No Other Gods Before Me (Part 2)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 20

20 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

This week we’re picking up where we left off looking at the first of the ten commandments, that “You shall have no other gods before me.” In our last time we looked briefly at the context of these commandments, or these ten words, specifically, their redemptive context. That the giving of the law at Sinai was a part of a much broader redemptive story that began, largely, with Abraham hundreds of years earlier, that God had promised Abraham offspring and a land, particularly, the land of Canaan.

However, the prophecy given to Abraham also indicated that his descendents would sojourn in a foreign land and be afflicted for four hundred years, until God would bring judgment upon that nation and bring them out. That God would hear their cry for help and deliver them from their bondage to slavery. And so he did hundreds of years later when the Israelites were in bondage to slavery in Egypt. God heard their cry, he judged Pharoah and the Egyptians, and brought the Israelites out and into the wilderness to make a covenant with them.

He brought them out to Mt. Sinai in the wilderness and gave them these ten words, saying at first, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” In other words, the giving of the ten commandments came a result of Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt. That their deliverance was the grounds, or the basis, for God’s claim upon them, and that the grace of God toward them preceded his giving them the law.

Secondly, we looked at the importance of the first table of the law, which is comprised of the first four commandments. That the first table is like a compass that gives direction to the second table, comprised of the last six commandments. That to disconnect the second table from the first would be have a ship without a rudder, because it’s the first table of the law that steers and supports the second. The first table grounds our duty to love one another in our duty to love God. The first table is our reason for keeping the second. We love one another because we love God.

Thirdly, we observed that the first commandment mitigates against any form of pluralism or the worshiping of other gods. That God isn’t merely demanding to be first in priority among all other gods, but that Yahweh is the only true God. That God is not one among a pantheon of other gods to be worshipped, but the only true God.

And lastly, we considered how the first commandment forbids idolatry. That we cannot serve two masters, that we will either hate the one and love the other, or we will be devoted to the one and despise the other. That our devotion to God must be undivided, that we must worship him and him alone. That idolatry will fundamentally destroy our love and devotion to God, that it will inevitably cause us to despise God, and to view him simply as an obstacle to our idolatry.

And that we’re notorious for making idols out of about anything, even intrinsically good things, such as our possessions, our families, or our careers. That idols are not merely objects of wood or stone carved in the likeness of so-called gods, but that our modern idolatry is often very sophisticated. That our imaginations are prone to conceive of a god who may appear to bear all of the external trapping of the God of the Bible, but upon closer examination is simply a god of our own imagination, characterized by qualities more akin to our personal preferences and sentiments than what’s revealed in the Scriptures.

So, this week I want to build on what we’ve already considered, and examine a few other points, 1) the exclusivity of the covenant, 2) the heart of idolatry, and 3) what it looks like to obey the first commandment.

Exclusivity of the covenant

As we’ve seen already the first commandment is fundamentally exclusive, that because God is the only true God that he deserves our undivided, exclusive worship. That to direct our worship in any other direction inevitably robs God of the glory owed to him, and to him alone. Now, this bothers fallen men who want to accumulate idols for themselves, and who want judge for themselves what is good and what is evil. We naturally chafe against authority or anyone who tells us what to do, especially anyone who might put our collection of idols in jeopardy. This is why we like statements that affirm our independence, and that shield us from any outside examination, statements like, “You do you,” or “Do what feels right for you,” or “Stay true to yourself.” And we attempt to frame any outside authority as oppressive, and as an obstacle to our freedom.

Parable of marriage

But I want you to consider for a minute another reason for the exclusivity of the first commandment, to have “no other gods before me.” I want you to consider for a minute the analogy of marriage, to compare the covenant at Sinai with the covenant of marriage. We know that in once sense God is their creator, and they’re his creation, and in another sense he’s they’re redeemer, and they’re the redeemed, and yet in another sense he’s they’re king, and they’re a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Now, what you must understand is that God loves analogies and metaphors, and that he’s built into his whole creation analogies and metaphors to reveal himself to us. Therefore, he’s also to Israel, in one sense, their husband, and they’re his bride, which we see explained with greater clarity in the NT. His covenant with Israel at Sinai is analogous to a marriage covenant.

Husband and bride

This is made especially clear, later, in the prophetic writings when Israel violates the covenant ratified at Sinai, and the Lord describes himself as their husband and Israel as his bride. Listen to Isaiah 54:5-6,

Isaiah 54:5–6 ESV

For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.

then Ezekiel 16:8, the Lord says,

Ezekiel 16:8 ESV

“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.

then in Jeremiah 2:1-3,

Jeremiah 2:1–3 ESV

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.”

God’s not only their creator, their redeemer, and their king, but he’s also their husband, and Israel is his bride. And this is key for appreciating the first commandment’s exclusive nature. The exclusive nature of the first commandment is not meant to be a burden, that hinders our freedom, but a commandment that deepens our love and devotion to God. Just as the exclusive nature of marriage is not meant to be a burden that hinders one’s pursuit of many lovers, but an exclusive covenant that deepens the love and devotion between a husband and a wife.

