No Other Gods -- Exodus 20:3

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
 

Much has already been written over the centuries about the first commandment.  I would like to offer some new thoughts and in doing so, I do not want to suggest for a moment that the commandments have different weights and values.  They do not because a) they come as commandments and b) they come from the Absolute Commander, God Himself.

Humor me for a moment and allow me to draw an analogy between these commandments and the duties of a job description.  In the world of Human Resources that I come from, we are often asked to write Job Descriptions for the various positions that our clients have in their organizations.  I also teach the fundamentals of Job Analysis, Documentation and Evaluation to HR personnel across Canada.  I only tell you this to relate that when writing Job Descriptions, we follow a recommended approach that assists any job evaluation committee rating jobs for pay purposes to get a better handle on the meaning and importance of the various duties and responsibilities.  For example, usually we only cover those duties that take up at least five percent of an incumbent’s work time unless they are very critical.  [An example that comes to mind is that if we were writing the job description of the American President, we would certainly include in there his/her responsibility for delivering the annual “State of the Nation” address to Congress, even though it takes up less than 5% of his annual hours.]

The rules we follow for identifying duties is that they be written in one of three ways – in chronological order if that makes sense, in order of what takes the most amount of time, or (and this is our preferred approach) in the order of importance.  That is, if we kept eliminating duties from the bottom up and we eventually ended up with one duty – which one would that be?  Now God may not have had our standard ideas of how to write a job description in mind when He gave us the Ten Commandments, but as I consider Him to be the Ultimate and Absolute Human Resources expert, He certainly did not give us the commandments in a arbitrary order.

This is indeed the first commandment.  And it is the first one, perhaps for the very reason I suggest.  If God eliminated all other commandments, then this one, if followed well, would be enough to satisfy Him in His desire to have a relationship with us.

But God knew everything there was to know about the men and women He Himself created.  He knew we would want to have other gods.  We would want idols to worship in addition to Him, just in case.  So He is very clear with His first commandment.  It is in a way, an ultimatum, “No other gods, period.”  A successful relationship with God and His full blessings do not come if this commandment is not satisfied.  We cannot insist on His goodness upon our daily lives if we court and woo other gods.

Please note that we are not discussing here whether or not God will save any person from an eternal separation from Him, after death, if he or she does not obey this or any other commandment.  God can, and Scripture teaches us, that He will provided we are His child.  That is not the issue.  We are talking here about enjoying the full blessing of God in this life.  In fact these commandments were given for that purpose and primarily that purpose.

So what does “no other gods” mean in the 21^st century.  I do not claim to know.  But I can tell you some things I think it means as I sense them in my own life.  It means that I do what I am prodded to do by the Holy Spirit.  Some examples for me lately range from going to corporate worship when I feel like not going; speaking to some one when I think I do not have time; saying I am sorry when I have erred or sinned against another person even when I feel they won’t accept it; and raising my hands in praise to Him while I worship Him in singing, even though it is against my tradition.

For me it also means that I do not put other things I desire above God – a vacation, fun, my favorite sports team, my chosen causes that I support as good as they may be, my possessions (including my electronics), my clients, my friends, my church, and even my family.  If I have missed anything, please let me know.

These days, for Christian actors it means their careers if the roles are inappropriate; for Christian politicians it means their support of a party’s position when it is against how God would have us vote; for young men and women it means their choice for dates, courtship, engagement, and marriage if they are outside of what God wants for them.  For many, it means choosing God’s way over our desire to live common-law.  And the list goes on.

No other gods.  Period.  What does that mean for you?

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Keep The Commandments, Yes, But What About His Instructions? Just What Can We Do On The Sabbath? -- Exodus 16:25-30

And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”  And it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.  Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?  See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day.  Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”  So the people rested on the seventh day.
 

The provision of manna for the physical wellbeing of the Israelites was being provided daily by God.  This was an early demonstration of what Jesus had mind many years later when He taught us to pray asking God to “give us this day our daily bread”.  But when it came to the Sabbath, the provision for physical wellbeing was provided the day before when God gave them manna enough for two days.

On the “Sabbath to the Lord” no manna was to be found in the fields.  The word sabbath is from the Hebrew word SHABÀT, meaning ‘cessation,’ or ‘time of rest.’  Interestingly, as God wanted His people to rest on that day, He was, in one sense, also resting, as He was not providing them with food.

What do we take from this?  First, God was serious about His Sabbath requirement for us.  Second, God modelled the required behavior.  Third, God made alternative provisions in order for Him and His people to observe the Sabbath.

