“You shall have no other gods before me.”

Effectively, this statement has the speaker claiming to be the pre-eminent god. If we say, “You shall have no other gods before me,” we are actually saying, “I am god.” If you are Hindu, you would have no problem with this whatsoever. Hindus believe in god-men. In India, there are numerous living gods or people who claim to have god status. For any of them to say, “You shall have no other gods before me” would be in context with the beliefs to which they subscribe.

This might seem a small point for those who like the abbreviated version. Their argument would go,

“I know that when I say, ‘You shall have no other gods besides me,’ I don’t mean that I am God, and I don’t expect that you would think I meant that I was a god.”

This sounds plausible and it may well be the truth. However, the very statement itself implies something different and what we are dealing with here is the significance of the Ten Commandments. Misconceptions are harmful, because they prevent people from discovering the truth. Any Christian unwittingly using, “You shall have no other gods before me,” as a mantra, thinking they are quoting the first commandment, would be exalting themselves above God.

Among Christians there is a clear view that humans are not gods and neither is any man a god; except Jesus Christ, who was God in human form. Christians tend to see themselves as sinners in need of salvation rather than gods who have supernatural powers. The Christian worldview is one that sees mankind as fallen from a pre-eminent status with God because of sin, rebellion and evil. Some Christians hold to the belief that people are so utterly depraved there is no good in them at all. Others believe that man has knowledge of goodness and is capable of performing good acts, but this does not give any man the right to call himself a god, or woman any right to call herself a goddess.

Surprisingly, the Bible actually refers to men as gods. Psalm 82:6 reads,

‘I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.’ (KJV).

Jesus even made a reference to this in John 10:34, which reads, Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”'?

The fact that Jesus mentioned that the scripture says men are gods does give more weight to the idea that men are gods.

Most interpreters of the Bible will work around this idea that men are gods by suggesting that the scripture doesn’t actually mean that men are gods. They like to claim Jesus made mention of this to draw attention to the unbelief of the Jews he was addressing at the time, rather than the idea that men are gods.

The idea that men could be gods is frightening to the many people who want to believe that they are not responsible for the sins they commit. Gods, on the other hand, would need to be accountable for their misdeeds, whereas humans are not. Certain sections of the general Christian community are of the belief that they are not accountable for their sins because they were preordained to be saved, and the rest of the world were created to be condemned. What they do not appear to understand is, according to Jesus, hell was created for the Devil and his angels (Matt.25:41), and not for Adam and Eve or any of their descendants.

Another argument that is offered about the idea that there might be other gods besides God is there are fallen angels that entice men to worship them by various means. In this view, a man or a woman is not a god, whereas the angels are spirit beings like God, and there is evidence of this in the scriptures when it talks about the sons of God taking for wives the women of Noah’s day. There is also evidence to support the idea that the angels are gods in the book of Job, which says,

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6; 2:1).

Also Job is asked where he was when God created the universe, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The reference again indicates angels are sons of God.

But it is quite clear that Jesus was making a reference to man being referred to as gods in the gospel of John:

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), “do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?.

Jesus was obviously making a point about how silly and inconsistent was the thinking of the Jews to suggest that he was blaspheming because he said he was the Son of God. However, this does not take away from the fact that the scripture states the Word of God has attributed godhood to human beings.

This is not too difficult for us to accept because the Bible teaches man was made in the image of God. Obviously, a physical image is not meant. Rather, man was made in the image of God to have god-likeness and essentially be a god. The significant difference between us and God is that we are not gods without sin. If anything, we would be fallen gods, sinful gods, or imperfect gods. Nonetheless, we have been attributed godlike status within the scriptures. But just like the angels that have left their original places of dwelling, so, too, man has lost the original place of habitation. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden because of their violation of faith towards God. Unfortunately, every child is born into a sinful world marred with illness, disease, war, destruction and death because of Adam and Eve’s act of breaking faith with God. By this, I mean, they discontinued directing their faith towards God, or, if you like, placing their faith in God's word to them.

Within everyone there is an inner yearning to be satisfied with a relationship that fulfills the inner spirit. The spirit that God has placed within every person is what gives us our god-like status. Animals do not possess a spirit. Animals possess a soul, but do not have a spirit. You can search the scriptures and you find that animals do not possess a spirit; neither will you find the term “God of the souls of all flesh”. But you will find the expression “God of the spirits of all flesh”. Hence, God is concerned with every man and woman, for He puts a spirit within each one at birth.

There is an argument put forth that animals have a spirit based on Ecclesiastes 3:21 where it is suggested that a beast has a spirit. However, the context of the passage is talking about death and is contrasting the futility of life on Earth for mankind and beasts, as well as goading the reader to consider his or her own ignorance on the matter. This is entirely different to saying that animals actually have a spirit and are made in the image of God.