Israel chosen out of all the peoples

Therefore, I want you to consider the exclusive nature of the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai, that God chose the Israelites exclusively out all the other peoples on the face of the earth, listen to Deuteronomy 7:6-8,

Deuteronomy 7:6–8 ESV

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

God’s covenantal relationship with Israel is very different than his relationship with the rest of the world, just as a husband’s covenantal relationship with his wife is very different than his relationship with all the other women in the world. And this remains true in the new covenant, where Christ has a covenantal relationship with the church, the elect, his bride, that differs from his relationship with the world.

Forsaking all others

And I think most of us, even in our current culture, still recognize, intuitively, that covenantal love is inherently exclusive, and that it’s fundamentally good. Most of us are probably familiar with traditional wedding vows that communicate this clearly, “I, take thee, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and obey, forsaking all others, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and I pledge myself to thee." Notice that little phrase, “forsaking all others,” and how the exclusivity of marriage means that you only have eyes for one another, this exclusivity is intended to deepen the love between a husband and a wife, whereas without it covenantal love is cheapened and ultimately ruined, exclusivity is fundamental to genuine covenantal love, not opposed to it. Even the homosexual movement within our own culture has recognized this and tried to down-play the heinous sin of sodomy by marketing their efforts under the banner of having loving monogamous relationships.

God is a jealous God

Which is also why every husband is by nature jealous for his wife, because she’s pledged herself to him and to him alone within the context of marriage. His jealousy is both possessive and protective. His desire for exclusivity within their marriage is natural and biblical, and it reflects the same jealousy God had for Israel, and that Christ has for the church, his bride. We’ll see later in the second commandment that “God is a jealous God”, not sinfully jealous, as we have the capacity to be, but a righteous jealousy that God has for his people, as a husband has for his bride.

Idolatry and adultery

Therefore, later, when Israel begins to worship other gods, the gods of the surrounding nations, and breaks the covenant they made with the Lord at Sinai, they’re described as an adulterous woman. Their violation of the first commandment, their idolatry, is likened to the unfaithfulness of an adulterous woman. Listen to Ezekiel 16:30-32, the prophet who was in Babylon while Israel was being exiled for her worship of false gods,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

30 “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

or Jeremiah who was in Jerusalem at the time,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

6 The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”

Again, it’s important for us to understand that idolatry is likened to adultery (or marital unfaithfulness) in the Bible, because it’s a breach of our covenant relationship with God, violating the first commandment, and the analogy is intended to teach us and warn us against it, that we might understand the gravity of it.

Idolatry at the heart of every sin

It’s been said that at the heart of every sin is idolatry, that every sin breaks the first commandment, because idolatry is the worship of something other than God. That idolatry usurps God’s authority, lusts after and worships other loves, and in doing so it forsakes it’s obligation to love, to submit, and to worship the one true God alone.

This was first illustrated in the fall of mankind, in the Garden, when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And when we consider the words of the serpent and the commentary on Eve’s temptation we discover some insightful observations. Listen first to the serpent in Genesis 3:1-5,

Genesis 3:1–5 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

then listen to Eve’s assessment in verses 6,

Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…

Notice the reasons that ultimately compelled her to disobey God’s command, 1) she saw that the tree was good for food, 2) that it was a delight to the eyes, and 3) that the tree was to desired to make one wise. Now these correspond to what the Apostle John wrote thousands of years later in 1 John 2:16, when he said,

1 John 2:16 ESV

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

In other words, what compelled Eve to eat the fruit was, first, that the fruit was good for food, that it appealed to her appetites, second, that it was pleasing to the eyes, that it looked good, that it appealed to her senses, and third, that it would make her wise, or give her insight, or as the serpent put it, “to be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Sin is pragmatic

So, let’s take these one at a time, the tree was good for food, it appealed to Eve’s appetites, and it appeared to meet her legitimate need to eat. Sin usually appeals to our appetites, even legitimate ones like hunger, thirst, sex, affection, intimacy, sleep, money, exercise, security, comfort, and so on. In other words, idolatry often appears pragmatic, it seem practical and effective. This is why we usually have really good reasons or excuses for our sin. When confronted with our sin, we’re usually prepared to give a logical and reasoned argument for our actions.

For example, one of the most common arguments in favor of murdering our unborn children is that it’s pragmatic. This is why the most prominent abortion mill in America is strategically called Planned Parenthood. Who could argue against family planning? Isn’t it obvious that an unplanned pregnancy could result in an undue burden upon the mother? Isn’t it obvious that the mother and child could face undue financial hardship if she isn’t allowed to have an abortion? Isn’t it obvious that an unplanned pregnancy could ruin the mother’s career ambitions, or waste all of the money her parents invested in her education? Doesn’t the woman have reproductive autonomy? Isn’t a pregnancy a potential danger to a woman’s health and safety? Isn’t abortion a good pragmatic approach to population control?

