HopeUC Secunderabad
Tune in each week to the HopeUC Secunderabad podcast for insightful teachings from our pastors and guest speakers featured in our weekend services. Delve into practical and relevant biblical insights on topics that resonate with your daily life. New audio sermons are released every Tuesday, helping you stay connected and grow in your faith.
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HopeUC Secunderabad
How To Know God
The Second Commandment... “You shall not make for yourself an idol”, reminds us not to replace the Creator with created things. For Israel, it meant leaving behind Egypt’s false gods; for us, it means dethroning modern idols like career, money, or success. God’s “jealousy” isn’t petty but protective love... He wants first place in our lives, not to limit us but to free us for His presence and blessing.
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All of us, all of the Hope Unlimited churches, we've been following the particular series and it is Just 10. And we are focusing on the 10 commandments, the 10 commandments that we find in the bible. Why? Because I think every now and then we should revisit our core values. Every now and then, even though you have studied them in your sunday school, I think we should keep reading them every now and then, maybe once in two years or whatever. Every time, you know, not just the 10 commandments. There are certain things which we always have to revisit because they are our foundational values and we have to keep growing stronger in our foundational, foundational values. So we are going in the reverse order. I mean, we started with Commandment number 10, right now we are in the ninth week, so we are looking at Commandment number number two, are looking at commandment number two, and the commandment number two goes something reads something like this I'm reading from the amplified version it says you should not carve anything. You should not carve anything. You should not make anything. Don't do anything in the heavens or the birds or the earth, or animal or tree or something like fish or whatever it is. Don't create an object and start worshipping that that object. You should not do anything like that.
Speaker 1:In fact, when you look at the Ten Commandments, I believe the first three of them are the foundational, the core commandments. At least the first two are very core commandments. It's a typical Hebrew feature In the Hebrew writings. The way they used to write is number one. They will clear the point, in the sense they will make a statement and everything else that follows is just a support to that statement. That is so unlike. You know the western mindset. Hebrew is very eastern mindset. You will make the point and then you will explain everything. I mean the western mindset is you will beat around the bush, you will go everywhere and then you will say, okay, this is what you want. Then they will kind of pinpoint the actual issue. No, no, no, hebrew is different here. Also, the first three commandments are the important ones.
Speaker 1:Next week you will study the most important of all of the ten commandments and they go something like this Let me read them for you. Number one you shall have no other gods, no gods before me. Number two is what we are going to look today Is you will not make any idols to worship. Number three Is what you saw last week you should not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Core foundational statements. That's Hebrew. For example, look Psalm 23. Should not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain Core foundational statements. That's Hebrew. For example, look Psalm 23.
Speaker 1:The core statement is 23, verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. Everything after that is because of statement number one. I will lie down in green pastures. Why? Because the Lord is your. He leads me beside the still waters. Why? Because the Lord number one I will lie down in green pastures. Why? Because the Lord is your. He leads me beside the still waters. Why? Because the Lord is your shepherd. Or Psalm 91. He who dwells in the secret place of the most high. That's the core statement. Everything else is just an addition or supportive to that. That statement.
Speaker 1:Because you dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, no arrow will harm you, no disease will come next to you. He will protect you. No lion will overpower you. You will not be scared. Why? Because you are under the shadow of the. That's the way it is written.
Speaker 1:So what we're going to study today and also next week are really important, because every other commandment flows through that. You know. Look at this. First three commandments. You should not have any other gods other than me, and all the other commandments are linked to that. You should not commit adultery. That's commandment number seven. You should not commit adultery. That's commandment number seven. Why you should not commit adultery? Because you are honoring the Lord, your God, because there's no other God other than the God who we serve. You should maintain Sabbath. You should dedicate it for the service of the Lord. Why? Because the Lord is your, the Lord is your God. You should not steal. Why? Because God is watching over you and the Lord is your. Lord is your God. Everything comes to that Comes to that point. Let's look at the context of the 10 commandments and then we will go A little more deeper.