A couple of interesting things to note here:  First, the fact that the manna was not provided on the seventh day provides our non-believer scientists with a problem.  What was it in the “evolutionary nature of things” that prevented the manna from falling from the sky every seventh day?  Interesting.  Instead, we can boldly answer, it was a “God thing”.  Second, you will note that the original intent of the Sabbath was not about worship.  God was basically saying to the Israelites “On the Sabbath, rest as I did at the time of creation, and stay in your tents; your bodies need you to.”  We, however, while we make the pretence of not working on the Sabbath, have turned the day into one of much activity in worship.  Although I do not see an easy alternative at this point, I think it would do us good to stop and realize that perhaps what we are doing on Sundays was not the original intent of God.  To Him, our worship was to take many forms and be required of us 24/7 rather than on an hour or so Sunday morning or worse still during the time of pre-sermon singing we are involved in.  But we will save our thoughts on worship for another time.

No manna and clear instruction from Moses as to what they were to do, and yet some of the people of Israel still did not believe God.  Instead, they went out and tried to gather manna on the Sabbath – maybe because they wanted more, or they ate twice as much on the day before and did not save any, or maybe because they really wanted to check it out for themselves as to whether or not Moses, or perhaps God Himself, was giving them the straight goods.  There is a possibility, some may argue, those who did this had not heard Moses’ instructions on this matter; after all, it was a very big camp encompassing a very large area and word does not get around that easily.  But if that were the case, God would have known that and He would not have said what He said to Moses in the next sentence.  Instead He shared His anger of the people with him .

At this point in the text we note that God is angry because the people refused to keep both His commandments and also His instructions.  Many have often argued that God’s commandments must be kept, but many other requests of His are optional.  I do not see it that way.  God is God and I would have a hard time suggesting to Him, “Okay, I will not steal but I cannot possibly really love my neighbour as I love myself because he just is not as nice a guy as I am.”  You get the idea.  Having said that, however, I realize that the perfect keeping of both commandments and instructions is impossible and thus God’s grace allows us to remain in relationship with Him even though we mess up regularly.  And please note I am not in any way condoning the idea that it is acceptable to mess up regularly and thus we should not worry about not messing up.  God forbid.  Instead, I believe messing up is forgivable when we repent with a pure heart and truly regret our sin, because of Who God is and how much He loves us.

So what then did God intend for us to do on the Sabbath and what does that mean for us in the early 21^st century?  Let’s get technical but avoid being legalistic if we can.  God clearly told the Israelites a) to rest, and b) to remain at home and not to go out.

Okay, the ‘rest’ part we get.  Most of us do try to rest on the Sabbath.  The problem with the resting component however is not so much the rest itself, but what qualifies as rest for purposes of the Sabbath these days?  Can I read novels?  Can I watch Hollywood movies?  Can I play Scrabble or Monopoly?  Can I work on finishing my basement?  Can I play contact hockey with my teenage children or grandchildren or my friends?  Can I moonlight to make ends meet?

Wait.  There is a part about staying at home on the Sabbath?  Every time we go to church on the Sabbath are we not breaking God’s instruction as given in Exodus to the children of Israel?

I cannot answer any of these questions definitively.  I do not believe anyone can.  But I do know this – Jesus Okayed the pulling of one’s oxen (read automobile today) out of a ditch on the Sabbath.  He also did not want us to stop doing good deeds on the Sabbath.  Is it possible God was only speaking to the Israelites?  (If you think that way, you then get to pick and choose what God intends for you to learn from the Scriptures.)  Well, what about the idea of the New Covenant erasing the Old Covenant (the laws, etc.)?  (Well maybe, but then again you have to deal with Jesus saying He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it, to complete it, to perfect it as we read in Matthew 5:17.) So just how does an individual resolve all of this for him or herself?

For me it simply goes something like this: My purpose in life is to get to know God better.  All of my priorities and activities – every day, not just on the Sabbath – should be ordered or arranged and carried out in such a way that through it all, I am in relationship with my Redeemer and am getting to know Him better all the time.  If I make that my top priority, then as I live and breathe and move about on the Sabbath, I am giving it “to the Lord”.  (Well, maybe not that ‘simply’ but certainly pursuable.)

And how I do that may be very different than how you do that.  While you and I can both rest in the same room, we are not in essence “resting together”.  Our bodies rest independently of other bodies.  You may prevent me from resting, but when I am resting, I do it alone, just as I breathe alone, or heal my physical scars alone.  And as we breathe and heal differently, we may also rest differently.  What really matters is our heart’s passion for God and desiring to know more about Him.  Finally, the motives behind our actions on the Sabbath are critical, as they are for the other six days.  Get those right and enjoy your Sabbath!

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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________________________________________________________________________

 

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Oh, What a Mess, What a Mess in America's Judicial System. Explaining and dissecting the N.C. death-row racial bias bill.

It seems to me that one measure of a country's success is the degree with which its justice system works well, for the good of the country, the majority, and the wrongly accused. However, when I read  what is going on in some American states, I wonder how successful the U.S. is on this criteria. Let's take the recent example of North Carolina.