In the New Testament we are told that God is a Spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. The spirit that God places in people is what makes us God-like, and because angels are spirits they are called sons of God. Consequently, humans are also sons of God because they too have spirits, whereas animals, which do possess souls, are not sons of god because they do not have spirits. The spirit of a person is what distinguishes humans from animals and gives us the ability to know right from wrong, to be able to think, speak and understand the word of life.

There is no record of God ever saying to animals, “Come let us reason together.” But in Isaiah, chapter one, verse eighteen, we read God is encouraging us to come and reason with him about our violation of faith towards him.

When we consider the first commandment, we need to see it in a correct perspective and not just say, “You shall have no other god before me”. The reason for this is misconceptions can arise and these can lead us into breaking faith with God. For some this might be a moot point. But we shall see that it is more serious than you might realize.

There is another matter of which we also need to be aware. This is the subliminal conditioning that takes place within our subconscious as a result of the words we hear repeatedly and speak repeatedly. The reason I say this is because it has been demonstrated that people who continually repeat that they cannot do something will inhibit their ability to actually do the very thing they say they cannot do, when in fact they can quite easily do it. Clinicians use these same techniques to help people overcome difficulties in their life such as fears, doubt and unbelief. Likewise people have discovered they are able to overcome fears by reading over and over again positive affirmations from the Bible. Logos (meaning, word) therapy is a technique that was developed using the power of words to overcome obstacles that prevent people from living a fulfilling life.

Words are a powerful tool, because words are what distinguish gods from non-gods. Just consider the first verse of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the fourteenth verse, we learn “the Word became flesh and dwelt among men”. If we were to say the Spirit of God became flesh and dwelt among men, there would be no difference, because the Bible tells us that God and His Word are One. That God and His Word are One is a mystery we may never understand fully, but we can at least grasp the idea of what it means for us.

Humans have a spirit placed in their innermost being at birth. This comes from God who creates everything by his word of power. There is a difference, of course, between the Word of God becoming flesh, and God creating a spirit by the power of his word and placing it within flesh. The Word of God is actually God Himself, whereas a created spirit is a separate entity that God has brought into existence, but has the ability to communicate with God through knowledge and understanding. This is the higher realm of the spirit, rather than the lower realm of the flesh where emotion is experienced but not appreciated.

The first commandment states:

‘And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me”’

Firstly, it is important to understand that God spoke these words stating who he was. Jesus himself emphasizes this fact when he is asked what the first commandment is and he begins “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God…” (Mark 12:29), even though he was quoting Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four. What is important to understand is God actually spoke these words and this forms part of the commandment, which is to hear the words of the Lord your God.

Secondly, we are told who is God. Without knowing who is God, it is impossible to know God. The same applies to a person who is born out of wedlock and does not know who his father is. He could meet his father and not know him. If you do not know who God is then he cannot be your Lord.

Salvation is promised to all who know God as Lord. Psalm 138:2 says:

"Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!"

Merely knowing God is the God of gods is not the same as knowing Him as Lord of lords. For there are many who would be called “lord”, but only one who can be called “the Lord of lords”. To know God as Lord means to recognize Him as someone who is worthy of your service and devotion.

Here we see that God is worthy to be called Lord because “he bought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” There is a problem with this statement though, because: When were you brought out of Egypt by God? The truth is you probably have not been in Egypt, let alone have been a slave in Egypt. This raises a problem about the relevance of the Ten Commandments for today, which we will address here.

Interestingly, in Deuteronomy chapter five we learn that God made a covenant with the people of Israel which was not the same covenant made with their fathers:

“The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. “The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. “The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. ⁵“I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:

‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

‘You shall have no other gods before Me. (Deut 5: 2-7)

The fathers were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is quite clear in the Bible. When Moses saw the burning bush that was not consumed and God commissioned him to go down to Egypt,

“God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:15).

So it is very clear who are the fathers. They were not given the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were given specifically to the Israelites. This is why it is written the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. It isn’t that the Ten Commandments are of no avail, but basically, no person has been able to keep them.

To keep the Ten Commandments a person needs to first of all understand that they have to heed the voice of God. This is what the first commandment is really about. You need to know who God is and obey his voice, because He is your Lord. The reason God is your Lord is because he has rescued you from slavery of sin and the bondage of death. If you do not know the reason why you need to know God, then it is impossible for God to be your Lord. Essential to knowing God and being saved from a life of futility is reasoning out with God why you need Him in your life. God invites you to “come and reason with Him”.

