Wilderness Wanderings

"You shall not steal" (Deuteronomy 5:18).

It was a Tuesday evening; my dad had brought several of his children to the church building for the weekly Catechism Classes. Because we had classes at different times, we needed to wait for each other. The intend was that we would complete our homework while not in class. On this night, my friend enticed me to join him on a trip to the local variety store. On the way, he instructed me on the finer arts of shoplifting. He left successfully; I left with a stern warning that next time I would leave by police escort.

Desire! That is the issue this covenant word addresses. Desire for stuff; the love of things. Who is not faced with this temptation on occasion? The Bible repeatedly warns us about it. Paul tells us how foolish it is to fall for the devil's wiles, "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it" (1 Timothy 6:7). Many of Jesus' stories warn against the danger of this desire for wealth.

Consider also the stories of Achan in Joshua 7 and Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Achan's story is during Israel's entrance into the land of promise. The Acts 5 story comes at the beginning of God's new people, the church. The two stories parallel each other. At these crucial moments of covenant history, God's people face the same danger: the desire for wealth.

And then there is Judas, one of Jesus' twelve. How could he have fallen? He had preached the gospel, healed the sick, feed the poor, but his heart was in his wallet. As John would later comment, "he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John 12:6). Like Cain, he refused to change course. In the end, the devil could take him; and take him he did.

If we are not careful, we too will be taken. Paul also wrote, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:7-10).

How can we guard ourselves? It begins with putting God first. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). This is especially important while we are busy earning money. Ask yourself often, "Am I here to make money or to serve God in this place at this time?" It is a question of what's in first place in our lives: God or money? Serving both doesn't work.

Putting God first leads to contentment. Paul also wrote, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" (6:8). Desire for money and contentment are opposites here. I think we can go deeper. A lack of contentment with what we have suggests that God has done something wrong. He has not given me enough.

Let us return to the covenant word, "You shall not steal". We could rephase it to say, "I may not claim for my own something that belongs to another." For the God follower this has implications for commerce and banking, for buying and selling, for saving and investing, for owning possessions and giving them away. It means employees should share in the profits they make. We are prohibited from manipulating someone else for the sake of personal gain.

It prohibits the accumulation of goods by unjust means, or at the expense of other people. I suggest it says something about gambling which exploits people's greed. Moses undergirded this word with instructions on interest, pledges, bribes, correct weights and measures, moving a neighbour's property lines, as well as laws that protected the weak and poor from oppression, provided release for slaves and ensured the poor had access to the needs of life.

The Bible offers another antidote to stealing. We seek God. Then we know God. C.S. Lewis wrote: "God loves us; not because we are loveable but because He is love; not because He needs to receive but because He delights to give." Again, from Paul, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Knowing God, we receive his grace and we become like him. We imitate him. If God is a giver, so are his children. Thus, not only is contentment the opposite of stealing, so is generosity. We lean into contentment as we share the gifts God has given us.

"You shall not commit adultery." (Deuteronomy 5:18)

These five words are ground zero of the culture war over human sexuality in the CRC. Synod's decision to make a list of sins confessional was attached to it via the Heidelberg Catechism's use of the word "unchastity" to describe what this word prohibits. We're not going to dwell much on that today because the questions that really animate the culture war conversation are mostly to do with same-sex marriage, which is neither the main point of this seventh covenant word nor relevant to most of the intimate relationships in which you—the readers/listeners—are involved. Statistics continue to suggest that the community of those who are same-sex attracted remains a very small minority of the population. That is not to say that this conversation has no place—if it impacts you, I/we are happy to talk further—but it is a specialist place of pastoral concern for a very few, not the main topic of concern for the whole church nor for this seventh word of the covenant.

Anyway, this to say: I must admit that this seventh of the covenant words evokes a certain sorrow and weariness in my soul. It has consumed more time and attention, created more division and heartache, and become the context for the disillusionment and loss of more faith, hope, love, and even membership than I care to name.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Keeping the main thing the main thing in each thing is an important corrective. And the main thing the seventh word is concerned with, similarly to the whole of these ten words, is relational fidelity. In this case, within a marriage.

