"You
shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the
earth. "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who
hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love
Me and keep My commandments. (Ex 20:4-6NASU)
Last week we began to take a look at the “Ten Commandments.” I
stated at the start that it is important for us to understand, how
they fit in our lives today. We came to an understanding that
putting God first is not just reading the Bible. It is not just
coming to church. It is not just making a claim that you believe
something, but it is putting God first in every aspect of ones
life.
If you recall last week at the end of the message, I stated, if we
will honor God as the only God in our lives, it won’t matter whether
the Ten Commandments are posted in courtrooms and school hallways or
not. They will be posted everywhere a Christian goes. And the
testimony of our lives will be impossible to silence. That truly is
putting God first.
Which brings us to today’s message. You shall not make for yourself
an idol. What is an idol? Is it a statue? Is it some figure that
we carve out of some wood? Those can be called idols, but what is
God meaning here. An idol is anything that takes the focus off God
and puts it on something else. So the question that must be asked
is, what does your life center around? What is the primary focus? So
many times when we talk about idols, we think about the Old
Testament idols. However, today an idol can be parked in a garage.
Some people park their idol at the marina. Some people live in
their idols. Some people put their idols in their safe deposit box.
And some people bow down or lift theirs up like some mini god.
Archaeologists tell us that in every culture throughout history
there have been idols: Statues of little gods or goddesses. Man has
a desire, for some reason, to turn objects or people or things into
objects of worship. When God said, “you shall not make for
yourself,” should give us some idea as to what he was talking
about. That should tell us we should not substitute something or
someone for God.
In an article printed in ‘Christianity Today’, Anne Lamott said,
“you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it
turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” (-- Anne
Lamott in Bird by Bird. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 8)
So, today in order for us to grasp what God would desire for us to
learn, let us break this down into two parts. The first part, NOT
to, and the second part, To. Lets begin with the not to.
I. NOT TO FORM FALSE GODS
God said you shall not make for yourself an idol. Let’s first look
at what it meant to the people then, then how it applies to us
today. Why would God make such a statement to begin with? While
they were in Egypt, the Hebrew nation was exposed to all kinds of
crazy ideas about God. The Egyptians had a god for everything.
Some commentaries state that the Egyptians had more than 96 gods!
And for everyone they had created an idol. Thus they would give of
their time, money, and food to appease these idols, these false
gods. They even sacrificed their own children to these idols.
When the Jews came out of Egypt, God did not want them to be
influenced by the pagan culture. God wanted them to see that He was
the One True God. The One that had provided for them. He wanted to
remove everything that could pull them away from following after
Him. During this time, even though there were many false gods and
idols, some commentaries claim there were basically three that
appears to cause more trouble than others.
There was Baal (female counter part, Ashtorah), who was the god of
sex. There was Mammon who was the god of money or wealth. And, there
was Molech who was the god of violence. Sex, Money, Violence – Does
that sound like today?
Now, before I go any farther may I clarify something. Idols and
symbols are not the same thing. Some symbols that we have are, a
cross, a picture, and communion table. These are not things we
worship, but things to help us to remember. With that in mind, I
must tell you that some people do idolize these things. There are
those that have a cross around their neck because they think if they
do it will bring them good luck. There are those that have a
picture of what some artist thought Jesus may have looked like and
treat it like it was Jesus Himself. I feel that we must be very
careful in what emphasis we put on these object.
Unfortunately, most people prefer to follow an idol, something they
can see than to walk by faith. Why should we follow some idol when
we can follow after the real thing. Your obedience to God
determines your image of God. "Being then the children of God, we
ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or
stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. (Acts 17:29)
God said, “do not make for yourself an idol. This brings us to our
second point.
II. NOT TO WORSHIP FALSE GODS
"You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God,
am a jealous God.” (Ex 20:5)
Let’s take a look at the word worship. A word that I like to use
here to show the importance of the word worship is adoration. The
word worship means worthy-ship. So the one that you bow down to is
worthy of praise. Adoration means strongly admired. I like putting
them together so that I would have some understanding would mean one
that is worthy whom I strongly admire.