Sin always seems to fulfill a legitimate need, or have a legitimate reason, as though God hadn’t already provided us with a righteous means of satisfying our lawful appetites. Like Eve, we’re tempted to satisfy our appetites by unlawful means despite being surrounded by a garden of lawfully provided trees.

Sin appeals to our senses

Sin also appeals to our eyes, or to our senses, sin looks good, sin feels good, sin tastes good, sin sounds good, sin is attractive. Whether it’s food, drink, music, men, women, money, possessions, entertainment, and so on. Sin will always appeal to your senses. Sin will always appeal to your senses and your appetites and seek to exploit them.

Therefore, don’t buy the lie that just because something appeals to your appetites or to your senses that it must be lawful, sin will seek to exploit them. They are not an infallible or sufficient means of determining what is lawful and what is not, especially now that our desires have been impacted by original sin and the fall of mankind. Not only are our appetites and senses not a sufficient means of assessing sin, but they’re no longer to be trusted. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people argue that because they possess a certain desire or appetite that it must be lawful, that God has made them this way.

Sin usurps God’s authority

And finally, sin always usurps God’s authority, it doesn’t submit to his will, but submits only to its own desires. This is why sin is always fundamentally idolatrous. When men engage in sin they direct their worship and devotion away from God and to something else, they reject God’s authority and assert their own, judging for themselves what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, they go their own way, swept away by their various lusts and appetites to carry out unlawful deeds, to worship the creation rather than the Creator. This is why all sin is fundamentally idolatrous.

Giving glory to God

So, how are we to guard against such idolatry? First, we look to God’s law for direction, by it we’re able to discern whether our actions are in accord with what he permits and forbids, regardless of what our desires may be telling us. Second, any God given desire, should always serve the first commandment. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31,

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

In other words, our God given appetites for food, drink, sex, affection, intimacy, sleep, money, exercise, security, comfort, and so on were designed to reflect and give glory to God, not to detract from it. God has given us many good gifts and wonderful pleasures, but they’re intended to reflect the glory of God, to stimulate worship and thanksgiving to him alone. They’re not meant to distract or divert our worship away from God, but direct it to toward him.

Our duty

Which leads us to my final point this morning, what does it look like to obey the first commandment. While we know that idolatry is forbidden, what is our duty, what does the first commandment require of us, in practice? Well, our duty can be summed by Jesus’ words, when he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5,

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

But what does this looks like in practice? To answer that question, I want survey, briefly, some of the specifics given to us in the Scriptures. We won’t have a lot of time to elaborate on each one, but I want you to have in your mind categories of how to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength.

First, we worship him, Psalm 95:6-7 says, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” As we’ll see later on in the 4th commandment, God has not only commanded us to worship him, but he’s set apart for us one day each week to do so corporately, a day that is not our own but the Lord’s day, a day set apart to worship him.

We’re also commanded to submit to him alone. Jeremiah 7:23 says,

Jeremiah 7:23 ESV

But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

We’re commanded to submit our whole lives to God, to study his commandments, and to submit to them all. Not to go our own way or to set our own rules, but to submit wholly to him in every area of our lives. That any submission rendered to men is always in accord with obedience to God, and that our submission to others, whether parents, husbands, bosses, or governments, is done out of desire to submit ultimately to God. God has placed all of us under various authorities, and we must recognize that all authority comes from God, and we submit to those authorities not because they’re perfect, but because God is.

We’re commanded to be faithful to God, to worship him alone. Joshua 24:14 says,

Joshua 24:14 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

We’re to be faithful to God as a wife is to be faithful to her husband.

We’re expected to please him, and to please him alone. Our intention in every area of life ought to be to please him, to please him while at home, to please him while at work, to please him while at school, to please him in all areas of our life. That any aim to please one another, whether our boss, or our parents, or anyone else, that we aren’t ultimately seeking men’s approval but God’s.

We have a duty to think about God and meditate upon his word. Psalm 63:6 says,

Psalm 63:6 ESV

when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

We’re instructed to remember God, we’re instructed to honor God, we’re instructed to esteem God, we’re commanded to believe God, it’s our duty to trust Him, Psalm 37:4 commands us to delight ourselves in God, Psalm 32:11 instructs us to rejoice in God. Micah 6:8 tells us that we must walk humbly before God. We’re commanded to adore him. We’re instructed to hope in God, to call upon him, to seek him. And we should grieve as he does when others neglect his law. And these are just some of the major categories of loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength.

Conclusion

So, as we wrap up this morning let us remember our duty to God, our duty love him, to worship him, and to have no other God’s before him. That at the heart of every sin is idolatry. That we must not be lead astray by the desires of our flesh or the desires of our eyes, judging for ourselves what is good and what is evil, and putting ourselves in the place of God. That idolatry is not a trivial matter, but equivalent to treason and infidelity. That the covenant made with Israel, is like the new covenant, an exclusive covenantal love between God and his people, or between Christ and his church. That the exclusivity of the first commandment is designed to deepen our love for God, whereas idolatry only weakens and ruins our love and devotion to God.

Prayer