The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2 · Chapter 8 · Commandment 2
The Second Commaundement.
Thou shalt not make to thee any grauen image, nor any similitude of those thinges that are in heauē aboue, or in earth beneth, or in the waters vnderunder the earth. Thou shalt not worship them, nor serue them.
As in the first cōmaundement he pronoūced that he is the one God byside whom there are no others gods to be deuised or had▪ so now he more openly declareth what maner of God he is, & with what kinde of worship he is to be honored: that we maye not presume to forge any carnal thing for him. The ende therefore of this commaundement is, yt he will not hauehave the lawefull worship of him, to be prophaned with superstitious vsages. Wherfore in summe, he calleth and draweth vsus away from the carnal obseruations, which our foolish minde is wont to inuent, when it conceiueth God accordyng to her owne grosnesse. And therefore he frameth vsus to the lawful worship of him, that is the spirituall worship, and which is apointed by him. He speaketh of the grossest faulte that is in this offense, namely outward idolatrie. And there be two partes of this commaūdement, The first restrayneth our libertie, that we doe not presume to make subiect to our senses or by any forme to represent God, which is incomprehensible. The seconde part forbiddeth vsus to honor any images for religious sake. Morouer he shortly reciteth al ye formes wherwith he was wont to be expressed in shape by the prophane and superstitious nations. By those thinges that are in heauen, he meaneth the Sunne, the Moone, and other Starres, and paraduenture also birdes, as expressyng his meanyng in the fourth of Deuteronomie he meaneth as well birdes as starres.Deut. iiij.xv. Whiche note I would not hauehave spoken of but that I sawe some vnskilfully to applie it to Angeles. Therfore I omitte the other partes, bicause they are sufficiently knowen of themselues. And we hauehave already in the first boke taught plainely enough, that what so euer visible formes of God man doth inuent, they are directly contrarie to his nature, and that therfore so sone as images come sorth, true religion is corrupted and defiled.
The penall ordinance that foloweth ought not a litle to auayle to shake of our slouthfulnesse. For he threteneth: That he is the Lord our God, a yelous God, that visiteth the iniquitie of the fathers vponupon the children vntounto the thirde and fourth generation, in them that hate his name, and sheweth merciemercy vntounto thousandes to them that louelove him and kepe his commaundementes. This is as much in effect, as yf he should hauehave sayde, that it is he only vponupon whome we ought to …. And to brynge vsus thereunto, he speaketh of his power, that doth not without punishment suffer it selfe to be contemned or diminished. Here is in deede let the name El, whyche signifieth God. Eut bicause it is deriued of strength, do expresse the sense the better, I did not sticke so to translate it, or to put it into the texte. Then he calleth himselfe …elous that can abide no fellow. Thirdly he affirmeth that he will be a reuenger of his maiestie and glorie yf any doe transferre it to creatures or to grauen images, and that not with a short or sclender reuenge, but suche as shall extend to the chyldren and chylderns children, and childrens childrens children, that is suche as shalbe …o…owers of their fathers vngodlinesse: as also he sheweth a perpetuall merciemercy and bountifulnesse vntounto longe continuance of posteritie, to those that louelove him and kepe his lawe. It is a common manner with God to take vponupon him the persone of a husband towarde vsus. For the conuinction wherewith he bindeth himself vntounto vsus, when he receiueth vsus into the bosome of his church, is like vntounto a certaine holy wedlock, that muste stande by mutuall faythfulnesse. As he dothe all the duties of a faythfull and true husbande, so agayne he requireth of vsus suche louelove and chastitie as ought to be in wedlocke, that we yelde not our soules to Satan, to lust, and to filthy desires of the flesh, to be defiled by them. Wherupon he that rebuketh the Apostasie of the Iewes, cō plaineth that they did throwe away chastitie, & were defiled with adulteries. Therfore, as the husband, the more holy & chast that he himselfe is, the more is he kindled to anger yf he see his wiues minde encline to a strang louer:Iere. iij. Osee. ij. so the lord that hath wedded vsus vntounto himself in truthe, testifieth that hath a most feruently burnyng ialousie, so oft as neglecting the purenesse of his holly mariage we are defiled with wicked lustes, but specially then when we trāsferre to any other, or do in…ectt with any superstition the worship of his name, whiche ought to be most vncorrupted: For asmuch as by this meane we doe not only breake the faith geuen in wedlocke, but also do defile the very weddyng bed with bryngyng into it adulterers.
