the first commandment

• Exodus 20:3 (ASV)

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TEN COMANDMENTS
The First Commandment
Then 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 slavery.
"You shall have no other gods before Me.

I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY.
• Before giving the Ten Commandments, God says this:
• "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.”
• He is reminding them that not only did he create them, but he redeemed them.
• He gave them life, and he gave them freedom.
• We are his because he created us.
• And we are His because he bought us out of slavery to sin.
• He created us and He redeemed us.
• And that relationship is the basis for the commands that God gave to Israel.
• God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.
• He brought them through the desert
• And the commandments are another way that God brings his people out of the world and into a right relationship with Him… by giving them words to live by.

THE FIRST, AND THE FOUNDATIONAL, COMMANDMENT IS:
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
• Or as the Good News has it: "Worship no god but me.”
• The words demanded that God’s people worship, and love, and serve only the one, true God.
• With this first commandment, God makes it clear that His people are to have an exclusive relationship with Him.
• Even though most translations read, “You shall have no other gods before me” that doesn’t mean, “You can worship all the gods you want, I just want to be your favorite.”
• He is saying, “Worship ONLY me. I am to be your ONLY God.”
• These words remind us that God sees our relationship with Him much like a marriage relationship.
• It’s not enough to stand at the altar and say, “You’ll be my FAVORITE girlfriend!”
• The words are “FORSAKING ALL OTHERS…”
• And if either spouse does NOT forsake all others, it usually spells destruction for the marriage.
• It is probably all but impossible for us to imagine how that must have sounded to the people of Israel. We’re used to thinking in terms of there being only one God.
• All three major religions of the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam, are committed to what is called “monotheism,” or the worship of only one God.
• But at this time, Christianity and Islam were thousands of years in the future, and the Jewish faith is in its infancy here in the book of Exodus. There was NO SUCH thing as “monotheism.” NOBODY HAD JUST ONE GOD.
• ALL of Israel’s neighbors were Pagans – that is, they worshipped lots of different gods.
• People believed that certain gods ruled certain geographic areas or natural phenomenon.
• There were “national gods”
• The Philistines had Dagon
• The Moabites’ had Chemosh
• The Ammonites’ had Molech.
• But they didn’t just worship their national god.
• They also had fertility gods storm gods, sun gods, sea gods
• There were all kinds of gods
• And they all had to be kept happy
• And while a person or nation may have a “favorite” god, they certainly wouldn’t think of narrowing their worship to just one.
• If the god or gods of another nation seemed to have power, then you could add that god to your collection.
• You see the Philistines try to do this in 1 Samuel 5, after they capture the Ark of God from Israel.
• The idea of people worshipping many gods seems pretty foreign to us, most of us would say… yet, I think it’s actually the most popular form of worship out there. Take a look at a quote from Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band from Rolling Stones:
o I am a reformed Taoist, part-time Buddhist, Hindu, animist, pagan, Jewish mystic, and Christian. I always got along great with priests and rabbis and mullahs and gurus, even though I spend most of my life constructively criticizing them.
• That’s sort of the American ideal of religion: You can HAVE it all; you can BELIEVE it all.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of the TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," said this:
o "I consider myself a spiritual person. I believe in an idea of God, although it’s my own personal ideal. I find most religions interesting, and I’ve been to every kind of denomination: Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist. I’ve taken bits from everything and customized it."
• Geller and Van Zandt don’t worship God – they worship what I call a Buffet-God– Not the God who IS, but a god they’ve invented from pieces of other gods.
• But it was Jesus who said, “I am THE way, THE truth, THE life. NO ONE comes to the Father except by me.” I didn’t make it up.
• It’s the God who reveals Himself in the Bible who says, “You shall have no other gods besides me.”
• “My god has the head of Buddha, and the heart of Jesus, and the hands of Gandhi…”
• People will say, “Well, I don’t believe in a god who would send someone to hell…” Or I don’t believe in a god who would say homosexual behavior is wrong. Or I don’t believe in this kind of a god or that kind of a god. And it makes me wonder if they are talking about God, or about an invisible friend.
• "I believe that God is who He said He is." And I believe that if He says He is the only true God, then He really IS the only true God.
• What’s important is NOT the faith. What’s important is the OBJECT of one’s faith.
• The arsenic is going to affect you like arsenic regardless of what you think those little pills are.
• The God who created the Universe with the power of His Word is the one who has the right to tell US who HE is.

