No other

DEVOTION

EXODUS

NO OTHER

Ex 20:1-3

20:1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery

3 "You shall have no other gods before me

NIV

We have arrived at the Ten Commandments and it would be wise of us to spend time with each one of them, however before we delve into this which is the first of ten it would be good to consider an overview. We know these ten were set in stone by none other than the finger of God. There were two stones which Moses carried down from the mountain to give to the people. We also know he threw down the first set and God had to make another set. These two stone tablets were written on both the front and the back by the finger of God. It has been determined or at least considered by some the first tablet contained commands one, two, three and four, the second contained five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten. This division is due to the content of the Ten Commandments. The first four contain the whole system of theology, what we should form regarding the divine nature, the reverence we owe, and the service we should render to God. The Second tablet contains the system of ethics or moral duties we owe to our fellow man. It is said the performance of these moral duties are what form a society of order, peace and happiness. Actually this type of society depends on the performance of them. What we also can see in these two tablets, this division of commands told to us by Jesus.

Matt 22:37-40

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

NIV

If this isn’t a repeat of the two tablets written with the finger of God, nothing is. All ten of the commandments are summed up for us in these words of Jesus. Nevertheless it would be wise for us to take a look at each of them out of respect, especially since they were written by God himself. So we should have no other gods before him. What does that look like, to have another god before God? Looking forward he tells us not to make any graven image, which is the second command. Therefor the first is not about graven images but rather about other gods. Although it is true in those days many people had multiply gods, such as Jethro, the relative of Moses, who was the priest of Midian. We also had Laban, the father of Rachel, who have household gods, which she had stolen. So it would not be out of context to think God was talking about these types of other gods. But in the whole of the context of all of scripture, other gods could be many different things. The Hebrew word used for gods also applies to any magistrate, rulers or judges. It has been used to describe God as well, the name Elohiym. However, God is not saying not to have another supreme God like him, but not to have anyone or anything to rule over our lives other than him. That could apply to so many things in our lives. Do we have any habits, either good or bad? Do we allow a habit to rule us? Do we allow our appearance to rule over us? Are we forever on a diet, or searching some way to improve our appearance? Do we continually concern ourselves about money? Do we hoard it up, just to have it, or use it when we get old? Is that a form of god? Do we idealize a sports team, or a particular player? If we spend more time and energy on knowing every detail of their lives, or stats, then about God, have we put another god before him? So many habits we can form that could be a form of another God. This is not to say God did not intent for us to live without all we need. He even said the he would supply all our needs according to his riches in heaven. He desires us to be happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied which are all wrapped up in the word blessed. He gave us life and surely intents for us to enjoy it. When he formed Adam from the dust of the earth he placed him in a beautiful place and allowed him to enjoy everything in it, except for one thing. But still the whole reason for Adam was so God could have fellowship with him, in the midst of that garden. God has to be first, middle and last in our lives. If then we are to love the Lord our God with some of our heart, some of our soul and some of our mind, then all those other things would be alright. But that is not the way it should be. If we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind, then is there any room for anything else? Have we put other gods before him? Yes, we can enjoy all that he has given us, but let us not put those things above the giver of them. Let us always be about an attitude of thanksgiving.