Being married has not gotten easier. The impact of COVID isolation and intensification (spending more time with certain family members at home) has placed a lot of stress on marriages, as it has on all relationships. The ramping up of digital immersion has taken its toll as well: we are more restless and distracted and find less capacity to meaningfully engage with the person in front of us. Not only that, but the ease-of-access to pornography and other social contagions (like the sort that breed polarization and culture war) along with the corresponding ease of bypassing accountability that's been enabled by our personal screens has placed depersonalizing and alienating enemies within our gates.

Marriage continues to require of us good communication and good commitment that gives space for the journey of sanctification that marriage demands of us: turning us continually away from vices and ugly character traits and towards the deeper virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It's not easy, but the good news is that this is still a work the Spirit desires to accomplish within us—and marriage remains one of the key tools in our lives by which he does it. A faithful marriage starts to smell like Jesus after a lifetime of partnering with God and one another through healthy fights, life-changing experiences walked together, and much confession and forgiveness offered.

We cannot do this work without God, but we also can't do it without a community of support. As God's people, it is important to continue to offer ourselves to support one another in our marriages: asking one another how we're doing in our marriages and encouraging one another in this difficult, but good commitment.

And as God's people, we would also do well to speak a good and encouraging word about marriage to those growing up behind us, too. Divorce rates are down significantly from where they were a few decades ago, but so are marriage rates. So many burdens weigh so much more heavily on the upcoming generation than it did on the previous ones—economic, educational, technological, relational, etc. It's easy to be cynical about the future, marriage, and even singleness (which stretches on much longer on average than it used to). The church can be a place of supportive relationship where the upcoming generation can find good conversation partners and encouraging words about the possibilities for healthy relationships and commitment.

So: how might you support the relational flourishing of the people in your life and in our church today—whether they are married or single?

"You shall not murder" (Deuteronomy 5:17).

Offering this reflection, the Heidelberg Catechism helps us mine the depth of this covenant word,

"I am not to belittle, insult, hate, or kill my neighbor--not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds--and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either…By forbidding murder God teaches us that he hates the root of murder: envy, hatred, anger, vindictiveness. In God's sight all such are murder. By condemning envy, hatred, and anger God tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly to them, to protect them from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies" (Lord's Day 40).

The Catechism reminds us to apply this covenant words to ourselves. It is much easier to reflect on how others are violating this word. Yet, if we are to take this seriously, self-reflection must be the way we go. We must not deflect the commands of God's word on others but allow them to penetrate our hearts.

We are also reminded of Jesus' words that evil comes from the human heart. It is not just outright murder that is at stake here, but the roots of murder such as anger and envy and vindictiveness. Such vices are often given permission to hang out in our hearts. When someone offends us, we often experience a momentary flash of anger. If we do not extinguish this fire, it will flair into contempt: we look down our nose at the offender; we are willing to tell the truth about them without love. This contempt can settle into hatred. We see the effects of this in people killing colleagues and even family members.

This command is rooted in the unique sanctity of human life that derives from our status as the image of God (Genesis 9:6). Because we are made in his image, we are sacred stuff. To take the life of another person is to rob God of a representative and deputy, which is the highest form of treason. Even this word is primarily about our covenant with God.

Being God's image bearers means that we are stewards of the earth and each other. Jesus shows us that we rule by serving. The shepherd does not to use the sheep but lays down His life for them (John 10:11). We are not to take the life of another human in any form, but rather to serve them. We die to ourselves by giving up our rights to vengeance and serving those who have injured us.

In Babylonian laws, commands against murder drew distinctions regarding the value of life based on status, race, or gender. Such distinctions are not made in God's covenant. The life of all human beings is equally sacred because we are made in his image. Our value is derived from God, not from our status in human society.

Thus, the Catechism is correct in teaching us that this Covenant word concerns more than just the prevention of murder. To obey it means that we will be promoters of life. Christians in North America have long advocated for the unborn. Currently, we are engaged with the Canadian society calling for protection for the elderly and those suffering from mental illness.

