Commandment 2: Worship God Rightly

Introduction

Begin with the story of Jehu from 2 Kings 10.

Jehu was faithful to obey the first commandment in destroying Baal worship.

But he was unfaithful in obeying the second commandment because he allowed the worship of Yahweh through golden calfs.

Last week we learned that we cannot have any other gods before Yahweh. Instead, we must worship him alone because he alone is the only one worthy of our praise.

But can we obey the first commandment and not obey the second?

I mean. . . Does it really matter how we worship God so long as we only worship him and nothing else?

This is what we will focus on tonight, for Exodus 20:4-6 will tell us that it is important, not just that we worship God alone, but that we worship him properly.

Philip Ryken says: “Whereas the first commandment forbids us to worship false gods, the second commandment forbids us to worship the true God falsely. How we worship matters nearly as much to God as whom we worship. We may not worship him any way we like, but only the way that he has commanded.”

Key Point: Because God has redeemed us from slavery to sin through Christ, we must worship him rightly in spirit and truth.

What Is The Commandment?

Exodus 20:4 ESV

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

The Rule: Do not make an idol of anything from anywhere that represents or mediates God’s presence; and don’t worship God through this image.

What Did This Commandment Mean To The Israelites?

First, we need to clear up what this commandment does not mean. . . it had nothing to do with art as far as meaning that drawing paintings or making pieces of art is breaking this command.

God gave his people instructions to build the tabernacle, cherubim, and ark of the covenant that represented his presence. . . but they were never supposed to worship these things.

So, what did this command mean then?

During the time of the Israelites, people built statues so their gods could come and manifest their presence in the idol.

This would lead to the people worshipping their god through this idol.

They would use spells, incantations, and other magical acts and perform them on the image to control their god by threatening, binding, or compelling their god to do what they wanted.

Here are some other components and purposes of idolatry in the time of the Israelites:

Guarantee

If the people worshipped their god through the idol, then they knew that their god heard them and would answer them.

Selfish

If the people worshipped their god through the idol, then the god would do whatever they asked of him.

Ease

It was much more convenient to worship an idol however way the people wanted to and wherever they wanted to as opposed to the strict commands God gave the Israelites as to how and where he could be worshipped.

Indulgent/Self-Pleasure

the worship of gods through idols normally happened through large feasts and orgies where participants would stuff their bellies with an abundance of food and practice gluttony. They would also participate in sexual intercourse with many people to conjure up their gods to produce fertility upon the earth and through their lives.

Essentially, they worshipped their god through idols because it made them feel good and they would receive self-pleasure.

Therefore, by God telling the Israelites to not make a carved image or likeness of anything. . . he was calling them to worship him in a completely different way than the other nations.

Why?

Idolatry creates a false image of God that is completely inadequate to demonstrate his majesty.

“An idol makes the infinite God finite, the invisible God visible, the omnipotent God impotent, the all-present God local, the living God dead, and the spiritual God material. In short, it makes him the exact opposite of what he actually is. Thus the whole idea of idolatry rests on the absurdity of human beings trying to make their own image of God. An idol is not the truth but a lie. It is a god who cannot see, know, act, love, or save.” -Philip Ryken

When seeking to understand what the Bible says, we must let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Remember that we just read about how God delivered Israel from the Egyptians and demonstrated his power over all their gods of the nile, frogs, hail, sun, etc. . . therefore Yahweh alone is Lord and he cannot be localized or contained.

He reiterated this to the people reminding him how he revealed himself to the Israelites on Mt. Horeb before they entered the promise land. . .

Deuteronomy 4:15–20 ESV

“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

Here’s the deal. . . God wants to bless us through this command. . . because this command allows us to experience the full and undomesticated glory of his holiness!

What Does This Command Reveal About God’s Character?

We learned about the rule in verse 4, and in verses 5-6 God gives us the reason for the rule, a warning, and a promise.

Each of these statements reveal God’s character. . . that he is holy, jealous, and is faithful in his steadfast love.

Exodus 20:5–6 ESV

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The reason God tells us not to worship him through idols is because he is a Holy and Jealous God.

Because God is holy. . .

He must be worshipped in a specific way that is unique and different from anything or anyone else.

He cannot be manipulated or conjured up to do our bidding.

He is not a genie in a bottle.

He is the Creator and we are the creature. . . we cannot put him in a box.

Acts 17:24–25 ESV

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

You may be thinking. . . I can accept God is holy. . . but how can God be jealous? Isn’t jealousy a sin??