The question then becomes if the Ten Commandments were not given to Abraham, and as is stated in the New Testament Book of Romans chapter four, he is the father of faith, the father to whom the promise was given, and the father of all who are saved, then how can the Ten Commandments apply to people today. While this might appear to be the case, and many try to assert that the Ten Commandments are not part of the Christian message, the truth is the commandments are cited in the Gospels and New Testament writings as still binding. For nothing matters except keeping the commandments of God, claims the Apostle Paul in the Book of First Corinthians, chapter seven, verse twenty.

There is a difficulty with the first commandment of the Ten Commandments (known as the Decalogue) in that unless you were rescued from Egypt from being a slave under Pharaoh, how can this commandment apply to you. This is one of the reasons why the first commandment is abbreviated to “you shall have no gods before me”. Dishonest and ignorant religious leaders prefer to avoid having to answer this question, because it puts them on the spot and makes them feel helpless when trying to influence those who are looking to them for guidance.

My own experience is that when discussing the Ten Commandments with teachers and leaders from churches where the emphasis on the Decalogue is a high priority, there is a lack of willingness to address anything that might suggest they need to review their understanding of what is actually written and revise their thinking. Unfortunately, these people have either been closed minded and refuse to discuss the matter any further or resort to ridicule and other psychological ploys to try and control the discussion and demean my own understanding.

However, it doesn’t matter which church you attend, you will find that the teachers and leaders will admit that they were not delivered from Egypt and had never been slaves in that country. The explanation is that in the context of the First Commandment of the Decalogue Egypt becomes a figure, or a type, representing "the world system" and is instructive of an important truth for all people.

The Bible has a lot of ideas with more than one meaning. There is the literal application and then there is a figurative application that may point to a deeper meaning or prophetic outcome. This is referred to as typology and usually the meanings are revealed in other passages of the Bible. An example of this is the story of Ishmael and Isaac. In the New Testament book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul explains that the mothers of each of these two children were symbolic representations of being born into a people who were under the law and people being born free from the law. Hagar’s child Ishmael represented a nation that was enslaved and Sarah’s child Isaac represented a people who had been promised an inheritance. We can take this a little further and say that Ishmael represented being born as a slave to the god of this world and Isaac is representative as being born into the kingdom of God.

Egypt is symbolic of the world as we know it today. The Pharaoh who ruled in Egypt is a type of the Devil, who is the god of this world. When Pharaoh enslaved the children of the promise, who are Abraham’s offspring, it is the same as people being born into this world and being enslaved by the god of this world. In the second book of Corinthians we learn that the god of this world blinds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the truth and being set free from ignorance (2 Cor. 4:4). The book of Ephesians tells us that it is the prince of the power of the air who is at work in people causing them to follow a course of disobedience (Eph 2:2). This is the disobedience that leads to civil unrest, violence and all other forms of evil and rebellion against God, which, of course, leads to punishment and death. This is what Adam and Eve discovered when they broke faith with God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden and eventually died.

The first commandment now has relevance for us because we can see that if Egypt represents the world and the god of this world is the Devil, then we need to be delivered from his influence. There is a need to distinguish between the god of this world and the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the Universe. The god of this world has the right to rule Earth because Adam broke faith with God to follow the deceptions of the Archangel Lucifer, who had been given charge of him. Lucifer was jealous of his pre-eminence in the Creation and could not bear losing out to what God was offering mankind: the ability to reproduce and give birth to a new race that would be able to choose to become one with Almighty God Himself and have a higher status in Creation than the most admired arch-angel of all the angels.

You might think that the devil has no hold over you and you have no need to be delivered. Well this is why God has spoken through the prophet Isaiah and said, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord (Is. 1:18).

When I became a Christian, this is exactly what happened to me. I found myself telling God the reasons why life on this planet stunk as far as I was concerned. Let’s be honest, now. Did you ask to be born? I put this question to God. I said to God that I did not ask to be born into this futile existence where the only certainty is death. What is the point of being born only to die? You see, this is reasoning with God. When you come to God and you tell him your reasons as to why you believe you should not be judged or you should have a better life, it is up to God to answer. Which is only right, don’t you think?

Actually this question of, “What is our purpose for existence?” is so much a part of our lives that people are always speculating about the reason why they are here in one form or the other. People will say they do not like talking about politics and religion, but they cannot avoid talking about their purpose of existence from time to time. Within every person there is the nagging question of Why was I born? Many people seek out means to quench the inner thirst for this knowledge. Alcoholic beverages seem to be the most common means used to quench the inner thirst because it also dulls the mind and inhibits sound reasoning. Drugs are another means that is used to somehow avoid the inner torment of not having a relationship with God. In some cultures drugs are used to produce hallucinogenic states of mind and, because the inner pain is transformed into a surreal psychedelic state of consciousness, the users convince themselves that they have discovered the supernatural, or the place where the afterlife is found.

