Brad Pitt wants you to know he has abandoned his belief in the god of the Bible. In a 2007 interview for Parade, actor Brad Pitt describes how he stumbled, over God’s ego. Pitt was raised a conservative Southern Baptist. For a while, his religion worked. But not for long. “Religion works. I know there's comfort there, a crash pad. It's something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be alright in the end. It works because it's comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn't last for me.” Why not? He points to the ego of God. “I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, “You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I'm the best, and then I'll give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get it!” It seemed to be about ego. I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.”
Today’s Scripture
“And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me’” (Exodus 20:1-3).
People have an aversion to rules when it comes to religion. There are rules for the practice of medicine that medical doctors must follow. There are rules for construction that architects and engineers must follow. These rules for both medicine and construction are done for public safety. Yet, when it comes to God, today’s principle is “anything goes.” For the next few moments, let’s see if God’s rules will bring order to your religion.
1. God is Exclusive
Let’s break down verse three word by word to discover the God’s meaning is His first command.
1.1 “gods”
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1).
When you read the Bible, you will meet numerous gods. For example, when the children of Israel enter the land of Canaan, they encounter people who worship Baal. In the Old Testament book of Judges, Israel largely abandons worshiping the God of the Bible for the god Baal as well as the god Asherah (Judges 2:11; 37; 8:33). These two gods were male and female deities and various forms were worshipped throughout the earth. Baal was worshipped in order that the fields might be fertile as He was the god of rain. When the sun’s heat scorched everything on earth, people said Baal was dying. When the spring rains made everything green, people said Baal was coming to life again. You’ll read a fascinating story about Elijah’s bitter struggle against Baal worship in 1 Kings 18:20-40. None other than the King of Israel (Ahab and Jezebel) encouraged the worship of this foreign god. Toward the later part of his reign, Solomon worshipped the Ammonite god Molech and the Moabite god Chemosh (1 Kings 11:4-8). Molech (Ammonite god Milcom) is one of the more frightening gods. This angry god demanded innocent humans to be sacrificed for human guilt.
A few years ago, during the extension of the runway at the Damascus Airport, workers found a pit of burned infant bones, dating back to the time of the Old Testament. These little skeletons of babies up to age two were broken and burned to the god Molech.
The gods of years gone past did not possess superhuman wisdom or power. Instead, there were considered to be more like super hoers of our comic books. These gods had impulses and desires and committed evil acts much as we do. Years have passed and these gods have disappeared. Baal worship is now dormant. Zeus no longer sits on Mount Olympus. The German gods, Thor, with his hammer that made Thunder, and his son Woden have since passed away.
Idolatry does not depend on names. The names disappear through the years yet idolatry lives on. The Bible says that men can worship their own physical strength (Habakkuk 1:11). Others worship money as they make “gold their trust” or “fine gold my confidence…” (Job 31:24). Some even make their god their stomach as Paul writes, “their god is their belly” (Philippians 3:19).
In 1620, Sir Francis Bacon wrote about idols in a work entitled New Instrument. Bacon identifies four types of idols that are still present with us today. Don’t be confused today. Everyone living worships something or someone. Bob Dylan was right when wrote the song, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Borrowing from Bacon’s four types of idols…
1.1.1 Idols of the Tribe
It’s easy to find one’s meaning in the tribe they belong to. This can represent overzealous feelings of patriotism where the motto: “God, country, family” can be turned where the nation comes first. This idol can represent my feelings about my community or this idol can take the form of my favorite college team (the Aggies or Razorbacks). All of us have a natural affinity to the place where we were born, an attraction to our kind of people.
1.1.2 Idols of the Cave
Idols are individual distortions. This idol takes the form in terms of racism or sexism idea. These are the idols of Archie Bunker (TV Guide’s greatest TV character of all time) in his armchair in the Queens sitcom of the 1970s. He was forced to drop out of high school during the Great Depression to support his family. His son-in-law, Mike, was a “dumb Polack” nor was he fond of Blacks, Hispanics, or as he called them “Japs.”
1.1.3 Idols of the Marketplace
Idols of business and the marketplace and politics are easy to manufacture. We make idols when we spin things in politics and marketing to create desire. Spinning is a manipulation in order to gain power. Here (as always) the god is ourselves. We spin to gain power for ourselves. I spin healthcare reform in order for one important voting block to vote for me.
1.1.4 Idols of the Theatre
Here we witness the idols of entertainment. Entertainment is about pleasure. And we certainly made a god from pleasure in our day.
Yet, the first of the Ten Commandments counters all of this thinking. In every idol that is formed, god purely exists for humans. The Bible counters this: we exist for God. A test to determine if you worship idols is this: Does my god need me? “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24-25).
