God Alone
Notes
Transcript
Handout
1. One God
2. No idols
3. Revere His Name
4. Remember to Rest
5. Honor Parents
6. No murder
7. No adultery
8. No stealing
9. No lying
10. No coveting
Exodus 20:1-3 “And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Summary: If God is not Lord of all, He's not your Lord at all.
Summary: If God is not Lord of all, He's not your Lord at all.
God’s Character
What does the 1st commandment tell us about God?
He is Powerful
He is Powerful
In verse 2 God says: “I am the LORD…” This is the name Yahweh, which was how He revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Dr. G. Campbell Morgan pointed out this name is a combination of three Hebrew words which mean, “He that will be, He that is, He that was.”
This title refers to God as the self-existent One who has no beginning and will have no end.
Let’s unpack this name.
Whenever you see the word LORD in all capital letters, it’s the name Yahweh.
This name for God is used over 6,800 times in the Old Testament, three times more than Elohim.
his name is also translated as Jehovah.
It was considered so sacred, when scribes would write this name, they would take a bath beforehand and then destroy the pen afterward.
This name was so revered it was only said out loud once a year on the Day of Atonement,
and then only by the high priest in the Holy of Holies.
As a way to set this name apart from any other name,
when it was written the scribes used four consonants and left out the vowels,
so people would not inadvertently take it in vain: Y_HW_H.
Literally translated, God was saying “I am ‘the I AM,’ your God.” He was saying, “I’ve got a name.
I am not like a lump of clay that you can mold to your own liking.
I am who I am. I am your God, and I am inviting you into a personal relationship with Me.”
The God of the Bible is who He is.
That means He is not whoever you want Him to be.
He is neither a product of some ancient culture, nor a reflection of the ideas of Moses.
He is who He is.He is the Creator and the sustainer of all things. He is the unchanging, self-existent God, and that means that He depends on nobody. He is neither helped by our faith nor hindered by our unbelief.
He is Personal
He is Personal
Verse 2 continues: “your God.”
The word “your” is the second person singular pronoun.
God is powerful and He is also personal.
He is majestic and yet I can say He is mine.
He’s immense and He’s immanent.
He’s never-ending and He’s near.
He has revealed Himself so we can know Him relationally.
This is summed up succinctly in Psalm 50:7: “I am God, your God.”
Albert Mohler calls this “First-person intimacy and first-person authority.”
We see this personal relationship reinforced throughout the commandments.
In verse 5: “…for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
In verse 7: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God…”
In verse 10: “…but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…”
And in verse 12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
God’s people are privileged.
We’re told who God is and now we’re reminded what He has done. Look at the last part of verse 2: “Who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
We should understand that
love precedes law, and
grace comes before the guardrails are given.
God rescued them before giving them requirements.
Hosea 13:4: “4 But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.”
“Ultimately, it’s not about what I do.
It’s about who He is.
It’s not about me performing.
It’s all about who God is and what He has done.
This is so important to keep in mind.
When we focus on our own redemption, on God’s amazing grace,
how can we not obey Him? God made me. God paid for me.
He purchased me. He bought and brought me out of slavery to sin.
He owns me. He certainly has a right to lay down some regulations, doesn’t He
He is Particular
He is Particular
Exodus 20:3 “3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
This does not mean that it is permissible to worship other deities, as long as we put God first.
When God says, “before me,” he is not trying to tell us where he falls in the rankings!
But what is he trying to say?
The words “before me” mean “before my face.”
Sometimes they are used in a spatial sense.
In that case, the commandment would mean something like this:
“You shall have no other gods ‘in front of me’ or ‘in my presence.’ ”
Taken literally, this would forbid people from bringing foreign idols into the place where God is worshiped.
But since God is everywhere,
it really forbids us from worshiping false gods anywhere. Any time we serve any other god, we are doing it in the presence of God.
Calvin understood the commandment in the latter sense.
He said that the sin here is “like a shameless woman who brings in an adulterer before her husband’s very eyes, only to vex his mind the more.”
marriage is a good analogy for the first commandment.
You cannot have a both/and relationship with your spouse—at least, not for very long.
Suppose a husband came home and said, “Honey, it’s good to see you! I want to introduce someone who’s very special to me. Don’t get me wrong—you’re also very special to me.
But I’ve met someone else. She’s lovely, and I’m going to spend some time with her, but also a lot of time with you! I just want to let you know that some nights, I’m going to be with her instead. I think you two will get along just fine.
You’ll be great friends. You both mean so much to me.”
