An Impossible Standard to Keep

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’” – Exodus 20:18-26 ESV

These verses serve as a bridge back to the previous chapter, where Moses described the scene at Mount Sinai where the people watched in awe and terror as the glory of God descended upon the mountain, accompanied by smoke, fire, lightning, and thunder.

On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. – Exodus 19:16-20 ESV

The people wanted nothing to do with the mountain or its divine visitor. They were so petrified by the sound-and-light show that accompanied God’s presence, that they had no desire to draw near or hear from God directly.

“You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” – Exodus 20:19 NLT

Moses attempted to assuage their fears by explaining the purpose behind God’s dramatic display of His glory.

“God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!” – Exodus 20:20 NLT

God had intended to strike fear into the hearts of the people. His use of atmospheric signs was meant to convey His greatness and power. Just imagine the scene as the people were bombarded by the sights and sounds of the massive storm taking place above their heads. The entire mountaintop was veiled in dark clouds from which flashes of lightning and booming thunder emanated. And God had told Moses that this would be a manifestation of His divine presence.

“Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” – Exodus 19:9 ESV

And God had warned Moses to place a boundary around the base of the mountain to prevent the people from trying to come near.

“…you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.’” – Exodus 19:12 ESV

It seems that the boundaries proved to be unnecessary because the people wanted nothing to do with the mountain and had no desire to get anywhere near this frightening display of God’s glory. Which proves that God’s plan worked. He wanted the people to grasp the greatness of His glory and to fear His holiness. Otherwise, His law would carry no weight. The Decalogue would become just another list of rules to be ignored. But because the giving of His commands was accompanied by a convincing display of His glory, the people couldn’t help but take those commands seriously.

At this point in the narrative, it isn’t clear whether Moses has shared God’s commands with the people. But they knew that something significant had taken place on the mountaintop. This was no ordinary day and this strange event signaled a change in their relationship with Yahweh. Even His earlier demand that they cleanse themselves before coming near the mountain was a sign that something momentous was about to happen.

“Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.” – Exodus 19:10-11 NLT

This ceremonial cleansing was intended to convey the idea of God’s holiness. It was meant to teach them that they could not come into His presence impurely or in an unworthy state. God’s holiness and righteousness were to be honored at all times. He was a great God who demanded the worship of His people. And now, with the giving of His law, God was providing them with a non-negotiable standard of conduct that would regulate every area of their personal and corporate life as His chosen people. Their lives would be regulated by a set of laws given by the all-powerful Creator God, and obedience to those laws was non-optional.

But what the people of Israel did not understand was that the law was never intended to be a roadmap to righteousness. God knew that His people would find it impossible to live up to His demanding code of conduct. It was always meant to be the gold standard for human behavior that no one could live up to. Centuries later, the apostle Paul would expose the real purpose behind God’s law.

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:19-20 NLT

The storm on Mount Sinai was meant to be a visible manifestation of God’s holiness and power. And the Ten Commandments were a written manifestation of the very same thing. But they were designed to show what would be required of God’s people so that they might display His glory on earth. As sinful human beings, they were going to have to figure out how to live in obedience to His unwavering and unbending rules so that the world might know what it means to be the people of God.

But God knew that they would fail miserably. No one was able to keep His righteous commands. The law could only expose sinfulness, not convey righteousness. And, once again, the apostle Paul reveals that the law had a purpose that pointed to something greater to come.

Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) – Romans 4:13-15 NLT

What the people of Israel needed to understand was that their God was holy, majestic, righteous, and demanding. He could not and would not tolerate anything less than perfection among His chosen people because they bore His name and served as His representatives on earth. But He was fully aware of their shortcomings. That is why He would eventually provide them with the sacrificial system as a way of providing atonement for their failure to keep His law. It was inevitable that they would sin, so He provided a means by which they could receive forgiveness and restoration. And God alludes to this future sacrificial system by providing His people with instructions for building what He deemed as an acceptable altar of sacrifice.

“Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you.” – Exodus 20:24 NLT

God reiterated His commands concerning idolatry and spiritual adultery. The people were to have no other gods but Yahweh. And they were to worship Yahweh on His terms. They were prohibited from following the ways of the pagans and emulating their unacceptable worship practices. These rather strange-sounding instructions were meant to eliminate any and all of the pagan worship modes that the Israelites might try to copy.

God was very specific. He cared about His people’s behavior. He had strong opinions about their worship and the way they constructed their altars. He was a righteous God who demanded that His people worship Him in the right way. There was to be no impurity associated with their worship of Him. He would not tolerate indecency or impropriety.

His instructions regarding the altar provide a clear indication that sin was expected. The two kinds of sacrifices God mentions are tied directly to sin. The burnt offering was a sacrifice of atonement that paid for sin. The peace offering was meant to remind His people of the benefits of atonement for sin: a restored relationship with Him. Sin brought judgment. But atonement brought peace. That would be the ongoing relationship between God and His people, and it pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. His atoning work on the cross paid for the sins of mankind, once and for all, and provided permanent peace with God for all those who placed their faith in Him.

But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. – Hebrews 9:26-28 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

All For the Glory of God

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” – Exodus 20:12-17 ESV

The book of 2 Chronicles records Solomon’s dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. He had spent years supervising the construction of this magnificent structure that was to serve as the dwelling place of God on earth.

“I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” – 2 Chronicles 6:2 ESV

But Solomon understood that the God of the universe could not be contained in a structure built by human hands – no matter how glorious and opulent it may be. So, he asked God to honor the temple by answering the prayers of all those who view it as a symbol of His glory and greatness.

“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.” – 2 Chronicles 6:18-21 ESV

On that auspicious occasion, God gave His visible approval of Solomon’s beautiful creation by filling it with His glory (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). Then He made Solomon a promise.

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:12-14 ESV

God reminded Solomon that the people of Israel bore His name. They were His representatives on earth and, as such, they were to honor Him by the way they lived their lives. But His people had a track record of disobedience and rebellion. They found it difficult to live in keeping with His will and in compliance with His law; a problem that extended all the way back to Mount Sinai. Ever since God gave His law to Moses, the people of Israel had revealed their inability to live up to its exacting standards. And yet, each of the laws found in the Decalogue was intended to help differentiate the people of Israel from the rest of humanity. They alone bore God’s name and their adherence to His law was intended to set them apart as a one-of-a-kind nation that shared a totally unique relationship with Him.

The laws God gave them were not disciplinary or punitive. They were a reflection of His divine character and provided insights into His priorities concerning mankind. They reveal God’s divine perspective on the human condition. That’s why six of the ten commandments are horizontal in their emphasis, dealing with the interactions between God’s people.

In the fifth commandment, God places a high priority on authority, demanding that His people show proper respect and honor to their parents. The family unit was God’s idea and He created it with a hierarchical structure that served as a model of His own role as the Heavenly Father. Just as He gave life to all humanity, the father and mother were the means by which children came into the world. And as God’s co-creators, they were worthy of honor. A child who refuses to live in obedience to his parents will find it difficult to submit to the will of a God he cannot see.

The apostle Paul reiterated this command in his letter to the believers in Ephesus.

Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” – Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV

It is essential that children learn to live in submission to God-ordained authority if they are going to be contributing members of God’s family. Learning to obey begins at home. Household rules are the foundational platform for teaching obedience to God’s law. A child who refuses to obey and honor his parents will find it impossible to submit to the will of God.

It is interesting to note that the very next commandment prohibits murder – the willful taking of innocent human life. This appears to reflect back on the very first family God created. Adam and Eve produced two sons, Cain and Abel, and it was not long after sin entered the world, that Cain made the fateful decision to murder his brother. Motivated by jealousy and driven by a desire for self-determination, Cain decided to play god and take the life of his brother. In doing so, he took that which did not belong to him. He robbed Abel of life and stole glory from God, who is the giver of life.