In the thretening is to be seen what he meaneth by this, when he sayth, that he will visit the iniquitie of the fathers vponupon the children, vntounto the third & fourth generation. For, biside that it stādeth not with the equitie of gods iustice, to punish y• innocent for an others offence. God him self also sayth,Eze. xviij.xx. that he will not make the sonne to beare the wickednesse of the father. But this sentence is more than ones repeted, of prolongyng the punnishmente of the sinnes of the auncelters vponupon the generations to come.Num. xiiij viij. For so doth Moses oftentimes speake vntounto him: Lord, lord▪ that rendrest the iniquitie of the fathers to the children, vntounto the third & fourth generatiō. Likewise Ieremie:Ier. xxxii, xviii. Thou that shewest merciemercy in thousandes, that rendrest the iniquitie of the fathers into the bosome of the children after them. Many, while they trauaile much in losyng this knot, thinke that it is to be vnderstāded only of temporall punishmentes, whiche if the children suffer for the parentes faultes, it is no absurditie, for asmuch as they are oftētimes layed vponupon thē for their saluation,Esa. xxxix, vij. which is in deede true. For Elaye declared to Ezechias, yt his sonnes shuld be spoiled of the kingdome, & caried into exile for the sinne yt he had cōmitted. The houses of Pharao & Abimelech were plaged for offending Abrahā.Gen. xii.xvii. & xx, iii, But when yt is alledged for assoiling of this question, it is rather a shift than a true exposition. For here & in like places he threteneth a more greuous reuenge than that it may be limited within the boundes of this present life. It is therfore thus to be taken: yt the iust curse of the Lord, lieth not only vpō the head of the wicked mā himself, but also vpō his whole familie: when the curse ones lieth vponupon them, what is els to be loked for but yt the father being destitute of the spirit of God, liue most wickedly, & the sonne likewise forsaken of the lord for the fathers fault, do follow the same way of destruction: & finally, the childes childe, & the childe of the childes childe, yt cursed seede of detestable mē do fal hedlong after thē?
First let vsus see, whether such reuenge be vnsemely for the iustice of God. If al the nature of mā be dānable, we know yt destruction is prepared for thē, to whō ye lord vouchsaueth not to cōmunicate his grace. Neuer the lesse thei do perish by their owne vnrighteousnesse, & not by vnrighteous hatred of God. Neither is there left any cause to quarel, why they be not holpē by the grace of God to saluation as other are. Wheras therfore this punishmēt is laied vpō wicked mē & euel doers for their offenses, yt their houses be depriued of yt grace of God during many generatiōs: who cā accuse God for this most iust reuēge? But ye Lord on ye other side pronoūceth, yt the punishment of the fathers sinne shal not passe ouer vntounto ye sonne. Note what is ther entreated of. …hē the Israelites had bē long & cōtinually vexed wt many calamities,Eze. xviii, xx, thei began to vse …or a Prouerbe, yt theire fathers had eatē a sower grape, wherwith ye childrens teeth were set on edge: wherby thei meant, that their fathers had cōmitted sinnes, wherof thei, being otherwise righteous, & not deseruing it, did suffer y• punishmēt, rather by … vnappea… able wrathfulnesse of God, thā by a moderate seueritie. The Prophet pronounceth vntounto thē yt it is not so: bicause they are punished for their owne offenses, & yt it sta…deth not wt the iustice of God, yt the righteous sonne shuld suffer punishmēt for the noughtinesse of ye wicked father, Which thing also is not cōteined in this present ordinance. For in the Uisityng, whereof mention is now made, be …ul…illed when ye lord taketh away frō the house of the wicked his grace, the light of his … & other helpes of saluation: in this that the children being blinded and forsaken of him, do goe on in the steppes of their fathers, they susteine curses for their fathers offenses. But in asmuch as they are put to tēporall miseries, & at last to eternall destruction, herein they are punished by the iust iudgement of God, not for the sinnes of other, but for their owne iniquitie.
On the other side is offred a promise of enlarging the merciemercy of God into a thousand generations, whiche promise is also often founde in the Scriptures,Gen. xvij.vij. Prou. xx.vij. & is set in the solemne couenant of the churche: I will be thy God, and of thy seede after thee. Whiche thinge Salomon hauing respect vntounto, writeth that the childrē of the righteous shalbe blessed after their death not only by reason of holy bringing vp, which also not a litle auaileth thereunto, but also for yt blessing promised in the couenāt, that the grace of God shall rest eternally in the houses of the godly. Herupon groweth great cōfort to the faithfull great terrour to the wicked. For if euen after death, the remembrance bothe of righteousnesse & wickednesse be of so great force with God, that the cursing of the one, and the blessyng of the other redoundeth vntounto posteritie, much more shal it light & rest vpō the heads of the doers themselues. But it maketh nothing agaynste vsus, that the issue of the wicked many times cometh to good profe, and the issue of the faithfull swarueth out of kinde: bicause the lawmaker meante not here to stablish such a perpetual rule as should derogate his free election. For it sufficeth for the comforte of the righteous and for the terrour of the sinner, that the penaltie is not vayne or of no effect, although it doe not alwaye take place. For as the temporall punishmentes that are layed vponupon a fewe wickedmen, are testimonies of the wrath of God agaynst sinnes, and of the iudgement that shal one day be geuen vpō all sinners, although many escape vnpunished euen to the ende of their life: so when God geueth one example of this blessing to shew merciemercy and boūtifulnesse to the sonne for the fathers sake, he geueth a profe of his constant and perpetual fauour to them that worship him: and when he ones pursueth the wickednesse of ye father in the sonne, he sheweth what iudgement is prepared for all the reprobate for their owne offences. Which assurednesse he had in this place principally respect vntounto. And by the way he cōmendeth vntounto vsus the largenesse of his merciemercy, whiche he extendeth vntounto a thousand generations, whereas he assigned but only fower generations to vengeance.