Carved and Cast Statues

On By In Topical, Idolatry

“Carved and Cast Statues": two expressions from the Old Testament that may have something to do with the actuality of our time. Or do they not?

We read it again this morning in Nahum 1:15, where the Lord tells Nineveh (the capital of the Assyrian empire) that He will eradicate from their temple the carved and cast images. The first time the phrase appears in the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 27:15 and reads as follows:

“Cursed is the man who makes a carved or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of a craftsman's hands, and puts it in a secret place!”

Deuteronomy 17:12

So far I have not come across anything in the Bible that would allow you to make out anything about the difference between the two[1]. A distinctly different meaning or usage or any difference. Nor would I know whether the Bible makes any distinction between an image being "carved" by a sculptor or an image being "cast" by a goldsmith. I can't find it anyway.

Yet the expressions are not used for nothing; sometimes separately and sometimes together and the mere fact that the Bible uses two different words must therefore have a meaning.

Carved and Cast Statues

Now I do not understand more details in the Bible and that is certainly not always necessary. So in that respect not being able to tell the difference between cast and cut is not a problem. Yet I have given 'carved and cast images' a meaning for myself, which I remember every time I come across the words (or one of the two).

The statues are idols, ways of coming into contact with the 'gods' in the invisible world, the demons. This can be done in many different ways and that is reflected in the cut images; after all, they are all different. Plus, you can pick one that you like best; a way of doing 'that suits you best', so to speak.
When the cast images are mentioned, it indicates that no matter how you approach the invisible world, the mystical inner experience will always be the same. That is always what idolatry has in common, the 'sweet' inner experience of and sometimes even union with 'god'.

Briefly:

  • Carved statues: different ways to 'approach god/the gods'
  • Cast images: the mystical inner experience is the same

In this way the Old Testament terms 'carved and cast images' also have a current meaning – at least for myself.

Footnote

[1] If you come across anything about this, I'd love to hear about it.

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