Yesterday we studied the first commandment. We saw clearly that at the very point where man first sinned, God was countering that move. Where man decided they wanted to listen to another and not believe in God- God said we shall have NO other gods before Him, NONE. Is this commandment as important today as it was the day God uttered it and wrote it upon the stone tablets? Is this commandment as important today as it was when God came in the flesh as Jesus, our Savior who lived His entire life obeying this commandment? The answer to these questions is a resounding, YES. Never has there been a time, not even a single moment when this commandment was unimportant. Never will there ever be a time when it becomes unimportant and IF anyone thinks that this commandment will ever be done away with then they have no truth in them, none. God. Our Creator. God our Heavenly Father. God our Savior. God who we owe our very lives to, our very existence comes from God and NO other, NO OTHER. It is crucial for us to recognize that this GREAT commandment is forever, it is enduring, it … as God… was, is, and ever will be.
The second commandment--
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Psa 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Psa 115:2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
Psa 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psa 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
Psa 115:5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
Psa 115:6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
Psa 115:7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
Psa 115:8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Make NO images.
Make NO likenesses.
Bow down to NO images, NO likenesses.
Serve NO images, NO likenesses.
Idols of silver and gold.
Works of men's hands.
They have mouths- but DO NOT speak.
They have eyes- but DO NOT see.
They have ears- but DO NOT ear.
They have noses- but DO NOT smell.
They have hands- but DO NOT touch.
They have feet- but DO NOT walk.
ANYONE who makes an idol is like that idol.
We are not to make images, we are not to make anything and worship it any way! Why? Because NOTHING we could ever make and worship is God. Nothing we can make is ALIVE. Nothing we make can think of its own accord and speak from those thoughts. Nothing we can make can see, ear, smell, touch, walk… of its own accord. Yes, we can make mechanical things that do our bidding, we can program things we make to simulate living things, but they are NOT alive. They are in essence- dead things.
People who make these things are in essence dead too. If we do NOT worship God we will NOT have eternal life. If we worship dead idols it is the dead worshipping the dead, the lifeless worshipping the lifeless.
Psa 115:8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
If you make idols, if you don't make them but you trust in them, you are like those idols you are dead.
How can this commandment EVER change?
How can this commandment EVER be unimportant?
How can this commandment EVER be tossed aside, done away with?
Why would it be changed, why would it become unimportant, why would it be tossed aside or down away with, ever?
When would there ever come a time it would be okay to worship lifeless objects? When? Why would we want to? Why would people rather worship something they've made with their own hands- knowing its limitations, rather than worship a living God?
People PRETEND their dead gods live, they make themselves believe their dead gods have powers when they have none. They give these dead gods attributes of our living God but those dead, lifeless, powerless gods are nothing but abominations to God.
We are NOT to bow down or serve dead, lifeless, powerless idols. We are NOT to bow down and worship any thing or any one else- living or dead. We are to worship God only, we are to bow down and serve God only. He is our Creator and none other is.
When people decide to worship things as if they are themselves god, they are putting things on the same level as God. We are to worship God because He created all things, not worship the things He created. He never told us to worship created things, never. Yet so many people try to convince others that they worship the nature God created, or they worship nature that exists and they can touch, see, feel, smell because it is real. People come up with many, many reasons why they are better off worshipping people who have lived seemingly good lives and died. We are not to worship any, not the Apostles, not Moses, not David, not Abraham. God alone deserves our worship, our bowing down- our subservience, our service.
By the grace of God may we NEVER bow down or serve lifeless idols, never! If we want to live, we must serve a LIVING God! We must serve the CREATOR!
In His love!
Amen.
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