Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends, as we begin another week together,
May I ask you to think about your life and your deepest ‘core values’ for just a moment? Of all the things that are important to you, are there some things that you would call ‘Non Negotiables’? This means that no matter what happens, you simply cannot compromise on these things!
“Non-negotiables” are things you will not do under any circumstances. You also have some ‘non-negotiable’ things you will not STOP doing under any circumstances!! May I ask… do you have some ‘non-negotiable’ beliefs or moral standards or ethics? These are things that even if your life depended on it, you will not change your position on these ‘non-negotiables’! So…What are these ‘non-negotiables’ for you?
Yesterday I left you standing among 1 million people who, along with Moses, were having an encounter with Almighty God which they would never forget. This encounter was happening at the foot of Mount Sinai in what is today the Saudi Arabian desert and it was a multi-sensory encounter! Visually the mountain appeared like a volcano, with smoke billowing from the top and it was violently trembling. The sound of thunder and the crashes of lightning were almost deafening. What sounded like a trumpet blast was getting louder and louder, piercing their ears. Finally, a voice… a powerful voice so loud it could be heard over all this other noise, was speaking so everyone of these 1 million people could hear the voice clearly, in their own language. The voice identified itself as the voice of Almighty God!! This was the same voice, the same God which Moses had encountered at the burning bush, on this very same mountain, several months before. (Exodus 3)
The voice had made these two powerful statements which left the people stunned, almost breathless:
1. “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Ex. 20:2)
2. “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)
I discussed both those statements with you yesterday, so let’s continue with what the people heard next…
3. “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, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” (Ex. 20:4) mmmm.
So what do you think these people thought about as they heard this statement? Remember, they had grown up in Egypt which had hundreds of man-made idols most of which were fabricated of gold covered wood in the shape of animals or a blend of human & animal forms. Also, Egyptians worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. They even worshipped the Pharaoh as a god, and images of him were everywhere.
The Hebrew slaves were very familiar with Egyptian worship, but now, at mount Sinai, God was drawing a clear line of demarcation. NO MORE! Idolatry was an abomination to the one, true, living God! God was making it clear that HE alone was worthy of worship and worship of anything or anyone else was a fallacy. It was foolish, ignorant, stupid for people to bow down in worship of something people had fabricated with their own hands…especially something lifeless which needed maintenance like occasionally painting, or gold touch up! These Hebrews stood at a crossroads, a major decision: what or who would they worship as God and why?
Did you notice God said “…I am a jealous God.”? Have you ever thought about holy God being jealous? What does that mean? It means the God who created you, and keeps you alive every breath, every heartbeat, every moment… that God wants and deserves your worship, your love, your gratitude for life! When you give your priority worship, admiration, adoration, highest love to something or someone else, the God who created you and is sustaining your life, is grieved that you can be so wrong, so foolish, so confused. In fact God said to the prophet Isaiah: “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.” (Is. 42:8) And the prophet Jeremiah spent several chapters bringing God’s truth about idol worship to the people in Jeremiah chapters 2,5,7 and especially 10. Idolatry is a very big deal to God my friends, because it destroys lives and it breaks any relationship you might think you have with God! But let’s be careful that we don’t limit ‘idolatry’ to bowing down in front of a statue. Idolatry is anything or anyone we idolize, placing that thing or person as more important than God in our life.
Because idolatry is like a cancer that destroys lives and marriages and families and communities and nations, that voice of God made a very powerful statement to those 1 million Hebrews at mount Sinai: “I, the LORD your God am a jealous God, bringing upon the children the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Ex. 20:5,6) Now wait a moment! That almost sounds like God will hold children accountable for the sins of their parents, doesn’t it? But we know that is not true. We know that each person stands accountable before Holy God for their own life, not for anyone else’s life. (Heb. 9:27) So what could this mean?
My friends, each of our lives casts a shadow on those who live close to us, especially our children. The sins of the parents have profound influence and impact on their children. Just ask the children of alcoholic parents or adulterous parents or drug addicted parents or absentee parents or abusive parents. The wickedness and dysfunctional behavior of parents have profound effects on the lives of their children who grow up in that evil and dysfunction. Conversely, children who grow up with God honoring parents who love each other, respect each other, seek to honor God in all things, oh my, those kids grow up blessed and understanding God’s design for a healthy family.
The best book I’ve ever read describing this is: “The Most Important Place on Earth” ‘What a Christian Home looks like and how to Build One’ by Robert Wolgemuth!
But before we move on let me ask you about reverse generational influence. Have you noticed how destructive the behavior of rebellious children can be on parents? When the kids are young or teens, and seem intent on rebelling against all wise instruction and every boundary their parents have put in place, have you noticed how destructive that can be to the family and how painful to the parents who are trying to raise their kids in a God-honoring home?
Perhaps you know, as I do, several adults in their 60’s and older who deeply grieve the selfish, self destructive choices of their adult children, who reject the efforts of their parents to point them to God’s truth and God’s ways! Oh the pain I see in the hearts and lives of these dear folks as they enter their senior years estranged from their grandchildren because their adult children are making such poor life and parenting choices, that are actually putting the grandchildren in danger! In these cases the sins of the children are bringing great pain into the lives of their older parents and their younger kids. Now friends, do you see the direct involvement of the evil kingdom of Satan attempting to tear families apart? This is why God places such a high priority on God honoring family structure!
Finally today let’s see what God said next to these 1 million people at Mount Sinai: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.” (Ex. 20:7) God’s names are holy and majestic, each of them have great significance. They are each and all to be revered and used with profound respect. Misuse of God’s name is blasphemy, it is mocking God and God will bring justice judgement on those who mock His holiness through defilement of His name!
Let’s pause right here friends. We don’t know how long it took God to speak these 10 Commandments, but I imagine God spoke slowly, pausing for an extended time between each statement so the people could absorb what God had said, think about it, analyze it, and understand how to adjust their lives to come into personal alignment with each God statement. The people knew each of these statements would call them to radical lifestyle changes, immediately. They also understood that their lives depended on their obedience of God. So let’s pause and ponder along with them. I must ask us… how is your life and mine either aligned or in discord with each of God’s statements?
1. Do I have any god other than Almighty God? Do I honor anything, value anything, worship anything or anyone more than Almighty, Holy God? Do I understand how jealous God is that my worship be directed to HIM alone?
2. If you are married and have children, how have your sins affected your children? How have their sins affected you? What is God saying to you about this?
3. Have I ever misused the name of God? How about the name JESUS?
God invited these 1 million people, and He invites us to consider what a living relationship with HIM is like in practical reality day by day, hour by hour, wherever you live in the world! Here’s a worship song to help you ponder this type of holy living which honors the ONLY holy God.
Today’s Scripture is Exodus 20:4-7.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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