One day I was reading the book of Ephesians on my lounge room floor. I had been a Christian for about nine months. At the time, I was attending a fellowship group led by a former Methodist minister who was assisted by a preacher from a Baptist background. There was a lot of comment about how profound the book of Ephesians was because it spoke about the purpose of God from the beginning of time. I decided to read the book of Ephesians until I understood it. I am not sure exactly how many times I read and re-read the book at that sitting, but, after a few hours, I gave up exasperated. I looked up and, in utter hopelessness, said to God, I don’t know what this means. Then amazingly, before my very eyes, as if written in little clouds of fluffy cotton balls, these words appeared:

“Harmony is the purpose of life acquiring possession of oneness. One God, creator of all things, in wisdom gave man the option of perfection or imperfection, in order that those of whom are his, would come to the knowledge of the truth in Christ Jesus, thus perfecting individuality in oneness.”

I took that vision to mean that the whole purpose of God was to bring about harmony by giving people a choice of whether or not they wanted to develop their individuality towards being perfect, yet at the same time being different to others, and having a harmonious relationship with each other and the God of the Universe.

When God speaks to us through Isaiah and calls us to come and reason together with him, we are told:

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword” (Isaiah 1:18-20).

The biggest issue for social cohesiveness appears to be people wanting to be individuals, separated from one another, and doing their own thing whenever they choose. It is only when we recognize that this is futility that we can do something to rectify the matter. The reason individuality in isolation needs to be addressed is the social consequences are too harmful. Not only are people separating themselves from each other, they are also separating themselves from God. And it is only when we are reunited with God and are part of His kingdom that we can do something about truly becoming an individual who is appreciated for our contributions and individuality. If we break faith, we can no longer relate to the person to whom we were in relationship with and be appreciated for who we are. True individuality is found in acceptance and not in being rebellious.

This is what God is saying to us. If you want to have the very wealth of being, the riches of life, you need to enter into a relationship with me. This relationship requires that we keep faith with each other and do not walk our own ways irrespective of what the other might think or desire. To walk our own way is one thing, but it leads to breaking faith with God. To break faith means that we commit sin.

Sin is the breaking of faith between two individuals. We sin against each other when we break faith by being disloyal to the truth and each other. The only way we can make amends for this is through confession of our sin and acceptance of our need for the other party.

Sin, by the way, is really lawlessness, or willful transgression of the law. This is how it is defined in the Bible. 1 John 3:4 (English Standard Version) clearly states, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

Sin is a form of anarchy. Nobody listens to another person and everybody does what he or she thinks is fit. In a way, sin is like the idea of situational ethics or situational morality. Depending on the situation, each person decides what is right or wrong to do. “Today I will do it with you”, but the next day: “It can’t be true what I said yesterday, because I do not love you anymore.” Situational ethics is sin. It is all about what is right for me, and not what is right for you. It is all about me feeling good, regardless of what happens to you. Situational ethics is basically a secular sanctioned view that condones breaking faith with each other. This approach is so common, it is no wonder this world is in such a mess today.

When God delivered the Hebrew slaves from the hands of the Egyptians, a covenant was made. This covenant was a faith covenant. The promise was that if the people whom God delivered from Egypt were to acknowledge Him as Lord God Almighty and always keep his commands by obeying His voice, all would be well with them and their children forever.

The first commandment is not about “having no other gods before me”.

The first commandment is about hearing God’s voice and appreciating the fact that you have been saved from being alone and isolated from true love, and having to face death without any hope of something better in life. This commandment will have real meaning to you if God is your Savior and Lord of your life, because, if this is the case, you will know who is the Lord your God, and you will have a meaningful relationship with Him.

The first commandment also contains typology, which is symbolism that has a broader application other than the strict literal sense in which it applies only to those who were brought out of the Land of Egypt at the time of Moses. The fact that the first commandment contains this symbolism (using a type or figure) also means that there may be other commandments of the Decalogue which have a broader application than the strict literal sense that appears to apply only to the Israelites. It is important that this is borne in mind because, if we are inconsistent in interpreting the scriptures, we will find ourselves breaking faith with God. Our aim is to understand God; not break faith with God.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, he replied by quoting Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verse 4-5, which reads:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

The first commandment is not “you shall love your god” as many people seem to think. Your god could be anyone or anything. It is, firstly, hear, or listen to the words that God is speaking. For the Lord is One and there is no other God. Then it says you are to love God and must know him personally as Lord--not merely know of God and believe He exists. You need to love him with your whole being and all your strength. If you do love God, you will keep his commandments and, because of this, live a life of much blessing. This is God's promise to you that is found in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4.

