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      Today, Yahweh is so far off to most people, so it is thought, that one must have some representation of Yahshua, the Father, or some saint in order to pray with reality. There are thousands of images, idols and pictures throughout the world, in homes, in Bibles, in churches, which are to remind people of Yahshua or some Biblical personage. Do we need such images?

Are Images Sanctioned by Yahweh?

The Bible expressly forbids the use of images in any form in the true worship of Yahweh. Notice, Exodus 20:4-5: “You shall not make a graven image for yourself, or any likeness in the heavens above {note, the command is against any likeness, no matter what form}, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow to them {it does not say worship them, but merely to bow before them}; and you shall not SERVE them {or to use them in service to the true Elohim}”.

This second command is primarily against the use of intermediate, material images, idols or pictures with which to worship the true Elohim mentioned in the first commandment. The worship of Yahweh must not be through images. Most of you brethren have understood that the usage of images was wrong, but what about pictures?

Does the second commandment specifically include them? Yes, it does! Notice that it says no likeness shall be made of heavenly beings to be used in the worship of Yahweh.

Likenesses are portrayed in pictures as well as through idols or other images. Pictures of Yahshua, then, are definitely forbidden.

Israel Told to Destroy Images and Pictures of Heathens

To carry out the enforcement of Yahweh’s second commandment, notice what Yahweh commanded the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land: Then you shall drive out all the ones living in the land from before you, AND DESTROY ALL THEIR CARVED IMAGES; yea, you shall destroy all their CAST IMAGES, and demolish all their high places” (Num 33:52). Their pictures of heavenly things and their idols were considered one and the same. Idolatrous pictures and images are both forbidden by   Yahweh. The Israelites were commanded to destroy them all. Although the Israelites after moving into the Promised Land did not totally abolish these forms of idolatry, we find that the Jews, after the Babylonian Captivity, about 450 B.C did, in general, remove the idolatrous worship from the land. They had been told by the prophets that their captivity was because of their idolatry and Sabbath breaking (Neh 13:18). And, after the Captivity, the Rabbis made the Sabbath one of the main commandments. Also, they legislated laws which were designed to separate the Jew from all appearances of idolatry. In fact, by the time of our Savior, the making of Sculptures or pictures was so unknown among the Jews that Caligula, the Roman Emperor, had to employ Phoenicians to make a statue of him to be put in Jerusalem because no Jew knew how to make one (Edersheim, Life and Times, pp. 89, 90).

This was the condition of the pious Jews regarding image and picture making during the time of Yahshua. They carried the meaning of the second commandment to an extreme.

Early Believers Forbade Images and Pictures

Not only did Yahshua teach the commandments of Yahweh (Mat 19:16-22), but His apostles also did (1st John 2:3-4). It is not any wonder that those individuals converted by Messiah and the apostles kept the commandments, including the second. Dr. Farrar in his monumental book “The Life of Christ as Represented in Art,” pages five and six says that early Christians of all ranks regarded the painting or representations of Yahshua as profanity and an act of irreverence.

There is ample evidence to show that they took the same stand as the Jews as far as art was concerned. They needed no images or pictures to remind them of Yahshua or the Father. Yahshua had said that those who worship Him must do so “in Spirit and in truth.” The only mediator between man and the Father is Yahshua, there is no need of intermediate pictures or images.

This early abhorrence for images and pictures of the Father or Messiah was so indelibly planted upon the minds of early believers that for over 300 years after the death of the apostles, there was no official representation of deity made.

It is true that a few heretical individuals (undercover – not openly) had sketched outlines of Yahshua in various places (to be mentioned later), but the vast majority of professing Christians, Catholics or otherwise, refrained from portraying anything connected with Elohim until about the Fourth Century.

Early Catholic Officials Denounce Imagery As Idolatrous

Here is an example of how early Catholics looked upon the use of images and pictures of Yahshua. In the year 326 A.D, one of the early Catholic leaders, Eusebius of Caesarea, showed great distaste for the request for a picture of Yahshua from the sister of Emperor Constantine. She had requested a picture to see how Yahshua looked.

Notice what Eusebius wrote back to her. “And since you have written about some supposed likeness or other of Christ, what and what kind of likeness of Christ is there… Such images are forbidden by the second commandment. They are not to be found in churches, and are forbidden among Christians alone” (Farrar, p. 56).

