Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
The command forbids going after, following, or worshiping the gods of the peoples round about, requiring that worship, service, and exclusive loyalty belong to the Lord alone. It was spoken as Israel was about to enter the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a land of abundance where they would receive cities and houses they had not built. There they would enjoy wells they had not dug and vineyards and olive trees they had not planted, and when they had eaten and were full they were to beware lest they forget the Lord who rescued them from Egypt and the house of bondage.
Turning to other gods would provoke the anger of the Lord, for He is a jealous God among His people, and would bring His judgment and destruction from the face of the earth. In its setting the command belongs to the statutes and judgments that teach wisdom and understanding and mark the people as devoted to the Lord. It is part of what was required in Deuteronomy 4-8 for Israel to be a holy people to Himself, to be obeyed in simple and complete surrender.
Keeping it involves fearing the Lord, serving Him, and swearing by His name. It involves diligently keeping His commandments, testimonies, and statutes, keeping His words in the heart, and teaching them diligently to children at home and on the way and at bedtime and at rising. It involves binding them as a sign on the hand and as frontlets between the eyes, and writing them on the posts of the house and on the gates, to keep them constantly before the mind and keep from every false way. It involves not testing the Lord as at Massah.
Its principle is just as valid today as when given to Israel, to be applied in the present day and woven into life and character as part of the very being. The same sins it warns against have led modern Israel into forbidden and by paths. It is to be studied now with profit because the world is nearing the great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds, in the present time of investigation when every character will be investigated and every case decided for eternity.
The command forbids going after, following, or worshiping the gods of the peoples round about, requiring that worship, service, and exclusive loyalty belong to the Lord alone. It was spoken as Israel was about to enter the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a land of abundance where they would receive cities and houses they had not built. There they would enjoy wells they had not dug and vineyards and olive trees they had not planted, and when they had eaten and were full they were to beware lest they forget the Lord who rescued them from Egypt and the house of bondage.
Turning to other gods would provoke the anger of the Lord, for He is a jealous God among His people, and would bring His judgment and destruction from the face of the earth. In its setting the command belongs to the statutes and judgments that teach wisdom and understanding and mark the people as devoted to the Lord. It is part of what was required in Deuteronomy 4-8 for Israel to be a holy people to Himself, to be obeyed in simple and complete surrender.
Keeping it involves fearing the Lord, serving Him, and swearing by His name. It involves diligently keeping His commandments, testimonies, and statutes, keeping His words in the heart, and teaching them diligently to children at home and on the way and at bedtime and at rising. It involves binding them as a sign on the hand and as frontlets between the eyes, and writing them on the posts of the house and on the gates, to keep them constantly before the mind and keep from every false way. It involves not testing the Lord as at Massah.
Its principle is just as valid today as when given to Israel, to be applied in the present day and woven into life and character as part of the very being. The same sins it warns against have led modern Israel into forbidden and by paths. It is to be studied now with profit because the world is nearing the great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds, in the present time of investigation when every character will be investigated and every case decided for eternity.