CONCLUSION
• And we can’t WORSHIP the God of the Bible if we don’t KNOW the God of the Bible.

In the book of Acts, Paul sees the altars to the many gods in the city of Athens – there is even an altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”
He challenges them that the God they do not know is in fact the one true God.
He says this:
…we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-- an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
There is only one God – the God who is revealed in the Scriptures. And we are commanded to serve Him only.

The first four all have to do with loving God:
· No other God’s before me — God is number One!
· No idols — No substitutes for God!
· God’s name is holy — Don’t take God for granted!
· The Sabbath is holy — Time spent with God (and others) is a priority!
And the next six all have to do with loving others:
· Honor parents — Respect and submission are critically important skills!
· No murder — Life is priceless!
· No adultery — Commitment is priceless!
· No stealing — Don’t deny others what God has given them!
· No lying — A truthful God expects truthful people!
· No greed — Be satisfied and content.

Let’s start off with the very first commandment. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Exodus 20:1-3. (You’ll also find this list repeated in Deuteronomy 5, when Moses had to repeat these instructions

Nothing comes before God. God is number one. Deuteronomy 6:4 — the verse that is considered the greatest statement in the Bible by both the Jews and by Jesus — says it this way:
4 …The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Make God your number one priority. Love him with a passion. Love him with your emotions, with your spirit, with your physical strength. Love him with everything you have, and love him more than anything or anyone else.

When you think about it, this first commandment is really all about choices.

Surely you already recognize your innate instinct to worship. It’s part of God’s design for all of us. We were built with this incredible urge to worship. God gave it to us to draw us to himself, so that we would enjoy an intimate, life-changing friendship with him. The question isn’t really if we will worship, but rather what we will worship.
Think about the experience of the nation of Israel when God first gave them this commandment. Here they were, freshly delivered from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. This generation had grown up in a culture that worshiped the sun, cats, dead things, fire, water, and even their king. And now they were preparing to go to a new land where the Canaanites worshiped the sky, the weather, the seasons, death, animals, and all sorts of other things. There were a lot of choices as to what they would worship and how they would satisfy this innate instinct to worship.

Well, God is jealous. He doesn’t want you to try and satisfy your instinct for worship with anything or anyone else besides him. He gave you that instinct to drive you into a relationship with him, not to go out and find some god of your own design.

Why would anyone want a substitute when they can have the one true God?
What makes your heart beat faster?
What is the focus of your life?
What is it that makes you want to get up in the morning and face another day?
What occupies your thoughts during those idle moments?

You know, your mind is like a compass. When a compass comes to rest, the needle always swings to point to true North. What about your mind? When you find yourself at rest, where do your thoughts swing to point — Your job? Some dream? A hobby? A relationship? Your possessions or your finances? Where is your heart really at? Is the true passion of your soul God, or is it something else?

You see, God is very jealous. He wants to be your all-consuming passion. He wants to be number one in your life — the focus of your priorities, your dreams, your experiences, your choices. That’s what this first commandment is all about.

Graham Kendrick once wrote a song that has become one of my very favorite expressions of worship. The words go like this:
All I once held dear, built my life upon, all this world reveres and wars to own; all I once thought gain I have counted loss; spent and worthless now compared to this: knowing you…Now my heart’s desire is to know you more, to be found in you and known as yours…Knowing you, Jesus…there is no greater thing. ("Knowing You" by Grahamn Kendrick; Copyright (c) 1993 Make Way Music, LTD)
May that be the passion of your life. Knowing God. Making him number one. And may it be the beginning to the most incredible journey you’ve ever experienced, as you seek to enjoy the “perfect ten” that God has in store for you.

I. BEFORE GOD GAVE THE GAVE THE COMMANDMENTS HE ESTABLISHED HIS AUTHORITY
A. I Am God
II. GOD THEN ESTABLISHED OUR OBLIGATION TO HIM
A. Who is called to obey these commandments?
1. The redeemed.
a. “Thy GOD” possessive.
b. “From Egypt” redeemed.
1. By miraculous means
a. Through the Red Sea
b. Made bitter water sweet
c. Brought water out of the smitten rock
d. Now here is what I require if you.. it’s as if God says. This is me. This is what I’ve done for you. Now, here’s what I want you to do.

III. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
A. Abandon The Rivals Of God

b. Psalm 115:3-8 - Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
4. Three meanings of before me
a. Instead of me – we substitute something else for God
d. In front of me
2) Exodus 20:5 - 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
e. In addition to me – we crowd God out

B. There Are Many Things That Rival God For The Place Of Preeminence In Our Lives
The god of Pleasure –

Anything that becomes more important than our responsibilities toward God becomes ‘god’ to us.
The god of Possessions People who place money and things first - Always needing to have the "right" clothes and cars and shoes and houses - Being possessed by things - Proverbs tells us. "the eyes of man are never satisfied"
3. The god of "Me First"
4. 4. The god of "My Activities" –
5. 5. Other Gods we could have besides the Lord

c. Anything that we allow to run our life has become our god
6. When we closely examine our priorities, our plans, how we use our time, how we spend our money, we get a clearer picture of who or what is truly our god
FIVE AREAS
FIVE AREAS TO PUT GOD FIRST
FINANCES
Proverbs 3:9-10 - Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
INTERESTS
1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Psalm 141:4 - Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.
Proverbs 3:6 - In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Relationships
Proverbs 12:26 - A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
SCHEDULE
Ephesians 5:16 - Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Mark 1:35 - Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
TRUST
Romans 10:9-11 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Jeremiah 17:7 - "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

A. Is The God Of The Bible Your God?
B. Is The God Of The Bible Your God Exclusively?

The lists can include the accumulation and love of money, career success, husbands, wives, families, sports, cars, recreation, golf, fishing, hunting, shopping, even church and church activities compete to be number one in our lives and when they do all sorts of ungodly things happen.

God is serious about this command and that is why He made it the first and foremost command. He wrote it in stone that we might love God with all our hearts, all our minds, all our strength and all of our very souls and then to love our neighbors as ourselves.

It is so very easy for us to put other things or people first in our lives and when we do God is reduced to second place, third place and often totally removed from our lives.
When that happens we are a fraction of what we could be, we become less of a person that God intended for us to be and collectively we are a nation far away from God.
There are some serious questions we need to ask ourselves:

You must ask yourself several questions, in order to determine if you have other gods in your life beside the true God. One important question is: what are the thoughts of your idle mind? In other words, when your mind takes a break from the complexities of daily living, where does it come to rest? Like a compass needle, which though spun around, will always come to rest pointing north, where does your mind point when it comes to rest? What is really important to you? What do you think about and long for? Is it your job? A promotion? Perhaps your home? Your car? Maybe another person? Or money? Material things? On what do you set your affections? Do you set your affections on God? We are told in the New Testament, to set our affections on things above.

This is only done through the renewing of your mind.

Another important question is, whom are you trying to impress? We work, we buy, we plan, we push ourselves, we study, and we achieve, but why? Whom are we trying to impress? Some may say that they do it all for themselves and that may be true. We may be trying to impress ourselves. In other words, there is a purely self-centered motive for our ambitions. We work for ourselves. We accumulate for ourselves. We achieve for ourselves. Some may say they don’t do it merely for themselves but also for others, for their family, or for some other person or persons. In other words, it’s not just their opinion that counts, but other people’s opinions are important to them. They are trying to impress other people. Perhaps they are people-pleasers. Perhaps they are striving hard so they will look good in the eyes of others.
The First Commandment, however, exhorts us to be God-pleasers. The person we should seek to impress is God. We should seek to be a delight to Him.
An additional question is: What are we living for? In other words, what are our goals? What are our aspirations? What are our objectives? Does it all center around us? If you were to list your goals on a sheet of paper, would the spiritual goals be at the top? Would there be goals that relate to your walk with God, and your service to Him? Or would your goals simply be centered around personal achievement, job, home, family, money and the like? What are you living for? These are important questions, which will help us evaluate what we put first in our lives.

When we lose sight of the first commandment, we lose sight of God. Is it any wonder that without God first in the lives of corporate America, corporate America would do anything less than look out for number one? Does it shock you that people who make their own gains first and foremost in their lives-would take the money and run?

the truth is we will become like the god we worship. If money is our god, greed is our god then we will become exceedingly like our god. If it is lust then flesh and the devil are our god and each day we will look more worldly and more like the Devil.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
The one true God is just and loving and if He is our God, then we will be just and loving too! If God is our God then His nature will deeply affect our nature and what we do, regardless of how severe or how minor our character flaws are. His nature will become our nature.