Many people claim that Jesus did away with the Old Testament and what is written in the books of Moses is no longer valid today. But for those who actually read the Bible and note what it says, what is remarkable is how the principles of God do not change, and neither does God Himself change in his requirements for having a relationship with him. What was applicable to Adam and Eve is still applicable to people living today. What was written in the Law of Moses that has significance for salvation and walking in the truth is still applicable today. There may be a cultural shift, but the truth still remains. Hence, Jesus and the Apostles all quoted the Old Testament, even when it came to declaring the so-called new commandment, the first commandment, which is you shall learn to hear the voice of the Lord God, and love him with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. This is the only way you can be delivered from the futility of being born only to die.

(c) Happy Riches 2007

It is understandable why certain Christian denominations would have an aversion to including the second commandment within its list of the Ten Commandments. The Church practices include having carved images and placing statues all throughout its buildings and then teaches people to pray before them. This is rather strange behavior for a Church that claims to be the protector of the true faith, especially when to carve images of anything and bow down before them is prohibited by God and stated so in the second commandment.

The second command reads:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:4-6).

Offending denominations have their authorities argue that the images they use are of saints, who can be called upon to petition God on behalf of the person seeking assistance, and that they are not actually worshiping the carved images or statues as they are known. But the people actually bow before the images, and this is forbidden. Besides, according to the Bible, there is only one mediator between man and God and that is Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5), so praying to saints, or anybody else, to mediate on your behalf, begins to look like contacting other gods and a form of idolatry. For those who would argue men are not gods, well, the Bible states men are gods and not irrational creatures of instinct, because they are created in the image of God and given a spirit. God’s are spirit beings and so are men, even though they might be biological beings as well and possess a soul. Praying to saints is the same as seeking out other gods.

Praying to saints also raises the issue about seeking the dead. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter eighteen, verses ten and eleven, practices that are performed by many religions around the world are forbidden. These are walking through fire, practicing divination, being a soothsayer or an augur, or a sorcerer or one who casts spells or who consults ghosts or spirits or who seeks help from the dead. The idea that a dead person, who has been canonized by the authority of the Pope, to be able to hear prayers and perform miracles and administer blessings on the behalf of a person seeking his or her favor is really a gross transgression of what God has forbidden people to do.

Another teaching that also is condemned in the Bible is the idea of Mary being queen of heaven. This ancient Egyptian teaching was condemned by God when speaking through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, “We will surely keep our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her. You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!’ “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The Lord God lives.” ‘Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good.” (Jer. 44:25-27).

There is no queen in heaven and the Lord God in heaven, who is the King of Kings, condemns the concept.

Worse still is the teaching that the Virgin Mary is the mother of God. Not only is the Virgin Mary, called the queen of heaven, she is also called the mother of God. This implies that God is beholden to a woman who was the offspring of a man. What this actually tells us is the various Christian religions have an element of man-made religion and are not necessarily the true religion that provides light to mankind and a path to the true God. It is no wonder that the Islamic religion is so anti-Christ, because its leaders see such abominations in the Roman Catholic Organization, even though the Koran acknowledges Jesus was born of Mary, while she was still a virgin. The Orthodox churches don’t fare much better because they too also venerate Mary and have statues, along with the Coptic Churches.

True religion is about worshiping the true God and this can only be done in spirit and truth. This has nothing to do with statues or representations of art, rather a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father by means of the Holy Spirit through Lord Jesus Christ.

In the second commandment, God makes a point of including three dominions that are known to man. These are the heaven above, the earth itself and the waters under the earth. People worshiped stars and signs that might appear in the heavens. They also worshiped whatever was found on the earth along with imaginary creatures of the deep that supposedly existed in the seas and lakes and rivers that were below the earth’s surface. Man’s tendency towards delusions is clearly stated by the Apostle Paul:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Rom. 1:20ff).

The second commandment was given to the Israelites to address this, and it applies to us today.

It is to be noted that God does not actually come down and punish people; rather he lets people follow the decisions of their hearts. James, the half-brother of Jesus, describes the process of what happens when people are left to follow the desires of their heart but do not seek the Lord:

'Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.' (James 1:13ff).

This process was seen when Adam and Eve broke faith with God. Eve looked and saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise like God, she took of its fruit and ate (Gen. 3:4ff). Eve had to reason out whether she was going to keep faith with God or go her own way. But the desire to become wise like God was too strong for her to resist as she continued to listen to voice of the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).

Even though there is this cosmic struggle going on for the spirits and souls of men and women, God is not going to give up easily. The battleground is being played out in the minds of men and women and children. Each has been given the power to choose for themselves who will they follow, the prince of the power of the air or the Lord God of Creation.

