It seems that many find this command to be rather innocuous. In the first instance, we might say, well “I’m not making for myself a ‘carved image’ or any likeness of anything in heaven, on the Earth, or in the water, and I’m certainly not bowing down to them or serving them.” And this is more than likely an accurate statement, at least as it appears outwardly. However, we cannot be a people that look to the letter of the law and no further.

The author of Hebrews warned that the punishment for people who knew the truth of the Gospel of Christ and continued in deliberate sin would receive a far greater punishment than those who disregarded the Law of Moses.