This is right and proper for the Christian community. However, we must confess that we have neglected this command in other ways. Our advocacy for the local poor is intermittent; certainly not as strong as our fight against abortion once was. Neither have we listened well to the effects that a changing climate is having on the world's poorest people. As ocean level's rise, many under resourced people live in danger. Do we care?

One of the earliest questions in the Bible is, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9). The answer has always been, "Yes. I am my sister's and brother's keeper!"

Years ago, I came across this story recorded by a shoe store worker in Nova Scotia. A barefoot boy was standing by hot air register of a bakery when a middle aged lady came by and began to talk with him. After a few moments, they entered the store. She bought him new shoes and a pair of heavy woollen socks. While she was paying, the young lad asked, "Are you God's wife?" "No son, I'm just one of His children." To this he replied "Well, I knew you must be some relation to him." He quickly thanked her and ran out the door.

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Leviticus 23:15-22 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What is Sacred Time? Any ideas? Has the use of Liturgical Colours in the front of the sanctuary helped you at all to understand the flow of a sacred time? How might it?

2. What significance do you notice to the way the feasts are laid out in the Leviticus 23 calendar? You can come back to this question throughout the sermon!

3. What does the festival of Weeks/Pentecost have to do with Creation?

4. What are the values that God reveals through his provision in Creation? How do feasts remind and re-form us into these values?

5. What's the difference between Secular (Sæculum) and Sacred time? How does our eternal God of eternity intersect with our own time? What does that do? When does that happen still today in our Christian life and worship?

6. Coming to the feast of the Lord's Supper joins us to all these stories of Christ's redemption and sends us out in the Spirit not as secular people, but as people who have communed with the Sacred. How will that change the way you live this week?

"Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

Both the Word on Sabbath and this Word on the honouring of father and mother are transitional words. They stand in the middle of the Ten moving us outward from loving, relational commitment to God toward a matching love of fellow human beings.

These commands stand out as different from all the others, not only because they are in the middle, but also because they come with additional clauses attached. Sabbath is the only word given with a rationale, and the honouring of parents is the only word that comes with a promise.

Sabbath gives a boundary in time for loving not only God, but also our neighbours as we set them free in the same freedom that we ourselves enjoy. Honouring fathers and mothers places our first full human act of love in our most intimate and primary of human relationships: that between us and our parents. And it commands that honouring of parents in words not dissimilar from the honour due to God from the first commands. So again, both of these are transitional commands, showing us how love of God is the foundation and impetus for that love to flow outward to our neighbours.

Of course, speaking specifically of this 5th command, we recognize that this parent-child relationship is sometimes also our most fraught. One of the commentators on this passage, Miller, notes that this command was not intended for small children still growing up under their parent's care—it was intended for adult children navigating that odd relationship as equals-but-not-quite with their aging parents. Do you estrange yourself, exert control, grin-and-bear it when things do not go well in this relationship? The 5th word would suggest that keeping relationship with God demands a different path: one that honours these elders in our lives. No doubt for some of us that will require confession, forgiveness, prayers for a softened, healed heart, and a harder act of love than we may know ourselves capable of.

The word for honour means a dignifying, treating as weighty, valuable, and worthy these elders in one's life—and doing so as an act of relational fidelity not only to them, but also to God. In a land without pensions where families live on ancestral inheritance together across generations, this is indeed a way to "live long" and have it "go well with you" in the land. To model to your own children what it means to love, honour, and eventually also care for those who are older and aging is a good way to treat as you yourself might hope to be treated when you yourself are the aging elder.

Even though we deal with each other primarily through systems now (like that of pensions, old age security, retirement and nursing homes) rather than through in-law suites that put us on the same plot of land together does not mean this command has lost any of its relevance. Perhaps it even holds more. The way that we—you and I—deal with our aging and dying parents says a lot about who we are as people, perhaps also as a society. People that no longer honour their elders in loving, intimate, relational fidelity begin to lose touch with their past and perhaps reveal that they have grown cynical or even fearful of their future. What life is there then to "live long" and "go well" into?

