HONOR GOD

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

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. " 'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'" Exodus 20:22-26

They were God’s first commands after issuing His Ten Commandments to the people of Israel via Moses. In our scripture today, the Lord has Moses tell the Israelites, "Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. " 'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle… If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'" These words from God were basically a review of the first and second commandments (with some additional instruction) when He demanded that "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. (Exodus 20:4-5) It was obvious that this one of the main concerns God had for His people. Why? I believe there were two main reasons.

First, God knew that the people of Israel would encounter and had indeed encountered cultures who would have different religious systems in place. The monotheistic faith of the people of Israel would be unique when compared to more prevalent polytheistic cultures and there would be a constant temptation to stray into other belief systems and the gods they upheld. He knew that the people of Israel might even try to construct their own idols to other gods. In a large part, this still holds true today. This obviously was unacceptable to God who had told Israel that He was a "jealous God".

The second reason I believe God underscored these commands was He already knew the people were going to break them before they did it. You might ask why God would say anything if He knew the people weren’t going to listen anyways but He did have to tell them so they could never say that they hadn’t been told before once they sinned. The very fear of God that the people had at Mount Sinai…the very fear from being tested that kept them from sinning…would not last and they would decide to pursue their own desires over God’s. This too still holds true today.

One other important aspect of these commands beyond the matter of not worshipping other idols and gods was that the Lord expected the people to be in a spirit of worship. He told the people to make an altar and He told them how to make it. He then told them to offer burnt and fellowship offerings of sheep, goats and cattle on the altar as payment for their sins. He then shared with them these words which were a great assurance to them…as they are to us today as well.

For God said, "Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you." Well, the Israelite altars, when built and used in accordance with God’s standards, were holy places of sacrifice and worship ordained by God. It was there that His name was honored and, as He promised, He would come to them and bless them during worship. And He would continue to do this wherever His name was honored.

So what does that mean to us? Well, we should be lifting up God in every situation of our lives in a way that He is being honored. Regardless if we’re in church…in the supermarket…in the mall…at work…or at home…wherever we might be, we should honor God’s name through our every action, word, and thought. For when we are doing this, He is with us…blessing us just as we are blessing Him.

Friends, God is good…all the time and He sends us "Every good and perfect gift…from above." James 1:17

God is almighty and powerful…all the time. For Him, nothing is impossible and there isn’t anything beyond the works of His hands. (Luke 1:37)

And God is love…all the time. His steadfast love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Why would we want to worship anything else?

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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