Men what do you think your wife would say.
she would most likely get very angry,
she would definitely be taking the express train towards murder and skipping by all those other station leading up to murder.
Some relationships are meant to be either/or, not both/and.
Marriage is a relationship that demands forsaking all others.
And so it is with God. Love is at the very heart of the first commandment.
If we truly love God, we will love no one else and nothing else like we love God. That’s why the Shema was so foundational for the Israelites: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4–5).
Love suggests affection, but it is also a decision.
The Shema called God’s people to choose the Lord as God, and him alone.
We choose God because he first chose us.
And now, forsaking all others, we commit ourselves to him unreservedly.
There can be no and in our relationship with God.
We love and worship him above all others because he alone is God.
The point is that when it comes to worshiping God, it is all or nothing. T
his is the way it has always been. It was this way on Mount Sinai, when God first gave Moses the law.
It was this way when Joshua renewed the covenant and said, “Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped … in Egypt, and serve the LORD … choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:14b, 15a).
This is the way it was on Mount Carmel, when Elijah liberated the Israelites from their bondage to Baal. He said, “If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21b).
And it is the same way with Jesus Christ, who says, “No one can serve two masters.… You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24).
God’s people have always faced a choice.
Religious pluralism is not a recent development.
There have always been plenty of other gods clamoring for our attention, and God has always demanded our exclusive loyalty.
I found Kevin DeYoung’s insight helpful:
“The God of the Bible is not simply interested in being recognized as a strong and mighty deity.
That would not have been a controversial claim in the ancient world.
Lots of people had lots of impressive gods and goddesses.
What was controversial, and what set the Israelites apart from the other nations,
was that their God demanded to be worshipped alone,
as the only God, to the exclusion of all others.”
Obeying the Commandment
Idolatry would always be a snare for the Israelites.
Idolatry would always be a snare for the Israelites.
It did not take long for Israel to fall back into worshipping false Gods.
Israel repeatedly failed with the first commandment.
Even before the ink was dry on the covenant with God, they chose to trust in a golden calf instead of Jehovah.
Exodus 32:1-4 “1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!””
It was the first time but it would not be the last.
The Israelites would eventually enter the Promised Land, but when they did they failed to completely drive out the pagan people who were occupying it, which meant the pagan gods were going to be a continual snare for the Israelites.
Judges 3:5-6 “5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.”
Judges 10:6-7 “6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. 7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,”
The tragic and ridiculous part of their problem was that
these man-made gods stole their time,
their worship,
their affection, their money,
and even their children,
who were offered as sacrifices.
Sadly, their life was no better, but despite that fact, they continued to serve the pagan idols which could not satisfy them nor could they same them.
BAAL & ASHERAH (Canaanites) - god/ goddess of sex, fertility
One classic example of this is found in 1 Kings 18.
Elijah called for a showdown with the priests of Baal and Asherah.
Elijah taunted the priests by suggesting that their god was taking a nap or perhaps he was too preoccupied to answer them.
1 Kings 18:18–29 (ESV)
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
c. A more literal translation of what Elijah said is their god wasn’t able toanswer them because he relieving himself in the restroom!
d. If your god gets preoccupied, needs a nap or can’t be found because he’sin the outhouse, then he’s probably not a good god to worship!
e. Elijah took the bull and cut it into pieces, arranged it on an altar, and he doused the sacrifice with water three times before he called on the nameof the Lord.
f. When God sent down fire, not only was the bull burned, the stones were burned up as well, which caused the people of Israel to fall prostrate before God, crying out, “The Lord – he is God, the Lord – he is God.” 8
g. The false prophets were killed by the Israelites as a final judgment from God.
DAGON (Philistines) - god of fertility
1 Samuel 5:1-7 “1 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6 The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.””
If your god falls and can’t get up, and you have to pick up your god and reassemble him, then he’s probably not a good god to worship!
Not only that but look at verse 6: See that word tumors, literally that word means hemorrhoids. God inflicted those who worship other God’s with hemorrhoids.
So understand that if God is not Lord of all, He's not your Lord at all. plus you will have to buy a life time supply of preparation H.
Other Gods were:
MOLECH (Ammonites) - god of pleasure
(Jer. 32:35 “35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” They would sacrifice their children on the alters that were all over this idol.
CHEMOSH (Moabites) - god of power
(1 Kings 11: 7 “7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.”
MAMMON [Greeks) - god of money
(Matt. 6:21,24 “24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Hermes and Nike (Greeks) - god of play, prowess, and athletics.