The catechism broadens the force of this command, using parents as a prototype that envelopes any authority that is set over us. That's well and good. The family is indeed the most basic building block of society. But in this societal, systems-level thinking, it is also important not to lose the intimate, incarnate relationships of family.

We all have (had) parents. This word of relational honouring must first be personal before it can become universal. As John will later write in a slightly different, but relevant context from 1 John 4:20—"whoever does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." The same can be said of parents. The practical nitty gritty reality of love always starts at home.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

The Sabbath word has a complex history. For many, it has negative resonance. While I was growing up, the major question for Sabbath keeping was, "What is work?" The answer created a long list of forbidden activities resulting in empty Sunday afternoons. Because we focus on defining 'work', it is difficult to apply to our cultural context. However, there is a renaissance of Sabbath keeping literature.

The biblical word concerning Sabbath is positive, meant to give life, not dull it. It is a discipline which helps develop a healthy Christian spirituality. Recall what we have been saying about these ten words. They are words of covenant, of the relationship between God and his people. The word about Sabbath was not intended to be primarily legalistic. Its purpose was to create space in the weekly rhythm for God and his people to be together. It is a Sabbath to the Lord. It was and is a gift.

Early in the era of the church, the first day of the week, the day of resurrection, became the Christian Sabbath. The New Testament does not command the Gentile Christian converts to cease work on that day. As much as it would be wonderful if Sabbath keeping was part of our country's culture, it is not, and not likely to be such. As Christians, we do well not to reserve 'Sabbath keeping' for Sunday, but rather fashion it as a way of life.

There are a couple of Scriptures that help us to do this. One of them is right here, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there…" The first dynamic of Christian Sabbath is 'remembering'. The exodus from Egypt gave shape to Israelite life and identity. Likewise, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives shape to the Christian life and identity. The early church choose to worship on the first day of the week, not the seventh or the sixth. It is not Good Friday, but Easter, resurrection, victory, that gives us our identity.

For Israel, Egypt was death. They were literally worked to death. Now, they must remember that God set them free from this 'death by work'. In Exodus 20, God invites her to remember that he is the creator of all things. In both these Sabbath words, we are called to remember "who is who"! Who creates and gives life? God does. Both passages challenge us to step out of the driver's seat and pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Sabbath keeping is the discipline of entering the freedom of putting our lives into God's care. We stop striving to create our own lives so that we can receive life from God.

The religious leaders challenged Jesus for his unacceptable Sabbath activities. The rather famous words, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28) are followed by Sabbath stories. Jesus gives rest to weary people. Our Lord was clearly more concerned about lifting our burdens and less about having us follow the rules. In Mark, Jesus concludes, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (2:27).

God knows we need rest and renewal—physically, mentally, and spiritually. His commandment is a gift, should we choose to accept it. And yet we resist. We crave control, we must work, lest our world fall apart. Sabbath is given for us to remember that we cannot make life, God gives it. The life we are meant to live is not that of the workaholic, but of people in Christ. We are limited. We find life by delighting in God. In Christ, we are set free from our evil ways that we might live in his righteousness. Sabbath keeping gives us this gift.

The psalmist wrote, "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs…" (84:5-6). When we Sabbath to God, we receive his life and have plenty of life to give away. When we seek to make life for ourselves, we will never have enough; we will always fear running out.

Take time for Sabbath so God can bless you!

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." (Deuteronomy 5:11)

The third Word of the Covenant is grounded once again, in a relationship with God. As such, it's helpful to think of it in relational terms. The question being: how do you talk about someone that you know and love?

Take a marriage, for instance. When a marriage relationship is healthy and strong, it is highly unlikely that you will hear one of the partners in that marriage use the other's name as a swear word, or as the butt of a cruel joke. Now, behind closed doors, they may indeed exchange some heated words with one another, but in public: they are not likely to dishonour the other's name. In fact, if and when we do hear a partner to a marriage start to speak more critically of their spouse in more public spaces—we recognize it as a red flag—presuming that they might be struggling and in need of our support and care.

