Commandment 1 – Nothing Before God
The structure of the Ten Commandments is evident by reading them, and they appear in order of priority, or importance. The first four commands set down the rules for our relationship with Jehovah, our God; commands five through ten lay down rules for our relationships with each other. So we will take each command in turn, starting today with the first and premier command.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3“You shall have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:2-3]
The command is very short, just eight words, the command comes in two parts, “You shall have no” and the subject, “other gods before (or besides) Me.” Here the word 'no' is the Hebrew word 'lo' or 'low', meaning nay, neither never, no. It is definite negative, with no alternative or get-out. The other word in the verse where there is a slight variance, the word is 'before' or 'besides', this is the Hebrew word, 'pάniym'. In this case it means giving an absolute priority, nothing more important or with a higher priority than. So straight away we see that it is not a soft command but a hard one.
This first command of the ten sets the scene for all of the first four of the commandments, that we put God first in all things, that we must love Him with every fibre of our being, heart, soul and strength [Deuteronomy 6:5]. This is what Jesus described as 'The Great Commandment' [Matthew 22:37-38]. When we consider Jesus' response to His Father and the law, we need to factor in the fact that He was fully human, so when Satan tempted Him, he was not tempting God but the human Jesus. At the end of Jesus' forty days fasting in the wilderness Satan tempted Him about food, and tried to get Him to bow down and worship Satan. Jesus told Satan that you shall only worship the Lord your God, and only Him [Matthew 4:10]. Satan also took Jesus to a high mountain and offered Him all kingdoms of the Earth if He would bow or fall down and worship him.
Satan wanted Jesus to fall or bow down to worship him, and bowing down seems to be a part of, of an action of worship. There are plenty of examples in the scriptures that would suggest that bowing is an act of worship, that every knee shall bow [Romans 14:11]; “let us worship and bow down . .” [Psalm 95:6]. In the UK people are expected to bow before our Queen, not so long ago people were expected to bow before a 'Lord of the Realm' and before that a surf was expected to bow to their Liege Lord. Was this a form of worship or a way of showing respect to one's betters? Because under Christ their is neither freeman or slave [Galatians 3:28], which begs the question should Christians bow to anyone? Jesus also pointed out that a person cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve God and the god of materialism, the god of this world [Matthew 6:24], have you ever been placed into the situation at work when one boss tells you to do one thing and another something different? How did that make you feel, did it affect you view on either of the bosses?
God, we are told in the first commandment must be above all else, a priority over all else, because of His awesome power. Scripture tells us to fear God, which has always seemed strange to me, I am not afraid of God, how can love and fear be compatible? God, however, is so powerful than when He demonstrates that power people are in awe, at Mount Sinai
“Now all the people witnessed the thundering s, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off” [Exodus 20:18].
This verse makes me smile; here's God on a mountain and there is cloud covering the top and out of that cloud comes the loud crashing, banging and deep rumblings like thunder, accompanying flashes of light and lightening with the sounds of trumpets with the mountain smoking like a volcano, and the people “stood afar off.” Wouldn't you stand well clear? Now that was the fear of God!
Although this is the first and most important commandment, it is possibly one of the easiest commands to break, everywhere there are other things competing against God for our priority. The command is not just about pagan gods and false religions although there are many of these today; like the new Jedi Religion. The premier command is about everything we give a higher priority to than the true God, and causes us to sin. The highest on that list must be pride, the most common of human failings, pride places self above God. God stands against the proud and is full of grace toward the humble [James 4:6], if we come closer to God, He promises that He will come closer to us and if we humble ourselves He will raise us up [James 4:10]. By humbling ourselves we allow God to lift us up, to give us help see Him from His point of view, and to leave our selfish world-view behind.
The Bible is full of warnings about human failings, forgetfulness, pride neglect of our duty to God [Deuteronomy 8:11-19], man gets himself into situations that he would never get into if we maintained our focus on God. It is not about the problems and disasters we face, but how we respond and deal with them, this shows if we place God first or not, do we turn to God or our best friend? Yes things are different now than during either the Old or New Testament times, but what has changed is the world, not God [Psalm 33:11] His plan never changes. He is as steadfast and unchanging as the stars above [James 1:17], so when God says that we must put nothing before Him, it is not just for our iron-age ancestors, it is also for us, her today and forever. In Jehovah's own words, he says “For I the Lord do not change;” [Malachi 3:6] so neither do His laws.
Is there ANYTHING in your life that comes before God that in any circumstance you would place as a higher priority? This may be you spouse, job, money, leisure activities, car, home, friends, demands of others, or any thing where God is put to one side. We must examine our hearts, and if there is something, we must be rid of it. Follows a few verses to study:
Relationships 1 John 3:11
Work Luke 10:38-42
Self Romans 6:11; Romans 7:15-21; Psalm 139:23-24; Matthew 6:33
Others/world Galatians 1:10; 1 John 2:15
Pride Isaiah 2:11
Lust Matthew 5:27, 28
Entertainment Colossians 3:17
Human Rules Mark 7:8, 9, 13
Religion Matthew 23:27-31
Fear /Worry Philippians 4:6
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” [Ecclesiastes 12:13]