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My last lesson ended with God preparing to come down from Mount Sinai, not to give the people new laws, but to enter into a covenant or an agreement with them so that they would be His special people.
We know the story, the Lord had called Moses up the mountain to tell him what to tell the people. The Lord told Moses to go the people and sanctify them on that day and the next day and that He would come down in the sight of all the people.
Notice the setting in Exodus 19:10-11. God gave the people two days to clean themselves up and be ready against the third day for which He would come down from the mountain to them. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning there were thunders and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mount. And the voice of the trumpet so loud that the people in the camp trembled. God was showing His power as the creator of the earth as He began to speak in His own voice. As the creator himself descended upon Mount Sinai in His glory, the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
In this setting of great glory, majesty and power, God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people who were trembling in awe below the mountain. His voice must have literally shaken those people with its power as it boomed across the land like the sound of thunder. (Ps. 104:7) God began to reveal to His people the laws of life which bring success, happiness and peace with God and man.
In this day of human reason and of creeping socialism, it is important to notice that the Almighty spoke first, not about the brotherhood of man, but about obedience and worship to God, the creator and ruler of heaven and earth, and the personal God of those who serve and obey Him. And God said, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Ex. 20:1-3)
That is the first, and as we shall see later, the greatest commandment. Study the wording of this commandment and meditate on it as David did. "I am the Lord thy God" is a more revealing phrase than at first meets the eye. The I who was speaking with such tremendous power was quite evidently the great creator of heaven and earth. In His very manner of appearance, He had already demonstrated His power as creator by the quaking of the mount, thundering, lightnings and fire.
Now that we have seen the power and might with which God revealed Himself when He spoke the Ten Commandments, let us see how each of them, beginning with the First Commandment, applies to us personally. If we make any claim of being a Christian, remember that Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity said that you shall live by every word of God. (Mt. 4:4) And certainly, through God's help, we must walk according to the commandments of Almighty God if we would enter into eternal life. (Mt. 19:17)
How then does the First Commandment apply to us? "I am the Lord thy God," the creator states. Is the God of creation, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, really our God whom we serve and obey? Or have we conjured up our own false god or gods? Or are we falsely worshiping according to the tradition of man, which Jesus said would cause us to worship in vain? (Mk 7:7)
To the Christian, God says that He is the One who has "brought thee out of the house of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Throughout the Bible, Egypt is use as a type of sin. All unconverted men are held in slavery to the organized, paganized system of this world and to their own personal lusts. But when a person is really converted, God brings him out of that bondage and he comes out willingly and gladly! We need to examine whether or not we have ever really come out from false traditions and ways of this world and have repented of our own personal lusts and sins.
God commands, "Thou shall have no other gods before me." Have you put something else before God? Is your time, your interest, or your service being taken up more with something other than the true God? What idol have you shared between yourself and the true God? God says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shewest His handiwork. (Ps. 19:1) Throughout its pages, the Bible declares that God is the real creator of this earth and of the universe. He is the One who gives life and breath to all creatures. (Gen. 1:1)
In the Bible, God is revealed not only as the creator, but the One who sustains and Who rules His creation, intervening in the affairs of His servants to guide, bless, and to deliver them. David said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." (Ps. 18:2) David called upon God hundreds of times to intervene and deliver him from some trouble or calamity.
Do you go to God with your troubles or do you trust in your own strength? Do you honestly think and worship God as your creator and the One who gives you every breath of air you breathe? You should, for that is part of worshiping the true God and having no false gods before Him.
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us when we pray to address God as our "Father." He is revealed as the One to whom we should go to with our trials and problems. Like a human father, He watches over His children and blesses and protects them. He also chastens every son that He loves.
What is the most important thing God commands us to do? When Jesus was asked that question, He answered, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." Then Jesus continued, "And the second is like unto it. Thy shall love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mt. 22:37-40) On these two commandments hang the destiny of all nations and individuals.
As Jesus said, the very writings of the prophets hang on whether or not nations obey or disobey God's law. Every prophecy written against a nation shows that God forsaw that the nation would disobey and turn away its eyes from His law and commandments. These are the living laws, like the law of gravity, that rule the world in which we live.
Whenever we think, speak or hear of anything good, beautiful or wonderful, we should think of God. We should meditate on God's law and on Him daily. Study your Bible regularly to live by every Word of God. We should pray to God regularly, with sincerity and with all our hearts as Jesus did, setting us an example.
Your attitude should always be that of Jesus Christ, your example, when He was called to give His life. "Not My will, but Thine be done." (Lk. 22:42) This is what true worship really means! This is how we apply and keep the First and Greatest Commandment in our lives.
