NO OTHER GODS
Erin Kranz
Today's Scripture: “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 6:14-15, ESV
Theme: God demands exclusivity.
QANNA
We are kicking off our Christmas series – Names of God – with “Qanna,” which means “jealous.” We usually think of “jealous” in a negative sense, but God uses this name to help us understand the righteous jealousy He has for our full attention and reverence. We see “Qanna” used six times in the Old Testament, all in reference to idolatry. In today’s Scripture, Moses reminds the people of Israel to “not go after other gods” because God is “a jealous God,” referencing when Israel turned against God and built the golden calf in the desert in Exodus 32.
As some backstory, God had just used Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and into the desert. God spoke the Ten Commandments and other laws to Moses, and Moses shared them with the people: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do,’” (Exodus 24:3, ESV). Then God invited Moses to come back up to the mountain so that He could write all the laws on tablets, and Moses ended up on the mountain for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18).
WHILE THEY WERE WAITING
Then the people became impatient. While they were waiting for Moses to come back down, they went to Aaron and demanded that he make them a new god. So Aaron made them the golden calf, and the people said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4b, ESV). Yikes. The Israelites had just seen some of the most amazing miracles that have ever been recorded, yet they quickly turned away from God when they couldn’t see Him for a little while.
It might be easy for us to pass judgment on these people as we read their story thousands of years later, but how often do we do the same thing? We come down from a “mountaintop” spiritual experience only to quickly forget what God has done. We see God move and wrongly claim the credit for ourselves. What other “gods” do we choose to pursue instead of waiting for God to work? Moses was carrying down the tablets that “were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God” (Exodus 32:16), and the people missed out on this gift because they went after other gods and simply couldn’t wait.
Make it Personal: Physical idolatry might not be our struggle today, but what other “gods” have you erected in your life? Where have you placed your faith, hope, or desires in other places besides God? For some of us it may be money, others’ opinions, or even our own abilities. God demands exclusivity. Turn and repent to Him.
Pray: Father God, thank You that You have given us a way to have a relationship with You. Yet help us not forget that You are jealous for us and for the honor due to Your Name. Forgive me for the times I have forgotten Your works and sought after other things. Help me to stay close to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read: Exodus 32
Weekly Memory Verse: “(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),” Exodus 34:14, ESV