Speaker 1:Israel was in captivity, or was in bondage, slavery, for 400 years and in this 400 years they had very little knowledge about God Yahweh. You know they knew that this God appeared to Abraham and he gave him a promise I will give you an inheritance Get out of the land of Ur. Abraham in obedience starts following the Lord. He know. The Israelites knew that promise and oftentimes, like you know, they would call on this God or they would refer to him as the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob. That's how they referred. Other than that, do they know about the nature of this God? I don't think so. They had an idea that this God is righteous, this God is good and he was very close to Abraham and he was very close to Abraham. That little idea they had. But what is the nature of this God? What does he want from us? They were not really that well educated about that. But on the other side, the Israelites.
Speaker 1:For 400 years they learned about the Egyptian gods because they were everywhere, unlike the God of Abraham. Years they learnt about the Egyptian gods Because they were everywhere, unlike the god of Abraham, who is only one. Egypt had 2000 plus gods. Everything they could see is a god. They could look at a bottle water bottle and say that's a god. I mean, they would come up with, like you know, different, different things and in many cases the Egyptian gods are like crazy in the sense. You know they are very angry all the time. They have big egos, you know.
Speaker 1:You know, very oftentimes in a polytheistic culture, what you will find is the lives of the people who worship their gods is more holy than the gods themselves Any polytheistic culture. Why? Because in a polytheistic meaning, any culture which has many gods. So you will look at the stories of their gods. They lust after each other, they fight with each other, they are waging war with each other. And who are the victims? Collateral damage, everybody who is worshipping, everybody who is worshipping them.
Speaker 1:Because one God will come and say if you don't worship me, like you know, in Egypt there's a God, there's a goddess called. I mean over Nile, the river Nile, if you don't worship me, I will cause a flood or there will be a drought. And they have to worship. And if everybody is worshipping that God, then the God of the cattle will get angry. If you don't worship me, I will kill all the cattle. Then they have to. It's fear. It's fear. They worship gods because of that fear. But these gods are also petty, petty gods. You can pitch one guard against another guard. You can take the help of one guard and do black magic on some family there. That's how they used to operate, that's how it used to. It's like a culture of witchcraft, a culture of black magic, a culture of fear.
Speaker 1:They use that same crooked mentality to dominate the Israelites for 400 long years. Israel cries to the Lord, god, and the Lord says I have seen, I have heard and I am coming to rescue. What God does? He routes the gods of Egypt. Look at the 10 plagues that fell on the land of Egypt. Every plague is targeted against one god or the other. He targeted their gods left, right and center. You know, by the end of those 10 plagues, what Israel knew was that their god is greater, powerful than any other God everywhere. Forget about Egypt.
Speaker 1:Every other nation in that area started getting scared of Israel. You know Jericho. People of Jericho lived in extended amount of fear, extended amount of fear, because the first time the Israelites messed up, they thought they are giants, we can't conquer them. 40 long years they roam and they go back. And you know what the people of Jericho say we were scared of you. And the Israelites was, I don't know. They just messed up. But every other God, gods of every other nation, were scared of this God, the God of Israel. God, the God of Israel. And how did God of Israel manifest himself? Plague after plague, plague after plague, One plague more severe than the plague that went by the deadliest of them. God killed their God. Or God of Israel killed Pharaoh's son, the next heir to the throne. Then Egypt lost it and they let the children of Israel go.
Speaker 1:But there is a problem with Israel and I think that problem is like you know. I mean, I also kind of have that problem Because when Israel came out of Egypt into the wilderness, three days they walked in the desert and on the third day started complaining. It's like God, we don't have water. Then they find a pond and in that pond when they drink it was somewhere bitter. God, we have bitter water. You got us from Egypt and you have. You have brought us to bitter water. You want to poison us and kill us in the desert. Man, he got you out of 400 years of slavery. You don't talk like that when you are freed from slavery.
Speaker 1:But, israel, I think I am also like that. When I am going through a bad time, I'll cry and say God, please help me. But once he rescues me, I'll say God, why are you not giving me any extra? That's me not like you. If you're smiling, you also understand, okay. So Israel complained. Then God, take a stick, throw it in that pond. That water will become sweet. And they drank that water.
Speaker 1:Then God told them man, I did this just to test you, because the way you responded to the Egyptian guards was with fear, but I lovingly rescued you. Remember when the angel of death passed by, I protected everybody in your family. When the cattle was dying, I protected every cattle in your household. When the hailstorm came, when there was no sunlight all over Egypt, only in the land of Goshen I gave sunlight. No plague ever came close to the children of children of God. That's how I took care of you.
