Three months after God led the nation of Israel out of their slavery to the Egyptians, God speaks to Moses and tells him to get the people ready because He’s going to come down on Mt. Sinai and reveal Himself. Several days later, He calls Moses and Aaron to the top of the mountain and gives them the ten commandments.
Speaking of Egypt, you’ve probably been catching some of the news coming out of there the past couple of weeks. For me, it’s reminiscent of 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and eastern European nations threw off communism. Only now, we’re talking about the Middle East. Israel’s neighborhood. It feels like the stakes are much higher.
One of my greatest weaknesses is allowing current events I see in the news to make me anxious. Generally, I do not watch the network news in the United States because it puts forth a world-view I disagree with. But it’s difficult to completely ignore current events of the magnitude we’re seeing now in Egypt.
If it was just Egypt, it would be significant enough, but what begins to concern (that’s the acceptable Christian word–what I’m really saying is “worry”) me is the effect on other countries. We saw a domino effect across eastern Europe. Many countries threw off the communist rule they’d been under for a generation and tasted freedom for the first time.
I’m just not as sure about the end result of revolution in the Middle East. And that’s when I must remind myself that God is God, not circumstances. My personal circumstances are not God. The circumstances in the Middle East are not God. God is.
God, who defeated Egypt thousands of years ago on behalf of His people, is still God today.
Now let’s go back to Mt. Sinai and pick up the rest of the story…
God speaks to Moses and Aaron and gives them the ten commandments. The first two are contained in Exodus 20:1-6…
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
First, I find it fascinating that “God spoke all these words.” Moses and Aaron heard the voice of God. Think about that for a moment.
He began by saying, “I am the LORD your God…”
When you see the word “LORD” in all capital letters, it’s how the translators chose to designate God’s name, Yahweh. For a long time, the Jews would not even pronounce it out of reverence for God. And because the Hebrew alphabet did not contain vowels, it was written as YHWH. So it’s probably safe to say that we’re not even sure how to actually pronounce God’s name. And yet Moses and Aaron heard God say it to them. Incredible.
Yahweh goes on to tell His people that they are to have no other gods before Him.
There’s one God. Israel was to love, worship and obey Him alone. When they encountered other cultures with their false gods, they were to reject them.
The second commandment was to not make idols for themselves. They were to not bow down to or worship them. God revealed Himself as a jealous God. He had made them for Himself and He was not interested in sharing their attention with idols.
Fortunately for us, God has revealed many other things about Himself and has given us much more instruction on how to know Him and how to live this life, but if we didn’t know anything other than what He has revealed in these few verses in Exodus 20, I think we’d be fine.
He reminds us that He is the One who brought Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. Israel was helpless to help themselves, but God delights in helping the helpless. (By the way, “God helps those who help themselves” is not in the Bible.)
Are your circumstances too big for you? Are you out of options and out of ideas? Can you not even see which way to go next?
God brought Israel out of Egypt. Israel just had to follow. God hasn’t changed. The same God who helped Israel is the same God who will help you.
Don’t allow your circumstances to become so big that they become your god, your idol that you worship. When we worship, we’re giving our attention to someone or something. We’re ascribing worth and value to the object of our worship. We bow down to and serve whomever or whatever we worship.
Have your circumstances become your god? Have they become so big to you that you’ve lost sight of the real God?
I know that financial issues, medical problems, strained relationships, unemployment and just about anything else can seem overwhelming. But they don’t have to be.
I will confess that I often fail in this area. I see my circumstances and feel helpless. I can’t see a solution or way out. And so my circumstances get bigger and obscure my view of the real God. The One who helps the helpless.
When we violate any of God’s commands, the appropriate response is to confess it to Him and repent. To confess is to simply agree with God regarding our sin. To repent just means to turn around. We turn away from our sin and choose to go God’s way.
If you, like me, have let your circumstances become your god, then it’s time to confess your sin and turn around. Choose to only bow down to the one true God, not your circumstances.
Circumstances are great opportunities to see God at work, but they make terrible gods. The god of circumstances can only provide you with worry, anxiety and fear. But Yahweh stands ready to help you through your circumstances and give you joy and peace in the midst of them.