ourselves any graven Image, or the Likeness, &c.

Not that all making of Images, Pictures or Reprefentations of any Creature is hereby prohibited, or that the Trade of the Painter, Carver or Engraver are fimply unlawful, as fome have vainly imagin'd for we find fome Images made and appointed by the order of God himself,

as

as the Cherubims, the golden Mice, the brazen Serpent, and the like; and Mofes afcribes the Skill of Aholiab and Bezaleel, in working the Work of an Engraver, to the Holy Spirit of God, Exod. 35. 31. So that all Images or Reprefentations of things are not here abfolutely forbidden, for that would condemn all Pictures or Likeness of any Thing, and render our very Coin unlawful.

But the Images here forbidden to be made, are Images of God, or Representations of the Divine Nature, which being fpiritual and immaterial, may not be reprefented by any Bodily Shape; yea, God being infinite and incomprehenfible, cannot be reprefented by, or thought to be inclos'd in any Image, without debafing and difparaging of him. And therefore the Prophet afks the question, To whom will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him? Ifa. 40. 18. The Apostle wills us not to think the Godhead to be like unto Gold or Silver, or Stone graven by the Art and Invention of Men, A&ts 17. 29. And much less to change the Glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible Man, to Birds, or four-footed Beafts, or creeping Things; Rom. 1. 23.

There is fuch a vaft difproportion between an Image and the Divine Nature, that we cannot liken one to the other without belying and affronting it: for fince an Image can only be made of Corporeal Things, and fuch as are finite and corruptible, to make an Image of God, is to bring down that infinite Being to the fcantinefs and dimenfions of a finite Creature, and in effect to deny the Spirituality and Incorruptibility of his Nature. And therefore we find a very ftrict Charge given to the Ifraelites against this Imagemaking, Deut. 4. 15. Take good heed unto yourselves, for you faw no Image in the day when the Lord Spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the Fire, that you corrupt not yourselves, and make you a graven Image. And in this Commandment we have an exprefs Prohibition of making any Likeness of God by any thing, either in Heaven above, as by the Sun, Moon and Stars; or in the Earth beneath, as by the Fowls of the Air, the four-footed Beafts or creeping Things; or in the Water under the Earth, by the Fish, or any thing that walks through the Paths of the Sea; no, nor yet by the Likeness of Man, the Lord of all thefe. For tho God made Man in his own Image, yet Man is not to make God in his, by reafon of the infinite diftance and difproportion between them: and tho he be fometimes

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404 defcrib'd in Scripture with Eyes, Hands and Arms, and the like, yet this is merely in compliance with our Infirmities, and is spoken after the manner of Men, and is to be underflood in a way becoming the Divine Majefty; but cannot warrant the making any Image of him, or picturing him in a human Shape, which is to proftitute our Maker, and to think him fuch a one as ourselves: yea, this is to confine Ubiquity to a place, to circumfcribe Immenfity, and to degrade the Deity to the Properties and Infirmities of Human Nature. We may not then reprefent God in a bodily Shape, or form falfe Apprehenfions of him in our Mind, by making him like ourselves; the first thing forbidden in this Commandment.

Secondly, As we may not make, fo much lefs are we permitted to worship any Image or Reprefentation of God, Thou shalt not bow down to it, or worship it; where we have mention made of a twofold Worfhip: The one

External, confifting in the outward Reverence and Bowing of the Body. The other

Internal, in the inward Worfhip and Reverence of the Mind. Both which are here forbidden to be given to any Image.

1. We are forbidden to give any bodily Worfhip to Images, by bowing or falling down to them; Thou shalt not bow down to them. The Ifraelites were strictly charg'd not to Serve other Gods, or bow themselves unto them. And fuch were fharply reprov'd, that bowed the knee to Baal, or fell down before any Idol. The Idolatry of the Heathens is frequently fet forth by the Gestures of Incurvation, Proftration, Geniculation, and other vifible Acts of bodily Reverence us'd to their falfe Deities; which being Tokens of the inward Delight and Devotion of their Minds towards them, were Invafions of God's Prerogative, and therefore strictly prohibited by him. But,

2. The internal Worfhip and Reverence of the Heart, is here chiefly forbidden to be given to Images; for this is to make them Gods, and to give the Glory due to God only, to the Works of Mens Hands, which is Idolatry to be abhor'd of all Chriftians.

3. Not only the worshipping of Images, but of God by them, is here forbidden in this Commandment. The worfhipping of falfe Gods, is the Idolatry condemn'd in the firit Commandment; the worfhipping the true God in a

falfe

405 falfe way, is the Idolatry forbidden in this. The ruder and more barbarous Nations, that mistook the Object of Worfhip, and paid it to Socks and Stones, were guilty of the former; fome of the wifer and more knowing among the Heathens, who when they knew God, yet glorified him. not as God, were guilty of the latter: thefe two are in Scripture ftil'd Idolaters, as we read in the first Chapter to the Romans, where thefe wifer Heathens are charg'd with it, because the they knew God by the Creation of the World, yet they worship'd him in a way unfutable to his Nature, namely, by Images and corporeal Refemblances of him; changing his Glory into the Similitude of Men, Beafts, and Birds: and tho they did not terminate their Worfhip in the Images, but only ferv'd God by them, it being impoffible for the wifer part of them to take that for a God or Maker of the World, which they either made with their own Hands, or faw made with their own Eyes; yet their ferving of God this way fo unworthy of him, is in Scripture call'd Idolatry. This, fome Perfons in the World. may do well to confider, who worship God much after the fame way, and feek to falve it with the fame Diftinc

tions.

"Tis most certain that there is a peculiar and incommunicable piece of Homage due to the great Creator of all Things, upon the account of his infinite and adorable Perfections, and our great Obligations to him: this is what we call Divine Worship, and is challeng'd by God himself in the old Teftament, and confin'd to him by our Saviour in the New, in those words; Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only halt thou ferve. And tho they who give fome of this elsewhere, as upon Images and other Things, would excuse it by making these things not the Objects of Worship, but only Means and Helps to direct and carry it farther, even to God himself; yet 'tis to be fear'd that too much of it falls by the way on the Image, and that God is robb'd of all that mifcarries, or falls befide him. And therefore to prevent this, I fhall proceed, in the

Next place, to the Sanction by which this Prohibition is enforc'd: and that is taken,

Partly, from God Almighty's Jealoufy and Tenderness for his Honour; For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. And partly, from his juft Indignation and fevere Punishment of those that violate and invade it; Vifiting the Iniquities of

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