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Love Thy God
On Mount Sinai God gave Moses Ten Commandments. These were the first among many laws that God gave the Israelites. These first Ten Commandments were to instruct the Israelites how they were to treat God and treat each other. These Commandments were initially inscribed on stone tablets by the hand of God, Himself (Exodus 31:18). In this lesson, we will look at the first three of the Ten Commandments—the ones that pertain to our treatment of God.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me (Exodus 20:2-3).”
When God delivered the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, He delivered them from a land of people who were pantheistic—they worshipped many gods. There was a god of the harvest, the moon god, the sun god, etc. God wanted them to know that there was just one God and He was Him. Who was this God? He was the One who used a mighty hand to deliver the children of Israel out of the land of slavery. He was their Deliverer. It was not the sun god, nor the moon god, nor the god of cattle nor the god of rain. It was He and the Israelites were not to give tribute or worship to any other so-called god.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:4-6).
Not only were the Egyptians polytheistic, they were also idol worshippers. The sun was the symbol for Ra, the Sun god. Anubis was half man and half jackal. Hathor, the goddess of motherhood, was imaged as a cow (sometimes female) with a sundisk on her head. This was the culture the Israelites were delivered from. This was the culture they spend four hundred years being indoctrinated into. So, when God gave the command that they should make no graven (or carved) images to Him, this was a whole new way of living, a whole new way of worship. It was a whole new lifestyle. Some people in Egypt made their living making and selling idols. Now God was saying that that was no longer acceptable.
Why was idolatry so bad? First, God was separating His people from the rest of the world. Nearly every other nation had an idol for a God. Even the Philistines had Dagon, a half man, half fish idol. He didn’t want the Israelites to be like the other nations. He was setting them apart.
Another reason is that God wanted His people to have a personal relationship with Him. He did not want them giving His praise to a piece of stone or wood. He wanted them to worship Him directly. As Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4, “God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” Worship is a matter of the heart. It is our heart touching the heart of God with praise and adoration. God did not want praise going to anything (or anyone) else.
God says that He is a jealous God. This does not mean that God is envious of the idols that got worshipped. God is saying that He is protective of the worship that He is due and He gets angry when people assign worship due Him to anything or anyone else. Besides that, oftentimes, demons would associate themselves with these idols, thus robbing God of His praise and causing people worship them unaware. Worshipping idols is an empty act.
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name (Exodus 20:7).”
God is holy and His name is holy. When it is spoken, it is be for a purpose and with reverence. Nowadays, people name their children all sorts of “cute” names, but in the Bible days, names meant something. Abraham’s name meant Father of Nations, which he was. He was the father of Israel through Jacob and Arab people through Esau. Jacob’s name meant Deceiver and that is what he was. Samuel’s name meant Heard by God or God Hears, which was exemplified in 1 Samuel 2 when God called and ordained Samuel a prophet to Israel . Jonah’s name means Dove. The dove is a symbol of peace (Genesis 8:11). Jonah brought a message of peace to the Ninevites. God’s name, Jehovah, means I AM.
This is the name by which He called Himself. He doesn’t live because He is life. He doesn’t just exist because all that exist emanate from Him. He is. Not only Is He, but He is whatever you need Him to be in any situation. For Abraham, He was Jehovah-Jireh, the God that Provides. For David, He was Jehovah-Shalom-the God of Peace. As He was for them, He will be the same for us.
There is power in God’s name. This is evident in our society. I am amazed how people take the name of God in vain. I often hear GD this and GD that. Then there’s JESUS CHRIST. Let’s not forget, “Holy Cow, Batman!” Yet, you never hear people misuse the name of Allah, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammad, or Joseph Smith. Why? There’s no power in their names. There’s no spiritual sense of ‘rebellion’ in misusing their names. So people don’t do it.
As we can see from these first three commandments, they are not burdensome nor are they for naught. There is a reason for each of His commands. Next time we will see the purpose and benefits of the Fourth Commandment.
Faith That Makes a Different: Part One
Stepping Out on Nothing
Perhaps you have asked, “What is faith?” I’m sure you’ve heard sermons on it and attended Bible studies regarding it. But what exactly is it? How do we exercise it? How do we walk in it? We are all familiar with Hebrews 11:1—“Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” But what does that mean? I believe the Holy Spirit has given us the answer.
Faith is believing in that which is not likely or is impossible to happen. Real faith does not just believe in what is improbable, but what is impossible. Real faith doesn’t just believe in that which is not likely to happen but in that which cannot happen. Real faith is not believing in the face of the odds but believing in spite of the odds. Real faith is believing for that for which there is no earthly way possible it could happen.
Let’s allow a few heroes of the faith bear witness:
· Noah exercised faith by building an ark to be saved from a flood, even though up to that time no rain had fallen on the earth.
· Abraham exercised faith by believing God for a son when he and his wife were elderly and she was unable to bear children!
· David walked in faith when he entered into a battlefield to face down Goliath, an experienced and armored warrior. He exercised his faith by believing that God would give him the victory even though every natural and military law would have marked him for dead.
· Peter literally walked in faith when he stepped out of the boat and stood on the surface of the water even though every natural and physical law dictated that he should have sunk to the bottom like a rock.
The best definition of faith I can think of is line from one of Shirley Caesar’s songs. “Faith is stepping out on nothing/landing on something.” Essentially, that is faith. It is believing God for what you want or need even though everything is against it happening. Circumstances, laws, or situations do not bind God. God is God. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we may ask or even think.
Genuine faith does not just believe in something or for something that could possibly happen. Genuine faith believes in something or for something that cannot. In short, faith says, ‘yes,’ when everything else says, ‘no.’
Cyber-Discipleship 