For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
God declares His own name to be Jealous and requires the worship of Himself alone, with supreme and exclusive loyalty that gives the worship due to Him to no other god. He spoke this when He renewed the covenant after the first tables were broken, writing the ten commandments Himself on the two new tables of stone and proclaiming His character as merciful, gracious, patient, good, true, forgiving, and just. He has not changed, but is still the jealous God who gave His law at Sinai, and His jealousy requires obedience to all His commandments, especially honoring His sanctified seventh-day Sabbath as His memorial and sign rather than setting it aside for a common working day or the first day of the week. That exclusive claim requires separation from idolatry by destroying idol altars, images, and groves, and by making no covenant, intermarriage, or intimate alliance with idolaters and the world, including confederacies and secret societies that would become a snare. He is jealous for His own honor and glory, knows the thoughts and devices of the heart, and will accept no divided allegiance, but requires wholehearted devotion, thankfulness for His provision, and holy conduct that glorifies His name.
Covenant Setting and Meaning
After Moses broke the first tables, God renewed the covenant on Mount Sinai by writing again on two new tables of stone, proclaiming His name and character, and promising to do marvels and to drive out the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. The words of that covenant, the ten commandments, were written by the Lord Himself on the two tables Moses had prepared at His command and carried to the summit, where Moses spent his second forty days and nights alone in communion with God, miraculously sustained, with no one else permitted to go up or approach. From that communion Moses' face reflected the divine glory, so that it shone with dazzling light when he descended.
The declaration that no other god is to be worshiped belongs to God's proclamation of His character as merciful, gracious, patient, good, true, forgiving, and just. After that proclamation Moses worshiped and asked God to pardon Israel and take them as His people, and God promised to renew His favor toward them. That same character is revealed by Christ, whose sinless life refutes Satan's false charge against God.
His name, Jealous, declares His claim to supreme, exclusive worship and loyalty. He alone is to receive worship and heart service with obedience to all His commandments, and He will not accept His people's worship being given to other gods, so Israel must reject idolatry and avoid covenants and practices that would ensnare them in it. His character has not changed: He is still the jealous God He was when He gave His law at Sinai and wrote it on stone tablets, and His jealousy stands alongside the enduring authority of His law.
Exclusive Worship Required
The Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God who is to receive worship alone, with no worship given to any other god, and who claims supreme devotion with heart service and obedience to all His commandments. To keep distinct from idolaters Israel was to make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land, to intermarry with none of them and form no confederacy with them, because such alliance would become a snare in their midst and would break harmony in spirit and action. Therefore they were to destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves in which idol altars were erected. That command reaches beyond marriage of Christians with the ungodly to all alliances bringing intimate association requiring harmony in spirit and action, including membership in the Free Masons and other secret societies.
He is jealous for His own honor and glory, and regards the inhabitants of this world who live in His house and are provided with food and clothing from His liberal treasury yet never thank Him and are unmindful of His goodness as working continually in opposition to their Creator. To live in His world and receive from His generous provision while ignoring His goodness and failing even to thank Him dishonors Him. Such ingratitude and opposition is likened to the conduct of the antediluvians, whose wickedness and violence led to their destruction in the flood.
He requires wholehearted loyalty and will not accept divided allegiance, for He knows the heart's thoughts, imaginations, and devices. His blessings and mercies and the life-giving provision He offers are to be appreciated, and communion with Him keeps the soul spiritually alive, while neglecting them leaves it withered and without vital interest in the truth. Trifling with Him by upholding wrongdoing brings His displeasure, for the ark of God cannot abide in a home that countenances wrong, as illustrated by Achan's hidden sin which brought defeat and suffering on Israel until the sin was removed.
That jealousy means keeping His Ten Commandments with all heart, soul, and mind for His glory, especially His sanctified Sabbath as declared in the Word to be the seventh day, with the very day specified so there is no excuse for carelessness and indifference or for keeping the first day of the week. Keeping the Sabbath as His memorial and sign honors His exclusive claim, while setting it aside for a common working day dishonors Him, and His people are to refuse to mix with the inhabitants of the land in worship and practices that do not glorify Him. The instruction given through Moses to Israel still applies today, commanding to take heed against making any covenant with the inhabitants of the land lest it become a snare, destroying their altars, breaking their images, and cutting down their groves. It requires making no covenant with the world, forming no confederacy with those who hear the message and refuse to search the Scriptures, making no concessions to transgressors, and dealing with evil as God directed, because Satan works through those who do not know God and do not acknowledge Him as Creator and Ruler.