God demands your absolute affection. Origen, a third century theologian, said this:
“What each one honors before all else, what before all things he admires and loves, this for him is God.”
We all have a proclivity toward idolatry.
We all have a proclivity toward idolatry.
John Calvin referred to the human heart as an “idol factory.”
There have always been many gods vying for our attention and allegiance.
We might laugh at the foolish and primitive people who lived thousands of years ago, and how they bowed down to worthless gods, like Baal, Asherah, Dagon, Molech, Chemosh and Mammon, who could not satisfy or save them.
It’s important, however, to point out the fact that these gods of sex, pleasure, power, and money are still around today, and people still bow down to them; it’s just that they have different names.
Baal/Asherah are being worshiped through pornography, sex outside of marriage, child sex trafficking, etc.
Molech is still being worshiped in the aborting of innocent babies in the name of convenience; it’s just called reproductive rights today.
Those who are obsessed with power and selfish ambition are still worshiping Chemosh, politics.
Those who are greedy are still worshiping Mammon by gambling, playing the lottery, extortion, hording, stealing, etc.
“The children of Yahweh today are not so different from the children of Yahweh then. Like Israel, we affirm that there are no other gods verbally and intellectually, but not practically. Practically, we live as polytheists.” - Jen Wilkin
Identifying false gods can be tricky, but there are a few questions that can help get the ball rolling:
Identifying other gods:
1. Do I love or treasure anything or anyone more than God?
2. Do I prioritize anything or anyone before God?
3. Does anything bring me more pleasure than the things of God?
4. Do I place my identity in anything over my status as a child of God?
5. Do I look to anything or anyone to meet my needs instead of God?
6. Do I seek fulfillment or satisfaction from anything outside of God?
7. Do I seek comfort outside of God?
Assuming most of us would say God is first in our lives, here’s a question: “What’s number two to you?” Go ahead and shout out your answers. Whatever you declared as number two is the biggest threat to who is number one.
God demands your exclusive allegiance. Martin Luther once wrote these words: “Whatever thy heart clings to and relies upon, that is properly thy God.”
Puritan Thomas Watson said it like this: “To love anything more than God, is to make it a god.”
What can deliver us from the worship of self and all the other gods we are tempted to serve?
Allow God to smash your idols and surrender to Christ as your God .
Allow God to smash your idols and surrender to Christ as your God .
The only answer is to fall passionately and deeply in love with God,
specifically by trusting in his Son, Jesus Christ.
The only thing that can tear our hearts away from all our other affections is true love for God.
And the only thing that can replace all the other things we trust is a total faith commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches that there is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is God the Son, and since there is only one God, he is one with the Father (John 10:30), “God over all” (Rom. 9:5).
Therefore, to worship Jesus is not to worship some other god but to worship “the One and Only” God
John 1:14 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
God will gut your gods if you allow Him to do so.
go back to 1 Samuel 5:1-6 “1 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.
When we try to prop something up in our lives,
out of love God knocks it down and shows how ineffective and lifeless it really is.
If you want to be free from false gods,
then bring the true God into your life.
You don’t have to get rid of them on your own; in fact, you can’t because they’re too powerful.
Allow God to smash your gods.
When you do, Dagon will be destroyed,
Baal will be busted,
Ashtaroth will be annihilated,
Mammon will be mangled,
Molech will be no more,
Sadly, instead of repenting, the people simply removed the Ark of the Covenant.
They found it more convenient to get rid of God than to throw their dismantled deity away.
Some of you have been doing the same thing.
Instead of allowing God to get rid of the gods in your life,
you look for ways to shut God down and tune Him out.
Let Him into the temple of your heart and He will destroy Dagon and whatever else lurks in there.
Col 3:5-10 “5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Notice Paul describes a list of idolatrous behaviors quite similar to the sins we will find forbidden in the Ten Words.
Paul does not mean for us to put to death behaviors only,
but the idols of the heart that hide behind them.
He is urging believers to be students of our behaviors as indicators of what (or who) we worship in addition to God.
The first word serves as the umbrella statement for the other nine.
If we obey the first word, we will automatically obey the others.
If we obey the first word, we will automatically obey the others.
It establishes the proper posture before God
that enables the proper motives and behaviors to obey the other nine.
The first word prepares us for the other nine
by demanding our undivided allegiance to the God of our costly deliverance.
Without that pledge on our lips and in our hearts,
all obedience to the commands that follow will be an exercise in empty moralism.
The first word is a pledge of allegiance to the kingdom of God, here and now.
If God is not Lord of all, He's not your Lord at all.