Speaker 1:And he says now, just three days later, you are complaining against the God who delivered you from bondage. 45 days after they leave Egypt, israel had onions and garlic, we had the masala, but in the wilderness we don't have anything. You brought us out into the wilderness so that we can be starved to death. God gets upset again. But either way, from that day till the next 40 years, every day, except the Sabbath day, manna would fall down from heaven. Every day Again, the Lord reminds them, telling them I am doing this in order to test you, because in our lives, not every time will be a great rescue.
Speaker 1:Right, we will all go through bad times, right? Okay, you can be quiet If you are a Christian. You will go through bad times If, till now you have not gone through any bad time. Hang on, my brother. Hang on, continue. Continue serving the Lord. Somewhere very soon, something is going to happen. You mean that's the reality of life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, like you know, some of you people had a good life before you became a child of God. But the moment you said Jesus is my Lord and Savior, your family said get out of my house. Right? I mean, there are a good number of people like that. You struggled. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Lord said will you still serve me during that time? Will you still continue to put your trust in me during that time? Or else will you do a bargain deal, like how the Egyptians did with their gods God, I will sacrifice a chicken. You put a curse on that fellow. I'll sacrifice a bull or a goat. You give me this one. That's a give and take relation. It's like a commercial deal, na With those gods.
Speaker 1:But God Yahweh is offering free, free food, free deliverance, and he is guiding them Literally. He is guiding them Literally. He is guiding them. There's a pillar of fire that goes in front of them in the night. There's a cloud that is leading them, giving them the shade Free of cost. There's nothing attached to it.
Speaker 1:Do the Israelites deserve anything like that? I don't think so. They are slaves. Can they offer anything to this God? I don't think so. They are slaves. Can they offer anything to this God? I don't think so. They have nothing to offer.
Speaker 1:But God still took care of them. God still delivered them. And the Lord said because I have delivered you, because I have taken care of you, you will only serve me. I have bought you with a heavy price and you will not go worshipping any other gods, you will worship only, only me. And the reason that he gives is like this Exodus, chapter 20, verse 4 to 5. It says you shall not worship any of them, you shall not worship them, nor will you serve them, for I, the Lord, your God.
Speaker 1:If God did not deliver Israel, what would have been the fate of Israel? If God did not deliver Israel? What would have been the fate of Israel? They would have died building those cities in Egypt. It would have been a genocide of a whole nation. So God gave hope where there was no hope. God delivered them from an enemy who was superpower during those time.
Speaker 1:And he says you are uniquely mine, because without that deliverance, without the Red Sea experience, without the plagues coming upon you, israel, you don't have a chance to live. If you're alive, you're alive only because of God Yahweh. And then he makes a demand, telling you will not worship any other God other than me and you will not stoop down to a level of carving a tree or a stone and telling I will worship that Worship, that one. Fair enough from God's side, right, because without God, yahweh, israel is nothing, and I think that's the true to me also. Without God, I don't think I am anything, and that's true for every one of us. Also, right. Without God, what are we? If God didn't save us, what are we?
Speaker 1:Or I can talk like a Christian without Jesus dying on the cross for me. Who am I? I have absolutely no value. I'm destined for the fires of hell. I only stand in front of you because Jesus died for me in my place. My sins were too heavy till Jesus set me free on the cross. So if Jesus comes to me and says I have died for you so that you can live for me, I'll agree with that. I'll gladly agree with a statement like that and I will gladly I will pour out my life in order to worship Jesus and do everything that pleases Him, because without Him I am really nothing. So the Lord gives them the reason over here, telling because I am a jealous God, I am a jealous, I am a jealous God.
Speaker 1:So how should I understand the word jealousy? You know it has very negative connotations right now, but let's understand it biblically. Six times in the Old Testament the word jealousy is used for God and all of those six times it is used in the context of idol worship, or all of those six times it is used in the context of replacing God with something else. And three times it is used in the book of Exodus and three times it is used in the book of Deuteronomy. Very quickly, we will look into this and then we will respond to the message.
