And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. Deuteronomy 4:12

God never worried about leaving any kind of image of Himself to mankind. Think with me:

Wouldn’t it be more logical, easier and even strategic for God to have left a faithful image of Himself so man could adore? A one of a kind, faithful symbol that would be unmistakable to all his people?

No. He never asked any of his prophets to make an image of Him. He never posed for any sculptor or painter to make a self-portrait of Him. Not even Jesus instructed His disciples to keep any sort of image or thing in His likeness. Other historical characters left their statues and images, which can still be seen today in some of the most famous museums in the world. But there is no image of God, the God of the Bible that is. There are idols, expressions of the supposed appearance of Jesus according to the imagination of artist, yes. A true and faithful image, no.

God went one step further to include the following order in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” Exodus 20: 4-5

Why such caution?

God, above all things, is the essence of intelligence. He is spirit, which is understood as the mind, wisdom, intellect. It’s not a religion. Note that Judaism doesn’t have images. Neither does the true Christian. Images, as a sign, are the favorite artifacts of the majority of religions.

Any person can see an image, kiss it, adore it, or venerate it. But not everyone can perceive intelligence.

Intelligence cannot be seen, it must be understood.  Only another intelligent being can understand it.

That’s why God didn’t leave an image of Himself. He doesn’t want robotic, emotional or irrational worship. He wants intelligent people to perceive Him.

But let me emphasize that I’m not referring to the kind of intelligence you acquire in schools. Without a doubt, an intelligent person will benefit from academic knowledge, but academic knowledge doesn’t guarantee intelligence. Knowledge is absorption of information. Intelligence is the capacity of making sense of things, to envision the entire picture, more than just the sum of information.

How can you benefit from all of this?

• Seek God with your intelligence, not your emotions
• Reject, throw out all the supposed images of God or gods that you may have in your possession
• Hear God’s voice, that is, His words, meditate on them

Intelligence is not seen, it’s understood. Only another intelligent being can understand it. Be one.

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