Question #94

Question 94. What does God enjoin in the first commandment?

Answer: That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry (a), sorcery, soothsaying, superstition (b), invocation of saints, or any other creatures (c); and learn rightly to know the only true God (d); trust in him alone (e)’ with humility (f) and patience submit to him (g); expect all good things from him only (h); love (i), fear (j), and glorify him with my whole heart (k); so that I renounce and forsake all creatures, rather than commit even the least thing contrary to his will (l).

(a) 1 John 5:21: Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 10:7: Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
1 Corinthians 10:14: Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

(b) Leviticus19:31: “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy18:9-12: “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you.

(c) Matthew 4:10: Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Revelation 19:10: Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 22:8-9: I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

(d) John 17:3: And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

(e) Jeremiah 17:5: Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:7: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

(f) 1 Peter 5:5-6: Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

(g) Hebrews 10:36: For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Colossians 1:11: May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.
Romans 5:3-4: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
1 Corinthians 10:10: nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Philippians 2:14: Do all things without grumbling or questioning.

(h) Psalm 104:27-30: These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Isaiah 45:7: I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

(i) Deuteronomy 6:5: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Matthew 22:37: And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

(j) Deuteronomy 6:2: that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
Psalm 111:10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Matthew 10:28: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

(k) Matthew 4:10: Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Deuteronomy 10:20-21: You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.

(l) Matthew 5:29-30: If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Matthew 10:37: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Acts 5:29: But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

For your personal reflection:
What is idolatry?
Why so many Scripture verses about this matter?
What is behind this command?  Is God insecure in His identity that He demands to be first?   Why, then, the command?