1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,680 We continue our studies today in the series on the Ten Commandments, coming today to commandment 2 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:10,680 number two. 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,840 I ask you to open the Word of God with me to Exodus chapter 20, verses four through 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,880 six. 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:30,240 Precepts have flourished by their system of laws, their liberty, being based upon these 6 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:31,240 precepts. 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:37,640 George Henderson, a commentator now with the Lord, quotes an unnamed author as saying, 8 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:44,200 "'Like the granite rocks of the mountain on which they were given, these precepts formed 9 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:52,400 the immovable basis of the moral life of men and nations, the enduring groundwork of every 10 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,760 lofty and stable civilization.'" 11 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:05,320 I think we can also say that nations forsaking them have crumbled into decay and ruin. 12 00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:11,040 David testified in Psalm 19, the law of the Lord is perfect. 13 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:18,320 It is that, of course, because it reveals and reflects a perfect and holy God. 14 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:24,480 And the law demands perfection while cursing the sinner. 15 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:34,760 Woe to the one who seeks to be justified by the law and does not keep every part of it. 16 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:43,680 The book of James says that if we keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, we 17 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,400 are guilty of it all. 18 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:54,520 In other words, one failure and all of the law falls, crushing the transgressor under 19 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:56,520 its weight. 20 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:03,160 Woe to the one trying to be justified by the law, because as sinners it is impossible for 21 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,480 us to do so. 22 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:12,560 God did not give us the law in order for us to find a way to heaven thereby, but rather 23 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:20,840 He gave the law in order that we might clearly see our sin contrasted with His holiness. 24 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:27,520 The Lord Jesus Christ died under the curse of the law, not having been a sinner but taking 25 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,820 upon Himself our sin. 26 00:02:30,820 --> 00:02:36,080 He died to deliver His people from the law's condemnation. 27 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:41,200 So let me make it clear that we are not studying the Ten Commandments so that we can find a 28 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,380 way to heaven. 29 00:02:44,380 --> 00:02:51,920 We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, but there is profit for us in studying 30 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,120 the Ten Commandments. 31 00:02:54,120 --> 00:03:00,800 These commandments show to us the moral perfections of God in ethical terms which we can understand. 32 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:07,520 But the law also reveals to us, in a sense, the love of God. 33 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,280 For the law forbids activities that ruin and waste a life. 34 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:18,080 God does not want us to live that kind of a life, and so in love He has warned us of 35 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:27,720 those kinds of activities, actions, and attitudes which ruin and spoil one's life. 36 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:33,240 After establishing Himself in our Scripture as the only God, the only one whom they were 37 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:41,400 to worship, God now instructs them further in how to worship Him. 38 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:48,480 The first two commandments deal with worship, indicating that it is a priority. 39 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,200 Worship is priority. 40 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:58,440 The second commandment does not repeat the first commandment, but rather it builds upon 41 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,120 it and flows out from it. 42 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:10,240 It tells us that how we worship God is as important as that we worship God. 43 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:15,840 And it's interesting to see that God has more to say in connection with this commandment 44 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,880 than any of the other ten. 45 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:26,560 You shall make no idol, the Lord says. 46 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,440 Let's look closer at the statement of God's command. 47 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,960 There are really three parts to it. 48 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,600 We've already read it in our Scripture reading this morning, so I will dispense with that 49 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,380 now. 50 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:45,220 The first part of the command is, you shall not make an idol. 51 00:04:45,220 --> 00:04:51,880 The Hebrew word idol means a figure of carved wood or stone. 52 00:04:51,880 --> 00:05:01,040 Idols came also to be made out of other materials, but the idea is a man-made figure of worship 53 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,280 of whatever substance. 54 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,080 God says first, you shall not make an idol. 55 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:10,300 And then He says, you shall not worship them. 56 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:15,200 That is, idols made in the likeness of the things mentioned in verse 4. 