The next command continues the theme of taking that which does not belong to you. In this case, it deals with adultery, the sin of taking another man’s wife. With this command, God is displaying His high regard for the institution of marriage and all covenantal relationships. Adultery reveals a blatant disregard for that which God deems binding and unbreakable. Jesus would echo His Father’s words when addressing the issue of divorce in His own day.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matthew 19:5-6 ESV

It is not a coincidence that God used the sin of adultery to describe the unfaithfulness of His own people, declaring, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree” (Jeremiah 3:6 NLT). Infidelity would become a regular and recurring problem for the Israelites – within their marriage relationships but also in terms of their faithlessness to God.

Again, the eighth commandment carries a prohibition against taking that which does not belong to you. This time the context is stealing the property of others. Theft shows a disregard for the other person’s rights and reveals a lack of faith in the providential care of God. To take what belongs to another is to say that God has not provided for your needs. An Israelite who would steal from one of his brothers or sisters was giving evidence of a lack of faith in God. The apostle James describes the real problem behind the act of theft.

You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. – James 4:2-3 NLT 

The ninth commandment prohibits the taking of someone else’s reputation. To bear false witness is to spread inaccurate and damaging information about another person designed to question their integrity and destroy their name. It is hateful and harmful. It is to purposefully spread lies about another person with the intent to rob them of honor and esteem in the eyes of others. This was the very sin God accused His people of in the book of Ezekiel.

“I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations.” – Ezekiel 36:22-23 NLT

The people of Israel had robbed God of glory by questioning and doubting His integrity and honor. Their behavior demonstrated their lack of trust in His goodness and greatness. Their actions were a form of bearing false witness, making false statements about the faithfulness of God that questioned His power and provision.

The last of the ten commandments deals with the problem of coveteousness. At the core of coveteousness is a lack of contentment. Coveteousness is an obsessive desire to possess what God has not provided. That which we covet is not a legitimate need but a self-determined want that we demand to be fulfilled at all costs. The focus here is less on the external act than the motivation behind it. Coveteousness displays a lack of faith in God’s provision. Seeing someone who has been blessed with a spouse, a house, an asset, or anything else of value, and demanding that those things be yours, is to question the integrity and goodness of God. It accuses God of favoritism, inequity, and injustice. 

Ultimately, all of these commands point back to God. The interrelational aspect they describe has far more to do with the Israelites’ views of God than anything else. The manner in which they treated one another would be a direct reflection of their understanding of God and their relationship with Him. He was calling them to a life of holiness that was intended to illustrate His own set-apart status. They were to be holy as He is holy. They were to reflect His character by valuing what He valued and holding in high esteem those things that were near and dear to His heart.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Set Apart to Stand Out

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20:4-11 ESV

God’s sovereignty versus man’s autonomy – that is the battle of the ages and it has been going on ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Their fateful decision was motivated by the desire for self-rule that they believed would give them the freedom to do as they pleased. They had bought into the lies of the enemy, who had convinced them that they could make up their own rules based on their own personal preferences. That is what Satan meant when he claimed “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5 ESV). He promised them that they would become a law unto themselves, with the power to make their own determination regarding what was right or wrong. And he falsely assured them that the first step to achieving their freedom was to reject the tyranny of God by refusing to abide by His restrictive commands.

But their decision didn’t produce a moral Shangrila, a place where everyone did as they pleased and enjoyed all the supposed perks that self-determination offers. No, the fall produced an atmosphere of moral relativism in which every man did that which was right in his own eyes and all for his own personal benefit.

So, by the time the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they had spent four centuries immersed in a society where moral relativism had been on full display. It’s not that Egypt had been a lawless place where everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. But it was a society that had long ago rejected the God of Noah. The Egyptians were the descendants of Ham, one of the sons of Noah (Psalm 78:51; 105:23). But they did not “walk with God” as Noah had. Instead, they chose a path that, according to the apostle Paul, led to a darkened state, marked by idolatry and wickedness.  

