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.
God did not wait for them to obey Him before He rescued them. He rescued them, not based on anything they did, but simply because He chose to love them.
The tv show, “The Voice” is based on anonymous auditions. There are four judges and four chairs. The singer begins and the judges have a decision. After listening to the performers, they can stay still or push a button to turn their chair around and vie to become that contestant’s mentor.
God “turned His chair” around for Israelites, and you, before we ever sang a note!
God makes the point that He made the first move and says that no one or nothing will ever love you better than Me.
Before Israel can pledge allegiance to Yahweh, they must remember the costly deliverance.
Let me pose a question to you - How would you finish this sentence:
I am the Lord, who…
For me - saved me, gave me purpose, called me into ministry, gave me a wonderful wife and family, and who has walked me through some incredibly tough times.
It was important to remind them that these Ten Words are based on relationship:
“The Ten Commandments, which embody the Creator’s intention for human life are presented as a means of maintaining a redeemed relationship given by grace.” - J.I. Packer.
They are less rules about what to do and tell us more about who God is to us:
1. One God - God is God.
2. No idols - God is Creator.
3. Revere His Name - God is holy
4. Remember to Rest - God is Rest
5. Honor Parents - God is Father
6. No murder - God is Life
7. No adultery - God is Faithful
8. No stealing - God is a Provider
9. No lying - God is Truth
10. No coveting - God is Sufficient
“The Ten Words display the character of God. God poured Himself into His law. Each of the Ten Words expresses particular attributes of God, who is the lawgiver....The first commandment does away with atheism on one hand and pantheism or polytheism on the other. It assumes that there is one true God and no other. It also addresses the deep problem of the human heart: idolatry.” - Tony Merida
The Foundational Word
Remember, theologians divide the ten into two sections. Section one through four - these are the commands concerning loving God. And 5-10 flow out of the first four and show us how to love our neighbor.
The first “word,” is foundational to the other nine.
Have you ever buttoned a shirt and started with the wrong button? If you do, the whole shirt will be, as we say in the south, cattywampus. Get the first button right and the rest of the buttons will follow.
God not only had to get the Israelites out of Egypt but He had to get Egypt out of the Israelites.
They had lived for four centuries in a polytheistic land that worshipped thousands of false gods. They were headed to polytheistic Canaan, where the inhabitants worshipped thousands of false gods.
God, because of who God is and what He had done for them, He deserved their total, undivided allegiance. Therefore, the first word:
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
These are words spoken from a Sovereign to servants.
It’s important to note what He is not saying.
God is not saying that He is superior or stronger than other gods. He is driving home the point that no other gods exist!
Each plague they witnessed in Egypt was directed at multiple different so-called gods that they worshipped. Each plague proved them to at best a figment of their imagination and, at worse, demonic entities.
Isaiah writes:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” (Isaiah 45:5)
“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8)
Paul wrote the Corinthian Christians:
“So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” (I Corinthians 8:4-6)
God is calling the Israelites, and us, to worship Him exclusively.
The band The Velvet Sundown has become very popular over the last month. They released an album on Spotify and over 1.1 million people have listened to their music.
The problem is that the Velvet Sundown doesn’t exist! The band and the music are completely AI generated.
Jen Wilkin writes: “The first word is more than a prohibition against worshipping lesser gods; it is an invitation into reality…why should Israel worship no other gods before God? Because there are no other gods.”
Worship Him Exclusively
Question 46. What is required in the first commandment?
Answer. The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God as the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Question 47. What is forbidden in the first commandment?
Answer . The first commandment forbids denying or not worshiping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; it also forbids giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
Human beings are created to worship. If we do not worship the true God, we will worship any number of false gods.
This first commandment, like the tenth, is really about idolatry.
Idolatry is putting anyone or anything in the place of God as first importance in our lives. The Apostle Paul is deadly serious about this:
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Ephesians 5:5)
Again and again, the Israelites were drawn into idol worship.
Why? Old Testament scholar Doug Stewart give several reasons:
it was selfish - the gods needed “food” the people needed favors.
It was easy - just go though the right motions
It was convenient - no need to travel to the Temple. False temples were as plentiful as McDonald’s.
It was normal - everyone did it
It was indulgent - most worship of false gods included food, wine, and sex.