Let me see if I can summarize the situation and then comment on the implications:

1.  Back in 2009 the current Governor of North Carolina signed into law a bill that requires judges (I assume on appeal) to amend a "death sentence" if they believe that that lower court sentence was based on racial prejudice.  They must amend it to "life in prison without parole" in such cases of belief.

2.  Two weeks ago, a number of N.C. legislators put forward a bill that would repeal that law, arguing two things:  first, that it can and does clogg up the system with appeals, and second, that it has the impact of imposing an indefinite moratorium on legalized death penalties in the state.

3.  Just today (Wed. Dec. 14, 2011), the Governor vetoed the appealing bill and the 2009 anti-racial-bias bill stands.  It's formal name is the 2009 Racial Justice Act.

4.  The 2009 bill was designed to offset the belief or concerns that race impacted on who was sentenced to death in the state and who might not be.  And the defense lawyers can use simple statistics as an argument.  Almost all executions have been stopped in the last five years as a result.  Almost all of the 158 prisoners now on death-row have filed for reconsideration under this Act -- both black and White inmates claim their sentence was an act of racism.

5. But this theatrical circumstance has at least one more scene to go -- by law, when a Governor issues a veto in N.C., they have a certain number of days (this time by Jan. 8th) to recall the legislature so that they could, if they were able to, override the veto.  Fat chance as Republicans who support the repeal of the bill don't have the necessary majority to do so.

6.  Apparently most N.C. citizens support the death penalty and are not too happy with the Democratic Governor's solitary decision.

7.  On the other hand, there is 2010 study by two law professors at Michigan State University that found a defendant in North Carolina is 2.6 times more likely to be sentenced to death if at least one of the victims was white, according to article in the link below.  But again that's just statistics and no statement is made on the merits of those cases.


Now, let's try to think about some of the finer points of this situation:

A. Racism is indeed a sin that our world, and in particular, our Western society is saddled with.  And we should do all we can to minimize its negative impact on people and society.  However, this Act seems to assume that if the judge is white, he/she will go for the jugular rather than an alternative sentencing based on racial prejudice; if the victim is white, the white judge is even more likely to do so; and if the jury is predominantly white, the accused who is black has little chance.   And the death-row prisoner can simply use statistics to get the relief he/she wants.   That is, there is no safe-proof way of looking at a case and determining (in this appeal) that the lower court's process was or was not racist on the merits of the case -- but rather, through statistics, just assume it to be so.

B. Although the amended sentence would be "life without parole" -- we all know how that can be changed over time including pardons.  It would be better if the act read, "life sentence without the possibility of parole".

C. Many of us believe that justice delayed is justice denied.  But that works both ways -- both for the accused that is innocent and the accused that is guilty.  Denying the execution of the sentence a criminal has been given is justice denied for his/her victims and society.

D.  And then of course there is the fact that the provision for an over-ride is rendered useless when the opposition to the governor does not have the votes.  A flaw in the system in my opinion.  And add to that this sole governor is acting contrary to the majority of her constituents.  Another flaw.

E.  For my money, we, especially Christians, are obliged to take a much higher approach.  We need to arrive at the "more correct" answer to this dilemma (for there is no possible human answer that is perfectly correct, moral, etc.) by using a paired-comparison decision-tree of priorities by which we can assess pairs of competing variables and determining which has the 'higher' value to society as a whole and allowing the winners to float to the top until we arrive at our agreed to decision.  And always each consideration should be, at least for Christians, also assessed in light of what the Bible may say about it.  Variables in this case include: justice, delays, system clogging, death-sentences, racism, criminal penalties, and so on.

What then are we to make of all this?  Racism is caused by sin.  Sin screws everything up.  There is no right or wrong in the eyes of sinners.  Each man and woman does/thinks/demands whatever seems right in their own minds.  (Proverbs 12:15, 14:12, and 21:2.)   There are no absolutes to help them.  And the sinkhole of society gets deeper and deeper.   I don't believe in evolution, but if this keeps up someone will need to explain to me how it is that man today is evolving to be more like a four-footed animal in his behavior.

-- For Epistoli, I'm Ken Godevenos, and I invite to express a different point of view in the comment section below.  Here's the link to the original article. . . . 

The Associated Press: NC governor vetoes death-row racial bias bill

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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CNN and Most Networks' PRIORITIES All Wrong.

You can't argue with the facts. This is hilarious. Great business thinking though. And of course, CNN and the like, are all about that. But gee whiz -- if the "media" are leading us, ever wonder why we're all so screwed up? I mean more people can likely tell you all about Charlie Sheen and name you the Best Movie, and the top four Actors this year who won Oscars than can name three terrible things that happened to Japan in the span of a couple of weeks. Thanks CNN et al -- you're doing a great job. NOT.

Fairweather media: CNN sends 400 reporters to royal wedding, only 50 sent to Japan | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

-- Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.