5 -
CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND CHARACTER – The Ten Commandments (Part 2)
Last time we began our look into the Ten
Commandments. We continue here.
1.
Ex 20:3: “You shall have no
other gods before me.”
It was prominent in early Old Testament history for inhabitants of
the world to have many idols. Indeed, as
Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the desert, he was called by
God to come up onto Mount Sinai to meet with Him. Moses had interceded before God due to the
sin of the nation and now God wrote down His moral law. When Moses came down the mountain, he
witnessed the horrifying scene of the golden calf, constructed by the nation so
they would have something to worship. It is most interesting that the first
commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me.”
I have often thought, “What is wrong with these people?” Moses was only gone for a little over a
month. God had continually provided for
the Hebrew people in miraculous ways. In
fact, He had delivered them out of captivity and slavery. But this attitude is not so unusual. You and I do this as well – maybe worse.
The first thing to know about God is that He IS God.
Ex 6:7: I will take you as
my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. NIV
Ex 16:12: I have heard the
grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in
the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the
Lord your God.’ NIV
Ex 20:2: I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. NIV
Lev 11:44: I am the Lord
your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. NIV
Some 42 times, in the Old
Testament, God says, “I am the Lord your God.”
The sheer repetition should mean something – and it does. But what does it mean? There are things that surround us in this
life that take our time, hearts, thoughts and efforts away from God. God says to the Hebrews, as He says to us,
“Who do you think I am? You say you know
me. You talk a good game. You sing the songs in church and even clap
your hands and waive your arms and contort your face to look pious and sincere,
but your time, hearts, thoughts and efforts tell a different story. I am the Lord your God!”
The Christian ethic of the first
commandment is that we must act like we know who God is.
Doug
Comments