Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20060726.htm

EXODUS: FUNCTIONING WELL IN A HOPELESS GROUP ASSIGNMENT
Part II: God's Sustainment Of Israel In The Wilderness Amid Humanly Helpless Trials
I. Aligning With God's Moral Order: The Ten Commandments
1. The First Five Commandments: Loving God With All Of One's Being
a. Commandment One: Holding To Scripture's God Alone As God
(Exodus 20:1-3 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. The "Ten Commandments" are the "hub of all of Israel's religious and civil laws" (Bib. Kno. Com., O. T., p. 139), and since the Hebrew people have so strikingly affected the history of the world (Edward McNall Burns, West. Civ., 6th ed., 1963, p. 100), they are worth viewing to define God's Moral Order, Rom. 7:12.
    2. The first five commandments deal with man's relationship with God where the last five man's relationship with man, and we view the first commandment on holding to Scripture's God alone as God for insight:
  2. Commandment One: Holding To Scripture's God Alone As God, Exodus 20:1-3 et al.
    1. In approaching the Ten Commandments, we must recall that Christians are no longer under its rule: in Christ, they have been freed from its rule and condemnation that it brings on all men, Rom. 7:4a; 3:23.
    2. However, Paul revealed that the Law itself is intrinsically holy, just and good, Romans 7:12!
    3. Thus, the Christian WILL live up to the moral standards of the Law if he is controlled by the Holy Spirit, a truth taught in Romans 8:3-4. It is in that frame of reference that we view the Law for our edification.
    4. Accordingly, we view Commandment One: Holding To Scripture's God Alone As God, Ex. 20:1-3 et al.:
      1. To preface this first command, God mentioned He had brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage, 20:1-2.
      2. This preface has immense implications regarding the first commandment in particular (as follows):
        1. The first command called Israel to have no other gods before God as their god, Exodus 20:3.
        2. Thus, God's preface implied He was to be worshipped instead of all the gods He had countered in the Egyptian plagues: (1) In turning the Nile to blood, God showed He was to be worshipped and not the many false deities of the Nile River, Ex. 7:8-25, cf. R. Grigg , "The Ten Plagues of Egypt," Creation (v. 27, no. 1), Dec.-Feb. 2006, p. 36. (2) In the plague of frogs, God showed He was to be adored and not Heqet, symbol of good crops (derived from the Nile waters) and childbirth, and Isis, a fertility goddess whom God abased with the presence of frogs in beds, ovens and kneading troughs that were associated with fertility, Ex. 8:1-15; Ibid., p. 36-37. (3) In the plague of lice from the earth, God showed He was to be revered and not all the gods of the earth like Akhor, and Khepri, the scarab dung beetle whose job it was to bury the dung and stop the breeding of destructive insects (and roll the sun across the sky like the beetle rolled balls of dung), Ex. 8:16-19; Ibid., p. 36. (4) In the plague of flies, God showed He was to be venerated and not Khepri, the dung beetle whose job was to bury the dung in the dirt to stop flies from breeding there, Ex. 8:20-32; Ibid., p. 37. (5) In the plague of disease on livestock, God showed He was to be revered and not Apis, the sacred bull god, Mnevis, a bull-god symbol of fertility, Hathor, the cow-like mother goddess and Isis, the queen of gods who wore cow's horns on her head, Ex. 9:1-7; Ibid., p. 37. (6) In the plague of boils, God showed He was to be adored and not Hike and Thoth (Imhotep) who were to protect from disease by magic and to heal, Ex. 9:8-12; Ibid., p. 37. (7) In the plague of hail, God showed He was to be revered and not the sky deities Shut, Tefnut and Nut, gods of air, moisture and the sky who were to control the weather, Ex. 9:13-35; Ibid. (8) In the plague of locusts, God showed He was to be venerated and not Shu, Tefnut and Nut along with Geb and Seth, gods of vegetation, agriculture and harvests, Ex. 10:1-20; Ibid. (9) In the plague of darkness, God showed He was to be worshipped and not Egypt's supreme god, the sun-god Ra along with Horus, Seker, Khepri, Mut and Nut, Ex. 10:21-29; Ibid. (10) In the death of the firstborn, God showed He was to be adored and not Pharaoh, the alleged incarnation of the sun-god Ra and Osiris, giver of life, for he was powerless to prevent the death of his own firstborn son and the next pharaoh, Ex. 11:1-13; Ibid.
      3. Hence, God wanted Israel to hold to Him as opposed to absolutely every other god they had known in their years back in Egypt. God ALONE was to be Israel's God, NO other entity!
Lesson: May we rely on the God of Scripture ALONE for ALL our fulfillment needs, cf. 1 John 5:21!