Remember, an idol is anything that we place before God, but I want
to take that one step farther. Worshiping an idol is the same as
putting ones whole trust in that idol. It is a way of stating that
God is not enough or that he cannot provide your needs. There are
many people today that idolize other people. Sports personnel is a
very big one especially for the younger adults. They say things
like, “if only I had his or her talent, if only I had their money.”
“If only!”
Other people turn to some psychic hotline, Tarot Cards, Horoscopes,
and even the lottery for help instead of fully trusting in God. The
Bible calls this spiritual adultery! It is basically the same as
cheating on God.
Whenever Israel sinned, it always began with idols! These false
images and idols would lead their hearts away from the God of all
creation and they would set their hearts on created things instead
of the Creator. The result was always a weakened and perverted
faith, and a weakened nation.
Mysticism replaced faith whenever they turned to their own images of
God. Isaiah put it this way when he wrote, “They will be turned back
and be utterly put to shame, Who trust in idols, Who say to molten
images, "You are our gods." (Isa 42:17)
This is the kind of action that displeases God, for God said, He is
a jealous God. Having idols not only disgust God and disappoint
people who have them, but they also can control people. Idolatry
controls those involved with it. Paul wrote, “You know that when you
were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were
led.” (1 Cor 12:2)
Unfortunately people today turn away from the One True God seeking
after their own gods. Following anything but the True God will lead
one astray.
So, God is telling us not to make, not to follow, not to worship or
bow before them. In this passage we find if we do those things then
we need to...
III. UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES
At the end of verse five we read, “visiting the iniquity of the
fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of
those who hate Me.” Many look at this verse to say that sins are
passed from one generation to the next, but, is that what this verse
is saying.
In order for us to understand lets look at Ezek 18:20 "The person
who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the
father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the
son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon
himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
God is informing us the consequences of this sins will be upon their
children. Now, this does not mean that the sins they commit will be
charged against them, but the consequences of those sins. God does
not punish a person for someone else’s sin, but the consequences of
that sin could last for generations.
For example, what about a person that is driving drunk, crashes into
another vehicle and kills someone. Does not the consequence from
this accident affect the lives of those in the family? Sure it
does. Listen, if a man and his wife worship idols, what do you
think their children are going to do? Did you know that 90% of
children growing up in an alcoholic home become what? Alcoholics,
right.
God is wanting us to see that the life we are living has an
influence upon generations to come. If parents teach their children
that they need to be in church only if nothing else is going on, how
are the children going to attend church when they get older. If
parents don’t read their Bibles, if parents don’t pray in the house,
if parents don’t show respect to the church, if parents don’t show
love to each other. Do you understand now what God is trying to get
us to see?
The things we do today will determine the outcome for tomorrow. If
we do not make any idols, if we do not worship false gods, if we
understand the consequences, then we need to...
III. UNDERSTAND GOD LOVES THE OBEDIENT
Showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep
My commandments. Ex 20:6
This verse states that if I chose to put God first, not placing
anything before Him, walking in a life of obedience, worshiping and
serving Him, then He will love me beyond my imagination.
Ps 37:4-5 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the
desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in
Him, and He will do it.
If I seek to serve Him and love Him then I will be filled with His
love, with His good and perfect will for my life. For in Christ I
have been filled with His love and I have been set free. So Jesus
was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in
My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32 I am free
from my past guilt. Free from the today’s present concerns. Free
from the future, death.
By striving to be obedient to Christ will transform your life.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old
things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory
of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
If we truly love God, then we will strive to follow His
commandments. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments.” (John 14:15)
Conclusion: Today as well as back when Moses came down off the
mountain, God has given His creation free will. You see the choice
is up to you. The choice to follow some idol or to follow the real
God. I pray you understand there are consequences that will be
passed down for your actions today. That God loves those who follow
Him in a life of obedience. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is
against Me.” Where do you stand?
AMEN