57 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:22,520 Whether like the birds of the air or beasts or mankind on the face of the earth or fish 58 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:27,720 that are in the sea, we are not to worship those things. 59 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,240 Idols made in their likeness. 60 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,600 The word worship means to bend before them. 61 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:42,900 The idea is to invoke God's name in prayer while bending before one of these figures. 62 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:46,840 The third part of the command is, you shall not serve them. 63 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:55,180 The word serve suggests worship by means of sacrifice or ceremonial ritual. 64 00:05:55,180 --> 00:05:59,400 So God says, you shall not make an idol. 65 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,920 You shall not worship an idol. 66 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:07,520 You shall not serve an idol. 67 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:14,880 It is important to understand what God means by this. 68 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,400 Let me say first that this is not a commandment against art. 69 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,200 So all of you artists can relax. 70 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,760 God is not condemning art. 71 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:33,460 He is not making a commandment here against sculpture or painting. 72 00:06:33,460 --> 00:06:38,600 Nor is God forbidding the making of the representation of anything. 73 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:47,280 Indeed, it was not long after this that God commanded his people to make the likeness 74 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:55,000 of cherubim as a part of the mercy seat in the holy place. 75 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,060 So God himself commanded the making of the representation of something. 76 00:07:00,060 --> 00:07:05,640 So God is not outlawing the representation of everything. 77 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:11,040 There are some people who look at this command and in the light of it refuse to have a picture 78 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:17,480 in their home or they refuse to have the photographs of themselves made because we are not to make 79 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,280 an image, it says. 80 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:24,920 I'd like to point out that such an interpretation is improper. 81 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:32,000 It is improper because it is overly legalistic and superficial. 82 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:38,000 It's not the right interpretation of this command. 83 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:44,120 When we interpret scripture, we have to remember that it is to be interpreted literally. 84 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,760 But that means that we interpret it within its grammatical context and its historical 85 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:49,760 background. 86 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:57,280 In other words, we have to find out what the words mean here and there are biblical tools 87 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,320 that we have, study aids that we have to find out. 88 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:07,840 And once we ascertain what the words mean, then we have to look at them in their cultural 89 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:14,940 usage in that time period so that we understand what is meant there. 90 00:08:14,940 --> 00:08:21,040 We have to interpret scripture literally but not legalistically and superficially so avoid 91 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,640 that kind of thing. 92 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:31,280 Rather what God is commanding here is that there be no worshipping of himself, the true 93 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:39,400 God, using any form or likeness of something or someone. 94 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:45,320 God's point is not that we should have no idol worship of a false God. 95 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,000 He made that point in commandment one. 96 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,980 No other God is before me. 97 00:08:52,980 --> 00:08:57,420 So this is not a commandment against idol worship of a false God. 98 00:08:57,420 --> 00:09:04,600 This is a commandment of idol worship of the true God. 99 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:12,320 God is saying here that we are not to make anything that would represent him to us. 100 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:18,880 We are not to make something which is an aid to the worship of him, the true God. 101 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,360 That's the point that God is making in this commandment. 102 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,280 Now why does God say this? 103 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,360 There's a theological reason. 104 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:35,160 Whatever is made is inherently limited. 105 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:36,720 It is limited by its makeup. 106 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:42,420 It is limited by the mind and the imagination of its creator. 107 00:09:42,420 --> 00:09:49,920 So anything that a man makes to be an idol is by its nature limited. 108 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:59,640 And because it is limited it cannot represent accurately an unlimited infinite God. 109 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:09,160 Therefore whatever the idol is, it is a false representation of God who is infinite. 110 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:17,480 It is impossible to make an idol that would accurately and adequately represent God. 111 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:23,960 Therefore he commands no idols to represent me. 112 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:30,760 Kyle and Delich in their commentaries say, whenever Jehovah, the God who cannot be copied 113 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:37,480 because he reveals his spiritual nature in no visible form, is worshiped under some visible 114 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:42,640 image, the glory of the invisible God is changed. 