Ten - Part 3 [Notes]

The Ten Commandments are probably the best-known list of "rules" ever recorded, but there is so much more to these commands than meets the eye; they provide a framework for understanding who God is and what it means to be a holy nation. Join us for "Ten," and together, we will discover just how amazing the gift of the Ten Commandments is!

Takeaway: Let go of idols and love God.

Do not have other gods besides Me.
– Exodus 20:3 (HCSB)

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.
– Exodus 20:4 (HCSB)

What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in life, and identity, then it is an idol.  
– Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.
– Exodus 20:4-6 (HCSB)

“Though made of stone or wood, the idols in the throne rooms of temples were thought, in some mystical sense, to actually embody the deities. A ceremony called ‘the opening of the mouth’ appears to have been the means by which the priests brought the idol to life. The ritual included acts of purification, followed by some form of opening of the idol’s mouth, clothing the idol, and feeding it. After the ritual, the idol was no longer a piece of wood or stone. It was an extension of the deity. Idols made the invisible gods visible and the intangible gods tangible.” 
–Adam Hamilton, Words of Life

When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
– Genesis 31:19 (HCSB)

“God emphasized something that was, and still is, central to Israel’s faith: that Yahweh is not to be portrayed by means of images or statues, for Israel’s God is the creator of all things. He transcends the created world, and nothing made by our hands or his could adequately represent him.” 
– Adam Hamilton, Words of Life

Let go of idols and love God.

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings  that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, this is your God,  who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”
– Exodus 32:1-4 (HCSB)

“It seems that the issue here is simple idolatry. They were not attempting to add another god to a pantheon, but they were attempting to worship the God who had delivered them from bondage in this idolatrous form. In short, it was not a matter of the people wanting more or newer gods, but a case of trying to worship the true God by means of a graven image. Thus, the golden calf was not merely a false god. Rather it was an attempt to depict the true God in a false way.
– Kevin Zuber

As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.
– Exodus 32:19-20 (HCSB)

“The forced drinking by the Israelites is not specified as punishment against them but represents the final, irreversible destruction of the calf.” 
– IVP Bible Background Commentary

Let go of idols and love God. 

We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come  and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One. We are in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
– 1 John 5:19-21 (HCSB)

No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.
– Matthew 6:24 (HCSB)

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
– Colossians 3:5 (HCSB)

Let go of idols and love God.
1. Guard against syncretism

Praise the Lord // Back to Life // Hymn of Heaven

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