Exodus 20:3 - The One and Only God

October 20

Exodus 20:3 - “You shall have no other gods before Me."

Message: The One and Only God

Time: Most likely this book was penned by Moses. The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC. The Bible's message of redemption appears in Exodus as well: though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom, provided the Law, established the system of sacrifice, and gave instructions on building of His tabernacle. God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What the Lord is Saying: 

The idea of no other gods could be thought of that there are rival gods to our Lord God and God simply rises above them all. However, I think it is more apt to say that since God is omnipresent there are no other gods that are truly God. What we have is pretenders. What we have are people or things that we sometimes think are gods. 

Jeremiah 23:24

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

Thus, we are directed throughout scripture to worship only God. And we see that God disciplined Israel when they worshipped other Gods. 

Judges 2:11-15

11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, 12 and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.

I was speaking to a friend that lives in Kenya and had asked her about her daughter who is 15 and she mentioned that her daughter is not working hard in school and is instead spending much time watching movies and then remarked that because of this she now has ulcers. It was interesting how she so clearly connected these ulcers with her behavior. I have another friend that remarks about this at times when he experiences pain in his life. 

I wonder why in our culture we distant ourselves sometimes from this sort of thinking. But Scripture does paint this picture. And that is that bad things can be the result of His anger against us? 

October 21

So we must focus and look forward to the day when our minds and lives are completely focused on God and loving Him. 

Revelation 7:9-12

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Wayne Watson has a song called "No Other Gods" in which he talks about other gods in his life that he is giving air time to and getting him off track and he can't sleep. Daily I need to renew my mind. 

Summary: It is good to me and my family and life when God is the only that I worship. 

Promise: Tabletalk states -- "We break the first commandment every time we seek our ultimate satisfaction in a source other than God. We keep it whenever we seek to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength."

Prayer: O Father God, you are holy. I am not. But you have transformed me by saving me and making me your Child forever. Each day I have a choice of where I give my allegiance. Lately, stress has been at the forefront. I've been letting my work commitments get the best of me. I still want you to be number one in my life but Lord I need to act like it every moment of every day. Give me your peace. Thank you for good friends and times of fellowship. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to you God forever and ever. Help me God to not get distracted and to keep You at the forefront of my life. I want to have the strength to do things after my work hours. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. 

Isaiah 45:5 - The One and Only God

Isaiah 45:5
“I am the Lord, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me."

Message: The One and Only God

Time: Isaiah prophesied from 739–681 BC to a nation that had turned a deaf ear to the Lord. He wanted to see the nation of Judah return to serving God with humility and love for their neighbors. But he was called to pronounce judgments to on a people offering meaningless sacrifices in the Temple and committing injustices throughout the nation. It provides the most prophetic picture of Jesus in the entire Old Testament.

What the Lord is Saying:

Despite some religions like Islam and Judaism claiming otherwise, Christianity stands firmly upon the doctrine of monotheism. For me, it seems the confusion is about people's understanding of the God of the Bible thinking that each person of the Trinity is a separate God. God is a spirit and the names of God are spoken of in the persons of the Godhead - Father, Son, Spirit. The word Trinity originated years after Jesus walked on the earth. But the Bible is clear that God is Father, Son, Spirit;  all share the attributes of the Spirit God and also that God is one. Thus, the doctrine of a monotheistic religion of God is one is different from other monotheistic religions such as Judaism or Islam. But the trinity is grounded in the premise that there is one eternal God.

In the study of God, one arrives at the words in the Bible that are used to define God. In the Hebrew text are words Elohim and Yahweh. In this passage today, Isaiah 45:5, we translate it in the English as "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me." The Hebrew follows a different order of the word and from the interlinear it says - and though not I will gird you God (elohim). There is no besides Me other and there is no Yahweh I am. 

This verse in Isaiah is pronounced to Cyrus the Great, the King of Persia. But he is a heathen king that is used by God to deliver the Jews from Babylonian captivity. God speaks to him directly here. And this verse declares to Cyrus God is Elohim or deity and God is Yahweh or Lord. Thus, the passage could read, "I, the Lord of Israel is the only deity." God is declaring that He is the only deity or the only God.

[My sidenote here is that often people will say that all religions lead to the same destination. How can this be so when the Lord of Israel, Yahweh, declares that He is the only Elohim or deity. Are there multiple gods mentioned in history? Yes. But this God says He is the only God.]