115 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:49,000 Or Jehovah changed into a different God from what he really is. 116 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,340 You see that's the point. 117 00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:56,120 Any image distorts and perverts the glory of God. 118 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,200 God has revealed himself without form. 119 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,200 God is spirit. 120 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:07,080 Therefore he says make nothing to represent me because nothing can. 121 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,280 Whatever you make will be false. 122 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,660 That's the theological reason. 123 00:11:13,660 --> 00:11:18,440 There is another reason, practical reason, really two of them. 124 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,160 One first for the nation of Israel. 125 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,880 In that day every nation had its gods. 126 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:30,280 And when an opposing army conquered a nation, it would destroy the gods of the conquered 127 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:31,840 nation. 128 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:37,520 In doing that they would seek to demoralize the nation and disrupt and destroy its unity 129 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:43,360 because the unity was often built around the worship of the gods. 130 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,920 Cyrus Gordon makes a comment about this. 131 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,840 He says, it is worth noting that the defeated nations on seeing their idols dragged off 132 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:59,080 or smashed tended to become demoralized and lose their identity. 133 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:05,180 Assyria, Babylonia, the Seleucids, and Rome could not destroy the Jewish religion partly 134 00:12:05,180 --> 00:12:13,480 because God and his people's allegiance to him were incorporeal and therefore indestructible. 135 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:19,960 The second commandment thus paved the way for the historic survival of Yahwism, that 136 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,140 is the worship of Yahweh, the one true God. 137 00:12:24,140 --> 00:12:31,800 They could not destroy the unity of the people, the spirit of the people by destroying their 138 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,820 God because they had no representation of their God. 139 00:12:35,820 --> 00:12:41,020 Their God was invisible, their God was spirit, and that cannot be destroyed. 140 00:12:41,020 --> 00:12:42,520 So that was a very practical reason. 141 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,960 God said, make no images of me. 142 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:50,440 Thus in later years when they would be destroyed there would be no images of God to be taken 143 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:55,000 away and therefore the nation would not be completely demoralized. 144 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:01,640 There's an individual reason that we need to look at pragmatically also. 145 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:09,680 That is that we become like that which we worship. 146 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:16,240 And if what we are worshiping is a false representation of God and therefore false theology, we will 147 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,760 become false. 148 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:24,720 False worship leads to false living. 149 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,440 False theology leads to false behavior. 150 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:33,640 The one follows the other. 151 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,840 So there's a practical reason for the individual as well. 152 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:46,040 We are warned not to worship God after images because to worship Him in that way is to worship 153 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:52,200 Him falsely and that will lead to corruption in us morally. 154 00:13:52,200 --> 00:14:01,000 You follow any idolatry in the world and it will inevitably lead to immorality and corruption 155 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:07,720 in the ethics of that culture because false worship leads to that kind of thing. 156 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:14,840 So God's point is make no gods, no idols rather to represent me. 157 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:22,120 Do not worship before them and do not do ceremonial ritual service to them and think yourself 158 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,520 to be worshiping me. 159 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:29,560 You see that was the problem with the golden calf really. 160 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:37,760 When the golden calf was made, the people said here is the God that brought you Israel 161 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,640 out of Egypt. 162 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,160 And what was Aaron's response? 163 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,400 Let's have a feast to the Lord. 164 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:53,680 You see they were not creating a brand new God in this golden calf. 165 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,320 They were saying we don't know where this fellow Moses is. 166 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,880 He hasn't come back from that mountain up there. 167 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:05,840 So we need to make some kind of an image of the God who has revealed Himself. 168 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:14,800 And so what they were saying was this golden calf represents Yahweh, Elohim to us. 169 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,280 And God judged them for that. 170 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:24,920 Three thousand of them died in that day because they worshiped God improperly. 