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began God . As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. – Romans 1:18-23 NLT

What an apt and accurate description of the Egyptian culture in which the Israelites had been immersed for nearly 400 years. There was no shortage of gods in the land of Ham, including the Pharaoh who was believed to be a deity in human form. But for the Israelites, things were to be different. God had chosen them as His own. In fact, He had created them out of nothing, having produced a nation from an elderly man from Ur and his barren wife. 

From Abram and Sarai, God had produced the nation of Israel. And now, they stood at the base of Mount Sinai, waiting for their God-appointed leader, Moses, to return from his divine appointment on the summit. And little did they know that Moses was going to return with God’s law in hand. His time on the mountaintop would mark a watershed moment for the people of God. They were His chosen people, and now they were going to learn how God’s chosen people were expected to live their lives. It would begin with the Decalogue, the “ten words” that would encapsulate and summarize all that would follow. God was going to give the people a detailed and lengthy code of conduct that covered virtually every area of human interaction, including their relationship with God and with one another. But the Ten Commandments were intended to provide a memorable and easy-to-follow outline for their behavior as God’s set-apart people.

And it began with their acknowledgment of His one-of-a-kind status as God.

“You must not have any other god but me.” – Exodus 20:3 NLT

Unlike the Egyptians and every other people group on earth, the Israelites were to worship Yahweh alone. He had created them, redeemed them, and blessed them with the privilege of being His “treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5 ESV). As such, they were not to live or behave like any of the other nations. Their conduct was to mirror their unique status as God’s chosen people. And those who worshiped the one true God were prohibited from creating substitutes for Him.

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” – Exodus 20:4-5 NLT

God put this non-negotiable restriction in place because He knew His people would be prone to emulate the ways of Egypt, where false gods were so plentiful and prevalent, it was impossible to know how many there really were. For the Israelites, one God was to be more than enough. Their God had defeated all the false gods of Egypt and was worthy of their unwavering devotion and honor.

“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” – Exodus 19:4 NLT

The first four commandments focus on the Israelites’ relationship with God. They are God-centric and call for a sold-out commitment to Him and Him alone. Their acknowledgment of God as their one and only God is to be accompanied by a proper respect for His name.

“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” – Exodus 20:7 NLT

God’s name is an extension of His character or identity. To misuse His name is tantamount to questioning His very nature. To treat His name(s) in a flippant or disrespectful manner would be no less egregious than denying His holiness. But there is more to this command than merely treating God’s name with respect. From this point forward, the name of God would be associated with the people of Israel. In fact, the name Israel can be translated, as “let God rule.” As a people, they bore the name of God, and it was their privilege and responsibility to bear that name well. Everything they did, they did in the name of God. They were the sons and daughters of Yahweh and their behavior would reflect either positively or negatively on their Father.

Centuries later, the prophet Ezekiel would record God’s indictment of Israel for having profaned His name among the Gentiles.

“…they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’” – Ezekiel 36:20 ESV

The apostle Paul provides a stunning description of what it meant for the Israelites to misuse God’s name.

You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.” – Romans 2:23-24 NLT

To break God’s law is to dishonor God’s name. To live in disobedience to His commands is to denigrate His holiness through your actions. A child of God who refuses to keep the commands of God brings dishonor to the name of God.

And God provided His people with the Sabbath as a tangible way to display their set-apart status and to prove their commitment to His honor and glory.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.” – Exodus 20:8-10 NLT

God was to be sovereign over every area of their lives. By dedicating that one day to Him alone, they would be acknowledging His role as their provider and protector. The God who created the heavens and the earth would meet all their needs as long as they remembered to honor Him for who He was and all that He had done for them.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. – Exodus 20:11 NLT

The Sabbath was not so much a respite from work as it was a reminder of God’s creating and sustaining power. God did not rest on the seventh day because He was weary; he ceased work because His will had been accomplished. He had done all He had planned to do. The creation was complete and perfect. And in a sense, resting on the Sabbath was a way for the people of Israel to recognize the perfection of God’s plan for them. It was a way of honoring His perfect, providential purposes for their lives. They could rest knowing that God had all things under control and operating according to His sovereign plan.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

God’s Sovereignty Versus Man’s Autonomy

1And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “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 ESV

All the way back in the garden of Eden, an epic battle took place when Satan, in the guise of a wily serpent, tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the one tree that God had declared to be off limits.