This is the idea here as well. We use God's name with honour and respect, because we know God and love God, even as we are known and loved by him. We care for God's good name because there is a mutual caring between us. The New Testament's imagery of Bride and Bridgegroom invites this comparison of mutuality, even though we certainly also understand a difference and deference between God and ourselves.

Further: God's name is not misused when we angrily shout or cry out at, to, and with him in the context of prayer and lament. The Psalms do this all the time, sometimes in rather harsh and bluntly honest language that makes us blush. But the critical point in the psalms is that these fights remain within the context of the relationship. The name of God continues to be used in the context of personal address to God, which honours God and our relationship with him.

Another concerns of this command is oaths. The Catechism suggests we may use God's name when required to for an oath, though it cautions us against it if it isn't needed (as does Jesus: "let your yes be yes, and your no, no"). The idea here again is relational: God knows us and can vouch for our truthfulness. The reverse is also true: should we be found to be lying, it is with God that we will have to do for he "will not hold anyone guiltless who missuses his name." Of course, lying under such an oath also reflects a heavily distorted image of God to the world. This too has an analogue in other relationships: we tend to mention loved ones offhandedly as people who can vouch for our character and story, but at the same time, they do not take well to being dragged into our lies.

When God's name is misused—as in the example of bad oaths above—what's at stake is a sin against the relationship that God has established with us. God reveals his name to Moses and to Israel so that they might know him more intimately and understand his character more deeply. His name is meant for personal address, as in the conversation of prayer or worship—always within the context of the relationship. But whenever we speak about someone rather than to or with them, we are always in danger of depersonalizing or objectifying them and so betraying our relationship in small, but significant ways. This danger is all the more profound when it comes to the God whom we have not seen.

Hopefully this all gives a sense of the force of this Third Word of the Covenant. So today: how will you honour your relationship with God in the ways that you speak to him, and of him to others?

"You shall not make for yourself an image 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 parents 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" (Deuteronomy 5:8-10).

God's first word of covenant, which Pastor Anthony reflected on yesterday, addressed who we worship. This second word considers how we worship. It draws us deeper into the covenant relationship between the saving God of Israel and his saved people. Only this context of the covenant relationship of salvation enables us to draw appropriate applications for ourselves from this word.

The prohibition against creating an image of God addresses two concerns. First, any idol eventually limits our belief in God's power and ability. That is why the prophets constantly harassed Israel about worshipping idols that couldn't speak or hear or see or move. She was attributing such limitations upon God (cf. Isaiah 40). Second, idols were used to control the gods. Recall the story in 1 Samuel 4 in which Israel took the ark of the covenant into battle. Even the Philistines believed they were in trouble because Israel had brought her God into battle with them. God says, "Oh no, you cannot use me for your own purposes."

When I used to teach Catechism classes to the youth, I would take along a variety of pictures representing Jesus. I asked the class to describe how the artist was depicting Christ. What was being communicated about him? After some time, I would ask, 'So, what is missing?' None of the images could portray the fullness of our Lord. All of us have mental images of God. If we are to take this second covenant word seriously, we need to do a mental inventory of our images of God. How do they limit him? What aspects of God are we ignoring? Is he great enough to save? Is he truly worthy of our worship?

The wonder of this commandment is often missed with two mistakes. One, we think about jealousy with negative connotations. Yet, if we consider what is here, jealousy is quite appropriate. God has demonstrated his profound love for Israel by freeing her from Egypt and bringing her into the promised land. If Israel in return, goes chasing after other gods, does God not have a right to be jealous?

In Israelite society, three to four generations lived together. If the oldest generation has abandoned God, the others follow in their footsteps. God will punish that household. This was culturally appropriate. The only recorded example of this is the Babylonian captivity. Here is the second mistake we sometimes make. We miss the contrast that God will show love to a 1000 generations of those who love and obey him. God's love and commitment to Israel is littered throughout the Bible. This contrast highlights his love.