171 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,960 We have not only the statement of God's command but the statement of His character in our 172 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,640 text. 173 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,820 He says in verse 5, I the Lord your God. 174 00:15:35,820 --> 00:15:42,280 We looked last week at the meaning of these names, Yahweh, Elohim. 175 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:48,680 Yahweh comes from a root verb hava which means to be or being. 176 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:54,540 It refers to eternal self existence. 177 00:15:54,540 --> 00:16:02,920 God is the God who says about Himself, I am. 178 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,120 Nothing more needs to be said. 179 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:11,880 Dr. Merrill Unger writes these helpful words. 180 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,920 The root idea is that of under-rived existence. 181 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:25,220 When it is said that God's name is He is, simply being is not all that is affirmed. 182 00:16:25,220 --> 00:16:30,400 He is in a sense in which no other being is. 183 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:35,840 He is and the cause of His being is in Himself. 184 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,360 He is because He is. 185 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:44,720 From the idea of under-rived and independent existence follows that of independent and 186 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,320 uncontrolled will and action. 187 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,720 A good comment about the name Yahweh. 188 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:56,400 There was a letter yesterday, perhaps you saw it in the Minneapolis paper from an atheist 189 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,280 decrying the existence of God. 190 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:05,120 His big problem is he can't figure out where God came from. 191 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:10,280 Well that is a problem that all of us have. 192 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:16,880 We can't understand a being having no beginning because we are created. 193 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:18,560 We are finite. 194 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:26,000 Infinity is beyond our comprehension. 195 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:36,620 God is, He has always been and because He is, He is not accountable to us for His actions. 196 00:17:36,620 --> 00:17:41,800 He does not need our counsel to choose His way. 197 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,540 He is. 198 00:17:46,540 --> 00:17:49,240 He can choose to do whatever He chooses to do. 199 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:55,240 He is limited only by His own nature. 200 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:56,740 He is Yahweh. 201 00:17:56,740 --> 00:17:59,920 There is none like Him. 202 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,080 And His name is Elohim. 203 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,880 Two words really comprise the one name Elohim. 204 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:13,920 El meaning unlimited strength and Allah meaning to swear or to make a covenant. 205 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,920 And so in this name God is reminding us that He is the one who swears, who makes covenant 206 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,140 by Himself. 207 00:18:21,140 --> 00:18:25,640 And with His unlimited strength and power He is able to fulfill His covenant. 208 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:30,240 He is Yahweh Elohim to His people. 209 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,080 God says that's who I am. 210 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,940 That's my name. 211 00:18:34,940 --> 00:18:40,060 Now He gives us three other statements regarding His character. 212 00:18:40,060 --> 00:18:43,800 He says that He is the God who is jealous. 213 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,720 I am a jealous God. 214 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,940 In another text He uses that as His name. 215 00:18:52,940 --> 00:19:00,160 He says my name is jealous, capital J. Now when we see that word we think sin immediately. 216 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:07,640 Because the only jealousy that we can relate to is sinful jealousy. 217 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:12,680 But there is such a thing as holy jealousy. 218 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:19,640 Once more the commentators, Kyle and Delich help us by saying it means He will not transfer 219 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:27,080 to another the honor that is due to Himself nor tolerate the worship of any other God. 220 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:33,080 That's what God means when He says that He is a jealous God. 221 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:38,200 You can follow this theme through Exodus, Deuteronomy. 222 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:46,880 God again and again reminds us that He is a jealous God who will not allow His people 223 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:55,820 to give to an idol the worship that is due to Him alone. 224 00:19:55,820 --> 00:20:03,840 This is true today my friend as it was 3500 years ago. 225 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:09,560 God will not allow you and me to give our love and worship to another nor will He allow 226 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,960 us to worship Him improperly. 227 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,140 You see He is jealous for His glory. 228 00:20:15,140 --> 00:20:22,580 He will not allow His glory to be perverted by idols. 229 00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:24,680 He is the God who is jealous. 230 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,280 He is also a God who punishes. 231 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,000 How foreign that is to some people's idea of God. 232 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,700 They see only a God who forgives and blesses and is kind and God is that as we will see 233 00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:37,700 in a moment. 