This is striking testimony that even the Catholic Church at this time understood the laws of Yahweh on this matter. Farrar, Origen and Lactantius, all of whom were high ranking Catholic officials, sternly condemned their use in any fashion. And, Irenaeus and Clement distinctly appeal to the second commandment as authority (p. 60).

Later, there was another Bishop of the Fourth Century, whom Catholic historians regard as one of the saintliest and most orthodox, who had an energetic abhorrence for anything resembling a sacred picture. This was Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis.

Farrar records an excerpt from one of his letters to the Bishop of Jerusalem. It concerned a condition he found existing in the Jerusalem area. It appears that on a journey to Jerusalem, near Bethel, he had come upon a building in which he saw a lamp burning. On being informed the building was a church, he entered to pray… He saw there a curtain which had on it (as he goes on to write), “an image, as it were, of Christ, or some saint, for I cannot quite remember whose likeness it was. Horrified to see the likeness of a man, hanging contrary to Scripture, in a Christian Church, I tore it down and ordered the vergers (attendants) to use it as the shroud of some pauper” (see also Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol. 14, p. 272).

Yes, even in the Fourth Century, the majority of Catholic officials were vehemently against the violation of the second commandment. Although, from this example, you can see that some Bishops were beginning to allow pictures even in the churches.

By the end of the Fourth Century, because of the increased influx of pagan influence, the tide was beginning to be in favor of the use of pictures for worship. Augustine, at the beginning of the Fifth Century, “complains that he knew many worshippers of superstitious pictures” (Farrar, p. 59).

Still, however, the majority was opposed to their use. Farrar goes on to say that about the year 600 A.D, there was one Serenus, Bishop of Massilia who “broke up pictures and images in Churches.” This act of the Bishop’s reached the ears of Pope Gregory who disapproved “of his breaking them, though he commends his opposition to their idolatrous use” (p. 59).

Yes, there was still opposition to such violations of Yahweh’s law even this late in the Catholic Church. Even the Pope had to commend this Bishop for his motives. This plainly shows that a knowledge of what was right was known to the ones in authority.

However, even this praise of opposition was soon to leave the officials in the Catholic Church. So strong had paganistic influences entered the Catholic Church, that a council of Catholic leaders was called in Constantinople in 691 A.D in which they officially sanctioned the use of images and pictures in churches (Farrar, p. 100).

There were some Bishops dissenting from this form of idolatry, but the majority carried and the decree passed. This decree of the Catholic Church was in direct antithesis to the beliefs and practices of the same Church 300 years before when the early Church “Fathers” were in authority.

The reason for this about-face was because of the unbridled paganistic ideals and philosophies that crept into that Church after the “conversion” of Constantine in the first part of the Fourth Century.

This, of course, she did. However it was not until another Council of Constantinople in 842 A.D that the last vestiges of opposition to images and pictures was stamped out. From that time, until the present, the Catholic Church has sanctioned images and the like in their churches. Some Protestants made a feeble attempt to reform the Catholic Church from this imagery in the Reformation, but this they failed to do. In fact, the bulk of Protestants carried the representations of Yahshua in picture form, which came from Catholicism, directly into their churches. The pictures, mosaics and paintings of Yahshua you see today in Protestant churches and in their literature, are direct developments of the ones used by the Catholics.

How Was Messiah Represented in Early Christian Art?

The Messiah you see portrayed in pictures and images today is an effeminate looking individual with long hair and a beard. There are some differences in portraying Him among the different artists, but generally He is the same. But, is the common picture we are used to and the one the Protestants adopted from the Catholics, the way Yahshua actually appeared while on this earth? Did He have a beard and long hair?

The very first pictures found of Yahshua are painted on the walls of the Catacombs of Rome. Most of these pictures were painted during the Second and Third Centuries and, it might be added, outside of the approval of the Catholic Church. That Church, we have seen, did not allow such representations at this early date.

And, it is true, they should not have been drawn, but still there is something interesting in them for us today, for they show Messiah in an entirely different form than we are accustomed to seeing Him.