Understanding what is actually going on in the hidden realms of the spiritual domain of existence gives you the ability to make informed decisions and exercise the power that is within you to take control of your own destiny. God is ever present dealing justly with every person and trying to bring people to himself. This is evident in the second part of the second commandment which states:

“For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Every person is born biologically as a result of the combination of chemical reactions taking place between a male spermatozoon and the ovum of a woman. This produces a physical being, which is essentially a human body that possesses a soul. God puts a spirit within each child at birth. This spirit God yearns jealously over with a jealous love (James 4:5 Amplified Bible) in the hope that the child will grow to choose eternal life by seeking out the true Lord of life, who is the Word of God who entered the body of Mary’s baby (Heb. 10:5), not before he was born as many people like to think, but at birth when the body of the baby Jesus had been prepared for HIM. The Word of God is the pre-existent Son of God, spoken about in the book of Proverbs, chapter thirty, verse four and Revelation chapter nineteen, verse thirteen.

When God says he is a jealous God who visits the iniquity of people to the third and fourth generation, this is not to be seen as punishment, but rather as an act of mercy. The reason this is an act of mercy is because each generation has the opportunity of seeing the futility of a sinful life.

One famous woman psychoanalyst, in her book on the psychology of women, described how the sin of one woman ran down to the fourth generation and ended in a miscarriage. This is how the effect of sin moved down the four generations. The first woman sinned by committing adultery. Her daughter sinned even more than her mother by becoming a promiscuous woman who slept with many men, with one affair resulting in her pregnancy. The daughter of that pregnancy did not know who her father was and worked as a live-in nanny. As a live-in nanny she slept with the husband of the wife whose children she was looking after. This man formed a kind of father figure as well as being her seducer. Then she began an affair with their son, a boy she was looking after, to whom she eventually got pregnant. The child of this pregnancy was stillborn.

The resultant line of iniquity stopped at the fourth generation, because the great grandchild (the fourth generation) was stillborn. Consequently the mother of the stillborn, who was the  grandchild (the third generation of the original adulterous woman) began to seek a better way of living, having come to the realization her lifestyle needed to change as a consequence of her still-born child and her illicit affairs with the father and the son. When a person sees how sickening the lifestyle of iniquity becomes, that person will always begin to seek a better life.

I once worked with a guy we will call Cedric. I actually boarded with his aunty for a while, and shared the same room with him. I was 15yrs old at the time and Cedric was 18yrs old. One day his father visited us and then went out with Cedric. The next night Cedric’s father came around complaining he had been locked out of his house and his son was in bed with his defacto wife (unwed partner). A week or so later Cedric took me around to meet his defacto stepmother. When we arrived at her flat, to my surprise, there was one of my bosses and another man, the boss’s cousin. They, too, had decided to get in on the act. I was so sickened by what I saw going on. There were little children running around the flat, while their mother was drunk and had been entertaining the two men in the bedroom before we had arrived. I left and, with tears in my eyes, began talking to God about the situation as I walked home alone.

Although, I cannot comment on the how the iniquity ran down to the third and fourth generation, one thing I do know, Cedric crashed a stolen car and was trapped behind the steering wheel. A voice told him to get out of the car; which he did. He didn’t get caught for stealing the car, but he did find himself in trouble for some other matter and spent time in prison. Cedric started to look to God as a consequence of his imprisonment and subsequent events. Then one day he decided he did not want to look to God anymore. It was like God was giving this guy every chance to seek him out, because his stepmother had seduced him when he was thirteen years of age. The last I heard of Cedric was he had been caught in an adulterous relationship, and to avoid a bashing, jumped off a three-storey balcony and, when landing on the concrete below, smashed both the heels of his feet so badly, he now has to walk in calipers. Evidently, Cedric did not know the property was built on a gully and was three storeys high at the back, when he jumped, because he had only seen the single storey at the front entrance.

When the archangel Lucifer decided to break faith with God and challenge him by deceiving Eve and trapping Adam into breaking faith, he got the right to have dominion over the Earth. In heeding the voice of someone other than God, Adam and Eve forfeited their right to continue to have dominion over the Earth. Lucifer, also known as Satan and the Devil, is not only the prince of the power of the air, but also the god of this world. As god of this world, Lucifer's main aim is to keep people from discovering the truth about existence and finding salvation by returning to God. The reason why God allows this is because he is righteous and cannot break His Own Word. Therefore, God has allowed man to have a free will and, in the process, he has given each person every chance to be saved.

The account of Abraham tells us that he believed that God was the true judge of the earth (Gen. 18:25) and, in being a righteous judge, would always do what is right; which means that God would overlook ignorance and show mercy to all who seek it. The scenario is then one of the evil Lucifer trying to ruin the lives of men, women, and children, and turn them against God. God in turn is calling all men to a better life.

