Four days in and we have already learned so much! Yesterday we studied the ten commandments as a whole and looked briefly at how each one is linked to idolatry. We finished up by saying a few things about authority and that is where we will pick up today. However, now that we have laid a foundation, let’s back up and take a specific look at the first commandment.
In order to best understand the purpose of the ten commandments we need to make sure we grasp the context which includes the original audience. Moses was addressing the Israelites after the exodus from Egypt but before their entrance into the Promised Land. Israel had been in slavery for 400 years in Egypt so several generations had passed. No doubt traditions, morals and values that were specific to them as God’s chosen nation had faded as they fell deeper into captivity.
As slaves, they would not have been given the freedom to worship God but they would have been repeatedly exposed to Egypt’s system of worship which included many gods. The journey into the wilderness served many purposes but one specific purpose was preparation. God was taking that time to prepare His people to serve Him and make His name great among the nations. But first, He had some housekeeping He had to do.
To recap, the first commandment is “thou shall have no other god’s before Me” but rather than just starting there God gives a brief introduction that is very important. Look at Exodus 20:2.
God’s rightful rule in our lives:
God establishes His right: What does He say? “I am the Lord, your God..” God is naming Himself and giving Himself personally to the the Israelites. First He names Himself exclusively, THE LORD, not a Lord, but the Lord, the One and Only. This is all caps LORD - which means Yahweh, the covenant God. Israel would have recognized this as the strongest name for the the one, true God. This sets up God’s right to give the 10 commandments.
God establishes His rule: Then, after calling Himself by His strong, authoritative, powerful, sovereign name, He commits Himself to them personally as YOUR God. This sets up God’s rule in their lives. Let me give you an example. I have one Dad. My Dad has right or authority in my life because of who he is - he’s Dad, that gives him authority!! He also has the ownership to tell me what to do because he is MY Dad. I don’t answer to other Dads like I answer to my own. They don’t have right or rule over me.
It is the same with God. God has authority or “the right” because of who He is - He is God. But God also has “rule” over us because we are His creation and His children. Does that make sense?
God establishes His love: But He doesn’t stop there, He then recounts to them what has just happened to them and who is responsible. He says, “who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery?” This is showing God’s loving protection and care for His own. This is where God shifts the focus from Himself as Father, to Abba, to Daddy. I think somebody needs to hear that. It is going to get confrontational and the road will get rocky before it smooths out again. We need to be reminded not only that God is rightfully our Father but that He is our Daddy and He loves us and when He tells us there are to be no other gods before Him, He is doing so not out of a power trip but out of our best interest.
God loves His people so much that He brings them out of bondage, out of slavery, to make them sons and give them their own land with Himself as King. However, before all of that can happen He has to set up a few rules in order to live in His kingdom and He begins by saying, “You shall have no other gods (little “g”) besides me.”
Ladies, if you and I are to live as part of God’s kingdom and not live out the fate of Israel in our lives, we must begin by having “no other gods.” First, because there are no other gods. God is gracious to His people in educating them - by establishing He is their rightful Lord who loves them. There are no others. Second, He is gracious in His warning because scripture says, “He knows what is in a woman’s heart” (1 Chr. 28:9; 2 Chr. 6:30). The Lord ultimately knows that every one of us is prone to idolatry so He is reminding us for our own good.
We must learn to be obedient to God’s right and rule but also to recognize and respond to His love. This is how we begin to tear down the idols in our lives. Tomorrow, as we close out week one we will look at the importance of obedience in love to God’s commands. We are establishing a firm foundation which will allow us to identify, uproot and replace all of the idols in our lives. Stay tuned...
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