Exodus 23:24
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
The verse forbids bowing to the gods of the surrounding nations, serving them, or following their religious practices, requiring worship of the Lord alone, and commands utterly overthrowing false worship and completely breaking down its images rather than preserving them. It was given on Mount Sinai through Moses as part of the fuller explanation of the law, to be studied in Exodus 19-24 so there would be no excuse for disobedience, and the Teacher who gave it there is Christ Jesus, whose voice guided Israel through the wilderness. It belongs with the promise that His Angel bearing His name would keep Israel in the way, bring them to the prepared place, and cut off the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, with God becoming an enemy to their enemies if they obeyed His voice, blessing their bread and water and taking sickness from them. Refusing covenant with those nations and their gods was necessary to guard Israel from idolatry and its corrupting sins lest they become a snare, not for self-righteous isolation but to keep Israel pure and faithful as the people through whom God could reveal Himself to all nations. Obedience to it was laid before Israel as the condition of favor, blessing, protection and prosperity above all nations, and the same covenant and reward are still in force and offered now, so it is needed now just as truly as in the days of Moses.
Meaning and Covenant Setting
Thou shalt not bow down to the gods of the surrounding nations, nor serve them, nor do after their religious works and practices, for the LORD alone is to receive worship. The command names the Amorites and Hittites and Perizzites and Canaanites and Hivites and Jebusites, forbidding any worship or service to their gods and any imitation of their ways. Utter overthrow of false worship is required, with their images quite broken down and completely destroyed rather than preserved or kept. Such destruction shows abhorrence of idolatry, because even costly and beautifully made idols could tempt the people to treat them with reverence.
The word was given on Mount Sinai through Moses as part of the fuller explanation of the law proclaimed from Sinai, so that there would be no excuse for disobedience. It is to be studied in Exodus 19-24 in full detail and presented before the people in full detail. The Teacher who gave it there is Christ Jesus, whose voice guided Israel through the wilderness.
It belongs to the assurance and covenant promise that His Angel with His name in Him would keep Israel in the way and bring them into the prepared place and promised land. That Angel would cut off the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, with God becoming an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries if Israel obeyed His voice and did all He spoke. Serving the LORD would bless their bread and water and take sickness from among them. Israel answered with one voice that they would do all the words of the LORD, and with uplifted voice and hands vowed to comply and be obedient.
Keeping distinct from idolatrous nations and refusing covenant with them or their gods was necessary to guard Israel from idolatry, its corrupting influence, and the sins that followed. Allowing them to remain would lead Israel into sin and become a snare. This separation was not for self-righteous isolation but to keep Israel pure and faithful as a people through whom God could reveal Himself to all nations. The nations' idolatry had led them into great wickedness, and that was why God would use Israel to punish them and destroy their gods.
In history Israel failed to appreciate deliverance from Egypt and being made His own people, and became discouraged in hardship while He guided and protected them toward the land He had prepared. When Moses was away they made the calf as the gods that brought them from Egypt, and three thousand perished for refusing to stand with Moses in loyalty. At the first approach to Canaan the inhabitants had not widely prepared to resist, and God promised to go before Israel and fight for them and to send hornets to drive the nations out. Delaying obedience made the conquest harder against alert, powerful foes and well-trained armies. Though Israel so failed, God stayed true during the forty years of wilderness wandering to give the promised blessings to those who obeyed.
Obedience Blessing and Application
Obedience was set before Israel as the condition of divine favor, blessing, protection, and prosperity above all nations, with refusal to bow to other gods, to serve them, or to follow their practices, and with complete overthrow of false worship and breaking down of images as the required abhorrence of idolatry. If they obeyed, they would be as kings and priests unto God, with open communication between God and them and them and God, Moses bringing the light from Sinai and carrying it out in practice while Israel with uplifted voice and hands vowed to comply and be obedient. That same covenant and reward are still in force and offered now, and the instruction given to Moses in the mount, to be studied in Exodus 19-24 and presented in full detail, is needed now just as truly as Israel needed it in the days of Moses. The command belongs to the assurance that His Angel would keep Israel in the way, bring them into the prepared place, and cut off the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, with God becoming an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries if Israel obeyed His voice and did all He spoke, and with service to the Lord bringing blessing on bread and water and removal of sickness. Israel answered with one voice that they would do all the words of the Lord, yet failed the test when Moses was away by making the calf as the gods that brought them from Egypt, for which three thousand perished for refusing to stand in loyalty. Obedience was thus tied to serving the Lord, receiving His blessing, and relying on Him to drive out enemies, with warning against idolatry and against covenant with the nations or their gods lest their worship become a snare leading Israel into sin.
The same guiding voice that led Israel through the wilderness still shows His people today where and how to work, including giving the warning to Washington, the capital of the nation. For those connected with God's work the command means thanking the Lord for guidance, trusting His keeping power, and remembering they are children of God. It means cutting away from life all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil and living out the principles of truth in word and deed. God still tests by His Word, and those who obey will have strength of character under every temptation and keep hold on God.
The verse calls for contention to cease and for brotherly love with softened and subdued hearts, with its laws written in a book guarding against doing injustice and guiding dealings with one another. God's people are to be on guard to rebuke all evil doings, because the law of the Lord is perfect. Those who profess to be children of God yet do what He forbids aid the enemy more than those who make no profession, deepening the impressions Satan makes on minds and encouraging the ungodly to continue in evil.