- “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.” In our context, it would be “I am the Lord your God who saved you through the sacrifice of my Son and adopted you as my child”. What does it mean that we must have no other gods that are more important to us?
Allegiance and loyalty to God and all that he stands for. Rejection of the world and all that it stands for.
- “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” How is this different from the first command? What do you think is the implication of God telling us that he is a jealous God who will favour those who love and obey him and oppose those who hate him?
This is about the act of worship and not about bowing or making images. Can we make an image of God (or Jesus) and worship said image? I think not. God must not be likened to any other because that would diminish our sense of who he is.
God telling us that he is a jealous God is a warning. The sin of corrupting our notion of who he is or even elevating any part of his Creation to his supreme position in our regard is not so easy to overcome and will infect subsequent generations, to their detriment. Man is made in the image of God and to corrupt that image is to corrupt man himself.
- “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Do you think using swear words like “god damn” or exclamations like “oh god” or “oh my god” are misuses of God’s name? What do you think this command is intended to curtail?
I rarely ever swear using God’s name but I have used “oh my god” in an exaggerated way, mimicking a cultural example; I should stop even that. It is disrespect and again diminishes our regard of God.
- At the heart of it all, these 3 commands shape the place of God in our lives, the way we think about him and the way we respond to him. Are there any aspects of the above 3 commands that you need to address?
As above.