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The First Commandment: You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me

The First Commandment: You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me

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This first command, found in Exodus 20:3, stands at the head of the Ten Commandments. It begins in a way that, for some, may seem surprising. One normally thinks about moral commands as relating to our relationship one with another. If the Decalogue had begun with commands such as, “Do not steal,” or, “Do not lie,” and so forth, it would have sounded a lot like an array of moral codes ranging from the eightfold Path of Buddhism to the Egyptian code of Ma’at to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. All of these ancient codes regulate a whole range of outward behavior, from purchasing property, to settling disputes between people, to divorce, but they do not reference any moral obligation toward God.

The Ten Commandments, conversely, build all morality on the foundation of our moral obligation toward God. This reinforces the fact that, biblically speaking, there is no such thing as morality that is not theological. In other words, all morality in our relationships must be first rooted in a right relationship with God. The first commandment calls us to have no other gods before Him. This command reaches far deeper than merely closing the door on an atheistic worldview. Just because you do not deny the existence of God does not mean that you have kept this commandment. even if you affirm that God loves you and is the source of your redemption, you may not have fully kept this command. The first commandment is about the whole orientation of our lives. It means the end of a compartmentalized life that gives God a certain portion (like Sunday morning) and then orients the rest of our lives around our own perceived needs and goals.

The New Testament demonstrates the direction of this first command when Jesus Himself is asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replies by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:36–40 ESV).

No study of the Ten Commandments would be complete without a reflection on this teaching of Jesus. The Ten Commandments are a grand summary of the 613 laws of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments even further, as all fall under two general headings: (1) Love God and (2) Love your neighbor. Jesus’ words in Matthew are clearly a summary of the Ten Commandments, since they are divided into these two general areas. The first four commandments deal with loving God (no other gods before Me, no idols, do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, and remember the Sabbath Day) and the last six focus on loving your neighbor (honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, and do not covet).

When Jesus is asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He begins by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (vv. 37–38 ESV).

Notice that Jesus calls this the “great” and the “first” commandment. It is not just an allusion to the first part of the Ten Commandments (commandments 1–4), but in particular, an exposition of the first of the Ten Commandments. The way we have no other gods before us is to have our whole orientation around the true and living God. We obey this command by loving God with all our hearts, souls, and minds! This means that the whole focus of our lives is on Him. It encompasses our hearts, our minds, our whole strength and will.

Jesus Himself gives us the greatest exposition of the first commandment. His use of words like “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” gives us in seed form the full range of human life and activity. When Jesus says we are to love God with our whole hearts, He is not referring primarily to an emotional or privatized love in the way this term is often used to describe our devotion to God. It, of course, does not exclude this. Jesus actually points us to a deeper reality. The first commandment encompasses all of our active energies, our minds, and indeed, the whole orientation of our lives before God. When we roll up our sleeves to serve the poor, we are loving God. When we read the Scriptures and think about the ways of God, we are loving God. When we share our faith with others, we are loving God. The first commandment does not merely happen during a Sunday morning worship service or in our daily times of prayer and devotion. The first commandment is the active God-ward orientation of our whole lives throughout the day. This is the commandment that enables us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17 ESV). It is also the commandment that enables us to not pass the wounded traveler by.

The first commandment is the foundation for our keeping of the whole of the Ten Commandments. It is the most basic reorientation from a life directed toward ourselves to a life directed toward God. Therefore, we should view this first commandment as the doorway into the whole life of faith. It sets our feet on the right path and orients us in the right direction for all that follows.

Did you enjoy this entry? It is part of a book by Timothy Tennent titled, Ten Words, Two Signs, One Prayer: Core Practices of the Christian Faith. In its pages, Tennent casts a vision for a long tradition of Christian discipleship and catechesis focusing on the Ten Commandments, the two sacraments of baptism and Communion, and the Lord’s Prayer. It will helps individuals and groups:

  • Gain a deeper Christian appreciation of God’s Ten Commandments to his people Israel
  • Learn the meaning of the two sacraments—baptism and communion
  • Discover the value of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray (the “Lord’s Prayer”)

 

Comments

2 Responses

  1. WOW all that and deny the validity of ten commandments and Holiness of God by doing away with the 4th commandment Remember the Sabbath Day To keep it Holy with your . . . YOU state “”” It means the end of a compartmentalized life that gives God a certain portion (like Sunday morning) and then orients the rest of our lives around our own perceived needs and goals. “”” your 613 laws the bible says you break 1 if you live by the law and your guilty where is the Gospel of Good News and removing of Pride and giving God what he demands plain and simple FEAR the Lord and “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy , for I am holy .”1 Peter 1:15‭-‬16 NASB

  2. everyone is all over daniel and revelation and prophecy and yet the bible clearly states
    _
    Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
    Proverbs 17:24 NASB
    He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
    Acts 1:7 NASB
    Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.
    Zephaniah 2:3 NASB
    But in regards to sabbath
    “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from SABBATH to SABBATH, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
    Isaiah 66:22‭-‬24 NASB1995

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