Note: the following is the manuscript for the message and will not match exactly the recorded message above.
At the heart of the story of Israel is the establishment of a special covenant relationship between God and the Israelites. Exodus 19:4–6, 8:
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
What follows is a brilliant display of God’s power at Mount Sinai and an interaction between God and Moses. This was done, according to verses 9, so that the people will put their trust in Moses.
It is in this setting the Israelites receive what are known as the Ten Commandments. The these are the foundational principles of the covenant and law for Israel as the kingdom of God, ruled not by a human king but by God himself.
In Matt. 22:36-40, we read a conversation between Jesus and some of the Jewish experts in the Law. One of these experts asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus says Law and the Prophets. He was referring to the Jewish sacred Scriptures, which contain all the instructions and wisdom that the Israelites used to shape their life as God’s people.
The Law essentially contains two sets of obligations. The Ten Commandments, which is what we will focus on today and next week, and then the rest of the Law, which we will look at in part in the rest of the series, contains more detailed obligations. Some are laws that can be enforced by human courts; others are moral rules that emphasize ideal behaviour, especially toward those who are more vulnerable among them. And then there are laws to instruct on religious duties. Together, these sets of laws show how God expects his people to live.1
There are different ways that the Ten Commandments have been divided. Some say the first five are about the vertical relationship with God and the second five about the horizontal relationship with others. Others say four and six. I am dividing them up a bit differently.
Today, we will cover the first three commandments, which are directly related to loving God. Next week, we will cover commandments five through ten, which are related to loving one another. Command number four is the Sabbath command, which we will cover separately at the end of June in a message about God’s presence with the Israelites. I am bringing the Sabbath command into a different message because it’s a unique command out of all the Ten, as it is a law that existed from the beginning of time. Some might even say that it is a law built into the fabric of time. More on that on June 30.
Before we get into the three points in the sermon outline, I want to define the term “god.” In the Bible, we have gods that are spelled with a lowercase “g” and we have God with an uppercase “G”, which in Hebrew are both the same word elohim or some form of that word, which basically means deity. Then we have the word Lord, which, when it is capitalized is referring to God, and when it is not capitalized, it is in reference generally to a god or ruler. And finally the uppercase word “LORD”, which is the proper name Yahweh. For example, in Exodus 20:1, it says, “I am the LORD your God… have no other gods before me.” Uppercase LORD is Yahweh, and the capitalized God is Elohim referring to Yahweh, and the lowercase god is elohim referring to the general concept of deities. This would be a lot easier if translators would have simply transliterated, or taken the Hebrew or Greek words in to English. But, this is what we have.
What I want to define is the lowercase reference to deities or gods. What are these really? And do we have them today? When God instructs the Israelites, as we will see shortly, to worship only him, what are the alternatives for them, and if this command is still applicable, which I think it is, what are the alternatives for us? What other gods are there?
The Israelites lived in an enchanted age. The unseen was just as real as the seen. They believed that everything was related to spiritual powers. Most people in those days thought that you needed to consult a certain god to deal with a certain situation. Priests were the mediators between the divine and the human. They were highly esteemed because they claimed to be able to sway or control the gods in some way.
But, we live in a time and culture that is mostly disenchanted. Meaning, we believe in the tangible, practical stuff. We are scientific. We want to see it before we believe it. Value is primarily associated with purpose. This is especially true for protestant Christians. A major departure from Catholicism was the belief that in communion, the bread and the wine was not the real substance of Christ but a reminder of his sacrifice. This is related to our skepticism about how much is really going on in the unseen realm. For us, it’s hard enough to believe in one God let alone believing there are many gods to choose from.
So, what are our gods? The essential purpose for trusting this god or that was to get something from them. To solve a problem or to relieve a fear. Think of a problem or fear that is most prominent in your life right now. Relational, financial, your career, your purpose in life, … how are you attempting to solve this problem? Okay, hold that thought. We will come back to it later.
Let’s read Exodus 20:1-7 and then we will see the first three commands are about loving God first, loving God only, and loving God completely.
And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Loving God First
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. (20:2)
The first command is to have no other gods before Yahweh. This is a natural follow-up to the previous line. Yahweh had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt (Ex 20:2). Thus, they owed him absolute and exclusive loyalty (Ex 20:3).2 It wasn’t Egypts gods who saved them. They didn’t rescue themselves. It was God.
Remember the story from last week. The Israelites were told to cover their door frames with the blood of a lamb. They were saved from the death wave that came over Egypt. Then, God told them to leave and once they got to the Red Sea, God brought them through the baptism of the parted waters. Then, as they entered the wilderness and ran out of water and food, God provided for them and is sustaining their lives through miraculous provision.
This is all the work of Yahweh. And so, they appropriate response is devotion to him. They need not look to some other god, including themselves, in order to receiving future blessings.
Being that most people in those days would have been polytheists, which means they believed that there is more than one god, this was an important command. The Israelites may have believed there is more than one god, but they are to be loyal to Yahweh. Their first and primary allegiance is to him.
Deut. 4:35, “You were shown these things [referring to the miracles in Egypt] so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.” Even if the Israelites are to continue believing that there is more than one god, they must behave as though Yahweh is the only one because in reality, this is the case.
