“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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 nor [a]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[b] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me (Exodus 20:3-5)
God is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with any other person or thing. He will not share it with anything in your house (like an idol) or anything under your pillow (like a charm), all for the purpose of getting something. Whatever else you put your trust in acts as a hindrance to His divine intervention. For you to enjoy God's favor, it is very important that you understand His jealous nature.
The people of Israel had no intention of making an image representing any pagan deity when they came out of Egypt. Their intention was to make an image representing Jehovah, their God. 'And [Aaron] received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD (Yahweh)"' (Exodus 32:4,5).
Despite their good intentions to honor Yahweh their God through the golden image, the Israelites kindled God's wrath and indignation against them.
Images appeal to our flesh, but as Christians, we are called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40