Exodus 20:1-3 - "Then God spoke all these words,
saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me."
In Exodus chapter 20 God gives Moses a list of rules known as the ten commandments. There is a lot of controversy surrounding these commandments in our country today. They are being taken out of public schools, courtrooms and basically all public places, but why? What's so bad about these commandments that the Lord sets forth in His Word to the people of Israel and to us today? People will say that the problem with the Bible as a whole is that it's hard to understand, but it's not. The Word of God is all too readily understood, as illustrated in these ten very straight forward commandments. The problem is that men, women, boys and girls don't like what God has to say.
The ten commandments divide very nicely into two sections. The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the last six deal with our relationships with others. The Lord introduces these commandments in verse 2 by telling the people of Israel two things about Himself. First, who He is, and second, what He has done. Verses 1 and 2 say - "Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."" He tells them who He is, "I am the Lord your God." He makes no theological argument for why they should buy into believing in Him, and doesn't try to prove His existence, He simply says "this is who I AM." This is similar to the way the Bible starts. The first words in the Bible are "In the beginning God..." There is no trying to prove His existence, it plainly says "In the beginning God." He needs no explanation or introduction, He is who His is, and the Bible says very plainly in Psalm 14:1 - "The fool has said in his heart "There is no God."" Only the fool will deny His existence. So God puts His signature at the beginning of the ten commandments, and that alone is reason for us to obey them, because of who He is. But secondly, God tells the people what He has done. He says - "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." The account of the Lord delivering His people from slavery in Egypt is one of the greatest things in all of the Bible. The Psalms and prophets often point back to it as one of the greatest acts of God. And so God is saying essentially, "Because of who I am and because of what I have done, this is what I require of you." and what follows are the ten commandments.
The first thing He says, commandment number one, is found in verse 3 - "You shall have no other gods before Me." The land that the people had just come out of, Egypt, and the land that they were entering, Canaan, were both polytheistic cultures. That is, they both believed in many gods. And the Lord didn't want them to go astray and follow after other so called gods, so He tells them that He wants exclusive rights to them. Literally this verse reads - "You shall have no other gods besides Me." God is not merely one among many gods, He is the only God. All other so called "gods" are made up. They are a product of someones imagination, and the Lord doesn't want to be put on the same plain as these false ideas or the works of mans hands. He wants exclusivity.
In the book of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land of Israel and took the people captive, he brought the treasures from the house of the Lord and put them in the temples of his gods. These things only had value because they were associated with the one true God, but they lost their value when they were brought into the houses of his gods. The only true value is the Lord, and when something is associated with Him it has great value, but when it's separated from Him it becomes worthless.
The Lord is really saying in this commandment that He is of supreme and ultimate value and He doesn't want us to treat Him as simply one among many important things in our lives. He wants us to be consumed by Him and Him alone. He wants our devotion. That's His goal for us. He brought us out of the land of bondage, out of the house of slavery. He freed us from our sins by His own blood, and now He wants our complete devotion. Jesus said, in the sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." You cannot serve God and anything. Devotedness follows a single purpose, serves one master. God seeks our devotion. He's looking for devoted followers to whom He can reveal Himself, and He deserves our complete surrender and devotion.
Exodus 20:1-3 - "Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me."
In Exodus chapter 20 God gives Moses a list of rules known as the ten commandments. There is a lot of controversy surrounding these commandments in our country today. They are being taken out of public schools, courtrooms and basically all public places, but why? What's so bad about these commandments that the Lord sets forth in His Word to the people of Israel and to us today? People will say that the problem with the Bible as a whole is that it's hard to understand, but it's not. The Word of God is all too readily understood, as illustrated in these ten very straight forward commandments. The problem is that men, women, boys and girls don't like what God has to say.
The ten commandments divide very nicely into two sections. The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the last six deal with our relationships with others. The Lord introduces these commandments in verse 2 by telling the people of Israel two things about Himself. First, who He is, and second, what He has done. Verses 1 and 2 say - "Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."" He tells them who He is, "I am the Lord your God." He makes no theological argument for why they should buy into believing in Him, and doesn't try to prove His existence, He simply says "this is who I AM." This is similar to the way the Bible starts. The first words in the Bible are "In the beginning God..." There is no trying to prove His existence, it plainly says "In the beginning God." He needs no explanation or introduction, He is who His is, and the Bible says very plainly in Psalm 14:1 - "The fool has said in his heart "There is no God."" Only the fool will deny His existence. So God puts His signature at the beginning of the ten commandments, and that alone is reason for us to obey them, because of who He is. But secondly, God tells the people what He has done. He says - "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." The account of the Lord delivering His people from slavery in Egypt is one of the greatest things in all of the Bible. The Psalms and prophets often point back to it as one of the greatest acts of God. And so God is saying essentially, "Because of who I am and because of what I have done, this is what I require of you." and what follows are the ten commandments.
The first thing He says, commandment number one, is found in verse 3 - "You shall have no other gods before Me." The land that the people had just come out of, Egypt, and the land that they were entering, Canaan, were both polytheistic cultures. That is, they both believed in many gods. And the Lord didn't want them to go astray and follow after other so called gods, so He tells them that He wants exclusive rights to them. Literally this verse reads - "You shall have no other gods besides Me." God is not merely one among many gods, He is the only God. All other so called "gods" are made up. They are a product of someones imagination, and the Lord doesn't want to be put on the same plain as these false ideas or the works of mans hands. He wants exclusivity.
In the book of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land of Israel and took the people captive, he brought the treasures from the house of the Lord and put them in the temples of his gods. These things only had value because they were associated with the one true God, but they lost their value when they were brought into the houses of his gods. The only true value is the Lord, and when something is associated with Him it has great value, but when it's separated from Him it becomes worthless.
The Lord is really saying in this commandment that He is of supreme and ultimate value and He doesn't want us to treat Him as simply one among many important things in our lives. He wants us to be consumed by Him and Him alone. He wants our devotion. That's His goal for us. He brought us out of the land of bondage, out of the house of slavery. He freed us from our sins by His own blood, and now He wants our complete devotion. Jesus said, in the sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." You cannot serve God and anything. Devotedness follows a single purpose, serves one master. God seeks our devotion. He's looking for devoted followers to whom He can reveal Himself, and He deserves our complete surrender and devotion.
Exodus 20:1-3 - "Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me."
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