Jealousy indicates his zeal for his glory and holy name. It also indicates his exclusive love for his people and his desire for them to worship him alone.

We must see that God’s jealousy is his zeal for his people’s well-being. God knows that the only way his people will be happy and flourish is if they worship him rightly. . . therefore, out of love, he is jealous for their good and demands their unadulterated loyalty.

Just as a husband loves his wife exclusively and passionately and does not want to share her with anyone else, God feels the same way about his people.

Share personal understanding of how if God was not jealous for his glory, we would never be saved.

So, the reason to worship God rightly is because his is holy and jealous for his glory and demands our absolute love to him alone. . . and he demands this for our good in order to bless us with his presence.

But because of God’s righteous jealousy, he gives a warning in verses 5-6. . . that when his people practiced idolatry, he would visit or “respond” to their iniquity in his holy wrath.

Notice though what the text says: God will visit the iniquity of the Fathers ON THE CHILDREN. . . to the third and fourth generation.

Does this mean that God will punish the children for the sins of the Father?

Again, we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. . . and we see from Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20.

Deuteronomy 24:16 ESV

“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

So then, what does this verse mean?

“The verse may indicate that those who hate Yahweh and do not keep his commandments will repeat the sins their fathers committed and suffer for them. It may have more to do with patterns of sin being repeated from generation to generation; if the sin and the guilt were not fully developed in the one generation, then left unchecked they would develop and continue in the next. But it may also indicate that the effects of the sins of the fathers will be experienced in the following generations, especially in the case of Israel as a national entity.”

“In this verse God suggests that one reason we should obey him is for the sake of our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Like ripples spreading across a pool of calm water, our actions have consequences for generations to come. We can create waves of difficulty or blessing (v. 6) according to the choices we make.” -Scott Noble and Robert Bergen

Therefore, in the reason and warning of the command, we see that God is holy and righteously jealous for his glory.

But don’t miss what he says at the end of verse 6. . . for we see one more attribute of God. . . in that he is faithful in his steadfast love.

After God gives the warning, he gives a promise to those who keep his command: he will show faithful covenant love to them and this love will never end.

Notice that his wrath only goes to the “third and fourth” generation. . . but his lovingkindness goes to the “thousands” of generations which implies that his love will continue to all generations. . . forever, for those who love and keep his commands!

“God shows his zeal to be glorified in our worship by cursing those who break the second commandment and blessing those who keep it.” -Ryken

Now we come to the most important question. . . how does this command apply to us?

How Does This Command Apply To Us?

Even though we do not carve graven images or idols to use to worship God today. . . there are many ways that we still break this command.

We break this command when. . .

We use superstitious practices or feel we need to use “the right words” in prayer in order for God to hear us and answer us.

“In Jesus name”

“Sinners Prayer”

We need forms of music to “get us in the mood” to worship God and hear from him.

We worship God for self-pleasure and a good feeling.

We worship God so that he will bless us or give us what we want.

We use the mountains, a sunset, the beach, or any other experience as a means to “truly worship God.” -meaning that we cannot truly worship God if we cannot go back to those special locations or places. . . which signify that there is some “special formula” in those locations.

We choose to worship God for some of his attributes but not others. . . when we worship God made in our image.

Another application to this command is to the future of your family. . .

If you refuse to love God passionately and worship God properly, the consequences of your sin will last generations and have ripple effects on your children and on their children.

But if you you love God supremely and worship him rightly, you will pass down to your children and their children the blessings of God in a relationship with him.

What kind of worship are you giving? What kind of legacy will you leave?

So how can we worship God rightly?

By being conformed to his image.

We were made in the image of God to represent him to the world, but sin marred the image of God.

The only way this image can be restored is through faith in Christ, who is the perfect image of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 3:8-10).

Through repentance and faith in Christ, we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit and will be able to worship God rightly in spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24)

In other words. . . our worship must be God-centered which is made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in personal knowledge of and conformity to God’s Word-made-flesh, the one who is God’s truth. . . the Lord Jesus Christ.

By understanding who he is.

We cannot worship God rightly if we don’t know who he is or what he is like.

All of the examples of false worship above stem from misconceptions about God.

We must know him through his word in order to worship him in Spirit and truth.

We must repent of the false ways we have worshipped God. . . for manipulating him. . . for trying to control him. . . for thinking of him wrongly. .

Then we must trust in Christ to be conformed to his image, to know him through his word so that we can worship him rightly in spirit and truth.

Let’s pray. . .