KING of Kings and LORD of Lords: The Ten Commandments (Part 1)

Foreword

The Children of Israel had been rescued from the cruelty of the Egyptians after serving as slaves for four hundred years. God led them to the wilderness where they lived for forty years prior to going into the Promised Land. God saw a need to give them instructions to guide them in the ways of righteous living, for they were a rebellious nation. Their living amongst heathens had taken its toll on them, and unfortunately, they had adopted some of their ways. Therefore, God had Moses to go up Mount Sinai where He gave him the Ten Commandments written on two tables of stone by His own finger.

            These commandments were not to be taken lightly or as mere suggestions for righteous living. They were to be obeyed and adhered to. Their compliance was part of the covenant God made with them which resulted in blessings if followed. Strict obedience to God’s laws also separated the Children of Israel from the foreign nations who did not know the Lord. The Bible says, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9). God desired to bless His children, but they did not always follow His ways. As a result, they were punished after many warnings had come through God’s servants until they decided to return to the Lord.

         Centuries later, once Jesus came to the scene, the religious leaders and theologians of the day wanted to entrap Him in saying or doing something against the commandments of God. One day, they posed a question to Him as to which one of the Ten Commandments was the most important. Jesus, seeing the trap for what it was, gave an inarguable response to their question. The Bible says, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus was letting them know that there was no commandment greater than the other. They were all of equal importance. Therefore, He summed up the Ten into two – love God and your neighbor.

            The first four commandments deal with our love and relationship with God by honoring Him and Him alone. The remaining six deal with our love for and relationship with one another. God still expects us to uphold His standards of living for our lives, but when we have a relationship with Him, we are not condemned by the law for our hearts and minds will always seek to do that which pleases Him. The Bible says, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace” (Romans 6:14).

 

        Being under grace does not mean that we have a license to sin (this will be discussed further in an upcoming lesson), but should we make the mistake of sinning, God’s grace, love, and mercy covers us when we repent and turn from it. Let’s study each commandment further so that we can understand the standards that God has for each one of our lives.

NO other gods!

“You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3).  

         Throughout Israel’s history, they seemed to be constantly faced with having to choose between the God of Heaven, who rescued them from their Egyptian oppressors, or bowing down to the gods made of wood, stone, brick, gold, and silver. This would seem to not have been a choice at all due to the fact that they had always seen evidence of the One True God in comparison to the gods that could not see, talk, love or give them blessings. Nevertheless, God knew that this was going to be a major issue with the Children of Israel; therefore, this is why He placed in the Ten Commandments to have no other gods but Him.

            Some people may make the mistake in thinking that because they do not serve gods made of brick, wood, stone, or other tangible materials that they do not have other gods in their lives. However, nothing could be further from the truth. You may ask, “How can that be?” Well, let’s see the many things that people put before God.

            Many people have jobs that require a lot of their time. They go to work daily in order to provide food, clothes, and shelter for their families, which is a good thing. However, how many people get so caught up in their daily routines that they fail to spend time in prayer and study-time with God? By the time they get up in the morning, get the kids off to school, go to work, come back home, fix dinner, help with homework, there is absolutely no time being spent with their Creator. Therefore, God gets placed on the backburner every single day with the exception of when they go to church and even then, if they think the pastor is preaching too long, their boredom sets in and their minds wander. This displeases God!

            People also make gods out of money, houses, cars, entertainment, celebrities, and even out of those who would dare to call themselves, “Holy Father.” The Bible tells us that there is only ONE who is to be called “Father” and that is God above. The Bible says, “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9). Satan has a replacement for everything that is of God and the more that he can have your mind displaced, the more he can separate you from God. We are never to put anything or anyone ahead of God because He is the One who supplies us with what we need. The Bible says, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

            God requires that we make Him first in our lives. He is a God second to none and nothing tangible or abstract can replace His genuine love for His children. God requires our worship, praise, and adoration because He is truly our God and we are His children.

 

                        No Graven Images!

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me” (Exodus 20:4-5).

          

         The one great thing about God is that He is omnipresent (able to be everywhere). He cannot be placed in a box where He has limitations. He can answer a prayer in China, heal a person in France, speak to a person in the United States, and calm a storm in the Atlantic, all at the same time. Graven images have never been able to do anything for anyone and never will. The Bible says, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7). This is what God wanted the Children of Israel to understand. An image is, and always will be, just an image, but they had a real live God who loved them and desired to bless them in accordance to their faithfulness.

          Moses had gone up to Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments, which God wrote with His own fingers. Upon Moses’ return, he saw that the Children of Israel had made a golden calf and were worshiping its image. The Bible says, “The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 32:7-8). This angered Moses so much that he threw the tablets down to the ground. God had just delivered the Children of Israel out of Egypt and that was how they rewarded Him by worshiping a graven image.

      There are numerous religions that feel that their “images” will answer prayers and grant them blessings such as Hindus, Buddhists, and the Catholic Church. They pray to these images as if these statues made of stone can do something for them. They are sadly mistaken, however, because there is only One True God, and He is not made of trees and/or other materials in which man has crafted. He has no genealogy and no birthdate, but He is simply just God. The Bible says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13).