Speaker 1:Today. The first time you will find it is in Exodus, chapter 20 itself. We have just read it Exodus, chapter 20, verse 5. It says you will not bow down, for I am a jealous God. God leads them out of Egypt, god rescues them, sets them free, and the way that the Lord tells us I am very possessive about you. That's a better way to understand the word Word jealousy. It talks about the ardent protective zeal that Yahweh has for his people. It's like you are mine. If you go anywhere, you know, it's like you know. Let's say you know.
Speaker 1:I mean the testimony here today was like about this lady Nikita and 11 years, I mean 9 years, right, 9 years. She struggled to have a baby and after a lot of struggle, I mean I think you know the 2-3 minutes does not really capture the pain that she must have gone through. So think about a mother who goes through such a pain gives birth to a baby boy. Girl raises up that baby boy or a girl, the child, and someday, when the child grows up, the child says you are not my mother. How will the mother feel? How will the mother feel? God delivered them, god rescued them, god is providing food for them, god destroyed the most powerful nation on the earth just for them.
Speaker 1:And if they put an idol and say this is God, how will they feel? How will God feel? He says I am possessive, you are my people. Everything about Israel is a promise, fulfillment of God. Remember Israel is a nation because of the promise God gave to Abraham. He said you are my people, you're not going to go and worship any other, any other God.
Speaker 1:That's jealous, that's possessiveness, and it is right for a parent to be possessive about their children, right? You agree or not agree? That's true. It is right for a parent who gives birth and takes care of their children to be possessive about their, about their children. I think it is right for also spouses to be possessive. In a marriage relationship it is right for spouses to be possessive. I'll talk about it a little later.
Speaker 1:The second time and the third time also, the word jealousy is used in Exodus, chapter 34, in verse 14. It is used two times in this one sentence and it reads like this it says do not worship any other god, for the lord, whom, whose name is jealous, is a jealous god. It is used two times he's a jealous, he's a jealous god. And you know the Ten Commandments are written. You will find the Ten Commandments three times in the Bible Exodus, chapter 20, chapter 34 and Deuteronomy, chapter 4 or 5. So there are three times you will find the Ten Commandments being repeated. Some are a little elaborate, some are a little detailed, but three. Little detailed, but three.
Speaker 1:And this Exodus chapter 34 is when God was giving the 10 commandments for the second time. Why? Because the first time, when God gave the commandments, moses got angry because he saw them worshipping, and I mean a calf. So he takes those commandments, the tablets, and he breaks them. Then, in chapter 34, god says come back, come back to Mount Sinai and carve those two tablets again, because I will again write the commandments and I will give them to you, the same commandments. That's what the Lord says, and I mean what is the intensity over here? He says twice my name is jealousy, I am a jealous, I'm a jealous God.
Speaker 1:In a way God is telling no idol is a right representation of who I am. No idol, no picture, nothing can actually represent God, right, so don't even think about it, don't even think about doing anything like that. Don't say think about doing anything like that. Don't say, because this picture is nice, it represents God, I will just worship this picture as if it is God. Let me just give you an example. It's a metaphor. Only part of what I'm going to say is true, but you will get the point.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know a lot of people who come to church and they're married right now, happily married, but when they were going through their, let's say, romantic relationship. Most of the time, whenever they used to come to the church, they were always on their mobiles, right, oh, you're so quiet. Good, they were always on their mobiles, at least right now. You know, I mean, we have that. You know, I mean have the earphones or the earpods and all those things. Let's say, 10-15 years ago none of us really had any of those things, and a good number of my friends themselves, whenever they are driving a two-wheeler also, they used to go like that and some of them have a permanent damage. They are like this only so, if you look at anybody like this, they can say, oh, he was in love long time ago, so they used to talk on the phone all the time. Finally, whatever it is, they got married.
Speaker 1:But this is just an assumption. Okay, what if the husband says man, I spoke to you for years together on the phone. We said all those loving words, everything on the phone, so I want to talk to you even right now on the, though we live in the same house. We'll talk to you on the phone because that's how everything happened. Right, how will that be? She'd be like you know, I mean, I'm in front of you, man, talk to me face to face. Why do you want to use a picture or a carved thing and pray to it, when God is omnipresent, when God is everywhere, around, everywhere, around us?
Speaker 1:You know, in Psalm chapter 115, it says you know, it talks about idols In kind of I think in a taunting way. It says they have mouths, they can't speak. They have eyes, they can't see. They have hands, they can't do anything. They have feet, they can't really walk, or not. So what's the point, man? How are they going to help you? How are they going to help you?