What Early Paintings Looked Like

The earliest pictures in these Catacombs, date from about 100 years after the apostles. And, whoever sketched them were undoubtedly acquainted with individuals who were familiar with the general appearance of Yahshua that came by word of mouth from the apostles.

The most ancient of these pictures is described by Roderic Dunkerley in his book “Beyond the Gospels.” He says: “In particular, there is a painting of the Resurrection of Lazarus in which Christ is shown,

… with short hair and large eyes… Although it is now only barely recognizable, this picture is of great interest since it is the oldest representation of Jesus that is preserved anywhere’” (p. 57).

Did you notice any difference from the common portrayals today? Yahshua is here depicted as young (He was around 33 when crucified) and He is with short hair.). These pictures are strikingly different from the “Messiah” we see today in the churches of this land.

But, let us go on. These early representations of Yahshua, with short hair, persisted for a number of years. Dunkerley continues, “Reference may be made to another portrayal of Christ, dating from early in the third century.

It was found on the wall of a house-chapel at Dura-Europos in the Syrian desert in 1931-2 during excavations of Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters…Here too He is young and wearing the ordinary costume of the time” (p. 58).

This picture was found near Palestine, and it corresponds with the portrayals of those found in Rome. The general appearance of Yahshua seems to have been known throughout the Roman world, and that Yahshua’s appearance was not as we know it today.

These are amazing statements. It took about 400 years to evolve the “Messiah” that we had been brought up to believe in. And, this “Messiah” is not the one the early believers thought of, the Messiah of the Bible. This is the picture of a false Messiah, the one the whole world worships.

Bible Proves Messiah Did Not Wear Long Hair

The foregoing evidence should not surprise you brethren who have studied your Bibles, for Yahweh’s word plainly shows that a man should not wear long hair; it is a shame (1st Cor 11:14). Yahshua did not wear long hair. Some have erroneously assumed that Yahshua was under a Nazarite vow (this was a vow of extreme humility) in which the hair should, for a period of time, grow long, but this is not so! Yahshua was from the small town of Nazareth in Galilee and was called “Yahshua of Nazareth,” but this had nothing to do with a Nazarite vow! And, the Scripture plainly shows that Yahshua was not a Nazarite while on this earth, for in Matthew 11:19 Yahshua, Himself, stated that He came drinking wine. This was forbidden under a Nazarite vow (Num 6:3).

Also, another proof of this is Matthew 26:48-49. Here it says Yahshua had to be kissed in order for the soldiers to know which one He was. If Yahshua had been dressed as a Nazarite, with long hair and old clothes (in other words, out of the ordinary), the soldiers would have recognized Him without his being pointed out.

The disciples were also dressed like ordinary men because they were not fasting or under a Nazarite vow (Mat 9:14-15). The Bible is plain on this matter. Yahshua and the disciples dressed like ordinary men. Yahshua did not have long hair, and the early pictures of Him show Him without long hair.

Where Did False Representations of Messiah Come From?

The first paintings of Yahshua were just simple sketches. There seems to have been no outside influences directing how He should look. His general appearance was apparently common knowledge. But, soon there began to creep into the Catholic Church a number of people who had been reared pagans. Along with them they brought many symbols of their art. These pagans began to blend their ideas with Biblical events.

“Early Christian art,” says Professor Woltmann, “does not differ in its beginnings from the art of antiquity” (Farrar, p. 29). Concerning this fact, Farrar continues, “Christians had to baptize, as it were, all that could be baptized of the ancient heathen types. They themselves had been pagans, and were unaccustomed to any but pagan decorations, into which they infused a new spirit” (p. 29).

Notice it! The pagans brought with them into the Catholic Church their old ideas on art and infused into them Christian significance. Yes, the pagans even went a step further than merely representing Yahshua in outline form (and even that was wrong). They brought in direct pagan decorations.

Of course, this was at first done undercover in the Third Century, because the Catholic Church at this time still did not allow such things. But, nevertheless, paganism began to thrive throughout the Roman world under the guise of Christianity.

Pagan Gods Became Direct Representations of Yahshua

Yes, this subtitle is a shocking one to make, but it is fact! The pagans, instead of destroying their gods, turned them into Yahshua or other Biblical characters. They kept right on worshipping them, but calling them now by Christian names.

