Love God Above All Else Series

Ten Words to Live By: Put God First

Exodus 20

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

07-13-2025

I Pledge Allegiance

When I subbed at the junior high, we began every morning with The Pledge of Allegiance. Most schools still do the pledge in the morning.

The Pledge of Allegiance was originally written by a Baptist pastor named Francis Bellamy in 1892. He had a two-fold purpose - to increase patriotism in Reconstruction Era America and…to sell flags.

Yes, the Pledge was a marketing ploy to sell flags since the sale of American Flags were flagging (HA!). They sold over 25,000 flags to school all across the nation.

Bellamy published the pledge in a youth magazine:

“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

He said that children should stand and put their arm on with their palms facing down. This was changed in 1942, for obvious reasons, to placing the hand over the heart.

In 1923, it was changed from “my flag” to “the flag of the United States of America.”

In 1948, a lawyer suggested that “under God” should be added and in 1954, President Eisenhower, fearing atheistic communism, signed that change into law.

As Americans, the pledge reminds us of our allegiance to our country and the responsibilities we have due to the freedoms we enjoy.

The first commandment of the Ten Words, acts in the same way. It focused the Israelites, and us, on who God is and what God has done and our responses of love, gratitude and obedience to the only God.

In chapter 19, we witnessed the Israelites arriving at the foot of Mt. Sinai and God coming down to speak to Moses. There was lightning and thunder and the mountain shook violently just like Moses’s knees.

Remember, for over 400 years they had been slaves in a country that had thousands of gods. Now, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, they will learn experientially that Yahweh is the only true God and that being in His presence creates terror, dread, and awe.

Moses was about to be given the Law of God, the blueprint for a new nation. Before the commandments there needs to be consecration. Before obedience there needs to be a sense of God’s ownership.

Please turn with me to Exodus 20.

Prayer

Review

Last week I gave five observations about the Ten Commandments.

1. These are commandments, not suggestions. They come from God and carry His authority. This is wisdom from above, as James says, and not human wisdom.

I was at the pool on Thursday and there was a young girl headed to the bathroom and she was running. Stephanie told her to walk. When she came out of the bathroom, she was running and Stephanie, who teaches at the high school, said in her teacher voice, “Walk, this is not a suggestion!” The girl immediately stopped running and started walking.

2. The commandments are all about freedom, not slavery. Remember that the Israelites had come out of 400 plus years of slavery. God gave the commandments to help them enjoy their freedom, not hinder it.

3. The ten are really about one main thing - Idolatry. The first commandment prohibits having anything in your life that you consider more important than God. The last one prohibits coveting, which is making an idol out of something your neighbor has.

4. Each commandment that is a “shall not” has a positive counterpoint.

5. These commandments grow out of grace.

Let’s begin by looking closely at verse one.

Prologue of Grace

God doesn’t just launch into the Ten Words. He starts with what we call a prologue:

“And God spoke all these words:  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1-2)

The Israelites are about 50 days out of Egypt. God is going to lay down the law, but first, He needs to drive deep into their hearts who He is and what He has done for them.

God is not a comic force. He is not an “it.” God is personal and powerful. He is not one of the so-called gods of Egypt. He is Yahweh, the only God and worthy of worship.

What did God do? He brought them out of Egypt, He carried them on “eagles wings” (Exodus 19:4) and rescued and redeemed them out of the land of slavery.

They had witnessed the ten plagues, the dividing of the Red Sea, the provision of manna, quail and water from a rock. They had quaked before Mt. Sinai as lightning flashed and the thunder rolled.

Why did He do this? Was it because of anything they had done to deserve this kind of love? No. It was because He chose them in love.