He marks every token of disrespect from those who appear before Him to worship. Those who have any regard for the Sabbath must appear before Him on that day cleanly in person and neat and orderly in dress, showing respect for the Creator who sanctified the day and placed special honor upon it. He is offended at uncleanness and disorder. Truth never degrades but elevates, so faith carried out leads to plainness in dress and zeal in good works that marks Sabbath keepers as peculiar, while pride and copying worldly fashion on one hand and oddity, carelessness, uncleanness and coarseness on the other destroy influence and strengthen unbelievers in despising Sabbath keepers.
His holiness requires holy people to honor Him, and those who teach His law must be strict observers of it, as He required ancient Israel to obey His law. Those who fear Him are to glorify and honor His name through their choices and conduct by choosing pure and righteous counselors who understand His will and refusing to support unrighteousness or selfishness in themselves or others, for conduct that dishonors God violates His claim to the honor due Him. Coming under His covenant care and protection requires genuine repentance, humility, and obedience, and His care and protection do not make sin acceptable.
Separation From Idolatry
As part of the renewed covenant Israel was to observe what was commanded, while God promised to do marvels and to drive out the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. They were to make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land lest it become a snare, and to keep distinct from idolaters by destroying their altars, breaking their images, and cutting down their groves in which idol altars were erected. The reason is that no other god is to be worshiped, for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God requiring exclusive worship.
The command forbids intermarrying with idolaters and forming any confederacy with them. Such alliance would become a snare in their midst and would break harmony in spirit and action. The instruction given through Moses to Israel is for His people today: they are not to bind themselves in covenant with the world. Such a covenant is a snare because Satan works through those who do not know God and do not acknowledge Him as Creator and Ruler.
The prohibition applies not only to marriage of Christians with the ungodly but to all alliances bringing intimate association requiring harmony in spirit and action, including membership in the Free Masons and other secret societies. It requires forming no confederacy with those who hear the message and refuse to search the Scriptures, making no concessions to transgressors, and dealing with evil as directed. To maintain connection with God professing Christians must act like Christians and represent His character through obedience to His directions. Trifling with Him by upholding wrongdoing brings His displeasure, as illustrated by Achan's hidden sin which brought defeat and suffering on Israel until the sin was removed, for the ark of God cannot abide in a home that countenances wrong.
God declares His own name to be Jealous and requires the worship of Himself alone, with supreme and exclusive loyalty that gives the worship due to Him to no other god. He spoke this when He renewed the covenant after the first tables were broken, writing the ten commandments Himself on the two new tables of stone and proclaiming His character as merciful, gracious, patient, good, true, forgiving, and just. He has not changed, but is still the jealous God who gave His law at Sinai, and His jealousy requires obedience to all His commandments, especially honoring His sanctified seventh-day Sabbath as His memorial and sign rather than setting it aside for a common working day or the first day of the week. That exclusive claim requires separation from idolatry by destroying idol altars, images, and groves, and by making no covenant, intermarriage, or intimate alliance with idolaters and the world, including confederacies and secret societies that would become a snare. He is jealous for His own honor and glory, knows the thoughts and devices of the heart, and will accept no divided allegiance, but requires wholehearted devotion, thankfulness for His provision, and holy conduct that glorifies His name.
Covenant Setting and Meaning
After Moses broke the first tables, God renewed the covenant on Mount Sinai by writing again on two new tables of stone, proclaiming His name and character, and promising to do marvels and to drive out the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. The words of that covenant, the ten commandments, were written by the Lord Himself on the two tables Moses had prepared at His command and carried to the summit, where Moses spent his second forty days and nights alone in communion with God, miraculously sustained, with no one else permitted to go up or approach. From that communion Moses' face reflected the divine glory, so that it shone with dazzling light when he descended.
The declaration that no other god is to be worshiped belongs to God's proclamation of His character as merciful, gracious, patient, good, true, forgiving, and just. After that proclamation Moses worshiped and asked God to pardon Israel and take them as His people, and God promised to renew His favor toward them. That same character is revealed by Christ, whose sinless life refutes Satan's false charge against God.
His name, Jealous, declares His claim to supreme, exclusive worship and loyalty. He alone is to receive worship and heart service with obedience to all His commandments, and He will not accept His people's worship being given to other gods, so Israel must reject idolatry and avoid covenants and practices that would ensnare them in it. His character has not changed: He is still the jealous God He was when He gave His law at Sinai and wrote it on stone tablets, and His jealousy stands alongside the enduring authority of His law.
