In Exodus 20
v 1-6 we read about the first commandment that God gave to Moses. God gave the commandments to Moses when he was on
the mountain after he had lead the children of Israel out of four hundred years of bondage
in Egypt. These commandments were necessary
for the Israelites. They taught them how to
live holy lives and if they kept the commandments then it would go well with the
individual and with the nation. If they
didn’t live by the commandments, then the Israelites would lose what God had given
them – the land of milk and honey.
The Israelites had gotten
used to the life in Egypt. There were many
idols there and all kinds of filth, immoral living and sin.
God instructed them not to mix the old life with the new. They had left the promised land but it is sad if
you leave Egypt but still have it in your heart. The
first commandment was, “You shall have no other gods before me.” This was bitter for the Israelites because they had
had many gods in Egypt. The Hindus worship
over six hundred idols and one Hindu man when told about Jesus said that he would put a
picture of Jesus with all his other idols and worship him as well. If you want many people in the service, you just
have to mix dancing and the world with the service and then people will flock to you. You can make an idol of money, fame, work, pleasure
or the world itself but God is a jealous God and you must follow Him only. A man who found out that his wife had an affair
with another man, stabbed her with a spear because he wanted to be the only man in her
heart.
Superstition can also be an
idol. The Zulus say if birds make a lot of
noise then someone is going to die. Some
people look at horoscopes. They are bound by
the devil. Overseas, there was a service to
apologise to the animals for sinning against them. Some
nations let their children be passed through the fire and it is not surprising when such
children turn out to be wild. A lady went to a
fortune-teller to find out if her husband had died in the war because he had not returned. The fortune-teller said that he had died. She went through a time of mourning and then
remarried. She got a terrible shock when her
first husband did return, three days after her wedding. You are under a curse if you do
not keep this first commandment to worship God only. It
is the commandment that has the most far-reaching effect of all the commandments.
The life of King Saul ended
badly. He was prosperous as long as he
worshiped God but he didn’t only serve God but also his own will. God told Saul to kill the Amalekites completely but
Saul who had received the Holy Spirit, spared the Amalekite king and the best of the
animals. Samuel said, “What lowing is
this that I hear? Obedience is better than
sacrifice.” If you reject God’s
word, you will be rejected by Him. It
didn’t go well with Saul. He went to a
witch and after that he committed suicide. If you have disobeyed then repent; confess your
sin and forsake it completely. |