What this means for you is God will do whatever He can to bring you to salvation. He has to do this to prove that He Himself is righteous. To this extent, God overlooks your ignorance as He extends his grace towards every person who is born. While God yearns jealously over the spirit that He places in you, this does not mean that you cannot be lost eternally and separated from the Creator. Just as God has prepared Hell for Lucifer and his angels, all who decide to reject the truth and follow after the ways of the world will also be cast into Hell, although this is not what God desires. God desires all men to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

There is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without the law of God will also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned knowing about God's law will be judged by His law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified in his presence as having done what is right. For when Gentiles (non-Israelites), who do not have the law as revealed through Moses, by nature do the things the law of God requires, these very people, although not having the law, establish a law for themselves, and show the requirements of the law is written in their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and between themselves their thoughts even accuse or excuse them. This will happen in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to the gospel. (Rom. 3:1-16).

Amazingly, everybody has the ability to know right from wrong without being taught by way of guided instruction. The spirit that God places within you and I enables us to think and make judgments about whether what we do is right or wrong. Simply put, no person likes to be hurt; therefore it goes without saying that it would not be right to hurt another, unless there was a just cause. The idea that there might be a just cause means that we have reasoned out the difference between what is just and what is unjust. What this means is the spirit within us provides us with a conscience that will alarm us when something appears unjust.

The word “conscience” means “joint knowledge”; that is, knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. Our spirits are like pre-programmed software upon which you can write whatever you like. When you do make an entry, you will always be prompted for your next response. These entries are being made every split second of your existence and, like any software, you can retrieve what has been recorded on it. Our spirits record everything that we do and say, as well as all the information that comes our way. This is why people can be placed in a hypnotic trance and forgotten events can be recalled with amazing detail. It is also why people will be able to be judged on that great day of reckoning, where they will be judged for not only everything they have done, but also according to the thoughts and intentions behind their actions.

Our conscious mind tends to recall the information that we repeatedly concentrate upon or churn over in our minds. There are two reasons for this. One is the fact our brain cells create pathways to recall information through regular use, and the second reason is the intentions of our heart are formed from where we focus our desires. Our spirits are endowed with desire to be united with God the Creator. Unfortunately, the prince of the power of the air, even though he may not be able to read people's thoughts, also has access to our spirits and does his best to turn our natural desire for securing our roots with God, away from seeking God, and into egotistical and vain lusts for material goods, physical wantonness, self-promotion, self-exaltation and personal delusions.

The method of programming is the same for everything we do: repetition reinforces the function. When you make a choice to do something, there will be a number of factors contributing to you making that choice. These will involve seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and taste and also how you react emotionally to a situation. A pleasant experience will draw you towards repeating that experience. An unpleasant or painful experience will tend to make you want to avoid a similar situation. Yet, surprisingly, people grow up in violent environments and are so conditioned by them that they become uncomfortable when placed in peaceful, relaxing, surrounds. Some people are shaped by repeated events in their lives to become antagonistic and rebellious, and only feel comfortable when they can make other people's lives miserable. When iniquity is passed down to the third and fourth generation, it is cut off because people would simply self-destruct. Meanwhile, God is trying to draw people towards Himself and encourage people to see that goodness and mercy are better than evil and injustice. It is God’s hope that people will seek Him out because they are repulsed by the injustice and evil that exists in the world.

When Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, refused to let the Israelites go, God brought about plagues upon the nation. Each plague was designed to encourage Pharaoh to make a decision to release the people. But if Pharaoh didn’t recognize the hand of the Almighty God at work, he would harden his heart. God probably knew which way Pharaoh was going to go, but in all fairness, Pharaoh had been given every chance to make choices at every level of the process. The first three signs Moses performed in front of Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler was able to get his own magicians to duplicate, so he was unimpressed. But the next nine plagues sent by God that progressively become worse, the Egyptian magicians were unable to reduplicate, but Pharaoh hardened his heart a little more and refused to let God’s people go.

The last plague placed on the Egyptians was the slaying of first born child of every family overnight. This got Pharaoh’s attention and he let the enslaved Hebrews go. Only, once the Hebrew slaves had gone, he had second thoughts and, out of fear of what they might do, having been allowed to grow strong as a nation and then be freed, Pharaoh sought to capture them and bring them back. When people make decisions with the same intent, they develop a habitual state of mind that refuses to allow anything different to occur. This is often called stubbornness. Actually, this is what happened to Pharaoh, who stubbornly refused to let the Hebrews go after each plague, until the pain was too great to bear. Then after having let the Hebrews go free, Pharaoh’s fears of the Hebrews returning to harm him for his unjust treatment of them, created even more pain, so he pursued them to enslave them once more.