It is not common in our culture to believe in multiple gods in the same way they did. But we do believe in multiple gods by our behaviour. This is evident in what we turn to for security. Mainly, we turn to ourselves and usually takes the form of acquiring money and possessions. Eventually, our provision for our own security will fail.
God was the first line of defence and the primary provider for the Israelites in the wilderness. He told them not to turn to other gods for their security and provision.
Loving God Only
Exodus 20:4-6 – “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
I spoke about this topic during my series on Lent, in the sermon on Repentance. I reviewed that sermon to make sure I don’t just repeat everything I said there. But, some things are worth repeating, so if some of this sounds familiar, that’s why.
The main issue in this command is idolatry. It’s loving something or someone more than God. In the ancient world the image played a more important role than merely being a representation of the god. The image was understood to be the place where the deity would manifest itself.3
Genesis 1:26-27 says let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over every created thing. We are meant to be the place where God dwells, to represent God in creation. But, when we worship creation, we no longer represent God. We represent only ourselves and we subject ourselves to that which we were supposed to rule over. Instead of being images of God, we try to be God and thus become image-bearers of creation.
Remember the book I talked about a couple months ago by James Smith, You Are What You Love? He says that worship is the “imagination station” that incubates our loves and longings. When we devote our heart and our energy to something, we worship it. This creates a vision for the good life. We imagine what it would be like if only we would have more of this thing, or a better experience with it. Smith goes on to say that since our hearts are made to find their end in God, we will experience a besetting anxiety and restlessness when we try to love substitutes. This is because creation is does not satisfy us, only the Creator does. We are not meant to be filled with the presence of creation. We are meant to be filled with God.
What then is the solution to loving something other than God, for worshipping creation rather than the creator? The solution is to fill our minds and hearts with God’s truth and to obey those truths. This is why we come to church services, why we read and study the Bible, and why there is a sense that for Christians. It is why we stay away from over-indulging in the natural cravings of our heart and mind. This is not about rule-making or restrictions. It is about being filled with the presence of God rather than creation.
Does this mean we should only read the Bible, or watch Christian shows, or listen to Christian music? Of course not. God reveals himself in creation and in the creative work of other people. A simple question to ask is, does this point to God, or does it feed my tendency to worship creation?
Loving God Completely
Ex 20:7 – You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
The name referred to in this verse is Yahweh. This is not the generic name for a deity. In ancient times, a name represented the whole person. Misusing God’s name would be the same thing as saying something to diminish his reputation.
This is also related to who gets the credit. When the Israelites were rescued, who did this? When the Israelites didn’t die in the wilderness from thirst or hunger, who provided? God did it. He gets the credit. Loving God’s name, upholding his reputation, includes acknowledging that everything good comes from him.
One commentator put it this way: the command “you shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God,” could also be stated, “You must never bear the name of the Lord your God frivolously.” Basically, someone who “bears the name” is a member of the covenant between God and his people. What they do, therefore, represents God, and to do so frivolously in any part of their life is to dishonour rather than honour God.4
If you have decided to believe in Jesus and trusted him to be your Lord and saviour, then you are in a covenant with him. He, like God did for Israel, has saved you. He did the rescuing, therefore, you belong to him. You bear his name. What you do represents him and to do so frivolously is to dishonour him. In other words, if you treat your relationship with God as though it doesn’t really matter what you do or say, you are not loving him completely.
What is the problem?
Let’s come back to that question I asked at the beginning. The problem or fear you are currently experiencing. How are you trying to solve this problem or handle the fear?
My situation is that I am finishing up my Master’s degree and I have to present my final project next week. There is the problem of getting the presentation done this week and the fear of failure. What am I doing about this situation? I am working diligently and trusting my hard work and intelligence. This is a very modern solution to this problem. Hard work, perseverance, self-actualization and independence. These are high values in our society. If I do well on the presentation and get a good grade, I can congratulate myself because I did it.
This is the god of today. Self-dependence. Self-actualization. So, what is the alternative?
Loving God first means trusting him to give me strength and wisdom, seeking him before I try to figure it out on my own. It means acknowledging that without his power, my work is meaningless.
Loving God only means not placing my entire value on this project and my masters degree. My worth is that I am made in God’s image and am meant to worship him and not created things, such as my education or what I produce.
Loving God completely means giving him credit and honouring him in my behaviour. It means representing him to the world in a way that properly shows who he is, which also includes his forgiveness of me. This produces an attitude of repentance, humility, and gratitude for what God has done in my life.
I want to close by reading from Deuteronomy chapter 6. If you are going to memorize anything from the Pentateuch, verse 4-6 from this passage would be worth memorizing.
Deuteronomy 6:1–9
These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
1 Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land (p. 110). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
2 Richard E. Averbeck, The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 119.
3 Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land (p. 113). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
4 Richard E. Averbeck, The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 126.
Pentateuch Series Bibliography
Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Fourth Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022.
Alter, Robert. The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
Averbeck, Richard E. The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022.
Brueggemann, Walter. Preaching from the Old Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2019.
Glanville, Mark. Freed to Be God’s Family: The Book of Exodus. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2021.
Longman III, Tremper. Genesis. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016.
Lynch, Matthew J. Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023.
Provan, Iain, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III. A Biblical History of Israel. Second Edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.
Smith, James E. The Torah. 2nd ed. Old Testament Survey Series. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1993.
Walton, John H and J. Harvey Walton. The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2019.