The True God needs nothing. The True God of the Bible is not obligated to you. “For who has known the mind of the Lord,?or who has been his counselor?”?35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid” (Romans 11:34-35)?
1.2 “You Shall Have No”
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1).
These words command His followers to have no other relationship with any other so-called god. The relationship between God and His people is to have no third parties. One of the first lessons we teach our children is to share. As important as it is to share, there are some things that are some things never meant to be shared: a bite-sized candy bar, a unicycle, confidential information such as answers to a test, or the sexual love between a husband and wife. These things were never meant to be shared. You can also add your worship to that list. Your worship was not designed to be shared. God’s glory was never to be shared with another.
This commandment is first; it’s before all the others. When you break any other of the Ten Commandments, you’ve broken this command first. For example, to commit adultery is to place my pleasure first before god- this is idolatry.
1.3 “Before”
This represents an exclusive choice: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1). Notice carefully the word “before.” It implies the word “and.” “And” is a dangerous word in worship. Worship is not a matter of “and” but it is a matter of “or.” This is a radical choice. As Jesus Himself said: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). You cannot choose to follow Christ and at the same time run after the idols of entertainment.
1.4 “Me”
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1).
The word “me” literally speaks of the face of God. You are to have no other god “against my face.” And your choice is a choice of loyal love to Him. Every commandment in the Ten Commandments has a positive and negative side.
You’ve heard the negative. Now witness the positive as you listen to words of Moses: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
These words directly followed Moses’ repeating the Ten Commandments to the next generation of Israelites. This first command of God is designed to elicit your loyal love for Him. Much like the love between a husband and a wife where both agree there are no competitors for one another’s loyalty. This is a love that sticks with your choice. It is a love that is tried and true.
To worship is to mix into your love a fear of the awesome presence of God. To worship is to mix into your love a contemplation on the majestic presence of God Himself. To worship is to rid yourself of all apathy toward Hum. He is worth pursuing in both this life and in the life to come.
This commandment causes us to have a white-hot intensity to our pursuit of the glory of God. But this loyal love needs be to be continually reconfirmed again and again. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Do you know that you’ll find the Ten Commandments twice in your Bible? The first time is in Exodus 20 and the second is found in Deuteronomy 5. The second time you see them is Moses reissuing them for the next generation.
2. God’s Law is a Swiss Army Knife
God’s law is like a Swiss Army knife. This handy gadget is an ordinary knife blade, a screwdriver, and a pair of scissors among other things. So it is with the law of God.
2.1 The Law is a Map
When we read of God’s law, we know God’s will. The law of God acts as a map for our lives. We know the direction God intends for us to travel.
2.2 The Law is a Muzzle
The law of God keeps us from doing wrong. His law restrains men from sin. His law causes many to respond in fear and trembling. People want the Ten Commandments on the classroom wall because it acts as a muzzle. It prevents students from misbehavior.
2.3 The Law is a Mirror
The law shows you who you really are. The law is powerless to make you good. The law exposes us. Watch how this happens with the rich young ruler Jesus takes the Ten Commandments from the exterior to our interior. Murder is rooted in anger. Murder is in you because hate is in you. A law can keep you from killing me but the law cannot make you love me. Jesus moves God’s law from outside of us to inside of us. Christ causes the law of God to be written on our hearts.
If you were to place Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount alongside Moses’ Ten Commandments, you’ll notice some great points of comparison. Many of us in the room have what we call a “mountaintop experience.” God had a fondness for speaking powerfully from mountaintops as well. It was God who both spoke and wrote the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. It was Jesus who spoke His Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount. And it was Jesus who took the three disciples (Peter, James, and John) to another mountain (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). It’s the first and last mountaintop experience that I want you to focus on as we conclude. For these two frames God’s revelation of Himself to us. He is pulling back the curtain so we can best see Him. The thunder and lightning of the OT were physical signs to show the awesome and fearsome power of God. And the glorious and frightening cloud of glory in the NT, that overshadowed and terrified the three men.
It was on this second mountaintop that Peter, James, and John saw Moses (the Law), Elijah (the Prophets), and Jesus Christ. Moses found Himself on a mountaintop again with God, only this time many hundreds of years had passed. God spoke this time as He did before. Only this time, God did not speak the Ten Commandments, He only spoke one sentence: “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him” (Mark 9:7). Peter had said to Jesus, ““Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5). God corrects Peter’s mistake immediately: “As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:34). “And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone” (Luke 9:36a).
What has the law of God done to you today? Has it exposed you? I give you two tests to expose your god(s). Ask yourself: “What do I love? Ask yourself: “What do I trust?”
