2 Ten Commandments

Last week we began our study of the Ten Commandments. We turned the negative into the positive: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" became "thou shalt have me." Today we look at the second commandment. It's found in Exodus chapter 20, verses 4, 5, and 6.

And it says, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."

This, by the way, is the commandment that was being broken while Moses was with God receiving the Ten Commandments. If you remember, Moses left Aaron in charge, like a substitute teacher. When Moses was on the mountain with God, the people became restless, and it was decided that they would make a solid gold image of a calf to worship. I'm not making this up; it's right there in Exodus chapter 32. So God saw the nonsense going on, and he told Moses to go down the mountain and see for himself.

Have you ever wondered why a calf? Of all the animals in the animal kingdom, a calf. Over the years several reasons have been suggested. Among them: cows are givers. They give milk or meat, and people want a God that gives.

Cows aren't too smart, and people want a God that doesn't know too much. Cows aren't threatening or dangerous, and people want a God that can't harm them or punish them. Cows aren't hard to please. Give them some water and grass and they'll leave you alone. People want a God like that.

So idols are made so we think we are in control. We are the potters, and he becomes the clay. Our obedience to God is determined by our image of God. Think about that: our obedience to God is determined by our image of God.

If I believe that God is absent, I can act any way that I please. If I believe that God is deaf, I can say anything I want to say. If I believe that God is blind, I can do whatever I want. However, if I believe that God is all-knowing and all-powerful and always with me (the big words are omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient), uh, I'll likely behave.

If we're not careful, we can begin to worship an image of God in our own mind that may be quite different from the real God of the Bible. Not too many of us make graven images, literal ones. However, all of us can form an inaccurate picture of God in our minds.

To turn this commandment to the positive, we could say for the second commandment that God is saying, "Thou shalt know me, the real me." I love that. It implies that God wants a relationship with you and with me, and he does.

The question may come to mind: how can I know the real God? That's a great question. Obviously, you must read the Bible and learn of God from his own word. That's the way. Know this: if your god is telling you to do something that's contrary to scripture, your god is an idol, not the true God.

You might have noticed that this command came with a warning. In Exodus 20, verse 5, we are told, "For I the Lord your God I'm a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents that the third and fourth generation of those who reject me." Some call this the law of heredity.

Do you have a friend or family member that dropped the ball? It's a sad thing to watch. Feelings get hurt, and church becomes a thing of the past to some people. And when fellowship is missing, faith often follows. And then children come along that are not raised in church and have no biblical teaching, and the curse is active.

This commandment also comes with a blessing. God says that he'll show steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love him and keep his commandments. This past Sunday, Genie and I were in church, and we were so thankful that our kids and our grandkids are involved in churches. Their faith is paramount in their homes every day of the week. We were also thankful for our parents that saw to it that we knew the God of the Bible.

May God bless you as you see to it that the generations after you know the true God, and they'll do that when you follow him. Let's pray together.

God, thank you for these commands that show us that you want us to know you and love you, the real you. And that's going to take a while as we search scripture, as we walk with you. Father, we thank you for what we see and that you want to be with us. We ask for those watching that you would bless the generations behind us because we're following you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

God bless you.