You Shall Have No Other Gods: Fear, Love, Trust

The 10 commandments come as God’s will for how his people are to live while here on this earth. The commandments are not mere suggestions, and they are not just a list of “thou shalt nots.” They show the do nots and the dos, and in ten short statements God summarizes everything he desires in thought, word, and deed. The commandments also lay a person bare, because serious study and honest comparison with God’s righteous requirements reveal how horribly sinful sinners really are.

God gives the commandments in Exodus 20, as his people travel from Egypt toward the promised land, and again in Deuteronomy 5, as Moses prepares to hand leadership over to Joshua. The numbering systems may differ among Jews, Baptists, Lutherans, and Catholics, but the commandments themselves remain the same. The first commandment stands at the head of them all: “You shall have no other gods.” The first commandment gathers up the whole law, and the other nine show what it means to put God first.

The first commandment first warned Israel not to worship the false gods of Egypt or the surrounding nations. Yet the commandment still presses hard upon Christians who may never be tempted to bow down to those gods. Luther’s explanation gets to the heart of it: “A person should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Fear means more than bare respect. Sinners have real reason to fear God’s punishment, because “the wages of sin is death,” and eternal damnation in hell is something to be scared of.

The first commandment also demands total love. Deuteronomy 6:5 says that the Lord is to be loved with all the heart, all the soul, and all the might. God will not share his people’s affection with other gods, just as a faithful spouse will not tolerate whoring after another. God demands total and complete affection.

The first commandment finally calls for trust. God answers the question of how sinners can trust an unseen God by sending his only begotten Son in human flesh. Christ goes to that hell cross and suffers the damnation sinners deserve. Ecclesiastes gives the end of the matter: “Fear God and keep his commandments.” God will bring every deed and every secret thing into judgment, and yet through faith in Jesus, God says that all sins are forgiven.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Commandments reveal God’s full will The commandments are not little religious tips for decent living. They summarize what God demands in thought, word, and deed, and they also show the good that God calls his people to do. A person who reads them honestly does not come away congratulating himself, but sees the depth of sin against God’s holy will. [21:20]
• 2. The first commandment rules all The first commandment is not merely one rule among ten. “You shall have no other gods” gathers up the whole matter, because every other commandment shows what putting God first actually looks like. The other nine commandments become the outworking of fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things. [25:30]
• 3. Holy fear is not shallow respect The fear of God is not reduced to polite admiration or general reverence. Sinners have reason to tremble, because God’s judgment is real and “the wages of sin is death.” Such fear is not opposed to love, because it recognizes that the Father’s command is weighty and disobedience is not a small thing. [27:59]
• 4. God demands undivided affection The love God commands is total, not partial. Deuteronomy names the whole heart, the whole soul, and the whole might, leaving no hidden corner for rival gods. The image of marital faithfulness makes the point plain: God will not bless divided devotion or spiritual adultery. [29:14]
• 5. Christ bears the hell deserved Trust in God is grounded not in seeing God with the eyes, but in seeing the Son sent in human flesh. The cross shows the Father’s love, because Christ suffers the damnation sinners deserve. Forgiveness in Jesus brings deep peace precisely because God knows the full ugliness of sin and still speaks pardon through faith in Christ.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [13:27] - Opening Prayer for God’s Word
• [18:17] - Beginning the Ten Commandments Series
• [18:56] - Commands for Spirit Filled Christians
• [19:57] - Reciting the Ten Commandments
• [21:20] - God’s Will in Ten Statements
• [22:28] - The Law Reveals Sin
• [23:24] - Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbering
• [25:03] - The First Commandment Begins Everything
• [26:03] - No Other Gods Before Him
• [27:25] - Fear, Love, and Trust God
• [29:14] - Loving God With All the Heart
• [30:14] - Trusting the God Revealed in Christ
• [31:15] - Ecclesiastes and the Whole Duty of Man
• [32:33] - Forgiveness Through Faith in Jesus

Bible Reading

Exodus 20:1-17
And 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. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." [19:57]

Deuteronomy 6:5
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." [29:18]

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." [31:40]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 20, what commands are given in the first table of the law, and what commands are given in the commandments that deal with other people?
2. In Deuteronomy 6:5, what words show how complete love for God is meant to be? [29:14]
3. According to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, what two duties are placed together, and what does the passage say God will judge?
4. When the commandments are described as showing both the “do nots” and the “dos,” what does that suggest about how they are meant to guide daily life? [21:20]

Interpretation questions

1. If the first commandment gathers up the whole law, how do the other nine commandments help show what it looks like to put God first in everyday life? [26:03]
2. The fear of God includes more than polite respect. How does that fuller meaning of fear change the way a person hears the commandments and examines his own life? [27:59]
3. God commands love with all the heart, soul, and might. What does that reveal about God’s claim on a person’s life, and why does divided devotion count as serious sin?
4. God calls sinners to trust him, and that trust is anchored in the Son sent in human flesh and crucified for sinners. How does Christ’s cross make trust in God possible for guilty people? [30:14]

Application questions

1. The first commandment is not only about bowing to a carved image. What things in life most often compete for first place in the heart—comfort, money, family, approval, control, politics, pleasure? Which of those is most likely to become a rival god in personal life? [27:25]
2. God’s law exposes sin in thought, word, and deed. When reading the commandments honestly, where is there the strongest tendency to excuse, soften, or hide sin rather than confess it plainly before God? [22:28]
3. God is to be feared above all things. Is there a tendency to treat sin lightly because grace is familiar? What would it look like this week to take God’s holiness and judgment more seriously without falling into despair? [31:40]
4. God demands total love, not partial affection. Where is devotion to God currently divided? Are there habits, entertainments, relationships, or ambitions that are receiving the kind of affection that belongs to God alone? [29:14]
5. Trust in God is grounded in Jesus Christ, who bore the damnation sinners deserve. When guilt rises up, what is the usual response—hiding, self-punishment, denial, or running to Christ? What would it look like to answer guilt more quickly with the cross? [30:39]
6. God brings every secret thing into judgment. How would daily choices change if that truth were kept in view more steadily—in private speech, internet use, spending, thoughts, and treatment of others? [31:46]
7. Through faith in Jesus, all sins are forgiven. Where is there a need to receive that forgiveness more personally and more deeply, instead of merely agreeing with it in general? [32:33]