I want you to know also, that making God first in our lives is not an automatic response to His love, grace and kindness. It is a matter of choice.

The first is, to examine your life. Really look at your life. I’m not talking about a surface examination here. Thoroughly examine yourself.

rich young ruler, “"There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
“When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich” (Luke 18:23).
Oswald Chambers writes:
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”
“Sell all that you have …” (18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought—in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult—it is only easy when those who have His nature in them hear it. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus—not love for Jesus Himself

The implications and obligations of the 1st commandment are far reaching.
We must evaluate where we are with God as Number one and then ask Him to help us to make the changes to be all that we can be, all that He intends for us to be. It will not be done without Him and yet it won’t be done entirely by Him, we must make lifestyle changes to join Him in what He wants to do in our lives.

The commandment calls for a lifestyle that is dominated by our relationship to God, who we are in Christ.

Our relationship to the one true God dominates every aspect of our lives, what we do, what we say what we think and how we respond to others.

There can be no area of our lives in which anything comes before God, if it does we have violated commandment # 1 and we can go no further. Anything even our church work or our ministries that relegates God to second place or less, becomes in effect another god whom we serve.

Mat 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

In Gen 22 Abraham could have easily loved his son Isaac more than he loved God and refused to sacrifice him.
What is stopping you from making God first in your life and receiving every blessing and every promise He has for you?

Mat 6:28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ’What will we eat?’ or ’What will we drink?’ or ’What will we wear?’
For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Boundaries. Our culture hates them. We often despise them too. We believe that our fun and freedom will be hampered if limitations are imposed on our lives. No where is this more true than with God’s boundaries, otherwise known as the Ten Commandments.

Instead, Turner suggested a set of “Ten Voluntary Initiatives” to guide “sensitive persons through the new age.”

Throughout this series I want to emphasize that God didn’t give us these commandments to stifle our pleasure. His intent was to maximize the thrill of life on earth, which he created for our enjoyment. He didn’t set forth these commands to curb our freedom, but to show us what real liberty looks like. God’s boundaries, given to God’s people were meant to lead us to abundant living.
One way the commandments achieve this is by keeping us safe:
One winter a resort in Breckenridge, Colorado, posted signs instructing skiers to keep off a certain slope. The signs, large and distinct, said, “DANGER! OUT OF BOUNDS!” In spite of the warnings, however, several skiers went into the area. The result? A half-mile-wide avalanche buried four of the trespassers beneath tons of snow and rock. This tragedy never would have happened if the signs had been heeded.

God’s loving limits actually set us free to become the people God created us to be. We’re kind of like kites. The kite is attached to a string, held by a person standing on the ground. After the kite is airborne you might be tempted to cut the string so it can fly higher. Go ahead and try it and you’ll see what happens. The kite won’t gain greater altitude. Instead, it will plummet to the ground. A kite finds its freedom to fly in a boundary and so do we.

We’re going to begin with the first commandment this morning. It is foundational to all the rest. If you don’t fully buy into this one, the other nine are of no use. I’d go so far as to say that failure to uphold the first commandment is what leads to breaking any of the other nine.

The first commandment is foundational.
And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God...” Exodus 20:1-2a (NIV)
From the get-go God …• Abolishes atheism

On this occasion he was communicating exclusively with the nation of Israel. God had miraculously saved them from bondage in Egypt. He directly intervened and brought them out. There were no doubts about his personal involvement. This deliverance could not be chalked up to chance or human effort. It took God’s power and presence to pull it off. This verse confronts an old idea that is still alive and well in our world today.
• Denies deism
Deism is the belief that there is a God out there somewhere, but he’s really not involved in human affairs. He created the world and everything in it, but then like a clock, he wound it all up and let it go. He’s detached from us and doesn’t intervene. He’s not emotionally involved either. He could really care less what happens here on earth.

