Newsletter Devotional September 9, 2021

Exodus 20:1-3

20:1 “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.”

 Most commentators believe this is God speaking directly to all the people! Hebrews 12:18-25 supports that thought. “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”   21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”  

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

Moses then went up the mountain where God gave him the two stone tablets and the other commands and instructions recorded in Exodus 21-32. In the 40 days that Moses was with God, the people that had just heard God speak and witnessed His glory and His mighty power rebel and turn back to idolatry and revelry.

God’s ten commands are Israel’s (and our) call from God to a covenant faithfulness with God based upon the Lord’s acts on their and our behalf. What is required of them and us in this covenant relationship is obedience to the Word of God.

I believe God is referencing these commands when He gave the Shema to Moses, Deut. 6:4-6, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.”

I believe Jesus then referenced the commands when He gave us the Great Commandment in Mark 12:29-31, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 

The first of the 10 Commandments is basic to the 9 that follow. It sets forth an expectation of absolute priority and fundamental requirement to those who desire to enter into the covenant relationship with God. God has rescued them and freed them, delivered them and guided them, and now He has come to them. The next step belongs to them. If they were to remain in His Presence, they were to have no other gods. Therefore, to remain in His Presence we too are to have no other gods.

The second commandment and the two that follow it set special dimensions of their relationship with God. Nothing created can serve to represent Him because God has made everything and every being. No image could serve to represent Him. They must worship Him as He is, NOT as they envision Him or would like Him to be.

You and I shall not bow down to them or serve them, for the LORD our God is a jealous God. It is He who created us, rescued, and freed us, delivers, and guides us, who has come to us and given us His Holy Spirit to interact with us. His jealousy is a part of His holiness and is demanded by what He is. It is justified because it comes only upon those who, having promised to have no other gods but Him, have gone back on that promise. Those who do so show they hate God and that they hold contempt for what He has done for them. The result is divine judgment, across four generations. But for those who stay true to the covenant relationship, who love Him and keep His commandments, God shows His steadfast love to the thousandth generation.

In the days ahead there will be challenges and even some changes to traditions and preferences you may have held dear. For some, it may even feel like you’re losing your church. But if the idea of church is bound up in traditions and preferences you may have to consider the heart of God’s first commandment again. Are those traditions and preferences what you hold most dear, or is He? The church is the people of God, who are to be forever changing as the Holy Spirit brings fresh revelation and understanding of God’s Holy Word. I pray you are prepared for that fresh anointing from Him.

Peace be with you,

Pastor John