Don’t you think it would be easier for us to make informed and beneficial choices for ourselves if we had more knowledge of what boundaries there are?
Look no further, as our loving God had painstakingly left apparent clues in His manuscript, the Bible, right from the time of creation:
- Multiplying is good. (Genesis 1:28)
- Order (according to its kind) is good. (“So God made… according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”)
- Governance is good. (Genesis 1:28)
- Teamwork is powerful. (Genesis 11:26)
Later on, God teaches the Israelites about the Ten Commandments – rules which govern the relationship between God and man, as well as between man and man.
It would be useful to keep a mental note that the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, to become a nation. These boundaries formed the basis which helped the Israelites know how they could be successful in areas where their counterparts in Canaan had failed and caused destruction to themselves.
Thus, birthed the Commandment:
“There shall not be for you other gods besides me.”
Deuteronomy 5:7
Interestingly, at first glance, many find the above commandment unacceptable. Do you?
The fact that this was the first commandment implied that it held the foundation for success, not being limited to the ancient Israelites, but also applicable for today’s modern man as well. Perhaps some snippets of history could help you appreciate better one of the most misunderstood commandment.
The Israelites generally remained faithful to God while they were in the desert, but were quick to desert Him when they entered Canaan. I have always found it hard to comprehend how the Israelites could have turned away from God when they and their forefathers had witnessed so many of His miracles in Egypt and in the desert.
The reason was this – the environment in Egypt and the desert were vastly different from the land of agriculture in Canaan. The Israelites were faced with a new set of difficulties to overcome in agricultural Canaan.
They were historically nomads and shepherds who roamed grasslands, and lastly slaves in Egypt where it was a desert environment. Hence, when the Israelites entered Canaan, they started doubting if their God was only the God of the grasslands and desert, and not the God of agriculture.
Despite God’s repeated reassurances, doubts remained whether the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (all of whom were nomadic shepherds) could help them overcome their agricultural problems in this new land.
This led the Israelites to consider Baal and Asherah, the gods of the Canaanites, whom they believed helped them in their agricultural work.
Forgetting this first commandment that “there shall be no other god besides the Lord”, the worship of Baal and Asherah led to the breakup of the basic family unit in Israelite society.
The result –
The worship ritual of Baal and Asherah involved performing sexual intercourse in the view of everyone, as the Canaanites believed that this would cause Baal and his mistress, Asherah, to also have sex. In addition, the men would also go to temple prostitutes, believing that these acts would bring about the acts they wished the gods would demonstrate. They believed sex between Baal and Asherah would bring about fertility to their lands.
The Canaanites would also offer live human sacrifices of children, especially their firstborn child, to their idol Baal, believing that this would bring about personal prosperity.
Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, detested these practices. In fact, God had specifically protected the firstborn sons of all the Israelites when the plague of death struck the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.
Today, the modern mind finds the Canaanite rituals incomprehensible and foolish.
Today, the modern mind also do not want to accept that
“There shall not be for you other gods besides me (Yahweh).”
The result is apparent that it will become easier for us to slip out of the boundaries that God has set, making us vulnerable to the dangers that God had wanted to protect us from. This is because there are many things that are vying for our thoughts and beliefs. Without knowledge and acceptance of the ideal order and structure with its purposeful boundaries, it will be difficult to ascertain how much we have deviated.
Popular culture encourages us to think that
pre-marital sex is ok,
infidelity can be acceptable since it is commonplace,
we can have children born out the wedlock, homosexual couples can make a family unit…etc
By inadvertently turning popular norms into ideals, we do not realise that we’re replacing success with difficulties in the pathways of our future selves and our children.
(Read more on the boundaries of sex in our post “Should Consent be like Tea?” 9 Nov 2021)
Actually, setting our own ideals instead of accepting God’s order and structure makes us closer to the Canaanites than we realise. It is akin to denying the physical reality of earth’s gravity, and proceeding to jump off a tall building without proper gears, and hoping to come out unscathed. We lose the protection. In real terms, the Israelite children lost the protection of their parents and died, just like that.
Hence, it is crystal clear that the collective boundaries within God’s order and structure is a Pillar of Wisdom for man in any generation; a stronghold of protection for successful lives to be build upon.
“You shall have no other gods before me”. Now, do you accept?