The First Commandment

This sermon was preached on 2/12/2010

As we know, the first table of the law, the first four commandments, are focussed on how we relate to God whereas the second table, the other six commandments, deal with how we relate to other humans. The order is important: obedience to the first four expresses our love to God and obedience to the other six shows our love to our neighbours. If we don’t pay heed to the first four, then we will not have a basis for concentrating on the other six. It is because we are accountable to God that we show true concern for our neighbour’s spiritual needs.

The first commandment is ‘You shall have no other gods before me’. What does God mean by ‘before me’? The word ‘before’ can be used with the meaning of priority in a list of items (A comes before B) or it can refer to the presence of someone (I stood before [in front of] him). In the first commandment, the word ‘before’ does not refer to priority because such a meaning would permit a legitimate use of other gods as long as we did not give them a place higher than the true God. Rather the meaning of ’before’ here is that we cannot have other gods when we are in the presence of the true God.

1. The presence of God

This then raises the question, ‘Which meaning of the presence of God is intended?’ The Bible reveals that God presences himself in different ways. For example, he made his presence known in a particular manner when he dwelt within the temple at Jerusalem. Since the temple system has passed away, then that form of the divine presence no longer occurs.

In the New Testament period God is present with his people when they gather to worship him in church services; this form of his presence is different from the way in which he is present with them, say, as they make their way to the church service as individuals or families.

Another form of God’s presence, indeed the basic meaning of it, is his omnipresence, which means that he is fully present everywhere simultaneously, even in places where no humans exist. God is in the depths of the sea and in the heights of the sky; God is in the outermost regions of space as well as where we are at any given time. This was one of the points that God made to Job when asking him about the stars and the animals (Job 38–39).

I think we often forget about the omnipresence of God. True, we desire his presence in church services in order to receive his blessing and we pray for his presence during our daily activities in order to have his protection. But in a sense we are limiting the presence of God to some of his activities. Yet the fact of the matter is, I was in the presence of God when I woke up this morning, when I dressed myself, when I ate my food, when I drove long the road, when I spoke to other people, when I read the newspaper, when I watched the television. The reality is that I am always in the presence of God.

What should be my response to God’s omnipresence in all the situations I face? First, since he knows all the details of every situation exactly, it means that I should acknowledge his omniscience as well as his omnipresence. Second, since he requires that his presence be acknowledged by me in a manner that is pleasing to him, it means that I am not free to express myself in any way I wish; instead I have always to live in a manner that is pleasing to God. Third, I must recognise that his omniscience takes into account the invisible thoughts of my heart as well as the various physical responses of my eyes, ears, mouth and limbs.

2. Implications of the first commandment

This commandment assumes a basic aspect of human nature, which is that every person has a religious bent. We are so made that we must worship someone or something. The presence of religion in all the cultures of the world is evidence of this fact. So it is inevitable that worship will be expressed by humans.

Second, the commandment also takes into account that it is possible for humans to worship several or many alternatives to God. We can see this in the religions of the ancient world in which people had gods for the storm and gods for the sea and gods for fertility. The true God did not want his people to imitate these religions.

Third, the commandment recognises the possibility or likelihood of the Israelites trying to take these other gods into the presence of the true God, even if they kept them at a lower level. They may have imagined that these false gods would become servants of the true God, that he would become greater by having their features added to the attributes he already possessed.

The remedy for this danger is to know who the true God is. It is not sufficient for us to have a desire to worship God. This commandment makes it clear that we need authoritative guidance regarding how to worship the Lord. In Israel’s case, he had revealed himself to them as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, who had rescued them from Egypt. One feature of the religious life of Egypt was its many gods. But what were they in comparison to the true God? He had defeated them comprehensively. Through the various teachings and promises he gave through Moses, the Israelites were guided how to think about God and serve him.

We who live in New Testament days have much more divinely-given information that even the Israelites had. In the Old and New Testaments we have the complete and infallible revelation of God and his desires, and we have the teaching of Jesus as our prophet to explain them to us. Once we have interpreted them correctly we will know the mind of God and can worship him in the way he requires.

3. The knowledge of God

It is obvious that there are two ways in which we can know about God. They are (1) we can know him theoretically or (2) we can know him personally. It is possible to know a great deal about God, indeed to know every detail the Bible mentions about God, and yet not have a personal relationship with him. There are many liberal theologians who possess an accurate knowledge of the God of the Bible, but who have no interest in knowing him personally. We have always to make sure that we don’t descend into mere fact-gathering.

Another way to consider the knowledge of God and his requirements is to so fitfully. In such an outlook, there is lack of consistency. One day we are eager, the next we are apathetic. Often we can respond eagerly when our consciences are challenged, but fail to maintain it.

A third way of thinking about the knowledge of God and his ways is to do so forgetfully. This outlook is marked by lack of carefulness. If I was invited to attend an important occasion which involved being in the presence of important people, I would make sure that I behaved carefully.

I hope that these examples reveal how necessary it is for us to approach God faithfully. Instead of fact-gathering, fitfulness and forgetfulness, we search the Bible because we have a personal relationship with him that makes us consistent, careful and Christ-centred when we draw near to the Lord in worship.

4. Danger of idolatry

As we noted earlier the big danger highlighted by this commandment is giving a place to idols. It is unlikely that we will take wooden idols or stone shapes into God’s presence. Yet that does not mean we will not have other idols with us. What are some of the features of modern society that we may take into the presence of God, and which will prevent only his glory being seen? After all, the real disaster of a literal bringing in of idols was that their presence would distract from seeing the glory of God.

There is the idol of materialism whereby we can use God’s worship to display what we possess. And there is the idol of self-expression where we can use God’s worship to highlight our talents and abilities. Then there is the idolatry of fear of man, that we behave in particular ways because of what others think rather than what God says. There are many more possibilities, and when we bring them in to the presence of God we are breaking the first commandment.

On the other hand, we keep this commandment when we delight in God and follow his instructions out of love to him. We must develop the sense that we are continually in the presence of the God who is always aware of our thoughts, affections and behaviour. At the same time, we must remember that the best of men will fail. After all, it was the apostle of love who exhorted Christians to keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:), but who then found himself bowing down to an angel despite having recently been given marvellous vision of the glory of Christ. No doubt, he confessed his failings, and we should do the same. The amazing thing about God’s requirements is that he enables penitent sinners to perform his will through his indwelling Spirit.