Devarim 4: Recreating Creation

Moshe also focuses a great deal on idol worship. He warns the people that they must not attempt to represent God through images, since God revealed Himself without any physical form at Horeb:“Since you saw no shape when the LORD your God spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take utmost care not to act corruptly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness whatever.” (Deuteronomy 4:15–16)וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאֹד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם כָּל־תְּמוּנָה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר ה׳ אֲלֵיכֶם בְּחֹרֵב מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ׃פֶּן־תַּשְׁחִתוּן וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כָּל־סָמֶלMoshe then enumerates the specific forms the people must not recreate:“The form of a man or a woman; the form of any beast on earth; the form of any winged bird that flies in the sky; the form of anything that creeps on the ground; the form of any fish that is in the waters below the earth.” (Deuteronomy 4:16–18)תְּמוּנַת זָכָר אוֹ נְקֵבָה׃תְּמוּנַת כָּל־בְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ תְּמוּנַת כָּל־צִפּוֹר כָּנָף אֲשֶׁר תָּעוּף בַּשָּׁמָיִם׃תְּמוּנַת כָּל־רֶמֶשׂ בָּאֲדָמָה תְּמוּנַת כָּל־דָּגָה אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץFinally, Moshe expands the warning to celestial bodies:“And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them.” (Deuteronomy 4:19)וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂא עֵינֶיךָ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְרָאִיתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵחַ וְאֶת־הַכּוֹכָבִים כֹּל צְבָא הַשָּׁמָיִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לָהֶם וַעֲבַדְתָּםThis warning operates on multiple levels. On the surface, it is straightforward: since God has no physical form, the people must not attempt to recreate God through images. On another level, the categories Moshe lists mirror the days of Creation in reverse chronological order: human beings and animals (day six), birds and fish (day five), and the heavenly bodies (day four). By invoking these categories, Moshe highlights a deeper warning: God created all of these entities, and therefore none of them can possibly represent God.On an even deeper level, Moshe may be warning that by fashioning idols in these forms, the people are attempting to imitate God’s creative act and present themselves as gods. Whether by misunderstanding God’s incorporeality, by confusing Creator and creation, or by implicitly claiming divine creative power, all three levels constitute an affront to God and explain why idol worship is so deeply detested.