Ten Commandments, #2
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Intro: Last week we started this study of the Ten Commandments as our continued intimacy with God. I gave two specific reasons for the giving and keeping of the Ten Commandments.
1. The Commandments were given by God to show man his inability to be righteous on his own. He needed to be in an intimate relationship with God to be righteous. These laws are a mirror to point out our faults and to point all men to the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
2. The Commandments show man the nature of God and what a righteous relationship with God looks like, and how that relationship is to be extended to others.
Last week we saw that The First Commandment tells us who to worship: “I am the LORD thy God … Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2–3)
The Second Commandment tells us how to worship God. The First Commandment forbids false gods. The Second Commandment forbids false worship [Exodus 20:4-6].
Text: Exodus 20:4-6
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
In this command God states that only He is worthy of our worship and why
1. Make no Idols to represent Him; 4
1. Make no Idols to represent Him; 4
What is an idol? Carved image, likeness of anything in heaven or on earth or in the waters. God is saying you shall not worship anything that He created or that man has made with his hands because it will not give Him the justice and glory He deserves and it misrepresents who God is.
There is no way you can take material things to be able to represent the immortal, invisible, eternal, spiritual God!
25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
How many of you like your drivers license picture? Why not? It’s a bad representation of who you really are.
In the same manner, anything we fashion to represent God to help us in the worship of Him is at its least, disrespectful and distorts who He is. Everything in the heavens, on earth and in the water has been marred with sin and it cannot represent Holy God!
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
If we worship any image it would be the worship of our own hands [self] instead of Holy God.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
Notice that Isaiah never describes what God actually looks like physically. He describes the throne, robe, the seraphim and the holiness of the King, the Lord of Hosts. When Isaiah addresses the holiness of God [spiritual] he then confesses his uncleanness [sin/spiritual].
Our worship is not about seeing God, but knowing God! Our worship is only worthy when we come to God with a pure heart and a broken spirit!
John 4:24 (NKJV)
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
2. God is a Jealous God; 5-6
2. God is a Jealous God; 5-6
If you are focused on others things when you are worshiping God, you are committing the sin of idolatry. Something else has taken preeminence over God in your life, when it shouldn’t. Wandering thoughts [Football games, NASCAR, leaving church early, impurity, lust, sexual immorality]
Sin is the Trojan horse that we invite into our life and destroys us from within.
God is Jealous- jealousy is not always bad, especially if it comes from love. Think of it as the righteous and loving jealousy of a husband who is zealous for the faithfulness of his wife and wants to keep her and their marriage from harm. A husband or a wife does not want to be a rival of another man or woman, and neither does God.
Just as adultery enrages a husband or wife, idolatry is spiritual adultery and enrages God, and He will avenge it.
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
When we allow something other than the Lord to control our devotion and love, it angers Him. That which we allow to get us out of church and hurts our walk with God becomes an idol.
Visiting Iniquity- iniquity is sin in disguise. Iniquity is doing my own will even though it may be something that is good. Iniquity is going our own way, doing our own thing, disobeying God’s will.
Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity!”
God will not punish children for their fathers sins. But what parents do in moderation, the kids may do in excess or extreme.
The deception that Abraham practiced with Sarah was picked up by his son and grandson. With each generation, the deception increased.
2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.”
32 And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
[6] Showing Mercy- Compassion. Gods forgiveness of our sin flows from His compassionate mercy.
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
The negative aspect
This commandment forbids the making of images of God, or idols to be worshipped.
The positive aspect
God is a jealous God who demands to be honoured and worshipped exclusively. Only He is Worthy of our Worship because of His love for us.