Exclusive Worship Required
The Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God who is to receive worship alone, with no worship given to any other god, and who claims supreme devotion with heart service and obedience to all His commandments. To keep distinct from idolaters Israel was to make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land, to intermarry with none of them and form no confederacy with them, because such alliance would become a snare in their midst and would break harmony in spirit and action. Therefore they were to destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves in which idol altars were erected. That command reaches beyond marriage of Christians with the ungodly to all alliances bringing intimate association requiring harmony in spirit and action, including membership in the Free Masons and other secret societies.
He is jealous for His own honor and glory, and regards the inhabitants of this world who live in His house and are provided with food and clothing from His liberal treasury yet never thank Him and are unmindful of His goodness as working continually in opposition to their Creator. To live in His world and receive from His generous provision while ignoring His goodness and failing even to thank Him dishonors Him. Such ingratitude and opposition is likened to the conduct of the antediluvians, whose wickedness and violence led to their destruction in the flood.
He requires wholehearted loyalty and will not accept divided allegiance, for He knows the heart's thoughts, imaginations, and devices. His blessings and mercies and the life-giving provision He offers are to be appreciated, and communion with Him keeps the soul spiritually alive, while neglecting them leaves it withered and without vital interest in the truth. Trifling with Him by upholding wrongdoing brings His displeasure, for the ark of God cannot abide in a home that countenances wrong, as illustrated by Achan's hidden sin which brought defeat and suffering on Israel until the sin was removed.
That jealousy means keeping His Ten Commandments with all heart, soul, and mind for His glory, especially His sanctified Sabbath as declared in the Word to be the seventh day, with the very day specified so there is no excuse for carelessness and indifference or for keeping the first day of the week. Keeping the Sabbath as His memorial and sign honors His exclusive claim, while setting it aside for a common working day dishonors Him, and His people are to refuse to mix with the inhabitants of the land in worship and practices that do not glorify Him. The instruction given through Moses to Israel still applies today, commanding to take heed against making any covenant with the inhabitants of the land lest it become a snare, destroying their altars, breaking their images, and cutting down their groves. It requires making no covenant with the world, forming no confederacy with those who hear the message and refuse to search the Scriptures, making no concessions to transgressors, and dealing with evil as God directed, because Satan works through those who do not know God and do not acknowledge Him as Creator and Ruler.
He marks every token of disrespect from those who appear before Him to worship. Those who have any regard for the Sabbath must appear before Him on that day cleanly in person and neat and orderly in dress, showing respect for the Creator who sanctified the day and placed special honor upon it. He is offended at uncleanness and disorder. Truth never degrades but elevates, so faith carried out leads to plainness in dress and zeal in good works that marks Sabbath keepers as peculiar, while pride and copying worldly fashion on one hand and oddity, carelessness, uncleanness and coarseness on the other destroy influence and strengthen unbelievers in despising Sabbath keepers.
His holiness requires holy people to honor Him, and those who teach His law must be strict observers of it, as He required ancient Israel to obey His law. Those who fear Him are to glorify and honor His name through their choices and conduct by choosing pure and righteous counselors who understand His will and refusing to support unrighteousness or selfishness in themselves or others, for conduct that dishonors God violates His claim to the honor due Him. Coming under His covenant care and protection requires genuine repentance, humility, and obedience, and His care and protection do not make sin acceptable.
Separation From Idolatry
As part of the renewed covenant Israel was to observe what was commanded, while God promised to do marvels and to drive out the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. They were to make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land lest it become a snare, and to keep distinct from idolaters by destroying their altars, breaking their images, and cutting down their groves in which idol altars were erected. The reason is that no other god is to be worshiped, for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God requiring exclusive worship.
The command forbids intermarrying with idolaters and forming any confederacy with them. Such alliance would become a snare in their midst and would break harmony in spirit and action. The instruction given through Moses to Israel is for His people today: they are not to bind themselves in covenant with the world. Such a covenant is a snare because Satan works through those who do not know God and do not acknowledge Him as Creator and Ruler.
The prohibition applies not only to marriage of Christians with the ungodly but to all alliances bringing intimate association requiring harmony in spirit and action, including membership in the Free Masons and other secret societies. It requires forming no confederacy with those who hear the message and refuse to search the Scriptures, making no concessions to transgressors, and dealing with evil as directed. To maintain connection with God professing Christians must act like Christians and represent His character through obedience to His directions. Trifling with Him by upholding wrongdoing brings His displeasure, as illustrated by Achan's hidden sin which brought defeat and suffering on Israel until the sin was removed, for the ark of God cannot abide in a home that countenances wrong.