234 00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:46,160 But He is also a God who is capable of perfect hatred and a God who punishes. 235 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:53,320 It says that He visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth 236 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,680 generations of those who hate Him. 237 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:04,280 The heat of God's anger is expressed toward those who hate Him and the context that hatred 238 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:11,040 seems to be expressed by idol worship. 239 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:15,160 Even if the idol is intended to represent the true God or is intended only to be an 240 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,540 aid to the worship of God. 241 00:21:18,540 --> 00:21:23,160 God says if you worship me this way you hate me. 242 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:31,040 You are perverting my glory as the invisible eternal Yahweh Elohim. 243 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:36,880 Therefore I will visit iniquity of the fathers on the third and fourth generation. 244 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,640 What does that mean? 245 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:46,740 The language there in verse 5 is used in three other contexts in the Old Testament. 246 00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:47,740 What does it mean? 247 00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:54,560 Well let me say first what it does not mean because I think that this verse has been misused. 248 00:21:54,560 --> 00:22:00,600 It does not mean that God punishes children for the sins of their parents without any 249 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,440 fault of their own. 250 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,920 It is a basic principle of God's justice and He states it elsewhere in the Old Testament 251 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:19,120 that He does not punish innocent children for the sins of guilty fathers. 252 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:26,080 Nor does this verse mean that a child must repent for the sins of his parents or be bound 253 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,320 by them himself. 254 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,240 That is not what the scripture passage is saying. 255 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,880 What then does it mean? 256 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:42,160 God is saying to us here that false worship is likely to be transferred to succeeding 257 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,020 generations by the example of fathers. 258 00:22:47,020 --> 00:22:53,700 Children then tend to pick up that false worship and to fill up the sins of their forefathers 259 00:22:53,700 --> 00:23:04,040 so that when judgment finally comes in the patience of God it results not only from that 260 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:11,480 generation's evil but from the generations that preceded it as well. 261 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:16,880 It is the accumulation which God judges. 262 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:22,400 We see this exemplified in the Old Testament and I would simply give you a couple of references 263 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,240 to look up on your own. 264 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:29,560 Leviticus 26 verse 39 and Daniel 9 verse 16. 265 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:36,080 You will see that this is the meaning of this verse illustrated. 266 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,800 God is a God who punishes those who worship Him improperly. 267 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:46,680 But He is also a God, thirdly, who shows loving kindness. 268 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,200 G. Campbell Morgan says, proceed to notice the gracious promise standing side by side 269 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,200 with the warning. 270 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,960 There is very little doubt that the rendering of this ought to be showing mercy unto a thousand 271 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,680 generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. 272 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:07,920 That is to say that if a man sweeps the idols away and gets into living connection with 273 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:14,840 God, worshiping Him without anything between, the result will be that his child's child 274 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,200 will most likely so worship. 275 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:24,560 So just as there is a tendency for false worship to be passed down, there is also the tendency 276 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:30,400 for true worship to be given from one generation to another. 277 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:37,520 The contrast is that God allows the false worship to go on for three or four generations 278 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,480 and brings judgment. 279 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:47,120 Whereas the blessing, He says, goes to a thousand generations to those who love and obey Me. 280 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:52,480 What we see here is an example of grace abounding more. 281 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:59,080 Loving kindness is the Old Testament word for the grace of God. 282 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,280 So God, Yahweh Elohim, is a God who is jealous. 283 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:03,920 He is a God who punishes. 284 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:09,340 He is a God who also blesses with loving kindness. 285 00:25:09,340 --> 00:25:14,360 Before I go on, I do want to point out something that I think is significant here. 286 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:21,560 That is that we parents have a great responsibility. 287 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:30,080 What we communicate to our children about the worship of the true God is vital. 288 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:35,680 Not only is it important for them, but for their children and their children and their 289 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,520 children. 