Speaker 1:You know, when egyptian gods, when you look at them, they are all limited in their scope, limited in their potential. The god of Nile is only has authority over Nile, does not have any authority over the Sahara desert, and the god of the crops is only over the crops. So even if it were a demon that is operating to that God, that demon or the demonic force, that demonic influence was finite. Compare them to the God of Israel Is like mocking the God of Israel. God of Israel is omnipotent, he is all knowing and he is present everywhere. All those demonic demons that operated as gods, they are not omnipotent, they don't know everything but the God we serve. He knows everything. That's who our God is In Jeremiah.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah also mocks people who worship idols and he compares them to a scarecrow. Jeremiah, chapter 10, verse 5. It says, like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot really walk. Do not fear them, they can do no harm. Now, what is a scarecrow? All you do is you know you'll put this very scary, human looking object in a field so that the birds will not come and eat the grain. And what will that do except standing there? Absolutely nothing Except scaring. And what will that do except standing there? Absolutely nothing except scaring. If somebody looks at that, oh, they will get scared. What is this? But except that it can't move an inch. He compares them telling why are you getting scared of things like that? They're just standing there, they can't do anything.
Speaker 1:The fourth one, fourth place where you find the word jealousy is Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verse 24. Be careful and do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you. Do not make for yourself an idol in any form of anything that the Lord, your God, has forbidden. For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire. He is a jealous. He is a jealous God. I mean the word jealous God is combined with the word consuming, consuming fire, meaning he does not tolerate anyone else. In the book of Isaiah, god says I don't share my glory with mortals. I will not share it with anyone else. You know, deuteronomy is one book, let's say, let me just explain this.
Speaker 1:Moses came to the end of his life and by this time Moses understood that God had forbidden, banned him from going into the promised land, and he explains this in chapter four. He explains I did something mistake, that's why God told me not to go into the promised land. But then for 40 years Moses took care of the needs of Israel. So like an elderly father he was around 120 years old or so. He writes this book encouraging them. Let me try and put it in common language. Let's say my parents gave me instruction as I was growing up. And finally, when they know that you know they have only two or three weeks left, they again call me and they tell you know, hey, please remember what all I taught you, what all we stand for. It's like like that, the parting speeches of Moses. He writes it with a lot of concern.
Speaker 1:You know, this Moses is not the short-tempered Moses you find in the book of Exodus. This Moses is meek and many a times when God's anger burned against Israel, moses stood in the middle and he said God, please, what will other nations tell about you? Please, don't destroy them. That's the Moses and he's pleading with the Israelites, telling don't go back to idol worship, don't do anything like that, Because my God is a consuming, he's a consuming fire Sometimes, like you know, I mean I had this very interesting thing back in the day.
Speaker 1:One person came and told that, you know, I mean pastor, he's married. He said, pastor, you know, before I got married, my wife is a blessing from God. Yes, I said, okay, good man, nice, you, you know, before I got married, my wife is a blessing from God. Yes, I said, okay, good man, nice, you have a living, a nice, good life. But then before that, you know, I had all the kind of bad, bad relationships and all, okay, god rescued you from that man. God forgive you. Good, I told.
Speaker 1:But he said, like, in my home, I want to keep a picture of my ex. I said why? No, not because I don't have anything close. I mean in the sense nothing, no feelings and all, but just because she was like a model and she is good. That's why I want to keep. I said, okay, go ahead and keep man. Well, you know what will happen. You'll have a spicy curry in the evening. In your curry the masala will be like super high. Nobody tolerates anything like that. No, no, no, no, no, no. God is a consuming fire. You get something other than you. Bring someone else and say God, in your place, I am going to do this. You think God is going to keep quiet? He is possessive.
Speaker 1:The fifth time is in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16. Or rather, sixth time you will find in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16. Or rather, sixth time you'll find it Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16. For the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you. He will destroy you from the face of the land. Now, this chapter is a very interesting chapter. Why? Because in this chapter, moses gives the creedal statement of Israel, creedal statement meaning the foundational statement. I mean, that's the statement that should define the nation of Israel. And the creed statement goes something like this Hear O Israel, that the Lord, thy God, is one. That's the way God wants to respond, not like the Egyptians who were scared of their gods, but God wants the Israelites to fall in love with the God who delivered them. The relationship or their obedience is not because of fear, but their obedience is because of love Everybody.