If you’re a Christian you may be thinking that you’ve got this one licked. You’ve never bowed down to another god. You’ve never prayed to or called on the name anyone other that the Lord. Don’t pat yourself on the back too quickly. You may not have gone through ritualistic worship of other gods, but the way you live might just reveal rank idolatry. You just haven’t recognized it as such.
…Whatever you love most, serve most, seek out most, give to the most, worship the most, and care about the most is your god.
Your “god” can be your career, your bank account, the way you look, a particular position or degree, influence, power, or physical pleasure. It can even be something that is considered intrinsically good, yet you allow it to dominate your life more than God – such as your marriage or your family. Your “god” is whatever you allow to control you, to be the ultimate guide to decision making, the place of your supreme loyalty, and the source of your self-worth.

We too have the capacity to create what can devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can turn and destroy us—unless we first seek God’s kingdom and righteousness, and allow Him to breathe into what we make of life.

Once, when asked his top three priorities in life, Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s fast food chain, responded, “God, family and McDonald’s.” Then he added, “But when I get to the office I reverse the order.” Many of us live by that kind of prioritizing. God is somewhere in the mix, but not at the top. That kind of living is not really living. It promises freedom and reward but really it’s slavery to another god. Putting Jesus first offers real life and genuine freedom.

It’s a fact that if your relationship with God is not right, your relationships with people will be out of whack too. Conversely, putting God first puts your relationships with others right.

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)
Think about it this way, if you love God you’ll follow his directive to truly, actively love other people. If you’ve been forgiven by God of your many sins, you’ll be ready, willing and able to forgive people who sin against you. If you trust in a God who meets your needs, you’ll be more willing to serve the people you encounter daily. The God you choose will either devour or develop your relationships. You can count on it.

Michael G. Moriarty, The Perfect 10: The Blessings of Following God’s Commandments in a Post Modern World, p. 37
In other words, if a relationship with God is not the motivating and guiding factor in your decision-making on a day to day basis, you’re just making it up as you go along. You are what we called a few weeks ago a “practical atheist” or perhaps a “practical polytheist.” You’re attempting to follow two Gods: the Lord and you. God is either the authority in your life or he’s not. He is either Lord of all or Lord of none. If your faith and practice extends only to Sunday mornings or possibly Wednesday nights you are a violator of the first commandment.
God will not be compartmentalized. God wants it all – every moment of every day. He doesn’t want a little piece of us called our spirituality. He insists that we put him first in all of our thoughts, actions and deeds. He’s incredibly demanding because he knows that the God you choose will either devour or develop you life – individually, as a family, as a nation. God wants us to experience abundant living.

Finally, the first commandment …
5. Reveals our love for God

Look at this truth from 1 John 5:3:
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome … 1 John 5:3 (NIV)

*Illustration- Ted Turner, never shy about making his thoughts public,
has proposed that we do away with the ten commandments. On second
thought, that isn’t quite right. He actually suggested a rewrite. Setting
aside the old, traditional commands about adultery and greed, the media
mogul from Atlanta proposes new priorities such as: "I love and respect
the planet earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow
species, mankind"; or "I promise to have no more than two children, or no
more than my nation suggests"; and "I reject the use of force,
particularly military force." Larry King reported his suggestions and
said, "Ted Turner’s new ten commandments make a lot more sense than the
old ones."
*I think a lot of people would like to rewrite the ten commandments. I
find it amusing how such an ancient list known as the decalogue can be so
utterly relevant in 1999 America.

In fact God said in Exodus 34:14 "Do not worship any other god,
for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." (NIV)

B. He is a personal God.
*Look at verse two again. It says, "I am the LORD your God." An
interesting note about that word your in the phrase "your God" is that it
is actually singular rather than plural. In other words, instead of
saying "I’m the national God of Israel," God is saying "I am the personal
God of each Israelite. I’m the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, The God
of Aaron, the God of Joshua, the God of Miriam."
*The phrase "your God" implies that this eternal I AM knows you and me,
and even more incredibly perhaps, wants to be known by you and me. He
wants a relationship with us so much, in fact that, rather than waiting
for us to initiate it, he takes the first step. God always approaches us
before we approach him. He is a personal God.

C. WHAT DOES EACH PHRASE MEAN?
1. Thou shalt -
Why didn’t God force us to worship only Him? We are given a free choice.
Why does God give us the opportunity to worship other gods? So we can demonstrate our love to Him.
God has given us free will to obey His commandments; what does it mean? We are accountable to Him.

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