In the Bible, God speaks many things to the people of Israel. Some of these messages we still read and need to obey today. One of them that I will elaborate on today is the commandment God gave to His people after they left Egypt.
Let's look at a few verses, starting with Exodus 19:4: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”
Verse 5: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”
Soon after the people left Egypt, God spoke to them and told them to obey His voice and keep His covenant. Throughout the Bible, we will begin to see that one of the most important aspects of our relationship with God is obedience to Him. For He says in 1 Samuel 15:22: “So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” Here, we see the reason why God tells the Israelites to obey His voice, because to obey God is better than the sacrifices we can offer Him.
God further emphasizes this point as He lays out the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Let’s look at verse 3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
God, in His wisdom, knew that when He brought them out, they were coming from a place that worshipped idols. He also knew that, in giving them this command, they might begin to form images they believed could mirror God. This is why I believe it was important for God to give this command early on, because He knew that the practice of idolatry was common among other nations and would seem normal to the Israelites. However, to God, this was not the case.
He tells the Israelites not to make any other gods, because there is only one True Living God, the one who brought them out of Egypt. God himself was the only one deserving of Israel’s worship. Not the golden calf or any other idols. God spoke from heaven and through Moses. Therefore, the image of another god was false and not real. A false god should not be worshipped in place of God.
Like the Israelites, we are susceptible to harboring idols and creating false images in place of God. Some of these we have learned from other people, and others we have brought with us from different places. However, the commandment that God gives in Exodus 20 still remains the same and true: we should have no other gods before Him. We must break free from the customs of the world by not misplacing our worship or placing our trust in something or someone who is not God.
Those other gods cannot save us, care for us, love us, or ensure that we make it to the Promised Land, just as the Israelites were commanded, and we still need to obey God’s voice today. We must lean on God, trust in God, and nothing else.
Prayer
God, I pray for the person who is reading this and believes that obeying you is hard. I ask that you give them patience, guidance, and a willingness to trust your Word. God, I ask that you remove any idols or the practices of idolatry in their life. May you renew the right spirit in them and change their heart toward you, building a relationship not mixed with other false things. May you reveal to them the truth of who you are apart from the voices of the world and false images. May you be kind to them and help them stay on track as they pursue a deeper relationship with you. Holy Spirit show them the way they should go and lead them as you did the Israelites to put their full trust in God alone. In Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen!
