SYNOPSIS: It is true that if the Israelites, and by extension, you and I, honored this first commandment—worship only God—then we would need none of the other nine commandments. We would never lie, never hurt our neighbor, always be faithful to our spouse, never lust, cuss, gripe or sin in any other way. Get this one right and you will be righteous.
The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 5:6-7
I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery., You must not have any other god but me.
Deuteronomy is Moses’ leadership swan song. He is about to go the way of all the earth; his impossible mission is accomplished and God is going to take him to his final reward. He has left a leadership legacy that has not been matched in human history up to this moment. I doubt anyone will ever surpass the feat of spiritual, military, social and organizational leadership that Moses pulled off.
What Moses accomplished, however, as incredible as it might have been, was nothing compared to what God pulled off. Think about it: The Lord rescued two million Israelites out of slavery in Egypt through the ten plagues and the Red Sea crossing—in the Top Ten of All Time Great Miracles, you would agree. He guided his people through forty years in the barren wasteland of the Sinai Desert, keeping them fed, watered, clothed, protected and loved. He formed a rebellious, complaining, sin-prone, dull and disorganized people into his own holy nation—the only people still a nation from that ancient time until this very day. So if you think Moses was impressive, wait til you get a load of God! He outdid himself with Israel!
Now as Moses, in his final act, recounts those mighty acts of God along with God’s requirements for his people to remain his chosen, holy nation, he reminds them of God’s top ten laws—what we call the Ten Commandments. This is the second time Moses has publically preached them, and right at the top of the top ten, not only literally but strategically, is rule number one:
I am God! You exist only because of my mighty acts. Now you must worship, serve and obey none other than me.
It is true that if the Israelites, and by extension, you and I, honored this first commandment that we would need none of the others. We would never lie, never hurt our neighbor, always be faithful to our spouse, never lust, gripe, swear or sin in any other way. Get this one right and you will be righteous. But we don’t. We violate this one early and often.
How so? Whenever we put what we want ahead of what God demands, we sin. And by that we are worshipping ourselves rather than only him. And the big three violations of that throughout history, including today, including your history and mine, is our push for indefatigable quest for money, our insatiable lust for sexual pleasure and our unquenchable thirst for power. Yep, independence from our dependence on his daily provision (money), satisfying our desire for pleasure outside of his game rules (sex outside of marriage) and desire for power, control and recognition (the desire for fame, even fifteen minutes of it) are clearly violations of the basic rule: thou shalt have no other gods before me.
If we were truly intelligent beings, we would stop and ask ourselves how our unstoppable thirst for money, sex and power are working out for us. We would look at the wreckage of those who have crashed and burned in the ditch of wealth, or more accurately, the insatiable love of it. We would see the ruined lives of those who have lost everything for the momentary pleasure of an illicit sexual encounter. We would stop, drop and roll when we look at too many cautionary tales of the self-immolation of those who couldn’t handle flame of fame—pastors, politicians, athletes, celebrities who lost it all, or took their own lives—because they were not built to handle worship. No one is.
Whenever we give ourselves in word, thought or deed to something other than God, we have broken all the rules by breaking the first one. And it won’t work out very well. It never does.
That’s the dark side, but there is a bright side incomparably brighter than the false light of sin when we put and keep God first in our lives: provision, pleasure and power in the purest form imaginable. God fully satisfies, his blessings never fades and our worship of him alone produces eternal fruit that is always in season.
Now when Moses delivered the Ten Commandments, the people responded the way all people who have been rescued by God should. They said to Moses, “come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.” (Deuteronomy 5:27) Then Moses, literally speaking for God, responded to them
The Lord heard the request you made to me. And he said, “I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right. Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29)
Sin calls us to put other gods before the One who alone is God and worthy of our worship. Those gods—money, sex and power—promise pleasure but only and always deliver untold pain. The Living God promises unlimited provision, holy pleasure and eternal significance—prosperity forever! And this God never breaks a promise.
Your God says to you, “I am God, your God, who brought you out of bondage, bought you out of sin. So no other gods, only me!”
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