The answer
It is a fact that God forbad the making of any statues or idols.
“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.;” (Ex 20: 4).
This is a consistent attitude throughout the Bible for … Idolatry is actually considered the worst sin … as it is a proclamation of the worship of a different “god”.
This clarifies the whole truth about this issue: For the forbidden statues are those which we worship them as gods, bowing to them.
… you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me (Ex 20: 5),
And …
… with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying: "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.; (2 Kings 17: 35)
As for the two cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant: those were part of the paraphernalia for the worship rituals … used to show the glory of this Holy Place. They were never intended to replace God … or to be an idol. We also recall that the ark of the covenant was only seen by the high priest once a year, and it was kept locked in the holy of holies.
Neither matter nor art is forbidden; but the use of any material determines its value, whether it is for the worship of God or in rebellion against Him.
The bronze serpent was a clear symbol of the story of redemption. Christ Himself referred to it:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man he lifted up. (John 3:14)
As a matter of fact, we note that when the Jews deviated from the truth and used the bronze serpent as an idol to worship, it was completely destroyed:
He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.,, (2Kings 18: 4).
This is definitely neither God’s fault nor the fault of Moses; but it is due to the abuse of people for what is holy. That was why King Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent when it lost its original meaning.
Fr. Daoud Lamei