His people, for whom He had a special kindness, He adds, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. His people, at that time, were the children of Israel, whom He had lately delivered from the Egyptian bondage; and therefore He speaks more immediately unto them: but, in them, to all the true Israel of God; to all that follow the faith of their father Abraham, in all ages; to all His elect and peculiar people, which He hath redeemed from the slavery of sin and satan, of which the deliverance out of Egypt was a type and figure. So that this is the same, in effect, as if He had said, I, who give thee these laws, am the Lord thy God, who have redeemed thee from all iniquity, to be my own, and therefore expect and require, that thou, above all people, take special care to observe all these my Commandments; whereof the first is, Thou shalt have none other gods but Me, or, before Me. Although there be really no other but one God, the Creator and Governor of all things; yet there be many which are called gods, 1 Cor. viii. 5. and esteemed so by men who having, by the fall of our first parents, lost the right sense and knowledge of the true God, and retaining only some general notions of such a Being in the world, they have been apt, in all ages, to imagine one creature or other to be God. Some have thought the sun, moon, and stars; others, ancient and famous men, to be gods. Some one thing, some another. Insomuch, that there is scarce any creature in heaven or earth, but what hath been reputed as a god, by some or other. Hence it is that we read of so many and such various gods, in all ages. The Jews themselves, to whom this law was given, had at one time as many gods as cities, Jer. ii. 28. xi. 13. So it was for many ages with all the rest of mankind: and so it is with many at this day. And all people naturally conceiving God to be of supreme excellency, justice, goodness, and power over them, whatsoever it is that they imagine to be God, they honour, and fear, and love, and trust on it, as if it was really so. And therefore although it be not so in itself, it is as a god to them. This therefore is that which the Almighty Creator of the world, the one living and true God, doth here expressly forbid. Thou shalt have no other gods but Me: or, according to the letter of the law, There shall be no others gods to thee before Me: that is, thou shalt not think, believe, or own any thing to be God but Me. Thou shalt not ascribe supreme authority, power, or goodness, or any other divine perfection, to any but Me. Thou shalt not fear any thing visible or invisible, but only Me. Thou shalt not regard them that have familiar spirits, nor seek after witches or wizards, nor use divinations, or enchantments, or any such like abominations, Lev. xix. 31. Deut. xviii. 10, 11. Thou shalt not put any trust or confidence in any creature that is in heaven or earth. Thou shalt not love, nor respect, nor value, nor desire any thing in comparison of Me. If thou dost any of these things, thou hast other gods before Me or in my sight, who am the Searcher of hearts, and see and know it. By this therefore you may see what it is which Almighty God here commands every one to do, according as He hath elsewhere also signified His divine will. He commands thee to believe in Him the Lord thy God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, one God, the only wise, almighty, immortal God; and in Jesus Christ, thy God, thy gracious and most merciful God, long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, John xiv. 1. Exod. xxxiv. 6. He commands thee to acknowledge Him in all thy ways, Prov. iii. 6. and to own thyself obliged to Him, and to thank Him for all thou hast, 1 Thess. v. 18. Eph. v. 20. He commands thee to sanctify Him, the Lord of hosts, and to make Him thy only fear, and thy only dread, Isa. viii. 13. so as to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long, Prov. xxiii. 17. He commands thee to trust on Him with all thy heart, Prov. iii. 5. to desire Him above all things, Ps. lxxiii. 25. and to rejoice in Him always, Phil. iv. 4. and that thou love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. For this is the first and great commandment, Matt. xxii. 37, 38. QUESTIONS. What is the third thing which you promised in your Baptism? How many Commandments are there? How did God proclaim them? Why did He write them upon tables of stone? Why do they all run in the singular number? Where do ye find them written? Why did God say, I am the Lord thy God, &c. before He began them? Did He not give them to other people, as well as to the Jews? Which is the first Commandment? Are there any other gods but one? Why then doth God command us to have no other? THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love Me, and keep my Command ments. As the Lord made all things for Himself, Prov. xvi. 4. so He still upholdeth and governeth all things for Himself, to shew forth His glory: that all such creatures, as He for that purpose hath made capable of it, may see His wonderful works, and accordingly praise and glorify Him for them. Which being His great end in what He hath done and still doth, He will not suffer this His glory to be given to another; I am the Lord, saith He, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images, Isai. xlii. 8. Hence it is, that as the first thing He commands is, that we shall have no other gods but Him, no, not in our thoughts; that we shall not think or believe there is any other God that made and governeth the world, but only He the Lord our God; so, in the next place, He forbids all such outward acts, whereby we may seem to own any other Gcd, and so to give His glory to another. Which being plainly the great end and design of this law in general, we shall easily see into the true meaning of each particular branch of it. First, (saith He,) Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth: that is, thou shalt not make any such thing to thyself, for thee to perform any such acts to it, whereby thou mayest seem to think it to be God, whether thou really think so, or no. He doth not here simply forbid the making of the picture, image, or likeness of any creature: for He Himself appointed some such to be made in the old law, particularly the Cherubim in the most holy place. Neither doth He expressly forbid the making any image or likeness of Himself: for that, He knows, is altogether impossible. But He forbids the making the likeness of any creature in heaven or earth, or under the earth, to represent Him our Creator to us, so as to look upon it |