Maxine and I have been watching documentaries about Charles Manson. It is absolutely fascinating to us the power he had over his “family.”
If you were to meet him, you would have thought how small he was, and then, after listening to him for two minutes, you would have known he was a lunatic.
But dozens of young people, particularly young women, flocked to him, and considered him like a god. They participated in drug-fueled orgies. They worshipped Manson and even killed for him.
English poet Oliver Reynolds told of a man he met that had a altar in his home on which he burned incense to Napoleon. When asked why he replied, “Well, you gotta worship someone!”
God speaks to the Israelites and His first commandment is to have no other gods before me.
If God is not Lord of all, the He is not your Lord at all.
“Before me” can mean several things. It can mean “above, against, over, opposed to.” I was helped in this section by Dr. Mark Jobe.
Instead of me - Substitution
Worshipping anything but the true God is to insult Him to His face.
I found Kevin DeYoung’s insight helpful:
“The God of the Bible is not simply interested in being recognized as a strong and mighty deity. That would not have been a controversial claim in the ancient world. Lots of people had lots of impressive gods and goddesses. What was controversial, and what set the Israelites apart from the other nations, was that their God demanded to be worshipped alone, as the only God, to the exclusion of all others.”
Thirty-three years ago this November 28th, Maxine and I stood on the altar of a church and repeated vows. I always remind people I’m marrying that the vows are to God and then you promise each other to keep those vows.
What if I came home this week and introduced Maxine to my new girlfriend? Would she have any right to be angry? Absolutely! Why? Because I made a vow to God to be faithful to her and to forsake all others.
In Exodus 32, Moses has been on Mr. Sinai with God for 40 days and nights. They don’t know when, or if, Moses is ever coming back. So they corner Aaron and say:
“Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1)
Aaron, who would constantly be a problem for Moses, relents:
"Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:2-4)
But Aaron wasn’t done:
“When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” (Exodus 32:5-6)
One of the main gods of Egypt was in the image of a…cow! They wanted something they could see and touch like when they were back in Egypt.
Aaron tried to have his cake and eat it too. He made an idol but then said it was Yahweh. This is called syncretism. This still happens today.
In Haiti, when Christianity was introduced, the people combined voodoo with Christianity to create a “blended” version of Christianity that we see prevalent in New Orleans.
In the modern church, we have blended pop psychology with Christianity to create what theologians call “moralistic therapeutic deism” - a simplified, self-centered approach to religion that emphasizes being a "good person," personal happiness, and a distant, uninvolved God.
Many people, even in the church, still think “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.
B. In front of me - Importance
When I was in youth ministry, this was the theme of our entire ministry, love God, love others - LGLO
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)
Do we give God the resolute, whole-hearted allegiance for which He asks, and which He deserves? Does He really come first in our lives?
A young man approached Jesus, fell on his knees, and asked “What good thing could he do to inherit eternal life?’
Jesus replied:
“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Mark 10:19-22)
Jesus was not teaching that having wealth was bad. This young man didn’t have wealth. His wealth had him!
It was his god. He understood that he couldn’t have both - he couldn’t worship two gods. Jesus had previously taught that a person can’t serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)
He had to pick and his decision made him sad because he knew he was walking away from true freedom and eternal riches.
Jesus made it clear that we are to not be seeking to build our own kingdom:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Joshua, when calling the Israelites to stop worshipping idols. threw down this challenge:
"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
We are created for single-minded obedience.
I’ve been asked if my love for Barry Manilow is real or a joke. I can assure you it is real. When I took piano lessons as a kid, one of the first songs I learned to play was “Mandy.”
[By the way, did you know that Barry write the jingle,”Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there?”]
Several years ago, a family actually paid me for doing a funeral with Barry Manilow tickets. ?
I’m a fan. But Lori McGill is a “fanilow.” There’s a big difference.
Lori is a 50 something second grade teacher from Long Island, New York. She’s married and has one son. And she has one love - Barry.
She has seen Barry Manilow in concert more than 300 times, including every night of his Broadway run. That’s $350 per ticket!
Her classroom is covered in pictures of Barry and her students wear Barry Manilow shirts on her birthday.
She says there are three magical days in her life - her wedding, the birth of her son, [slide] and the day she got to meet Barry.
