Exodus 20:3

God gave the world the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. The first commandment is found in Exodus 20:3. God said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The word that is translated “before” literally means “face” and is often translated that way from the Hebrew. In other words, “have no other gods in front of the face of God.” The Almighty sees all and knows all. When you think no one can see what you are doing, God sees. He sees everything that we do every moment of the day, and He is a jealous God. God says in explaining the second commandment in Exodus 20:5, “for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.” He desires and He deserves our worship dedicated only to Him. He is the One true God. He is God, and there is none else. People will always be tempted to turn away from the Lord, and to serve someone or something else as their god. This does not only refer to false religions. It also refers to anything that might enter into a person’s heart that takes the place of God, or anything that becomes more important than God. It says in First John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” Some people will idolize another human being instead of giving God His place in their heart. It could be a relative, a political leader, or someone famous like a sports figure, or someone else that people “worship.” Someone’s substitute for God could be an ideology or a political movement. For instance, some people worship gold, some worship fame, and some worship power. Some even worship themselves. God sees and God knows. Of course, to worship anyone or anything other than the One true God will only lead to vanity and vexation of spirit. It must grieve God’s heart to look at the earth and see so many people before His face having “other gods” before God. King David said to Solomon by the Holy Spirit in First Chronicles 28:9, “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”

To have God as your one true God means that you will worship Jesus as God, because Jesus is God. God has revealed Himself in the trinity, and Jesus is the manifestation of God: the manifestation of the trinity. Anyone who does not worship Jesus as God is breaking the first of the Ten Commandments because Jesus is the One true God. Jesus called Himself Jehovah. The Bible quotes Jesus and says in John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” The Apostle Thomas said in John 20:28, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus is the Word. It says about Jesus in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus said about Himself in Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” The failure to believe on Jesus and to worship Him as God is a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments.

The second commandment from God is given in Exodus 20:4-6. God says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” This is an interesting commandment because at first glance we might think this has little application to the modern world. We know how this applied to the ancients. There were images and idols in all of the false religions that people would bow down to and worship. Just the logic alone tells you that it is quite silly to bow down to a man-made object and call it a god. Isaiah pointed out this folly in Isaiah 2:8 that says, “Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.” He also wrote in Isaiah 37:18-19, “Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.” Perhaps people in the modern world also make idols “out of their own hands,” when they take some celebrity or sports figure, lift them up on a pedestal, and make them something that they are not, through the deceitfulness of their own hearts.

Perhaps the reason that God let almost no one look upon Him was so that no one would be tempted to try to make an image of God and say that this image is what God looks like. Undoubtedly many people would start worshipping the image, instead of worshipping God Himself. Also, God wants us to love Him for who He is, and to think about who He is, and His great attributes and character of love and power; not what He looks like. Jesus appeared as God in the flesh during His time on the earth, and many saw Him; but we do not know what He looks like. There have been many artists who have made their own conception of Jesus in a painting or some other work of ark, but they are all wrong. No artist will ever be able to capture the love and the power and the holiness and all the other attributes of God and put them into one human face.

There is a description of Jesus as to how He now looks according to the book of Revelation. It says in Revelation 1:9-18, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” It is interesting that when Jesus spoke to John, Jesus said in Revelation 1:17-18, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore”. These words by Jesus actually make an emphasis that is very similar to what God said in Exodus chapter 20 when the Lord spoke of Himself just before giving the Ten Commandments. God said in Exodus 20:2, “I am the LORD thy God.” The word “LORD” means “Jehovah,” which means basically “I am that I am.” In other words God is the Always Existing One, or as Jesus said, “I am he that liveth.”

This description of Jesus in Revelation chapter 1 is a description of the characteristics and attributes of God. We do not need an “image” of God because we have a perfect description of Jesus in the Bible. The Bible says in Second Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” And it also says about Jesus in Colossians 1:15, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Let’s look at the image of God that we have been given. The first thing that John said when he saw Jesus was, “I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.” The seven golden candlesticks represent seven churches. They are called candlesticks because candlesticks give light, and believers are supposed to be the means by which the gospel of Christ shines forth to the world. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world.” And He said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men…” Of course, when John saw the seven golden candlesticks, Jesus was in the midst of them. The seven candlesticks only have light because Jesus is their Light. Jesus is the Light of the world. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says in John 1:9, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

The seven candlesticks were “golden.” The believers are very valuable possessions to God: for one reason because we are His instruments to spread the gospel. The great work of God is to save the world through faith in Jesus. How shall the unbelievers come out of darkness unless there is a light to lead them out of darkness? Gold is also symbolic of royalty. God looks at the believers, and He sees royalty. We might be poor or down-trodden, and we might be despised by the world, but to God we are all kings who have been given authority and dominion.

Let’s consider Jesus himself and each individual descriptive phrase that were made about Him when John saw Jesus:

1. Jesus was “clothed with a garment down to the foot.” Jesus was modestly dressed. What a contrast to the dress standards of the world. God is holy and pure, and the way that he clothes Himself symbolizes His purity.

2. Jesus was “girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” Gold is symbolic of royalty, and Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is in control. He rules this world. He is the Almighty.

3. Jesus’ “head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.” The color “white” symbolizes at least two things: Once again it symbolizes purity and holiness; and it also symbolizes wisdom. An aged person has white hair, and an aged person should be wiser than a younger person because experience is the best teacher. Of course, Jesus has the greatest wisdom of all. Jesus has all knowledge and all wisdom. That is why it says in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…”

4. Jesus’ “eyes were as a flame of fire.” God sees everything, but He doesn’t just see. He takes action on what He sees. He takes action because He is Judge. When wickedness is judged it is burned away. It is consumed because the righteous judgment of God demands justice, and justice will come.

5. Jesus has “feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” This is another image of judgment. We are being given a great emphasis on the fact that God is Judge. He will judge everyone. No one will escape His judgment. His “feet” will go everywhere in the world wherever judgment is needed and whenever it is time for judgment. No one will escape His judgment. Everyone will stand before God at the final judgment.

6. Jesus has a “voice as the sound of many waters.” The sound of many waters is a loud and powerful sound. This symbolizes the power of the Word of God. God has given His Word, and His Word is powerful. Blessed are those who have learned the power of the word. God said in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” It says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

7. Jesus “had in his right hand seven stars.” Along with the golden candlesticks, this is another emphasis on the fact that Jesus uses the churches and the believers to shine forth the Gospel of Christ.

8. Out of Jesus’ “mouth went a sharp twoedged sword.” This tells us once again the importance of the Word of God, and the fact that God is Judge. The sword of the Lord is sharper than any other sword.

9. Jesus’ “countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” Jesus is the Light, and He is a great Light. The Light of Christ is bright enough to lighten the entire world.

We are given a very detailed description of God’s appearance, but we are not told what Jesus’ face looks like. If an artist was to take this description of God, and make a painting, perhaps it would be best to use this description in Revelation chapter one, but leave the face blank, and do not attempt to show the face in the drawing or painting. After all, that is the way God gave us the description. He didn’t reveal the face, because He wants us to think about the qualities and attributes of Christ. He does not want us to make or have a graven image. As God said in the second commandment in Exodus 20:4, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

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