Worship God Only part 2

Introduction

For the last two weeks we’ve been studying the Ten Commandments, in our series titled Encounters with the Ten.

So far, we’ve seen that the Law still has significance for us today, but must be viewed as pointing us to Christ Jesus Himself.

We also saw that there are three kinds of Laws in the Bible; moral, civil and ceremonial. And that moral is the only one that is true for all times, for all people, and all situations. (The Ten Commandments are an example of moral laws.)

Finally, we looked at the First Commandment and were reminded that having no other gods before the Lord really means making God the priority of our lives.

This week we will look at the Second Commandment and try to deal with some of the confusion there is today about this issue of idol worship.

Turn to Deuteronomy 5:8-10.

Body: Deuteronomy 5:8-10

Verse 8

Right off the bat, we need to clear up some confusion that many have about this passage.

Many preachers say that anything you devote too much time too, like television, the internet, work, and so on is your idol.

While that preaches good, it doesn’t really fit with the original context of what is being said in this passage.

It is true that we should never allow those things to take priority in our lives…however, context is always key!

Context: Outside of Israel, almost every culture in the ANE was polytheistic, worshiping multiple gods and goddesses. The Canaanites, who currently inhabited the Promised Land, we certainly no exception. So God was warning Israel not to embrace the idols of the people who were currently inhabiting the land.

Why would they do that in the first place?

Polytheistic people would worship different images, believing that they would receive blessings from the gods and goddesses those images represented.

People in Israel would be tempted to make sacrifices to these idols, hoping to receive blessings themselves.

For instance, it was believed that a statue of Baal, representing a fertility god, would assure a plentiful harvest. If you lived in an agricultural society, this temptation would be strong. If your harvest was poor, so were you. If the animals didn’t reproduce, then you were both poor and hungry.

So, Israel might see a neighbor doing well...

The point being, people actually worshiped these idols as items that represented their gods or even encapsulated their gods.

Therefore, God wanted Israel to understand that this was not an acceptable practice.

In fact, worship of a man-made representation is nothing less than hatred of the true God. (see the end of verse 9)

Now, you might be saying, “Preacher, according to your definition then, none of us really worship idols, so you’re preaching about something that none of have problems with is really just a waste of time, isn’t it?”

Well, no. In fact, remember what I talked about a few weeks ago: we must look for the underlying principles.

First, idol worship still exists today.

Walking down the streets of Hong Kong…

We must realize that many people today are still worshipping idols and need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Many of these people live outside of the United States. But, today, many of these people are coming to the United States, idols in tow.

We can help with this by praying, giving and going…

Second, we need to ask the question, why did God prohibit the forming of an idol, even one made to represent Him? There are a couple reasons:

Because nothing on earth can fully reflect God’s glory, especially something made from human hands.

“You must adore the mystery that is beyond comprehension.”

Because God reveals Himself.

He hasn’t left this up to human imagination.

And in His time, he would reveal Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:15 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus shows and tells us everything we need to know about what God is like...

Verses 9-10

The first part of verse 9 should bring us right back to the first commandment.

As we saw last week, to “have” another god means to worship and serve other gods.

So, not only is worshiping false gods prohibited, but worshiping or serving an idol is prohibited.

If we are not careful here, we can miss the meaning here:

When we say the word jealous it usually has negative connotations…(children & men come to mind!)

However, a better English word here might be zealous. God is a zealous God.

He is zealous about His own glory.

Now that might not sit well with you, because you might think it makes God sound egotistical, however follow along with me for a moment:

Who in the entire universe deserves glory? (Only God)

So, it’s only right to give true glory to God as the One True God, correct? (Yes.)

So, if something is right, then it must be what God desires, correct? (Of course)

And God is concerned about that which is correct, right, and important, I’m I right? (Yep.)

Now, if God wasn’t concerned about His glory and reputation it would, in fact, tell us that it wasn’t very important? (It would.)

Therefore, God must be concerned about His own glory and reputation because it’s what it truly right, correct and important. (You keeping up?)

So God has to be zealous about His glory because it’s only right that He does, and only right that his people are devoted to Him alone.

This last part can be real confusing if we don’t read it carefully.

I’m not comfortable with this idea of God visiting the iniquity of the fathers of the children, three and four generations down the road. But that’s not the point.

Sinful practices are often passed down from parents to their children through example.

This should be a warning to parents!

And what God does, according to Romans, is give people up to their own desires (i.e. gives them what they want), and they end up reaping the consequences of those choices:

Romans 1:19–25 ESV

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

However, verse 10 must be read with it…

You see, God’s anger is visited to the third and fourth generation, but his love and mercy is extended to the thousandth generation.

What this saying is that God’s love, shown through his mercy and grace reaches further than his anger.

See, God has always allowed for people to turn from their wicked ways and the wicked ways of their parents.

God has always allowed for people to turn back to Himself.

He did it in the OT, and He does it now as we

Recognize that we are sinful and need a Savior,

We realize that Jesus is that Savior who died in our place,

And receive Him as our Lord and Savior.

So What?

There are still billions today who worship idols, therefore, we need to pray, give and go.

Idol worship is more widespread today than ever before.

The church is God’s answer to this problem.

Understand that God reveals Himself, especially in the person and work of Jesus.

If we want to know what God is like, look to Jesus.

And, this is why we point people to Jesus, not the church or anything else...

God is zealous about His glory, and we should be zealous for His glory as well.

How can we do that:

We must love Him.

We must obey Him.

We must share Him.