The Second Commandment
The second commandment can also be found in the book of Exodus chapter 20. As the first one, this deals with our relationship with God. However, it goes beyond to give a warning against encouraging others to commit the sin of idolatry.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ”
Understanding the Second Commandment
In the past, people from many cultures thought that things, angels, animals, and even other people were gods. They would worship the sun, the moon, the starts, animals such as birds, frogs, cats, cattle, and various others. In some cases, they would even make statutes or images of those things, and bow to them and worship them. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Babylonians and many other nations did it.
God makes it plain and clear that that’s wrong, because He is the only one who deserves to be worshiped as He is the only true God. Some of these things can be quite amazing in the eyes of the beholder, like the sun, the moon, and the stars, but just because of their appearance, it doesn’t mean they should be worshiped. They are just God’s creation, just like you and me.
Biblical Example of this Sin - Jeroboam and the Golden Calves
There was king of Israel, Jeroboam, who was guilty of breaking the second commandment. When Israel was divided in two kingdoms, he made two golden calves and told the people to worship them as if they were God.
1 Kings 12:28 - “Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
This king caused thousands of people to worship false gods and therefore, to sin against God. As a political leader, He had an influence over the people, and he used it in the worst possible way.
Not only that, but many generations that came after his did the same thing, and he has a part in all of that because he was the one that created the images and influenced the people to sin in the first place.
Conclusion
The Second Commandment deals with idolatry and causing others to commit this sin by providing means/ecouraging them to do so. The making of images is one of the most obvious way to do that.
It also serves as a remainder that we all have an influence on others, even if we are not aware of that. It's up to each person to choose how to use such influence - to bring them closer to God, or to push them away from Him.