Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Ten Commandments:  God Permits No Rivals*

/Exodus 20:1-3/

Pastor Oesterwind

 

/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 bondage.

You shall have no other gods before Me.’”/

*Review:*  God promises His presence while warning Israel of the danger of His closeness in Exodus 19.

It seems like a contradiction.

While God loves us and cares for us, He demands payment for our sin.

He will not overlook it or sweep it under the rug.

That is why the law brings us to Christ.

We simply cannot keep it because we are not perfect.

The Ten Commandments are a part of God’s moral law.

They contain principles for holy behavior in all areas of life.

These principles are as important today as they were in the day the finger of God inscribed them on stone.

Cain murdered Able before the engraving of the commandments.

Sodom practiced its deviant forms of perversity before the engraving of the commandments.

Galatians 3:24 states that “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

The law acts as an old schoolmaster and brings us to an awareness of sin and guilt.

Romans 3:20 “…By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

We cannot keep the law; Jesus can and did.

Galatians 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law …”  Jesus was born under the law and met all the obligations of the law.

No one had ever done this and no one else ever will.

We must obey the moral law to show that we are saved and have become children of God.

Exodus 20:2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (cf.

Deut 5.6).

Here we learn two reasons for obedience:

1.       */Who God Is/* - “The Lord your God”; Creator with the right to command His creation and look after their welfare

2.       */What God Has Done/* - “Brought you out”; If God redeems, we must serve and submit (1 Cor 6.20)

Upon this foundation, we will look at each commandment under the following traditional arrangement:

The Two Tables of The Ten Commandments:

·         Commandments 1 - 4:  Rules for Living with God

·         Commandments 5 - 10:  Rules for Living with Man

Both tables of the 10 Commandments are inextricably linked.

You cannot truly love God while hating your fellow man or love your fellow man without loving God who instills love.

Keeping all the law boils down to loving God and others.

*A Challenge to Commit the Commandments to Memory*

More people remember the ingredients on America's favorite burger than remember the ingredients in America's favorite book, according to the latest study.

In anticipation of the new animated movie release of /The Ten Commandments/, Kelton Research conducted a poll of 1,000 people to determine basic knowledge of the Ten Commandments.

Eighty percent of those polled knew that a Big Mac had two all-beef patties and 62 percent knew that it had pickles.

But less than 50 percent could remember even seven of the Decalogue.

Further polling via "man on the street" interviews also bore grave news.

Testing knowledge of the Ten Commandments versus popular culture knowledge, most people polled could remember the names of all four of the Beatles rock group, but many could not even remember one commandment.

/"Which Do You Know Better?" Houston Chronicle (10-19-07)/

“Our God now shows His kids about sin with commandments.”

1.

Our - Other; You shall have no OTHER gods before Him.

       2.

God - Graven; You shall not make for yourself any GRAVEN image.

3.

Now - Name; You shall not take the NAME of the LORD your God in vain.

4.

Shows - Sabbath; Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.

His - Honor; Honor your father and mother.

6.

Kids - Kill; You shall not kill (murder).

7.

About - Adultery; You shall not commit adultery.

8.

Sin - Steal; You shall not steal.

9.

With - Witness; You shall not bear false witness.

10.

Commandments - Covet; You shall not covet.

*A Careful Look at the First Commandment*

/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 bondage.

You shall have no other gods before Me.’”/

The Hebrew grammar in these commands is very emphatic.

W.

H. Gispen writes, “God absolutely did not want the Israelite to do this [break the first commandment], and He fully expected that he would not do it” (Gispen, 189).

His literal rendering of the commandment is as follows:  “There shall not be other gods besides or before My face or person” (Gispen, 189).

/Besides~/before/ can also carry the meaning of /over/ or /in preference over/.

Israel was to have no other gods besides the LORD.

·         “Yahweh had opened himself to a special relationship with Israel, but that relationship could develop only if Israel committed themselves to Yahweh alone.

Yahweh had rescued them and freed them, delivered them and guided them, then come to them.

The next step, if there was to be a next step, belonged to them.

If they were to remain in his Presence, they were not to have other gods” (Constable quoting Durham).

·         “The sentence is quite a general one, and not only prohibits polytheism and idolatry, the worship of idols in thought, word, and deed (cf.

Deut.

8:11, 17, 19), but also commands the fear, love, and worship of God the Lord (cf.

Deut.

6:5, 13, 17; 10:12, 20).”[1]

·         The first commandment is foundational.

God will not allow rivals.

He will not be compartmentalized to what we deem the spiritual part of our lives.

God demands dedication of body and spirit for His service.

We worship Him alone.

·         Polytheism vs. Monotheism

o   For four centuries Israel lived in Egypt.

Here, they served many gods:  gods of the land, the mountains, the rivers, the sun, the grave, and so forth.

o   That Israel was affected by this is clear in Ezekiel 20:7-8a “Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt.

I am the Lord your God.

But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me.

They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.”

o   There are no other gods (Deut 4.35, 39; 1 Kings 8.59-60; Isa 44.8; 45.5-6, 14, 18, 21-22; 46.9).

·         *Deuteronomy 4:35** (NKJV) \\ *35To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself /is/ God; /there is/ none other besides Him.

·         *Deuteronomy 4:39** (NKJV) \\ *39Therefore know this day, and consider /it/ in your heart, that the Lord Himself /is/ God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; /there is/ no other.

·         *1 Kings 8:59-60** (NKJV) \\ *59And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, 60that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord /is/ God; /there is/ no other.

·         *Isaiah 44:8** (NKJV) \\ *8Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared /it?/

You /are/ My witnesses.

Is there a God besides Me? Indeed /there is/ no other Rock; I know not /one./’

”

·         *Isaiah 45:5-6** (NKJV) \\ *5I /am/ the Lord, and /there is/ no other; /There is/ no God besides Me.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That /there is/ none besides Me.

I /am/ the Lord, and /there is/ no other;

·         *Isaiah 45:14** (NKJV) \\ *14Thus says the Lord: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you.

They will make supplication to you, /saying,/ ‘Surely God /is/ in you, And /there is/ no other; /There is/ no other God.’ ”

·         *Isaiah 45:18** (NKJV) \\ *18For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I /am/ the Lord, and /there is/ no other.

·         *Isaiah 45:21-22** (NKJV) \\ *21Tell and bring forth /your case;/ Yes, let them take counsel together.

Who has declared this from ancient time?

/Who/ has told it from that time?

/Have/ not I, the Lord?