01 The First Commandment
By Rev. William De Jong
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 bondage.
1. You shall have no other gods before Me. [Ex. 20:3]
Are There Other Gods? Idol gods are 'nothing' (cf. Isa. 2:8, Isa. 2:18, Isa. 2:20). Does the first commandment beat air then? The New Testament also warns against idols (1 John 5:21). There are certain realities and powers in the world which must never be 'idolized.' Baal did not exist, yet the powers he represented, e.g. fertility, growth, rain, etc., were real powers, creative powers that must never be divorced from the Creator. Estranged from the Creator of rain and thunder, people began to worship the creature rather than the Creator. People worship powerful forces within creation as if they were deities. They are not gods therefore, but gods falsely so-called (1Cor. 8:4-7). Consider also these creative realities which can be idolized: sexuality, alcohol, love, authority, intellect, money, covetousness, the stomach, tradition, etc. In their right place, these things serve people, in their wrong place they master them. God will surrender fallen men to their desires (Rom. 1:24-25). Addiction, says Michael Horton, is simply a euphemism for idolatry.
Choosing God. In the covenant ceremony recorded in Joshua 24:14ff [Jos. 24]. , we learn that the choice FOR God is a radical and decisive one. It's a matter of either/or, not both/and. We cannot serve God and mammon (Mat. 6:24). See also Deut. 27:11 ff; Deut. 31:9 ff, Deut. 31:24 ff. Consider the Shema (Deut. 6:4 ff. cf. Mat. 22:37). Choosing God means loving Him. This love is emotional, but not merely so. To love is to stick by your choice. When a marriage gets into trouble, the only path to resolution is the choice of love. The emotional element may then be wholly or partially absent, but faithfulness and commitment must come out. Love is commitment. No third party may interfere. In the New Testament this commandment comes to us in terms of Jesus Christ. 'Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me,' Mat. 10:37 ff.). It is important to 'keep' God's words (Luke 8:15; 1 Tim. 6:20; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 5:2-3). One who keeps God's words is equipped to guard against idols. This is how we abide in Christ and he in us (1 John 3:24).
With an Undivided Heart. The first commandment must be obeyed with whole-heartedness. When Jesus proposed to the rich young ruler that he sell his possessions in order to be "perfect," he showed half-heartedness. Our love must be undifferentiating: we must love friend and foe alike, as our Father in heaven does (Mat 5:43 ff.)
Fortune Telling and Witchcraft. Read Deut. 18:10-14 and Lev. 19:31. The Bible takes mediums, witches and soothsayers seriously. Whoever gives his heart wholly to YAHWEH cannot listen to witches and soothsayers. Their words fall under the category of false prophecy (cf.Jer. 29:8; Ezek. 13:9; Acts 13:6). Consider Deut. 18:10-22. Today this means spiritism, fortune telling, palm reading, and horoscopes. Because witchcraft and unconventional abilities and 'powers' are to be judged by the category of false prophesy, going to Benny Hinn for a 'faith healing' would be a no-no. Going to a chiropractor who will put pins in your back, but has no intention of indoctrinating you or impressing upon you some alternative lifestyle or world view, would not be wrong necessarily. Clairvoyants can be used to solve murders — they have nothing to do with false prophecy. Voetius distinguished between (1) the magia bona — the art of knowing hidden properties of natural things. This is not the occult, says Voetius, Geesink and Schilder; (2) the magia vana — playful, non-verbal magic. No hidden forces are employed; simply manual dexterity (sleight of hand) and; (3) the magia superstitiosa — superstitious sorcery. This must be rejected in line with Deut.18 and Lev.19.
The One God and our Suffering. The first commandment requires us to accept suffering from God's hand. Ursinus explains patience. Patience is to obey God in submissively enduring the various evils that he sends upon us, from a knowledge of the divine majesty and from an assurance of God's assistance and deliverance. Many deny that suffering comes from God's hand. If the devil isn't real, than Fate is. This denies the one true and all-powerful God. To deny or limit God's sovereignty is to break the first commandment. Though suffering is a consequence of man's sin, it comes from God's hand. Guilt for suffering and death must not be laid at God's feet. The catechism highlights 'humility' — modesty when it comes to evil and suffering, looking first to oneself (1 Pet. 5:6) and 'patience' — learning how the Lord blessed Job for his patience (James 5:11).
The One God and the Many Religions.What do you think of the Christ (Mat. 22:42)? Christ is the exclusive access to the Father (John 14:6). He shows us the Father (John 1:18).
The First Commandment as Liberation. For Babylonians and Philistines, etc., danger lurked on every side — in the lightning, the water, the sun, the storm, the heat and the cold. Certain rituals were necessary for protection — as means of placating the gods. Contrast this with the Creator. Under God, a tree is only a tree. Technology is unthinkable without the first commandment. It made possible the lightning rod and Hoover Dam. If divine power lives in a tree, it would be hazardous to cut it down. Everything in creation is useful, created good and not to be refused, if used with thanksgiving to God (1 Tim. 4:4). It was liberating for the Corinthians to hear that even meat sacrificed to idols was permissible food, since the earth belongs to the Lord (1 Cor. 10:25 ff; Ps. 24:1). Without the first commandment people become enslaved to money, to intelligence, to work, etc. To be free of idols, you must live with God. Otherwise you remain in slavery. It makes no fundamental difference whether you kneel in terror before images of deities or stand arrogantly on your own two feet. You glorify either creature or Creator (Rom. 1:21-32).