290 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:45,880 Do you realize that if the Lord carries and you are given great, great, great, great grandchildren, 291 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:55,440 that there is something of the impact of your life that will be imprinted upon them? 292 00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:10,400 That's why it is so important that what we do, what we say, is an accurate communication 293 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,880 of who and what God really is. 294 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:29,360 It is true that a child's initial understanding of God comes largely from the role of his 295 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:33,960 parents in his life. 296 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:45,120 It is absolutely crucial, moms and dads and grandparents, that we give to those generations 297 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:54,600 after us an accurate understanding of Yahweh Elohim. 298 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:02,440 Not just in content, but in the pattern of our lives as well. 299 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,240 Douglas Byers, a pastor in California, has written a helpful book on the Ten Commandments. 300 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:18,560 He states, worship has been trivialized because people have no awareness of how it matters 301 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,200 to the great Yahweh. 302 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,080 We are so prone to think, well, as long as a person is sincere, it doesn't really matter 303 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:27,800 how he worships God. 304 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,760 That is wrong. 305 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:35,160 It matters a great deal how we worship God. 306 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:41,040 Not just that we worship Him, but how we worship Him. 307 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:50,680 Cain and Abel both brought sacrifices to God, the true God. 308 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,240 One was accepted, the other rejected. 309 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:54,280 Why? 310 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,780 Because Cain worshiped God improperly. 311 00:27:58,780 --> 00:28:05,000 He did not worship God in the right manner. 312 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,760 There's a very real sense in which worship is risky business. 313 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:18,000 There's a sense in which it is truly dangerous to claim to worship God. 314 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,440 Because how we worship Him matters so much. 315 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:29,920 I would call to witness Nadab and Abihu, you recall them, sons of Aaron? 316 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:35,320 One day they were going to do some duty before the Lord in the tabernacle and went to the 317 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:42,240 wrong place to get the coals for their incense. 318 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:48,240 And when they brought this strange fire before the Lord, that fast fire came out of the Holy 319 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:53,320 of Holies and killed them both. 320 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,440 Because they were worshiping God in the wrong way. 321 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,760 God said, take the coals off of this altar, not there. 322 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,240 You say, that is so trivial. 323 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:07,700 Not to God it's not, my friend. 324 00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:12,920 Because God said, do it this way. 325 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:19,560 I call to witness Uzzah, a sincere man. 326 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,760 A man who was so concerned about the ark of God getting to Jerusalem that he went with 327 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:25,840 someone to bring it back. 328 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:31,640 But when the oxen stumbled and the ark seemed as though it was going to fall off the cart, 329 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,600 he reached up to grab it. 330 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:38,200 And the moment that he touched the ark, God killed him. 331 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,680 Why? 332 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:45,680 Because God said, don't ever touch the ark. 333 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:51,920 But it was going to fall, was it? 334 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,160 God said, don't touch it. 335 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,480 It matters to God how we worship. 336 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:05,380 I call to witness the 3,000 who died in Israel as a result of the golden calf. 337 00:30:05,380 --> 00:30:09,240 They worshiped God falsely. 338 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:16,960 And I call to witness Ananias and Sapphira, who in the early church, hypocritically, put 339 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,280 their money in the offering plate. 340 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:25,520 And God killed both of them because of their hypocrisy, claiming that they were giving 341 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,440 more than they really were. 342 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:30,440 That's all they did. 343 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,780 But in doing that, they lied to God as well as to men. 344 00:30:35,780 --> 00:30:40,960 And God killed them. 345 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:47,200 I would also call to witness some brothers and sisters in the city of Corinth who came 346 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,320 to the Lord's table. 347 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,360 I mean, the Lord said, come to the table, didn't He? 348 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,360 And they did. 349 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:56,400 But they came in the wrong way. 350 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:01,040 They came with the wrong attitude. 