10 Commandments Continued – 2nd Commandment

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my Commandments.”

This is the Second Commandment of the 10 Commandments that God gave to Moses for God’s people to follow.

This is what I believe it means for us today and how we should apply this to our lives.

God is calling His people to repentance. When we are in desperate situations we need to realize that he has brought us to this place not to wipe us out but so that we will turn to him and live.

Many godly believers are uncomfortable with the political turn in our country today that seems to endorse detestable practices, and we more than ever see the evil that has crept into our society. We see where evil is being called good and good is often called evil.

We see that there are none of the original 10 Commandments, which were the backbone of the Judeo Christian ethic, that are currently being followed or encouraged by our country‘s leadership. Nor are they currently held as sacred in our society at large. The fact that these once universally accepted commandments are largely ignored and diminished, leads us to the belief that God‘s judgment is close at hand for our nation.

We hold to the promise that when God‘s people see that their land has been ravaged by Evil that God calls his own people to repent and to seek his face in humility praying and that when they do this God has promised to heal the land. (2 Chronicles 7:14).

It’s important to know that God does not require all the people to repent but he does require his own children to do so before he acts.

It’s in this spirit that I’m currently going through all 10 of the 10 Commandments to see where God might be urging us to turn back to him.

The second commandment is linked to the first commandment but it is different. Where the first commandment I believe is about our love relationship with God, I see the second commandment is more about our distraction and a lack of focus on what is truly important in the purpose of God for us.

The apostle John, who knew very deeply what it was to love God and to be loved by God in the form of Jesus, sums it up this way in 1 John chapter 5:21.” Little children, keep yourself from idols.”

While some Bible scholars have singled out the casting of replicas of creation that would be worshiped such as the golden calf that was certainly an idol, I feel the real meaning is much more a part of our everyday lives than the worship of religious art (icons or a jewelry cross, crucifix) or likenesses of created things, (birds, fish or animals) or statues of men.

For us in the modern world our idols are much more sophisticated.

They are the things that distract me from my love for God and keep me from my God given purpose.

In short idols are distractions that get us off track and start us on a course away from God and our priceless relationship with him.

Jesus explained it to his friend Martha this way.” Martha you are worried about so many things but your sister Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken away from her. “

Martha’s efforts to serve Jesus had become a distraction from her love for Jesus. This is how easy it is to slip into idolatry. It is the good things that God has created taking the place of relationship with God.

What is it in your life or in mine that keeps us from God’s best for us? What are the things that severely limit my impact for his kingdom?

Everything that we see around us either God created or he gave us the wisdom and ability to manufacture out of other things that he created. All of the glorious custom and culture that we enjoy; The sports we like to watch, the food that we like to eat, the activities that bring us joy are all created things.

Even things you create specifically for the purpose of worshiping or serving God can become idols.

The Bronze serpent that Moses had made at God’s instruction to be an icon that the Israelites who were bitten by poisonous snakes could look at and be healed, later was made into an idol named ‘nehushtan’ that led Israel into sin.

The glorious temple that Solomon made out of respect for David’s love for God later was of no value or use to God to the extent that he had it broken up and carried off to Babylon.

In the same way our church buildings and programs can just be things that distract us from God; They can keep us occupied and distracted from doing the real work that God wants us to do and from being the salt that he wants us to be inside of our communities. Church fellowship and God’s work should not be relegated to an hour or two on Sundays. When we truly love the Lord, fellowshipping and doing God’s work will be a natural part of everyday.

So what are some common idols today? Television is a huge trap that we allow to rob us of our time, peace, and health. Also things like insurance policies, healthcare, bank accounts, and relationships can cause us to place our trust and faith in other things or people instead of God thus betraying our love for him. And then there’s media, scientific theory, and conventional wisdom that we claim as truth even though it goes against what is found in God’s word.

It’s easy to see where we have become severely compromised as followers of Christ.

Many followers of Jesus have laid down their lives and possessions for his sake and for the sake of truth. What have I laid down?

It’s my personal opinion that many Christians might have voted for our current president even though they knew he was pro-abortion and pro-immorality, in all of its viable forms, and knew that he would lean left (just because that is what is portrayed by society as currently socially acceptable). They knew this and chose anyway.

Conversely they may have voted for the previous president because they felt like it would be better economically.

I use these examples not to shame anyone for their vote but to show us how idolatry can influence the decisions that we make in choosing the kind of leadership that we have. We can compromise our beliefs instead of standing against what we know to be wrong because of fear of man or fear of discomfort. We may want an easier life or peace at any cost so we chose that over morality or biblical truth. If you pick what you want based on comfort or popularity and you throw morality under the bus that is idolatry in full bloom.

There is murder and theft and every form of iniquity in our city streets. There are baby killing centers accessible to every citizen. Lying is normal and the things that we thought could only happen in communist and atheist countries are now happening in our own government.

But God is calling to those of us who are sincere believers to look at our own hearts and see where we have taken our eyes off of him. Yes his promise still stands that if we will get our eyes back on him that he will heal our land.

It’s not about politically electing the right president. It is not about our resources or our efforts nor is it about the strength and power of our enemy. It’s about our allegiance to our creator God and our faithfulness to him.

Little children keep yourself from idols. Jesus we cry out to you who raises the dead to life that you would heal our nation!