Pharaoh’s decisions were based on what he perceived to be the facts. Facts can be true or misrepresented. More often than not, much depends on the interpretation of the facts. Misinterpretation leads to continued ignorance and ultimately greater pain. In Pharaoh’s case, he was given the chance with each plague to repent, instead he hardened his heart because he probably believed that the plagues were of a natural origin, and Moses had discovered some secret that his magicians hadn’t learnt yet. Through a process of reasoning based on the knowledge he had, there was nothing that could convince Pharaoh that Moses really had access to the Almighty God. Ultimately, Pharaoh’s decision to release his slaves was more based on feelings of pain rather than knowledge. Until the slaying of all the firstborn children in the Egypt, Pharaoh hadn’t been inflicted with sufficient pain to cause him to release the Hebrews from slavery. Likewise, we will make our decisions more from pleasure and pain rather than knowledge. Knowledge will give us pleasure, but pain will motivate us more.

The pain of childbirth has been said to cause women to call upon God whereas men are not given the same opportunity. But, in the Book of Genesis, when Enoch witnessed the birth of Methuselah, he began to walk with God. The reason for his decision to walk with God, we do not know. It may have been because of the pain he witnessed his wife suffer, or it might be because of the pleasure he had at the birth of his child. King David wrote that in the presence of God there is much pleasure. It maybe the presence of God was at the birth of Methuselah, who was to become the longest living human, and Enoch found so much pleasure that he didn’t want to leave the presence of God.

With this second commandment, God says that he will show steadfast mercy to those who love him and keep his commandments to the thousandth generation. This does not mean God only loves those who love him; rather those who love God are those who are shown mercy, because they are the ones who actually take it upon themselves to do something with their second chance. The reason people need mercy is everybody needs a second chance, and sometimes even more mercy is needed because of the inability of a person to overcome some obstacles. Whatever the case, God is merciful and gives everyone ample opportunity to make up their mind and take up the offer of mercy while they have the opportunity. Only there will always be a day of reckoning if the right decisions are not made, as has been evidenced in the Egyptian Pharaoh’s case, and after death comes judgment. God only tolerates iniquity to the fourth generation and then the lineage is discontinued. By this means, God has been able to preserve many of the nations of the world and set the boundaries of their habitation.

As for those who desire to know God and demonstrate this by keeping his commandments, they extend the favor to the next generation. This favor is seen throughout the generations, as recorded in the Bible. And regarding the promise of the gospel, the genealogy of the faithful is extended from Abraham to the forty-second generation, which is the Church of God that began at Pentecost and has been growing, and will continue to grow, until Jesus returns to receive her as a Bride. As the book of Romans teaches, if we are faithful and keep God’s word in our hearts, then we are numbered among the children of Abraham for he is the father of all who keep faith with God.

While we understand the grace of God is extended to everyone and Jesus died so every person could have salvation, not all have taken up the free gift of salvation that has been obtained for them through the death and resurrection of the only begotten Son of God. Even those who lived prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus were saved through the sacrificial offering on the cross of Calvary. The book of Matthew records how the dead were raised at the time of Jesus death:

'And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” '(Matt.27:50-54).

Even though death itself does not mean the ceasing of existence, it does mean that there can be no communication between those who have died and those who are still alive on earth. This is illustrated by Jesus in Luke (16:19-31) when he tells the story about Lazarus and the rich man:

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

If we do not recognize the truth about life, that is, how we should act towards each other and what God expects of us as is expressed in the words of Moses, the reality is nothing else will convince us of our need to do what is right before God.

The second commandment therefore instructs us about the expectations God has of us and how He truly cares about every person that lives, having given each one a free will, so each person can choose whether they want to love God and keep his commandments, and be numbered among those who are resurrected to eternal life.

The second commandment also warns about the dangers of false ideas and teachings that are not in accord with a devotion to the true God of the Universe, by saying that we are not to worship anything that exists in the heavens above, the earth beneath and waters below the earth. It also states that we are not to bow down (or kneel) before any graven image of any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth or from waters below the earth. Such practices lead people astray from a pure devotion to God and looking for other means of being forgiven of sin, like performing unnecessary acts of penance or paying indulgences, therefore the Bible instructs us not to do this. Jesus died for the remission of sins and we are to look directly to him for forgiveness of sin, so we can receive the mercy of God to do what is required of us.

It is worth noting that the Bible teaches God has created the boundaries of man's habitation. This applies to the extent a nation may have dominion over a given geographical area, and also to the extent sin may reign in people's hearts, until it results in the death of the individual.

God also jealously beholds his creation and is not prepared to let anyone destroy his purpose that he has established. Consequently, he ensures that iniquity is dealt with at the fourth generation, so that it cannot continue in that lineage, otherwise mankind would self-destruct, by following the prince of the air who reigns in the lives of those who disobey their conscience, and follow the passions and lusts of their ungodly desires of destruction.

(c) Copyright 2007 Happy Riches.