Speaker 1:Okay, you know, when I was in my degree college, I used to get this one preacher. We used to have a chapel. I studied in a Christian college and I mean we used to have a chapel, fellowship and most of us became Christians, or rather we became serious with God, because we used to hear messages about hell. Hell is a scary place. The fire will not go down and the worm will not. I said, jesus, I love you and, like you know, I mean really scary. I used to go attend, do everything and all not know. I mean really scary. I used to go attend, do everything and all, not because I love God, but because I am scared of God.
Speaker 1:Later on I found out, you know, that's not the right way to worship God, right? I don't know, I don't feel it right. I mean, in a sense, I don't want to get terrorized and worship God. I want to worship God because I want man. My heart is telling me that, and worship God. I want to worship God because I want man. My heart is telling me that I love him, and I want to worship God just because I, just because I love him.
Speaker 1:And Moses tells the same thing here. It's only one God, not like Egypt, 10, 10, 15, 15, 2000 gods. And you should love him with all of your heart, your mind, your strength, with everything that is within you. And he also gives. He also gives a solution how we can continue in this value, and the solution is like this these commandments that I give you today are to be on your heart, let's say the 10 commandments plus all the others. Put them on your heart, in the sense by heart, then memorize them.
Speaker 1:And okay, just because we studied it, how many of us know all the 10 commandments by heart? We have to pray. We have to pray. Okay, there's one lady. God bless you, lady. And yeah, I think you know, I mean, at least you know, because you've been coming to this church for a long time, considerable amount of time, as children of God. Can we, by heart them, at least nod your head, man? Yeah, yes, you know, there's a bare minimum we can do right, okay, yeah, in the next one or two weeks we'll by heart all the ten commandments, amen, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:And he says these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. In the sense, if you have children, talk to your children about the word of the Lord. And it says this is how you're going to talk. Talk about them when you sit in your home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Talk about them.
Speaker 1:Tie them as symbols on your hand. You know some of you young people I don't know some of you pakka might be having that band, some band which says Jesus loves you, jesus cares for you, one of those things. And tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. You know I keep visiting houses and all, and one blessed thing that I see is when I go to some of your houses is you'll have a nice frame telling the Lord is God, is the Lord of this house, or like, behold, I stand at the door of your, or the Lord is my shepherd, or our father, who art in One of those things. I think it's a good thing, man. And if you have a vehicle, put a sticker in there and good number of them, like I've seen them on your laptops, yeah, yeah, I mean, that's good. Actually, before you browse anything weird, that sticker will remind you I'm watching you.
Speaker 1:The Lord said I am a jealous God. I'm very possessive about you. The Lord said I am a jealous God, I'm very possessive about you. I'm so possessive about you. I don't tolerate you running to someone else instead of me. You know, when a child is in deep problem and they go to your neighbor's house instead of coming to you, how will you feel? God got hurt. And he, he says don't do anything like that.
Speaker 1:Idol worship. I mean, remember whatever 10 commandments that we are studying right now. These are the foundation for israel. 39 books you will find in the old testament. Every other book after the 10 commandments is is either a reaction or a response to how Israel behaved with the Ten Commandments. If God sent Israel into captivity, it's because they broke one of these commandments, or if God blessed somebody, it's because they followed the Ten Commandments, is because they followed the 10 commandments. Everything in that old covenant, from here till the book of Malachi Is a consequence of how people dealt with the 10 commandments. That's how important these commandments are. So if you have to take some time to buy them, please do that. Please do that Because our lives, till the end of our lives, will also be a reaction to this.
Speaker 1:Whether God will bless us or God will not bless us, or whether we are close to God or far away from the Lord, it depends on whether we obey the obey the word of the Lord. The Israelites were scared of their God, but for some reason they were also taking their God for granted. The Egyptians worshiped their God out of terror, but then the Lord is making the Israelites unlearn what they have learned for 400 years, and he was giving them a new identity and they are not supposed to worship their God the way the Egyptians worship their God. So he would give a revelation of himself. With this we will close.