Back to Cyrus the Great, God speaks to him and will use this heathen God to accomplish His purposes. Whether Cyrus acknowledges him as the only true God does not matter here. Cyrus God is still only Yahweh. Just as all the people of the world only have one God. As this scripture states by God - "though you have not known Me" - meaning though you have not acknowledged Me as the only God and as Your God this doesn't mean that God does not use him because He in fact says -  "I will gird you." They may say otherwise but if this text to be true, Yahweh is the only God.

As I look at the landscape of even our governing bodies, we often have different forms of how that government leads and more often today it is about a group rather than a single person. The dictators in our history have proven to rule in a harmful way, so there is accountability sought. Even in the church this is prescribed by having a group of elders make decisions collectively or putting it to the congregation as a whole. And yet in the realm of deity, we have only one God. He is our one and only leader.

Promise: To believe in the God of the Scripture is to believe in the true God, the one true God - the Lord of Israel. Salvation is only in His name.

Prayer: Lord, in this world of confusion that we live in, there are multiple gods mentioned all the time. Lord, help me to be one that clarifies that the Bible speaks of only one God. He is Yahweh and he is the only one, the only elohim, the only deity. In this world Lord that is focused on tolerance and have different names for God, I need to be that voice speaking that there is only one God. Lord, help me to stand on that mountaintop and declare this without thinking of the consequences.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.

Mark 12:32-34 - Close to the Kingdom of God

Mark 12:32-34
32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE's NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

Message: Close to the Kingdom of God

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface - Jesus is answering question after question. He is speaking with an authority about God that many have not seen. The Jewish leaders of the day are even being questioned. People see this. people want to hear from him. Jesus has said that we need to have faith in God, forgive others; we need to love God, love our neighbor. He has said at the beginning of his ministry that the purpose of each person is to repent and believe in the Gospel. This is the message. Turn from my evil ways and embrace God and others.

After Jesus responds to the scribe's question about the greatest commandment, The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher. This is a response that hasn't really been voiced by many up to this point. The disciples often did not respond in this way. If anything, it seems that Jesus wants this response.

The scribe has much to say that is right and draws upon words from the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!Deuteronomy 4:35 - To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.Leviticus 19:18 - You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.I Samuel 15:22 - Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.Isaiah 45:21 - “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.Hosea 6:6 - For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

The scribe somewhat summarizes what Jesus has just said but he adds that He is "one." Jesus said, "THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD." The scribe agrees with this and says, "He is ONE." 

He also knows that there is no one else like Jesus. Instead of heart, soul, mind and strength, he takes soul and mind and combines it with understanding to say: heart, understanding and strength. For me, this is clear.

Jesus responds with this scribe with the words - When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God." This is an interesting response by Jesus and also a confirmation of the importance of simply agreeing with Jesus' words. The scribe simply responds back with the words he has said which brings affirmation that we are answering him correctly. Perhaps this is what was meant by many have said in teaching us how to pray that we need to simply echo the words of God or speak the scriptures back to God in our prayers and petitions.

The scribe had definitely made up a lot of ground in him becoming a child of God. Jesus did not tell the man he was in the kingdom of God but that he was not far from it. Thus, to enter the kingdom of God is to recognize the authority of God's law. But there is also more to it by Jesus saying repent and believe. Each person needs to recognize that they are living life in a foolish manner and turn from their sin and believe in Jesus and therefore all that He says. So the scribe was not far from the kingdom of God. 

Summary - After the scribe asks Jesus to explain the greatest commandment, Jesus proclaims the Shea from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 that the love for God above all else is the most important of all the commandments. Then Jesus says to love one's neighbor is the second greatest of the commandments. The scribe responds by agreeing with Jesus and re-stating what Jesus has said. Jesus is pleased with this response and acknowledges that the scribe is not far from the kindgom of God. But there is more. There is the Law and recognizing we are sinners.

Promise: God's judgment must be preached for people to enter the kingdom of God. This message is as central as recognizing that we are to Love God and Love our Neighbors as ourselves.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the truth of your message. Thank you for clearly explaining it. You have told me that the Love of God and Love for my neighbor is central to my faith, but also repentance and believing and having faith is central for the forgiveness of sins. Lord, help me to be an anchor of truth to this generation. Thank you for your great love for people and for showing me this love through the study of this book.