Which of these is an emergency?
A Florida subway sandwich shop leaves the mayo and mustard off a customer’s order.
A Texas man can’t get a cab.
A California man demands to know why the transportation department hadn’t mowed the grass.
To hear some 911 callers tell it, all these are emergencies. Add this call to the list. Last week a zoo monkey found a cell phone, and you guessed, made a 911 call. These calls may be funny, but in cities large and small, police and system administrators warn that 911 systems are being choked with frivolous, even prank, calls that are blocking lines for urgent callers who really need help like this woman:
“Help me, I am Amanda Berry. I’ve been kidnapped and missing for 10 years. And I’m here. I’m free now.”
In 2013, Amanda and two other girls were rescued after being in captivity for ten years. During that time, one of the girls gave birth to a daughter; another lost a newborn, both fathered by their kidnapper—Ariel Castro. But then Amanda managed to get to a phone and send a 911 message. The call was taken seriously. They were saved. If only all emergency calls are taken seriously like those from God when He texts—NGI. It stands for "no graven image”. It means you are not to make with your hands, idols to worship.
It is the second command of Commandgram—God’s Ten Commandments. Since Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive the law etched in stone, God has been texting man with serious messages.
When you don’t take God’ text seriously you are missing His point: the Ten Commandments are not just about rules, but a love relationship. He wants to be your God and you, His people. You don’t need to worship any other god and its image. How serious is God when it comes to NGI?
Exodus 20: 4-6 is our link to Commandgram 2—NGI. Think of it as His 911 emergency call to you. Take it seriously because graven images can lead to serious consequences with future implications.
First, God is so serious about no graven images He will curse present and future generations to stamp out idolatry. Conversely, God is so serious about His relationship with you, and you not having graven images, He will bless those, now and well into the future, who love and obey Him more than idols, who keep the main thing the main thing.
.
As we did last week, get out your phones and text “NGI…more later” to someone who needs to hear God is serious about a closer relationship. When they hit you back, tell them NGI is God’s 911 against idolatry. God takes His relationship with us seriously and wants you to do the same. It’s can mean the difference between a generational curse or a blessed future.
First, God is so serious about no graven images He will curse present and future generations to stamp out idolatry. Look at Exodus 20:4-5:
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything… 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
The key phrase is “bow down to it”. You can have a piece of artwork in your home. I have an African fertility mask. It’s art. However, the minute I bow down to it, worship it, it becomes an idol. That’s jealousy territory in the eyes of God.
A better understanding of the meaning of God’s jealousy is the Hebrew word—qanna in (aN"q;). Jealousy means to be zealous, to be overly passionate.
God is overly passionate about your relationship with any other God or image. How would you feel if your lover had another lover’s picture in their wallet? So you can understand why God’s jealousy is zealous, and the consequences are serious. He will punish the offender now and curse the next generation and the next generation, and the next. Why?
Idolatry can spread fast and far. Look how quickly Israel’s making of the graven image of the gold calf infected the nation when Moses was delayed on Mount Sinai in Exodus 32:-8.
8 "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'"
The infection of idol worship is not only fast, but far reaching. Fathers can teach idolatry to their sons, who can teach it to their sons and so on. That’s why God’s retribution includes killing the fathers and the generations of those idol-making fathers.
…punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me… Exodus 20:5b
…and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Exodus 32:27
Ariel Castro claims the sexual abuse he committed was passed to him, that he was abused as a child. That’s no excuse for his crime, but it does show that sin, especially idolatry is highly contagious.
What is idolatry? Simply put, it is a sign or symbol that becomes more important than the greater person, place, or thing it represents or points to. The problem with graven image is: you become the idol you make according to Psalm 135:15-18
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. Psalm 135:15-18
Church, be careful of graven images. You can become what you make:
You can become speechless. You lose your mouth as the church. When it’s time to speak out, you are silent.
You can become blind. You lose your eyes as the church. You fail to see obvious lies. You are slow to support truth.
You can become deaf. You lose your hearing as the church. You fail to hear your brother and sister’s cries.
You can become dead. You lose your Spirit. Where there is no spirit, there is no life.
As we did last week, get out your phones and text NGI to your closest friend who needs to hear that God is serious about a closer relationship with them. When they hit you back, tell them NGI is God’s 911 warning against graven images, that they need to be careful what you are making with your hands and worshipping with your life. Take it seriously. It’s can mean the difference between being bound by generational curses or to be blessed and free.
Conversely, God is so serious about His relationship with you and you having no graven images, He will bless those, now and into the future, who love and obey Him more than idols. Look at Exodus 20:6:
6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:6:
God wants to show you some serious love, but there are two qualifiers—love and obedience. You can’t do one without the other. That’s how God knows if you are His or if you belong to another like King Saul. Pride was his god. His throne was his graven image.
When he did not destroy all the Amalekites and their property as instructed by God, but keep the material spoils of victory, it was evident of his love of his own kingship over and above God’s kingship. This prompted the Prophet Samuel to declare in 1 Sam. 15:22:
Samuel said, “Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. 1 Sam. 15:22
The prophet called Saul’s act of disobedience an act of idolatry, thus Saul’s kingship would be taken from him and his generation to follow. Instead, it would be David and his generation who will sit on the throne forever.
Having no graven images in your life is a move toward God’s blessing now and the future. God has always been faithful with his love to those who faithfully loved him:
God was faithful with his love to Abraham and blessed himwith a son at age 100.
God was faithful with his love to Isaac and provided a sacrificial ram in the bush so he and the promise of generational blessings would live.
God was faithful with his love to Jacob and gave him 12 sons from whom David would come.
God was faithful with his love to David and kept His covenant that through him would come Christ.
You have salvation today, in part, because David had no graven images.
Pay attention, Church. A graven is a lesser sign or symbol that you make more important than the greater person, place or thing it represents. Don’t be like the trio of ministers who took a 1,000-mile trip to Disney World, only to misread the highway sign— “Disney World, Left”. They took the exit left and returned home. They only went as far as the sign and never went on to the real deal, the main thing. Don’t make the sign greater than the Big Show.
If you want to be blessed now and bless for generation to come, don’t make the lesser thing that points to the greater thing, greater than the thing it points to:
Don’t’ make an anthem greater than the Author and finisher of our faith, the maker and creator of every good and perfect gift, the King of heavenly land of the faithful free and home of land spiritually brave.
Don’t make flags greater than the Banner over me which is His love—a love, indivisible, a love of liberty and justice for all.
Don’t make a constitution greater than the unconditional Covenant that all men are created equal.
As we did last week, get out your phones and text NGI your closest friend who needs to hear the message GOD is serious about a relationship with them. When they hit you back, tell them NGI. IT is God’s 911 against graven images and “pro” relationship.
He will punish those who make graven images and worship them. They will become what they make, and be cursed now and generations to come. But God will also bless now and forever those who love and obey him, who keep the main thing the main thing--Him.
Komentarze