Worship

The First Commandment

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

With the rise of celebrity worship, and an increase of pluralistic tendencies in our nation, and even among some professing christians; it seems to be a time to be reminded of the Ten Commandments, especially among followers of Jesus Christ.

The following article was previously published on The Watchman’s Trumpet, and I repost it here.

The First Commandment

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:1-3

There are many problems when there is more than one God. There is confusion. There is no proven authority. There will be problems with divided hearts or divided loyalties; how these things affect the human heart and mind. We are commanded to worship only one God.

God, the Creator of all things, is holy and requires His people to be holy.
Other “gods” require nothing, expect nothing, but exalt fleshly appetites.

In all truth there are no other “gods”. They are the making of man’s own imaginations and heart.

With one God there is unity of purpose – with many gods there is only confusion. With the human minds and hearts as they are, there are about as many “gods” as there are people in the world.

The only exception would be/should be Christians devoted to God in Christ. When there is more than one sovereign everyone does what is right in their own eyes, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25. In fact, everyone is their own sovereign, thus, confusion of ethics and morality.
Abraham was called by God to leave a land of idolatry and follow the LORD God. A question might be asked of this first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”. That question being; ‘Does this allow that there are other “gods”? The answer to that is an emphatic NO!

Man, of course, does make gods of flesh, blood, wood, metal, and stone, etc., but these are powerless. Manmade gods are made in the image of created things and beings, and require nothing of man. No man would have ever invented a god who was holy, righteous, just, and expected his worshippers to be like Him. Nor, would we have created a god who judges us worthy of eternal death. And, we certainly would not have made this god pay the sin debt of his worshippers. Who would/could have thought of such a thing?

The recognition of and worship of one God is of this God’s own making. He desires the worship of His creation. He desires to bless His people. He desires to bring His people into perfect holiness, and give peace to them.

When there is a god for every event, season, crop, success, failure, person, etc., then, you have nothing but confusion. The God who created all things does not want us confused – He is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). The New Testament also reveals to us that the worshipping of other so called “gods” is the worship of demons (1 Cor. 10:19-21).
Since there are no other gods, but gods whom the “Haters of God” worship; who are actually demons; then, it stands to reason that God alone is worthy of our worship.
The greatly implied emphasis is upon choosing God the Creator of all things, as the One and only. He is the One you can trust in time of drought and famine, and the One you can trust in time of blessing and plenty. HE IS I AM.

God – Jehovah – YHWH is your salvation, sustenance, shelter, song, shield, and sword, and so much more.

When you have “No other gods” you are completely God’s possession. Your priorities are in Him. Your time, your family, your vocation, your church, and your entertainment and relaxation are directed by Him and His Word.

If you desire peace of mind and heart it can be found through this one and only God by trusting His Son who died, paying our sin debt, was buried carrying that sin and guilt away, and rising bodily from that grave showing the victory won on the cross, conquering death, sin and the devil. God’s Son Jesus after rising from the grave, ascended to the Father/God, and has promised to return. Trust Him. Call on Him today

False Fire

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

It seems we live in a world of entertainment.  There must be excitement, or fire as I would call it.  Since I was a child I have been fascinated with fire; in the good sense. Fire can be used for good or for evil, and when the Bible speaks of fire you can find it in both cases.

One of those cases is in Leviticus 10 where two of the sons of Aaron offered “Strange fire” against the call of God (See Lev. 10:1-2).  Now what that “Strange fire” was is of no consequence concerning this article.  What matters is that they offered the wrong fire.  It was not God’s fire.  It was God’s fire that came out and “devoured them”, because of their disobedience.

When Elijah was on Mount Carmel challenging the prophets of Baal; he said in his challenge, “And put no fire under…” (1 Kings 18:23).  They used  a means of deception to make people believe that Baal was god, and the prophet of God – Elijah knew it.  When this challenge was finished Elijah, the prophet of God, ran for his life from the queen Jezebel, and was thinking that he was the only one.  This was after the great fire of God had fallen, consumed the offering and brought the rain that had been gone for three and one half years.

God brought Elijah to a place and there he showed him  a mighty wind, but God was not in the wind.  God showed him an earthquake, and God was not in the earthquake.  God showed him again a fire, and again He was not in the fire.  The still small voice which followed was the appearance of God. 

Isn’t it amazing that people today look for the profound, the loud, the excitement, the fire, the wind, and the earthquake, and God is not there.  They have all the excitement and miss God.

Where do we find God?  Where do we genuinely worship Him?  In the quietness of His “Still small voice”.  God says to us, “Be still, and know that I am God”.  Is God really in all the noise that people must make to worship God?  I am afraid that most miss Him, because there is False Fire being offered.

Altar of Worship

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

An Altar of Worship

“And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:20-22 (KJV)

This is the first mention of the building of an “Altar unto the LORD”. It is assumed, at least by me, that Adam and Eve would have built an altar, and that in the offerings of Cain and Abel; they would have built an altar, and that the men “call[ing] on the name of the LORD” (4:26) would have meant the building of altars; but this is the first mention of it in the Bible. Noah was a worshipper of God before he went into the ark: he had proven it by His obedience. He was a worshipper on the ark: he had proven it there by his patient faith. Now, he is off the ark, going back onto the solid soil and rock of the earth. He wanted to start off this new world in the right way, the God-way, and worship the Creator who had delivered them all. The altar is recognition of God’s presence, power, glory, and deliverance from the evil of the world.

This offering was made by the sacrifice of every clean animal – one of each. That would probably have included cattle, sheep, goats, and the clean fowl. It was a complete sacrifice and offering to the LORD God. God Himself received it. “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour…” means that it was pleasant in His sight, and that He received the humble act of His servant Noah. Moses, as the author of Genesis tells us, writing, “…And the LORD said in His heart, ‘I will not curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease”. This was God’s covenant with Himself; as far as Noah was concerned. It was also His covenant with man and the earth.

It is due to this covenant that we are dependent upon the sunshine for heat, and the seasons to guide us when to plant crops, and harvest our crops. It is my opinion that this was the beginning of the seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. That due to the ecological upheaval that happened due to the flood, the caverns of the earth bursting forth, the canopy of the earth bursting and pouring forth the water; all had changed. We all know that the earth is enduring and endures much more than any of us.

It is amazing that God gives us this order of things. It is the only means by which science could be studied. If there is no order to things, there would be nothing sure. The scientist of our day can tell us what time the sun’s rising and setting will be. They can tell us how close a passing comet will pass to the earth or another planet. If there were no order there could be no science, at least, no reliable science. God gives us the means for true science. It is in Him and His Word that we trust.