Yes. But what about:
"And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be" (Ex. 25:18–20).In the above verses, God Himself commands that graven images be made. Now either God and the Bible contradict themselves, or your interpretation of the Commandment against the making of images is wrong."Make [a statue of] a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live" (Num. 21:8–9).
"[David gave Solomon the plan for the] golden chariot of the cherubim [statues of angels] that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this he made clear by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19).
"On the [Temple] walls round about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of cherubim." (Ezekiel 41:17–18)
The answer, of course, is that your interpretation of the Commandment is wrong. God approves of the use of statuary, stained glass, ikons, and other graven images when they are used for their intended purpose: the glorification and adoration of God. God forbade the adoration of the statues themselves, and of the Canaanite "gods" the statues represented, not the making of graven images per se.
Ever kneel in front of the Bible to pray? The Bible is a book, and, since every book is by definition a graven image, such worship would constitute idolatry by your standards. Of course, only an idiot would think that keeling in front of the Bible is the same thing as worshiping the Bible! In the same way, kneeling to pray before a Crucifix is no more idolatrous than kneeling to pray before a copy of the Bible. In both cases, the graven images serve only to point us towards the One Whom alone we may adore.
For more on this subject, see here.
Yes. But what about:
"And you shall make two cherubim of gold ...
In the above verses, God Himself commands that graven images be made. Now either God and the Bible contradict themselves, or your interpretation of the Commandment against the making of images is wrong.
When interpreting the Bible, one principle is that we do not use temporary, localized commands to otherwise abrogate general, universal commands. E.g., we do not use the temporary, localized commands of God to the Israelite to kill and otherwise drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan to justify murder in general (e.g., abortion).
Yes, God gave very specific commands about the adornment of the tabernacle/temple to Israel. He spoke those specific words to/through Moses as recorded in the Pentateuch.
God gave no such command in His revealed Word invent human images to adorn modern places of worship. Or to wear little representations of "Jesus" around your neck.