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 ESV

God placed a prohibition on consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that carried the penalty of death for its violation. But when Eve encountered the cleverly-disguised enemy of God in the garden, he raised doubts about God’s commands.

“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” – Genesis 3:1 ESV

He began by purposely twisting the words of God, in an attempt to confuse his prey. And Eve attempted to correct his seeming misstatement but ended up misrepresenting what God had said regarding the tree.

“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” – Genesis 3:2-3 ESV

Satan, sensing Eve’s obvious confusion, used this opportunity to question God’s motivation for giving the command in the first place. He raised doubts about God’s intentions, in the hopes of casting aspersions about God’s integrity.

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5 ESV

At that moment, Eve was faced with a decision. The serpent was offering her the chance to be her own god. By eating the forbidden fruit, she would gain insight and knowledge that would allow her to be autonomous and self-determining. She could decide what was best for herself. She would become the captain of her own ship and the master of her own fate. The capacity to know good and evil meant that she would be able to determine her own actions and outcomes. She could create her own laws, deciding for herself what was acceptable and unacceptable. The only rules she would have to live by were the ones she created.

As the woman considered her options, she was persuaded by the rhetoric of the serpent and the tantalizing allure of the forbidden fruit – and she gave in to her base desires. She ate the fruit and shared it with her husband. And at that fateful moment, a battle began that has continued for millennia. The man and woman whom God had created decided that they were better off being their own gods. They chose autonomy over God’s sovereignty, and it wasn’t long before they became self-obsessed with self-rule. With their decision to disobey the law of God, the first couple ushered in the age of self-determination, and within a relatively short period of time, their descendants displayed the dark destination that lay at the end of that path.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. – Genesis 6:5 ESV

That sad state of affairs resulted in God destroying every human being who lived on the planet, except for one man and his family. In the midst of all that darkness and sin, one man is singled out. 

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:8 ESV

While every other human being on the planet had taken the path of self-rule, Noah had determined to remain under God’s rule. He is described as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9 ESV). He wasn’t sinless or perfect, but he exhibited a desire to live according to God’s will rather than his own. 

Noah walked with God. – Genesis 6:9 ESV

This is the same statement made about another man who happens to be a predecessor of Noah.

Enoch walked with God… – Genesis 5:22 ESV

Both men “walked” with God. The Hebrew word is הָלַךְ (hālaḵ) and, in this context, it carries the idea of living life or conducting one’s life in keeping with God’s will. While everyone else around them was doing what was right in their own eyes, Enoch and Noah were swimming against the tide and walking in lock-step with God.

Noah had followed in the footsteps of his godly ancestor, and his faithfulness to God resulted in his salvation by God. When the flood came upon the earth, Noah and his family were spared death and given a new opportunity to “be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it” (Genesis 9:7 ESV). And they did. But the results were no less disappointing than before.

From Noah and his three sons would come a new, but not improved, mankind. Their descendants would begin to multiply but rather than keep God’s command to fill the earth, they chose to remain at a place called Babel and erect a monument to their own significance.

“Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” – Genesis 11:4 NLT

Rather than obey God, they chose to follow their own desires and satisfy their own sense of self-importance. But God put an end to their arrogant display of autonomy by confusing their languages. No longer able to communicate or cooperate, the people disbanded and spread out all over the face of the world, and some ended up in a place called Ur, including a man named Terah. And this one man would have a son who would play a major role in the future of mankind.

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. – Genesis 11:27-28 ESV

This foreign-speaking, idol-worshiping pagan from the land of Mesopotamia, would become the father of the patriarch of God’s chosen people. Abram would be God’s choice for another reboot of the system. The last time, God chose a man named Noah who was righteous and walked with Him. This time, God chose a pagan who worshiped false gods and who had no concept of what it meant to walk with the one true God. This man would be the future hope of the world. This man would receive a personal invitation and a powerful promise from God that would dramatically alter the moral landscape of humanity.