Speaker 1:In Exodus, chapter 34, verse 5 to 10. God gives a revelation of himself, and this is the chapter where God tells Moses come back, verse 5 to 10. God gives a revelation of himself, and this is the chapter where God tells Moses come back to the mountain. I will give you the 10 commandments again. But then Moses has this one desire. Moses says God, I just want to have a glimpse of who you are. I think it's a great desire. But then the Lord says Moses, you cannot see me and live Because you are a man. God is God, but the Lord says Moses for you. I am going to make an exception. I will hide you in the cleft of a rock, put my hand, I will cover you and I will pass by. Or my glory will pass by and after my glory has completely passed by, you will get a glimpse of a trace of it. Or some Bibles would say you will see my back. That's what, exactly what happens.
Speaker 1:And as Moses opens his eyes, god gives a revelation of revelation of himself. And the revelation goes something like this it's powerful and God wanted all Israelites to have this revelation of God. God wants all of us also to have this revelation of himself. Exodus 34, verse 5. Then the Lord descended in the cloud, stood there with Moses as he proclaimed the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, god, meaning Yahweh, yahweh.
Speaker 1:Then the revelation begins who is he? Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger begins. Who is he? Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, abounding in truth, keeping mercy, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, forgiving transgression, forgiving sin, but he will never let the guilty go unpunished, meaning God of justice. He reveals himself like this and he wants Israel to acknowledge him and to understand his nature, his revelation. What does that mean? He's a compassionate God. The word literally means he is with us in our pain, meaning when you're struggling in your life, when you're struggling to make it in your life. Who understands your pain? God understands your pain. When it says grace, he's a gracious God.
Speaker 1:Grace is almost always defined as something which you don't have but is generously given by God. Or sometimes it is defined as you don't deserve it, but God still gives you. It's like you got 35 marks in examination when the passing percentage is 36. So if somebody gives you that one mark, that's a. That is human. Grace is one mark, man, I think when we get one mark God gave us 90 marks that's God's grace. And when it talks about I like the third one, god is slow to wow. This is so blessing, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:In other words, you can say that God hesitates to get angry. He's not easily provoked. Some people, like you know, early in the morning I look at them. The first, at least the first expression we give is a smile. Right, you'll smile at least, even if you're going through a bad day. But not everybody responds with that smile. You're like, this fellow is born angry. I mean, some people are just like. God is not like that. God doesn't easily get provoked. He will look to give us opportunity. First chance, second chance, third chance. If you really succeeded in making God angry, that means you really did something bad. Otherwise God doesn't get angry that easily. But then he is abound, lots of love. Bonding in love is translated. The same Hebrew word is translated as kindness. Elsewhere, he is kind, he is truthful, merciful, loving. Kindness forgives iniquity and all.
Speaker 1:Why is God revealing himself like this? Let's look at the same portion of the scripture, verse 10. Verse 10 gives the reason. Then the lord said behold, I am going to make a covenant. The 10 commandments is all about a covenant, an agreement. Before all your people, I will do wondrous works in the sense miracles such as never been created or produced in all earth, nor among any nations. God said I have delivered you from egypt and I'm making a promise to you I will do things among you, miracles and signs among you, which I have not done anywhere else. The nations will only be spectating, they will only look and they will wonder why is God favoring Israel so much? And he says and all the people among whom you shall live shall see the working of the Lord. For it is a fearful and awesome thing that I'm going to do something powerful, something magnificent among you, something the world never even thought of. I will bless you to such an extent the world will just keep wondering. But then the requirement for that is keep my covenant.
Speaker 1:Today we looked at the second commandment you shall not carve any image of anything in the air, earth, under the earth, in the waters, anywhere. You shall not carve anything with the air, earth, under the earth, in the waters, anywhere. You shall not carve anything with the intention to worship it. You know, rick Warren talks about idols or idolatry, and Rick Warren says that anything that takes the place of God in your life is an idol. This was whatever we read is talking about literal idols. But for us we are Christians, right, we don't really have any idols and all but then anything that takes the number one place in your life is your idol. So if anything is number one other than God in your life, that means there is idol worship going on. So let's make a choice. Today is a time to make a commitment, telling God I will fulfill my side of the covenant. I will worship only you, I'm telling you. You will reap the benefit of it. You will be blessed among the nations.