Some Catholic apologists, in an attempt to defend the veneration of images/icons, appeal to Exo 25:18-20 and Num 21:8-9 wherein God commands people to make images. In their view, such means that God allows for the veneration thereof, or at least is consistent with what would later become dogmatized in 787 at the Second Council of Nicea. Answering this issue, Christadelphian apologist Ron Abel wrote:
Exodus 25:18-20
“Thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
Numbers 21:8,9
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
PROBLEM:
These scriptures are cited in an attempt to support the practice of using images of Christ, Mary and the Saints in worship. It should be noted that, when pressed, RCs would claim that they do not worship the image, but use the image as an aid to worship. However, the distinction is not quite so clear. The 7th General Council in 787 decreed that it is legitimate to use and reverence images of Jesus, Mary, and the Angels and Saints “since the veneration of the image refers to the original, and the one who honours the image honours the person of the one depicted in it” (DS 600-1).
SOLUTION:
1. In the case of both the cherubim and the serpent of brass there were definite instructions from God that they should be made, together with instructions as to how they should be employed. This is not so with the images employed by RCs. Israel in the Old Testament period were expressly commanded, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the 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 . . (Exo. 20:4,5). The RC will say that this was not a prohibition of the making of images, but of worshipping them. However, the plain meaning of the text is that it was a command not to make images for the purpose of worship. The RC cannot show any scripture command to support the making of images of Christ, Mary, Saints or Angels.
2. The Cherubim were in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle (and later in the temple). They were not even seen by the priests or the people and were certainly not venerated. They were not even seen by the priests or the people and were certainly not venerated. The High Priest alone was able to enter the Most Holy Place once each year on the Day of Atonement. He did not venerate the Cherubim.
3. God condemned all examples of images made by man to assist them in worship: e.g., the golden calf (Exo. 32) and the images in Dan and Bethel set up by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-30). The veneration of the serpent of brass (and offering incense to it) in the time of the Kings was displeasing to God and was destroyed by faithful king Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4). The use of images appears to be the hallmark of apostate religion. (Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures: A Christadelphian Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Bible Passages [ed. John Allfree; rev ed.; Birmingham: The Christadelphian, 2011], 35-36, italics in original)
Eric Svendsen, in response to a Catholic apologist who, in part, appealed to such proof-texts, correctly noted:
[Catholic apologists have] placed [themselves] in the unenviable position of having to defend a practice that not only has no biblical precedent, but is biblically characterized as repugnant. Moreover, [they have] no support for this practice from the earliest years of Christianity. Indeed, the "unanimous consent" of the early church seems to speak with one voice against the practice. If later patristic writers decided to adopt this practice, it does not make the practice any more biblical or any less repugnant. Worshiping at the "high places" in ancient Israel was no less despicable before God just because it happened to gain wide support from the Jewish leaders. [Catholic apologists], and Roman Catholicism as a whole, [are] simply repeating the same errors of ancient Israel. Like ancient Israel, Roman Catholicism has adopted traditions that not only "nullify the word of God," but have crossed over into blatant idolatry.
Further Reading:
The Synod of Elvira vs. Second Nicea on Veneration of Images