“Of these types of Messiah, borrowed from Pagan antiquity,” says Farrar, “the favorite was Orpheus taming the wild beasts with his lyre” (p. 30).

When the pagans were converted to Catholicism, they quit calling the pagan god Orpheus by his name of antiquity. Now, they called him Christ. They reasoned that it was all right because Messiah will tame the wild beasts in the millennium as Orpheus does.

So, the pagan god Orpheus became Christ. They continued to paint the image of Orpheus, but now it was the Messiah.

“No pagan symbol, therefore, better accorded with their tone of mind than that which represented the youthful Orpheus bending the listening trees and charming the savage lions by his celestial harmonies. It indicated Christ as the King of Love and Peace, as the Law of life, and the Harmony of the world” (Farrar, pp. 33-34).

Another authoritative work entitled “Wonders of the Past” pp. 1118, 1119 also has some information on this subject. It states, “For the Christians, even in the earliest days, observed the customs of their ancestors, though with a new intention.”

Continuing, “It (art) remains as it were transformed, seen with new eyes, and drawn into the service of Christ.” Now notice this statement from this work: “Orpheus becomes a prophecy of Him (Messiah); and the Good Shepherd (Messiah) bears the lamb on His shoulders precisely as Hermes (a pagan god) had been wont to do, but with a new tenderness.

The portrait of Christ,” the book continues, “is but seldom found, but when we do find a presentation of Him, He is represented as young and bearded, with a smile on his lips, splendid AS APOLLO” (p. 1119). Oh brethren, notice this! Here is Yahshua represented, as you see Him portrayed today, and it is exactly as some ancient portrayals of the chief pagan god APOLLO.

Need any more be said? Here is where the Messiah of today comes from! It is nothing more than a portrait of a heathen god. Farrar goes on to say, “Other Pagan symbols adopted by Christianity were those of the winged Psyche, the Sirens, and Hercules feeding the dragon with poppy seed. The story of Cupid and Psyche, of which there are several instances, was chosen as the emblem of God’s love for the soul” (p 34).

Yes, there were many pagan gods of the heathens and they brought them right into the Catholic Church when the pagans were “converted.” So numerous had these representations of Yahshua become, that by 691 A.D. (as stated before), the Catholic Church finally allowed them by official decree to become a part of the religious service.

Because there were many of these pagan gods, they could not all represent Yahshua for all of them had slightly different appearances. Augustine, the Catholic official in the Fourth Century stated that there were “in his time, innumerable pictures of Christ, which were all different” (Farrar, p. 73).

We finally see the solidification of these varying pictures (representing many pagan gods) into the common one today.

Actually, today’s representation is the blending together of the chief characteristics of major pagan gods. The wisest and most powerful of the gods were portrayed with beards and long hair. The hair and beard represented their ancient wisdom and godliness. This uniquely blended portrayal that we see today was the one finally sanctioned by the Catholic Church, it satisfied everyone.

This is the very representation of Yahshua that is extant in the Catholic and Protestant churches today. Few realize that it is a direct representation of the chief of pagan gods. Truly, Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev 12:9).

How Does Messiah Actually Look Today?

Yahshua does not look like the pagan gods of Greece or Rome and as the world portrays Him today. There is no resemblance whatsoever. If you want a true Biblical picture of our Savior, turn to (Revelation 1:13-16). There is the real Messiah. It is a description that no artist could paint nor any sculptor mould. This is the Messiah who has a face that shines as the sun in its full strength. He was so bright that John fell at His feet as dead when he saw Him (Rev 1:17).

Here is Yahshua in His full power and glory, the Messiah of the Bible. And this is the way He will appear when He comes back to this earth with all His glory (Mat 24:30). Most people will be looking for a false Messiah, the one pictured today. What a shock they will have when the REAL MESSIAH is revealed!

Violating the Second Commandment?

In the light of these facts, we should ask ourselves if we are violating Yahweh’s commandments. Do we have pictures of this false Messiah, the representation of a pagan god in our homes? – in our Bibles?

If we do have, we should do as Yahweh commanded the ancient Israelites in Numbers 33:52. “Destroy all their {the heathen’s} CARVED IMAGES, and destroy their cast images, and quite pluck down all their high places.”

Yes, brethren, let us rid ourselves of any form of idolatry, this form of violating the second commandment.