The Ten Commandments: No Other Gods

Exodus 20:1-3  "And 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."

     The Ten Commandments can be separated into two parts or "tables." The first four commandments govern our relationship with God (no other gods, no graven images, honor God's name, remember the Sabbath) while the last six govern our relationship with each other (honor, do not murder, do not steal. . .). When interpreting the TC one must apply what is known as the "law of tables." Simply, the first table should take priority over the second. Put another way, duty to God supersedes our duty to fellow man. So children are told to honor their parents and obey them but if those same parents want them to "steal" or worship a "false god" then their allegiance to God should come first.

     The first commandment on the first table is "you shall have no other gods before me." This is Yahweh's demand for exclusive worship by his people. The religious landscape of the day was marked by polytheism. The Canannites worshiped the fertility goddesses Asherah and Ashteroth through sexually deviant acts. Yet certainly the most disgusting worship was reserved for the false god Molech. He was an angry god who was supposedly only appeased by the sacrifice of infants.  Images of Molech were made of copper or brass, his arms stretched out to receive sacrifices and his base was hollowed out so a large fire could be built inside. When Molech was searing hot the Canaanites would take their infants and lay them on his arms or throw them directly into the fire. Drums were beat methodically to drown out the cries of the innocent. This atrocity was done repeatedly in the hopes of good crops, rain, and blessing. Sheer insanity, madness, utter blindness--these gods were the imagination of depraved sinful hearts and one of the recurring themes of Scripture is the silence of these idols. They had an inability to speak let alone to act or intervene. It's in the midst of this spiritual climate that Yaweh stakes his claim to exclusivity.

     In contrast to these blind, mute, lifeless idols Yahweh is a speaking God. A contrast repeatedly played out in the pages of Scripture. From the midst of the fire Israel heard the voice of God. A voice revealing that He would take a back seat to no other god---the primary reason being there are no other gods. Only one God spoke the universe into existence. Only one God created man from the dust of the ground. He can't be contained in the mountains, or in the sky, or in the water. He certainly can't be carved out of wood. This true God who reigns descended onto Mt. Sinai in great power and glory and declared "I am the Lord your God." He stands in stark contrast to the idols of man. Idols made by man are clearly seen but they cannot speak. They are seen and not heard. The "Ancient of Days" is heard but not seen. God has spoken--so we obey. We hide these words in our heart. We pass on the Words of God to our children, to our neighbors.

     Ok, so the TC are for us, they show us how to live, show us our need for Jesus. But, aren't we past the first one? Western Civilization has moved beyond fertility goddesses and human sacrifice right? God's command to have "no gods before me" is a command to have no gods in His presence. Since He is everywhere, that is quite an extensive command. Yes, the graven images of Astheroth and Molech are gone now. We've "progressed" so much as a society but man is still gripped by the gods of money, sex, and power as much as ever. Sure we don't sacrifice our children to Molech, but 52 million infants have been aborted since 1973. An entire generation wiped away because the timing wasn't right. Like those mothers/fathers in Canaan we have sacrificed the young of this country in hopes of fortune. The cries of the unborn are drowned out by the drum beat of materialism.

     What gods do you worship in place of the One True God? What do you turn to in times of stress, loneliness, depression? Do you turn to porn, alcohol, shopping, maybe a midnight Drive-Thru run. Is your belly your god? Suddenly, when faced with the truth, each of us realizes the crushing weight of the law. We have failed miserably and that's just the first commandment. So now what? Fortunately the True God is a merciful and gracious God. It's evident when we read "and God spoke all these words"---in the garden Adam told God that He "wasn't enough" by his actions. Every time anyone of us sins we are screaming "I'm not satisfied with you! You're not enough for me God!" That He would ever speak again to us is mercy but that's exactly what He did. We have no right to hear God speak, yet He spoke, breathed out His Word, had the Word become flesh and dwell among us. It is absolute mercy and grace that He would seek to restore a relationship we destroyed. He is merciful and gracious but He will not share His glory with anyone.