The ancients worshipped idols to stay in their god's favour. Their sacrifices were given in hopes that the gods would do nice things for them. They worshipped their gods out of fear. Fear that their gods would turn against them or just forget them. Think about Baal's priests up on mount Carmel. In contrast, God had committed Himself to Israel and there was no way in heaven or on earth that God would forget them. God did not want to be worshipped out of fear; theirs was a love relationship.

How do you worship God? Out of fear? Probably not. But maybe out of tradition. Maybe in the hope that he will reward you in some way. Maybe in the expectation that he will ensure the good life for you. We often make worship about style of music, type of instruments, liturgies, time, etc. These are trivialities. When worship is reduced to such things, we break this second covenant word. Its about passion. Its about God's passionate love for us which he has demonstrated in Christ's suffering and death. He has paid the ultimate price so that we might be his children. The only way to respond is with our own passionate love and commitment to God.

On Sunday many of us joined a worshipping community, whether in person or through technology. How much passion did you see? How much passion did you bring? The thrust of this covenant word is the preservation of the relationship between God and his people which is characterized by love. Did you see that love? Did you bring it? Consider the line, "Love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unyielding as the grave" (Song of Songs 8:6). I think it adequately describes this covenant word.

Last week, in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Americas, we worshipped with three different Christian churches. There was passion there. It made me wonder: has our affluence robbed us of our passion for God?

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Leviticus 23:23-25 from the New International Version of the Bible.

And [God] said: "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." (Deuteronomy 6-7)

Today we start in on the Ten Commandments. What are the Ten Commandments? Well, for starters, they are not exactly commandments. In the Hebrew language, they are quite literally called the "Ten Words." And these Ten Words are also not exactly "the law," even though that tends to be the way that we refer to them. No: they are firstly and primarily the Ten Words of God's Covenant with his people. That is to say: these words God speaks are the terms of a relationship. These Words are not firstly ethics, laws, commandments, or a list of "don'ts." They are firstly the definition of a new relationship—a covenant.

It is easy to reduce these Words into a criminal code to be policed with the coercive force of discipline in its worst forms. But that is not how the Bible, nor our own church tradition in the CRC through the Catechism understands them. These are life-giving words of relationship: a guide for gratefully living with God in the new relationship that he has graciously established.

The two members of this covenantal relationship are named in this first Word. God is the Lord who saves, and we are the people who are saved. This is the basis and foundation of the relationship. Why and how does Israel have anything to do with this God? Because he is the God who has chosen of his own volition to have something to do with them, namely by saving them. It had nothing to do with Israel or anything good or special about them, just as it had nothing to do with Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob before them. The patriarchs were cowardly, devious, and strong-willed. They were not particularly righteous. The people of Israel weren't any better. There was nothing that made them better or different than anyone else. The only basis of their relationship with God therefore, was God himself through God's own, voluntary choosing.

Given this new relationship of God's choosing though, from now on, God and Israel are to be a monogamous couple. No other gods can enter the picture. But to hear only this negative prohibition about no other gods is to miss fully half of what this command is about. It is not merely a negative prohibition. The equally important Shema of chapter 6 enters on the heals of these Ten Words to balance them out in a positive form. The Shema ties directly into this first Word of the Covenant and declares that Israel is also to "love the Lord their God." To love God firstly, only, and completely. Just as God has loved them.

If this one, first, most important Word Command is kept, all the others tend to find their place. That is to say, if our relationship with God remains strong, primary, and exclusive: all of our other relationships and activities have a foundation for flourishing too.

I talked to someone just the other day who experienced this. Any number of questions had hung over this person for years about relationships and the future. Any number of paths to a solution had been sought, but to no avail. Finally, after spending years skirting real time and attention for God, they took a retreat to do nothing but spend time with him. Oddly enough, simply taking that time to reorient firstly on God, this person discovered—not a resolution—but a peace about some of the other questions too. Enough to step forward into commitment on the other side.

God has established a relationship with us. It is the first, most important relationship of our lives. So: take time to check in with God today. How is your relationship doing?