The Ten Commandments--Commandments 1 and 2

For convenience, we will discuss briefly the Ten Commandments in pairs. The Ten Commandments appear in Exodus 20:3-17 and Deuteronomy 5:7-21.

Commandment 1: Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7: "You shall have no other gods before [beside, in addition to] me." Here are some important thoughts about this commandment.
1. Great scholars Walther Zimmerli and Werner H. Schmidt propose that the First Commandment is the "center," the "core," the "main theme" of the entire Old Testament. This suggests that this commandment is "fundamental" to the entire Old Testament--even perhaps the whole Bible--Old and New Testaments.
2. This commandment "naturally" flows out of God's "prior" assertions: (a) "I am he Lord YOUR God" (Exodus 20:2a); (b) "I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exodus 20:2bc). Israel ALREADY "belongs to" Yahweh [I am YOUR God], and, of course, Yahweh ALREADY "belongs to" Israel [You are MY people]. This is MARRIAGE relationship. Just as a husband expects his wife to "have no other husbands or men before [beside, in addition to] him, SO Yahweh expects his wife, Israel, to have no other gods beside him.
3. God's people must be totally and completely LOYAL to Yahweh. Yahweh declares he is totally FAITHFUL to his people, and NOW he summons his people to be totally FAITHFUL to him.
4. Human commitment to God is "uncompromising." There can be no "middle ground." Jesus puts the pulse on this issue in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted ot the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Many "gods" call us human beings to serve. ANY GOD other than Yahweh is unacceptable. Hence, for examples, Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5 proclaim that "greed is idolatry."

Commandment 2: Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10: "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything thatis in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or thatis in the watr under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lrod your God am a JEALOUS GOD, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments." Here are some important thoughts about this commandment.
1. Human beings are consistently tempted to "localize" God, "domesticate" God, "make" God "tangible" so we can "get our heads around" God. BUT, no human being can comprehend God. We cannot bring God down to our level. God is transcendent. If we made God into an "idol" or an "image," we could somehow "control" God and "manipulate" God to carry out "our goals and purposes." Hence, God instructs us NOT to make man made idols. See Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:1-16.
2. According to Deuteronomy 4:15-20, Yahweh through Moses teaches God's people that "since the people of God SAW NO FORM when Yahweh spoke to them on Mount Horeb=Sinai," take care and watch yourselves closely so that YOU NOT ACT CORRUPTLY BY MAKING AN IDOL," whether male or female, animal, winged bird, something that creeps on the ground, fish, the heavens--sun, moon, stars. SINCE NO HUMAN BEING has EVER SEEN GOD, how could anyone replicate an idol or image of God? What does God look like? No one knows.
3. Yahweh is JEALOUS. See further Exodus 34:14. BY NATURE, Yahweh expects human beings whom he created in his own image and sustains daily in their lives to be totally committed to him. Some people seem to think this is "narrow" of "bigoted." Oh my--Our own self-centeredness turn this powerful truth, which is so obvious, inside out!!!

ALL of God's commandments are deeply concerned with PEOPLE. God created human beings to live well--in the best sense.

How do these first two commandments strike YOU? Share your thoughts with others. Let me know what YOU think.

John Willis