NO OTHER GODS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them." Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.' " The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them. And God spoke all these words: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 19:16-25, 20:1-3

Three days after God commanded Israel to consecrate and prepare for His coming, He arrived at Mount Sinai...with awesome majesty, authority and fanfare. Scripture tells us that "there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast... ." This was not just any ordinary day but it was a day when the Lord had come in glory and power...and "everyone in the camp trembled."

So "Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain," a mountain that was "covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder." It had to be quite a spectacle.

God called Moses to the top of the mountain and repeated His warning saying, "the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them." We read that only Aaron was permitted to come to the mountain and Moses "went down to the people and told them." The stage was now set for God to deliver His guidance to Israel and He begins by saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

God's words were in the format typical of a king who would first recite an introduction that would identify who he was and his level of authority. This would be followed by a statement that would remind the people about something good the king had done for them. Finally, the king would give guidance to his people.

Well, there was little doubt that this was a king but not just any king...for the Lord is the King of Kings and He tells Israel, "I am the Lord your God." His authority was not just spoken. He was and still is the King of all. The people had witnessed His Almighty Power and Might more than one time and He reminds them of this as He tells them what He has done for them.

For God reminds Israel that He was the God who brought them out of Egypt and the slavery they suffered while there. As the people remembered this, they had to have remembered the way they were delivered from Egypt...staring down certain capture as they looked at a sea that stood between them and freedom...a sea that God divided to allow them to cross over and escape their pursuers before destroying their oppressors by way of the same sea as He sent it crashing down upon Pharoah and his army. The people would also remember how God brought them quail and manna to prevent their starvation...water from a rock to prevent their dehydration. Indeed, the people of Israel would not have made it to this point and time had it not been for God.

Question: As you prepare yourself daily for the task of seeking God's will, do you take account of all He has done for you...how He has delivered you to this point and time?

God had identified Himself and reminded His people what He had done for them. He was now ready to give them guidance...a guidance that was known in Hebrew and Greek circles as "The Ten Words." We know them better as The Ten Commandments...the law for Israel delivered from God to Moses for the people on Mount Sinai. The first four commandments highlighted how the people should live toward God while the remaining six carried instruction on how they were to live with one another. And His words are just as valid and viable today as they were then.

The first of God's ten commands was simple and to the point..."You shall have no other gods before me." God was God...The One and Only God. The Maker of Heaven and Earth. The Author of All Creation. Nothing rivaled Him. Nothing was worthy of worship and honor but Him.

The people of Israel had already witnessed a polytheistic nation in Egypt. It would not be the last time that they would be in the midst of people who worshipped false gods. God was trying to drive the point home that He was God and God alone. Unfortunately, we will see later where some of Israel quickly forget this first and primary commandment. Equally unfortunate is that we have forgotten it today as well.

For we worship false gods today just as much as the people who lived under God well over 2,000 years ago. If you don't believe this, ask yourself if you or anyone else worship anything else in life outside of God. There are any of a number of "gods" we can prescribe to...money, sex, celebrity, alcohol or drugs, food, television, video games, work and success...I could go on and on. Ask yourself this question...What do you invest most of your time in? What most occupies and governs your every action, your every word spoken, your every thought? If it's anything outside of God, then you may need to reassess your life priorities. He expects us to place Him and His Son Jesus above all things in our life. They have given us their all in delivering us to this time and place. God expects us to give Him the same, worshipping Him always...for all things are in and through Him.

Thanks be to God for His power, goodness, mercy, grace, and, most of all, His love. Why would we want any other God before Him?

In Christ,

Mark

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