351 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:02,840 And because of that, some of them died. 352 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:03,840 God killed them. 353 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:08,360 And others of them were sick because they worshiped God improperly. 354 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,760 My friend, that's the New Testament. 355 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:17,520 That's not just 3,000 years ago. 356 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,760 So you're a member of an evangelical church, or you attend one at least. 357 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,080 That's wonderful. 358 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,560 It is good that you know the true God. 359 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:35,520 Let me ask you, how are you worshiping the true God? 360 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,640 What is your attitude when you come to church? 361 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,920 Are there grudges that are there? 362 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,240 Do you have a sour, bitter attitude? 363 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:49,240 Cynical? 364 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:57,600 What do you do on Saturday night to get ready for Sunday? 365 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,680 How do you worship God? 366 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,860 That is an important question, so important that God gave one-tenth of His commandments 367 00:32:04,860 --> 00:32:10,080 to cover this. 368 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:15,200 Pastor Beier also said, idolatry is not only the false image we hold in our hands, it's 369 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:27,000 also the false idea that we cherish in our hearts. 370 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,080 People ask, well, what about pictures of Jesus? 371 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:32,080 Should we have those? 372 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:39,320 I'm sure there are some who would disagree with me about this, but I personally feel 373 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:49,680 that just in and of themselves they are not inherently a breaking of this commandment. 374 00:32:49,680 --> 00:33:00,200 When they are used as an aid to worship, when they are used to stimulate one to think about 375 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:07,200 God, or when one's concept of God is limited to that picture, then this commandment has 376 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,960 been broken. 377 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,400 What we are commanded to do is not to make a likeness of the invisible God, what a picture 378 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:22,720 of Jesus usually is, at least in my concept, is an artist's conception or portrayal of 379 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:28,120 what God manifested in flesh looked like. 380 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:35,200 It is only speculation. 381 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,920 It had better not be a matter of worship. 382 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:44,720 It is not a likeness of the invisible God, it is the likeness of God as He has manifested 383 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,840 Himself in humanity. 384 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:52,200 As I say, it seems to me, it is not necessarily a breaking of this commandment. 385 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,800 I will tell you this, we get so hung up over little questions like that that we fail to 386 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:02,680 get the real point here, that when we really come to worship God, we had better come with 387 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,800 the right attitude, and the right idea, and the right understanding of who God is. 388 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:17,440 If we don't, we are putting ourselves in danger, because God is a jealous God. 389 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,960 He is. 390 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:23,640 And He punishes those who worship Him falsely. 391 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:29,680 We say, well I've got to have the right mood music in order to get me into worship. 392 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:34,260 Be careful of that, my friend. 393 00:34:34,260 --> 00:34:36,560 Can music become an idol? 394 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:42,480 If I have to have it to aid me in my worship of God? 395 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:51,000 Again, music is not idolatry in itself, it cannot become that. 396 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,800 God is jealous for our love, God is jealous for our worship. 397 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,520 Do you love Him above all else? 398 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,760 How are you worshiping Him today? 399 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:09,140 God will not permit an idol in your heart or mind to remain untouched, unchallenged, 400 00:35:09,140 --> 00:35:13,400 because He demands that they be put away. 401 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:22,440 And He Himself, as the only true Yahweh El-Him, revealed in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, 402 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,760 be worshiped in spirit and in truth in our lives. 403 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:33,280 Is He truly, truly worshiped in your life? 404 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,240 Heavenly Father, I pray that it may be so. 405 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:50,760 But to the extent we have false ideas about You, for we depend upon sensual aids for worship, 406 00:35:50,760 --> 00:36:05,680 to the extent that we come with wrong attitudes and a sinful heart condition, reveal it to 407 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,400 us so that we can flee from idolatry. 408 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:24,400 In Jesus' name, Amen.