6L ESSON 6 The Ten Commandments, Part 2 If the giving of the Law, while it was yet unbroken, was attended with such a display of awe-inspiring power, what will that day be when the Lord shall, with flaming fire, take vengeance on those who have willfully broken that Law? CHARLES SPURGEON Kirk s Comment In this lesson we will study the meaning of the Second of the Ten Commandments. This is one that many don t think about today, but creating false gods is much more common than you may believe. Q UESTIONS & OBJECTIONS Jesus taught hatred by saying that a Christian should hate his father and mother. This is called hyperbole a statement of extremes, contrasting love with hate for emphasis sake. The Bible often does this (Proverbs 13:24; 29:24). Jesus tells us that the first and greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37,38). As much as we treasure our spouse and family, and even our own life, there should be no one whom we love and value more than God, no one who takes precedence in our life. To place love for another (including ourself) above God is idolatry. 45
SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM I n this lesson we will look at the Second Commandment: You shall not make for yourself any graven image...you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:4 6). Idolatry is perhaps the greatest of all sins because it opens the door to unrestrained evil. It gives sinners license not only to tolerate sin, but to sanction it, fanned by demonic influence. If you make a god in your image, one you feel comfortable with, you can then create your own moral standards to go along with him...or her. For example, feminists bristle at the Bible s statement that God made man in His image. This doesn t mean that God is a man, or that He looks like man (John 4:24). It means that when God made man and woman, He endowed them with a mind, emotions, and a will. Humans are rational, moral beings with an inherent God-consciousness. However, in revealing Himself to mankind, God describes Himself in the male gender using terms such as Father, Son, Bridegroom, etc. Those who consider God to be female and call Him Mother are engaging in idolatry. To change who God has revealed Himself to be is to create a god in their own image. Some like to make a god that believes in a woman s right to kill her children in the womb. Others prefer to create a god that rewards the killing of innocent people by granting immortality. The following letter to the editor, printed in Time magazine, epitomizes idolatry (the oldest sin in the Book): Excellent topic! I truly enjoyed reading Does Heaven Exist? I am a devout Christian, and I don t give much thought to heaven. My spirituality isn t based on an anthropomorphic, kick-butt God who will throw four generations of children into eternal damnation because some distant forefather ticked him off [see Proverbs 28:5]. Heaven is the flip side of the absolutely barbaric notion of hell that evolved under that kick-butt mindset...to me,god is a symbol for something unfathomable, an utter mystery that fills my heart with joy and my spirit with song. 46
LESSON 6 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, PART 2 Notice the use of the words To me... That is the key. To be an idolater, you make a god to suit yourself, one devoid of reference to sin, righteousness, and judgment. Make sure he or she likes the things you like and hates the things you hate. If you like lust, so will your god. If your god doesn t mind lying and stealing, then you can lie, steal, and lust to your heart s content. Your god will fill your heart with joy and your spirit with song...right up until Judgment Day. Take the time to study 1 Corinthians 10:1 14 and see how idolatry leads to sexual sin. So do yourself a big favor: destroy your idols. An idol doesn t have to be something tangible; anything that takes the place of God in our life serves as an idol, whether it be our job, a person, possessions, etc. Cultivate an understanding of what God is like, as revealed in Scripture. That will put the fear of God in you and cause you to keep your heart free from sin, and at the same time you will have strong motivation to do what He says regarding the Great Commission. Bear in mind, when you speak with Roman Catholics, that this Commandment doesn t exist in their catechism. When you mention the Second Commandment, don t be surprised if they think it is You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. It s therefore understandable why many sincere Roman Catholics bow down to statues, even though the Bible makes it clear that this is a great sin in God s eyes. Worshiping images or paying divine honor to any created object (including people) is a violation of this Commandment. Unbelievably, those who formulated the official Roman Catholic catechism took the liberty of deleting the Second of the Ten Commandments, and then splitting the Tenth into two, thus keeping the total at ten. Below is the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments: 1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember to keep the Sabbath Day. 4. Honor thy Father and thy Mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 47
SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor s wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor s goods. Here is their justification for removing the Second Commandment (from The Commandments of God, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV (www.newadvent.org/cathen/04153a.htm):... the Tenth embraces both the Ninth and Tenth of the Catholic division. It seems, however, as logical to separate at the end as to group at the beginning, for while one single object is aimed at under worship, two specifically different sins are forbidden under covetousness; if adultery and theft belong to two distinct species of moral wrong, the same must be said of the desire to commit these evils. Yet, notice the explicit wording of the Second Commandment (the deleted one): You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of any thing 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 yourself to them, nor serve them (Exodus 20:4,5). First Corinthians 10:19,20 warns us that things offered to idols are actually offered to demons, rather than to God, and we are not to have fellowship with demons. Q UESTIONS 1. Why is idolatry perhaps the greatest sin? 48
LESSON 6 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, PART 2 2. Why do you think idolatry appeals to the secular mind? 3. Before you were saved, what was your concept of God like? 4. Think of someone you know who is an idolater. What is his god like? 5. How does the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments sidestep this prohibition? P REACHER S P ROGRESS Christian: Hi, Sally. Good to see you. Have you thought much about what we spoke of last time that the Day is coming in which God will judge the world in righteousness? Sal Frighteous: Yes,I have...and it doesn t concern me because my god would never send anyone to hell. Christian: Do you realize that you are breaking the Second of the Ten Commandments by saying that? Sal Frighteous: What do you mean? 49
SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL EVANGELISM Christian: You have made a god to suit yourself. Your god would never send anyone to hell, because he couldn t he doesn t exist. He s a figment of your imagination. You have made a god you feel comfortable with. That s called idolatry, and it s the oldest sin in the Book. I did the same for many years before I became a Christian. Sal Frighteous: Well, I still believe that I am a good person. I believe in God and I go to church. I think God will let me into heaven because I am a good person. Christian: Sal, you believe that because the god you have conceived in your mind has a low standard of morality. Did you know that the God of the Bible the God you will have to face on the Day of Judgment commands you to be perfect? He is perfect, and He will judge you with a perfect Law that demands perfection. F EATHERS FOR A RROWS A preacher was once given free tickets to the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The cast had extended the invitation, insisting that he attend, so for their sake he went. After the show he was invited to meet the cast. He told the talented singers that he enjoyed their performance, but that the Jesus they portrayed was not the Jesus of the Bible. The woman who played Mary Magdalene replied, But we are making Jesus acceptable to the twentieth century. Her statement was true. Man has always tried to make God acceptable to himself. He prefers to try to change God rather than change his own sinful ways. It is called idolatry making a god in your own image. W ORDS OF C OMFORT I was making a cup of tea early one morning. As I reached over a gas burner on the stove, I suddenly heard a woof noise, and looked down to see that the sleeve of my bathrobe was on fire. Then I heard another woof as the fire spread around to the back of the robe, and another little woof 50
LESSON 6 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, PART 2 as it spread to the sleeve on the other side. At that moment I remembered that I had purchased a fire extinguisher for such a time as this. What was I supposed to do now: Stand six feet from the flame and aim the extinguisher at the base of the fire? This wasn t going to be easy. I took the robe off and threw it to the floor, and heard another woof as the whole thing caught fire. The manufacturers of the robe had obviously soaked it in gasoline to make life more exciting for the wearer. It was then that my daughter walked back into the room and said, Dad! I can t believe this. I leave the room for two minutes and while I m away, you manage to catch on fire. I learned two valuable lessons from the incident. First, don t lean over on open flame in a bathrobe, and second, a man on fire moves rather quickly. Last Words Elizabeth the First: All my possessions for one moment of time. Memory Verse You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. JAMES 4:4 51