“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:1-3 NLT

With the invitation extended and the promise stated Abram had a choice to make. He could remain where he was and live out his life in Ur, or he could obey this newly revealed deity and move his family all the way to a land he had never seen or heard of. And Genesis 12 reveals that “Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4 ESV). He did as God commanded. In other words, he walked with God. He followed in the footsteps of Enoch and Noah, living his life in keeping with the will of God.

The book of Hebrews includes Abram’s name in the great “Hall of Faith,” where the lives of various Old Testament saints are memorialized for their faithful adherence to God’s revealed will. Abram is described as an obedient servant of God who trusted in the faithfulness of God to keep His promises.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. – Hebrews 11:8-9 ESV

And from this one man came the nation of Israel. God had promised to produce a great nation from this one man, despite the fact that Abram was 75 years old when God called him in Ur. And to make matters worse, this man’s elderly wife was barren. But God fulfilled His promise to Abram. His grandson, Jacob, would eventually lead his small clan of 70 people into the land of Egypt to escape a famine in the land of Canaan. And over the next four centuries, with God’s help, that small group would grow into a mighty nation.

All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. – Exodus 1:5-7 ESV

It was that very same group that Moses led out of the land of Egypt and who now stood at the base of Mount Sinai. There, from their vantage point in the valley, they could see the dense storm cloud hovering over the mountaintop. The peals of thunder and bright flashes of lightning left them awestruck and fearful as God made His powerful presence known. And as Moses and Aaron made their way to the top of the mountain, the people had no way of knowing what was about to happen next.

But their future was about to be radically and unalterably changed. From that lofty spot on the top of the mountain, Moses would receive the law of God, a written compendium of all God’s commands that the people of Israel would be required to keep. No longer would Moses have to sit in the seat of judgment and seek the counsel of God. From this point forward, there would be a written code of conduct that determined how the people were to “walk with God.”

God’s sovereignty was going to trump human autonomy. When it came to how they were to conduct their lives, the descendants of Abraham would have a clear and uncompromising canon of divine regulations to guide them. No one would be free to do what was right in their own eyes. God was going to make His will known and put it in writing. And it should come as no surprise that the first command He gave addressed the ongoing problem of human autonomy and the desire for self-rule.

“You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3 ESV

The Israelites were forbidden to worship any God but Yahweh, and that prohibition included self-worship. Unlike Adam and Eve, the Israelites were to refrain from making their own rules or living by their own set of standards. There was no place for autonomy when God was clearly declaring His sovereignty. He alone was God and He alone could determine the code of conduct that would regulate the lives of His people.

From this moment forward, the people of Israel would be set apart and separated from the rest of the nations on earth by a unique set of laws that would regulate every area of their lives. Nothing was left out. Their entire way of life was going to be regulated by God, for their good and His glory. And it all began with their acknowledgment of His sovereignty and their disavowal of their autonomy.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

This God.

“For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?
This God is my strong refuge
    and has made my way blameless.
He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your gentleness made me great.
You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip;
I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
    and did not turn back until they were consumed.
I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
    they fell under my feet.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me,[g]
    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
They looked, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.”  – 2 Samuel 22:32-43 ESV

Whether we want to admit it or not, we have other gods we worship. And it has always been that way. While some of our national currency still carries the phrase, “One Nation Under God”, it has never said, “One God Over the Nation.” Like every culture and generation before us, we Americans have, and always have had, a predisposition toward idolatry. And the people of Israel were no different. That’s why God gave them the Ten Commandments, the first four of which have to deal with man’s relationship with God. God prefaced His list of commands with the statement, “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2 NLT). He was telling Moses and the people of Israel that He was to be their God, their one and only God. And then He clarified exactly what He meant. “You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3 NLT). In other words, unlike all the other cultures around them, they were to have only one god, not many. They were to worship one deity, not a plethora of gods like the Egyptians had. They were to give their allegiance to the one true God. And it was not as if God was admitting that He had real competition and was demanding their undivided attention. God didn’t have to worry about competitors, but He did have to be concerned about man’s natural tendency to create false gods, man-made substitutes or stand-ins for Him. That is why the psalmist wrote:

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
    shaped by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak,
    and eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear,
    and noses but cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel,
    and feet but cannot walk,
    and throats but cannot make a sound.
And those who make idols are just like them,
    as are all who trust in them. – Psalm 115:4-8 NLT

But the fact that these gods are false has never stopped men from placing their hope in them. And while the psalmist is obviously referring to actual 3-dimensional idols made to represent a false deity, we 21st-Century human beings have moved to a much more sophisticated, yet sinister, form of idolatry. Our gods come in a variety of forms. They don’t sit on a shelf where we offer literal sacrifices to them. But they demand our worship nonetheless. We have made gods out of everything from work to entertainment, the television in our home to the money in our bank. There are so many things in our lives that demand our undivided attention or, to put it another way, our worship. We revere these things and sacrifice our time, attention and even our money to them. We turn to them in times of trouble, hoping they will rescue us. We lean on them for a sense of contentment and happiness during the dark days of our lives. We seek satisfaction from them. We put our hope in them. But the God would remind us:

“To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?
Some people pour out their silver and gold
    and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
    Then they bow down and worship it!
They carry it around on their shoulders,
    and when they set it down, it stays there.
    It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
    It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.” – Isaiah 46:5-7 NLT

David knew there was no reliable source for help and hope in his life, but God. Which is why he rhetorically asks, “who is God except the Lord?” The answer is obvious: No one. There is no god but God. He has no real competition. We may attempt to find help elsewhere, but those things will always come up short. They can’t deliver. That is why David said, “This God is my strong refuge” (2 Samuel 22:33 ESV). It was God to whom he turned for help, hope, safety, security, rescue, rest, strength and victory. THIS God, and no other.

In this passage, David weaves together an interesting mixture of pronouns, repeatedly referring to both himself and God. He was not putting himself on the same level with God, but was simply trying to show that his life was totally dependent upon God.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer… – vs 34

He trains my hands for battle… – vs 35

You have given me your shield of victory… – vs 36

…your help has made me great… – vs 36

You have made a wide path for my feet… – vs 37

It was God who had done these things for David and, as a result, David was able to say:

I chased my enemies and destroyed them… – vs 38

I did not stop until they were conquered… – vs 38

I consumed them… – vs 39

I struck them down… – vs 39

I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth… – vs 43

David had done his part, but only because God had made it possible. David knew he was not a self-made man. He could take no credit for his victories. He was in no place to brag about his exploits – apart from God’s help. Anything he had done of value in his life was attributable to God. God got the glory. God deserved the credit. Which is why David was able to say to God, “your help has made me great” (2 Samuel 22:36 NLT). He had no problem acknowledging God as the source of all his victories and the explanation behind any value he had as a person. Without God, David was nothing. Apart from God, David would have done nothing. At least, nothing of lasting note or significance. It was as if David was saying, “THIS God has made THIS man who he is.”

How easy it is for us to take credit for what God has done. How tempting it is to give credit to someone or something else, for what is clearly the work of God in our lives. We are sometimes prone to give more credit to luck than we do to the Lord. We explain our good fortune as fortuitous, when we should be given God the praise He deserves. Back in Exodus 20, we read the words of God. “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods” (Exodus 20:5 NLT). God will share His glory with anyone or anything. He will not tolerate faithlessness and infidelity among His people. Which is why He repeatedly referred to the people of Israel as adulterous. They cheated on Him, on a regular basis. They shared their attention and affections with others. They refused to give Him the credit He deserved and the honor His status as God demanded. But we are so often guilty of the same thing. And David provides us with a sobering reminder that THIS God of ours is worthy of our praise, glory, honor, gratitude, worship, and undivided attention. For who is God except the Lord?

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson