Last
Sunday, we began our look at the Ten Commandments with an introduction and a
setting of the stage for circumstances under which the Ten Commandments were
given to Israel. We saw that the skies
turned dark as the clouds descended upon Mount Sinai, bringing with them
thunder, lightning, and the blaring of a trumpet. We saw that in God’s coming and meeting with
Israel that there was a time of consecration, of physical and spiritual
cleansing, that was required of Israel.
Now there are numerous reasons why this cleansing would have been
necessary. After all, we are talking
about fallen people coming into the presence of God. However, there are also some more specific
reasons why Israel would have been in need of such cleansing at this point in
time, many of which are addressed within the very commandments that they are
about to be given.
You see, the
Israelites had just come from Egypt, a place where many different idols and
gods received worship from the people.
There was a god for nearly every aspect of life (i.e. farming,
fertility, parenting, etc.), so it was common and very much the norm for people
there to worship many different gods so that they might be blessed in all those
different areas of life. Now, although
the Israelites were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their view of God
had become tainted from what their fathers believed, from what their fathers
were told. Their belief in God had not
diminished in any way, but their view of Him as the only god was largely gone. When God first began to speak to them at
Mount Sinai saying, “I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,”
they would have had no problem with that.
There was no denying the fact that it was God who had delivered them
from their oppressors. No one was trying
to say that multiple gods had worked together to deliver them. They were all very open about the fact that
it was the God of Noah and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who had delivered them
out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and now was meeting with them in the
wilderness.
The problem for
Israel, in their current spiritual state, is what comes during the actual
commandment itself, “You shall have no
other gods before me.” Some
translations say, “You shall have no
other gods besides me.” They both
mean the same thing, just with a little different wording. You see, Israel (as well as all other
Christians and worshipers of God, even those of us today) are not to just
believe that God is the greatest of gods, but that He is the only God. There are no other gods other than the God
that we worship. That’s a harsh reality
for Israel at this time, and it’s a harsh reality for us today as well. We live in a world that seeks to be tolerant,
loving, and accepting of all other people even when it comes at a price. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to say
that we shouldn't be loving and accepting and tolerant of all people. After all, we are all God’s creations. What I am saying is that we have become so
overly tolerant, that we are afraid to say that anyone else is wrong. When we meet someone who worships a different
god than we do, we rationalize in our minds that their god is just as real to
them as ours is to us, so there is no reason for disagreement. We walk away saying that they are just as
right and proper in their worship as we are in ours. I have heard the statement about all
religions being true (at least to the people who believe them) far too often,
and far more often from Christians than I ought to. Friends, I just don’t see how if we read
Scripture and we accept all of it as true that there is any room for
doubt. I don’t see from my study of God’s
Word where the door is left open for other gods to exist. Some folks may say, “Well, what about all of
the other gods worshiped throughout the Old Testament? There’s proof that other gods exist.” My response would be that you’re just making
my point for me. Each one of these “other
gods” was proven to be a false god or simply a figure conjured up by the people
of the day.
We will see in
our look at the Ten Commandments that for each of these commandments, there is
a gospel counterpart to them taken from the very words of Jesus himself. We find the companion statement to the first
commandment in Matthew 4:10, “(Jesus
said,) ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” I realize that I won’t win any friends over
this statement. In fact, I will probably
even lose some, but I think that it has to be said: Any other god aside from the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; any god other than the God who made heaven and earth, is a
false God. I don’t see any way that as
Christians we can believe anything else.
Sure, I understand how we can worship other things. I see how we can worship objects, power,
money, etc. I don’t agree with it, but I
do know that it is real. I acknowledge
that other groups do worship different gods, but I don’t agree with them. I don’t place their god(s) anywhere near God
the Father Almighty. In fact, as you can
probably conclude from the remarks I have already made, I don’t even view their
gods as real. I don’t care where your
worship is directed; if it’s not towards God Almighty then it is misguided and
false. I’m following in the footsteps of
Paul here. I’m point blank putting it
out there that if the Gospel which I boldly proclaim is false, then let me be
the first to be condemned; let me be counted as the “chief amongst sinners.”
“You shall have no other gods before me.” I said at the beginning of this study that
each commandment carries with it two commands.
There is the one against something (in this case against having other
gods), and there is the call to a certain action. The question now becomes, “What is the
particular action that this commandment is calling us to have?” Well, let me offer up this as the answer. As a response to our being given the commandment
to have no other gods before God Almighty, we must seek to remove the things in
our lives and the lives of others that detract worship away from God. No, I’m not talking about removing
everything, just helping to keep everything in its proper place. Yes, when we see people worshipping another
god, we are to work to point them to Christ, but in terms of the everyday
things (family, money, athletics, etc.) that sometimes receive worship from us,
we just need to prioritize better. We
need to get things in their proper place.
God is supposed to be first and foremost; the Greek word for that is πρῶτος . When God is not first in our lives, then it
is impossible for everything else to be in order. To very much overly simplify it, my daughter
is learning to tie her shoes. We can
teach her how to make the most beautiful yet secure knots and bows that we want
to, but none of it does any good if she doesn't begin with putting her shoes on
her feet. There may be success and
happiness experienced even when we don’t have God in the proper place, but it’s
momentary and fleeting.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” This seems like such a simple command. This seems like such an easy thing for us to
follow to the fullest extent. However,
even though it may be simple, we are still incapable of fulfilling it without
the power of God working in us. Without
the Holy Spirit guiding us along the path that God has set out for us, it is
all too easy for our hearts to drift away from God. It’s all too easy for our worship to be
deflected somewhere else. I’m going to
end each of our looks at the commandments with a challenge, something that we
can all take with us and work at in order to fulfill what God commands of
us. And the challenge for the first commandment
is this: figure out what the things are
in your life that you worship. Figure
out the things in your life that leave you in awe. Are you more excited over the saving grace
that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ or an unexpected Christmas bonus that
might have gotten? What are the things
that leave you awestruck? Find out what
those things are, and put them in their proper place. “You
shall have no other gods before me.”
Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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