{"id":29731,"date":"2011-10-27T20:37:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T01:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=29731"},"modified":"2021-01-07T20:39:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T02:39:22","slug":"is-it-wrong-to-have-images-of-animals-or-men-for-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-have-images-of-animals-or-men-for-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it wrong to have images of animals or men for toys?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Are stuffed toys, teddy bears, barbie dolls, and so on related to witchcraft? In Deuteronomy 4:4-18 it mentions graven images. Is this really referring to teddy bears, stuffed toys, and so forth? As I believe, these verses are related to idols that people worshipped. Teddy bears, stuffed toys are only toys and not represent images of gods as mentioned in the Bible.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage<\/em>&#8221; (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You stopped before Deuteronomy 4:19, which holds the key. God is spelling out that they are not to make any image to represent God because God showed no form to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. They are not to have a physical representation of God to worship, nor are they to use things in nature, such as the sun, moon, or stars, to represent God. Otherwise, they will be worship the created instead of the Creator. &#8220;<em>Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man&#8211;and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 1:22-23).<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t talking about toys, but objects of worship. &#8220;<em>You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God<\/em>&#8221; (Exodus 20:4-5). It is wrong, not because it is witchcraft (which is another form of sin) but because it is idolatry.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Are stuffed toys, teddy bears, barbie dolls, and so on related to witchcraft? In Deuteronomy 4:4-18 it mentions graven images. Is this really referring to teddy bears, stuffed toys, and so forth? As I believe, these verses are related to idols that people worshipped. Teddy bears, stuffed toys are only toys and not represent&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[304],"class_list":["post-29731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-idolatry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-nativity-images-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":0},"title":"Are nativity images wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Does Exodus 20:4 teach that various kinds of man-made images of a nativity scene that are often displayed at Christmas time are a violation of God's commandment in Exodus 20:4? Also, does Exodus 20:4 forbid having any manmade images or anything displayed as decor in your home that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-not-pictures-of-jesus-and-angels-or-even-wedding-announcements-sinful-because-they-are-graven-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":1},"title":"Are not pictures of Jesus and angels, or even wedding announcements, sinful because they are graven images?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about some Scriptures. In Exodus 20:4-5 it tells us not to make any graven image or likeness to anything that is in heaven above. I Corinthians 10:14 tells us to flee idolatry and in John 5:18 and Philippians 2:6 that Jesus is a form of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17711,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-movies-that-depict-jesus-violating-the-rule-to-make-no-image-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":2},"title":"Are movies that depict Jesus violating the rule to make no image of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a couple of questions. Does the movie \"The Passion of Christ\" violate Exodus 20:4-5? I understand that there is no idol worship here, but making images from that which is in heaven would apply, it seems. I read your article about the review of the movie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-use-of-sex-toys-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":3},"title":"Is the use of sex toys sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are sexual toys, or other things to excite sex, sinful? For example, if a woman isn't being pleased by her spouse, could she use sex toys to provide her the pleasure she desires (and vice versa for the husband)? What about sex toys being used by singles? Answer: I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-child-have-too-many-toys\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":4},"title":"Can a child have too many toys?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can too many toys hamper a child's play? Answer: You might be surprised to learn that overindulging in \"things,\" such as toys, can lead to boredom. The article \"Boredom\" provides\u00a0more details.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-too-many-toys-hamper-a-childs-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":29731,"position":5},"title":"Can too many toys hamper a child&#8217;s play?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can too many toys hamper a child's play? Answer: You might be surprised to learn that overindulging in \"things\", such as toys, can lead to boredom. See the article \"Boredom\" for more details.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Childhood&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}