Did God command the making of graven images, in Exodus and Numbers?

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Exodus 20:4

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:

Graven Image of a Snake(seraph).

Numbers 21:8-9.

8>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.

9>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.

God commands graven images be placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant – the holiest religious artifact in all of Israel!

Exodus 25:18-19

18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you
make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.

19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of
one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two
ends.

Question:

Did God contradict himself/herself?