I’m a fan. She’s a “fanilow.” There’s a big difference.
John Calvin was right when he said that our minds are “idol factories.”
You may say that you don’t worship Baal, or bow down to an Asherah pole, or sacrifice your children in the fire for Molech.
The Greek gods give us a good template for our current idols:
Mars - god of war. Many people make an idol out of power and control.
Bacchus - god of hedonism. Many people make an idol of of pleasure.
Mammon - the god of success. Many people make an idol of their jobs, their success, their money.
Venus - the god of romance. Many people in our culture put their relationships ahead of God. You can even make an idol of your family.
Minerva - the god of (human) wisdom. Many people make an idol of human wisdom, flocking to hear people like Jordon Peterson.
One pastor wrote that our idols are common to man - Sex, shekels, stomach, pleasure, possessions, position.
J.I. Packer writes: “Your god is what you love, seek, worship, serve and allow to control you.”
How do we know if we have made something in our life an idol?
John Calvin wrote that we owe God four things: adoration, trust, invocation, and thanksgiving.
Let me end with some questions:
Do I adore or love anything more than the true God? Who receives your highest praise?
2. Do I prioritize anything above God? Who or what receives your most precious resource time?
3. Whom do you trust above all?
4. Whom do you call on when you need answers? When you are in trouble? When you are looking for purpose?
5. Whom are you most thankful for?
Most important Reminder
One pastor reminds us:
“We are not saved by keeping the 10 Commandments. However, we are kept safe by them.” The Law reveals the righteousness of God but cannot produce righteousness in our hearts. The commandments don’t give us life; but they certainly guide our life and help us stay on the road.”
The commands are not a ladder that if you keep them all perfectly then you get brownie points from God.
In fact, the most important point of the commandments is that you cannot keep them.
The Law had no power to save, just to show us that we need a Savior.
It cannot set us free, it only proves to us that we are slaves.
“Moses had no other intention than to invite all men to go straight to Christ.”
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.” (Romans 8:3)
The only way we can keep these commandments is to have the Holy Spirit inside guiding us toward what is good, true and right.
Maybe today you have realized that God is not number one.
Jen Wilken’s words are for you:
“Today is the day for toppling our idols of power, wealth, security, and comfort. Now is the time for treading in the dust of the gods of sinful desires. To live this life unbound to the things of earth is to anticipate the indescribably joy of an eternity in which every earthly pleasure bows to the pleasure of being finally and fully in the presence of the one and only God. Choose this day whom you will serve. Pledge your allegiance to Jesus.”
A blogger named Karen Girl Friday gives three ways we can give our all to Jesus.
Following Jesus with Complete Abandon:
A. Count the Cost
Kathy writes:
To come to Christ costs us nothing. But to be a true disciple of Christ costs us everything.
To follow Christ with complete abandonment cost us something.
Costs like:
Giving up going our own way.
Laying down our personal agenda.
Trading our kingdom come for God’s Kingdom come. Even when my way feels good or my agenda seems right, my kingdom often crumbles.
Counting the cost equals freedom. A place of completion. Giving it all for the sake of the call.
When I left Memphis to work at the Christian school in North Carolina, I had quit graduate school, quit my job, left my church, and a serious girlfriend.
As I drove away, I had my windows down and Steven Curtis Chapman was blasting as tears rolled down my face, ?
“We will abandon it all / for the sake of the call
No other reason at all / for the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die for the sake of the call.”
B. Follow Christ With a Whole Heart
She writes:
As we continue to follow, we more fully comprehend life as a disciple. It’s a learning process. An act of doing. A choice to follow Jesus with a whole heart—not divided by other desires that take precedence over Him.
The heart of discipleship—investing in the kingdom of heaven where the return on investment is the greatest of all.
A whole heart includes to fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Him. It means giving all of myself to Him alone, not to the idols or shiny gods of this world. I love Christ more than anyone or anything.
Falling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.
C. Carry My Cross
Jesus told his disciples,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 (ESV)
Kathy writes:
“So complete abandon is denying myself and carrying my cross. It’s more of Jesus and less of me. Because life is not about me. Even ministry is not about me. It’s about the One who said, “Follow Me.” It’s about Jesus.”
