THE DANGER OF IDOL WORSHIP

God wanted so much to protect the Israelites from idol worship that He said to them, "'Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to Me'" (Ex. 20:23). The Israelites were in danger of following the example of the Egyptians, and making images that represented God.SRme 1.597

God said to Moses, "'I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Pay attention to him and obey him . . . and do everything I command. I will fight against all your enemies. My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them'" (Ex. 23:20-23, TEV).SRme 1.598

The Angel who went before Israel was the Lord Jesus Christ.SRme 1.599

"'Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. If you worship Me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses'" (Ex 23:24, 25).SRme 1.600

God wanted His people to understand that they should worship Him alone.SRme 1.601

When the Israelites would fight and overcome the idol-worshiping nations around them, they were not to save any of their idols. Every idol was to be destroyed. Many of these idols were beautifully made and of great value. The beauty of these idols might tempt the people to worship idols. The Israelites were used to seeing many idols in Egypt.SRme 1.602

The Lord wanted His people to know that these nations had become very wicked because of their idol worship. God would use the Israelites to punish the wicked nations and destroy their idols.SRme 1.603

God said, "'I will make the people who oppose you afraid of Me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. Instead I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land.SRme 1.604

"'I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance.SRme 1.605

"'Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you'" (Ex. 23:27-33, TEV).SRme 1.606

God made these promises to His people on condition of their obedience. If the Israelites would serve the Lord fully, God would do great things for them.SRme 1.607

After Moses had received the laws and the rules from the Lord, he wrote them down for the people. Moses also wrote down the things that God had promised to do if the Israelites would obey Him. Then the Lord said to Moses, "'Come up the mountain to Me, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel; and while you are still some distance away, bow down in worship. You alone, and none of the others, are to come near Me. The people are not even to come up [to] the mountain.'SRme 1.608

"Moses went and told the people all the Lord's commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, 'We will do everything that the Lord has said'" (Ex. 24:1-3).SRme 1.609

Moses did not write the Ten Commandments. God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments. But Moses wrote down the other rules that God wanted the Israelites to follow. Moses also wrote down the promises God made to the Israelites on condition that they would obey Him. Then Moses read to the people what he had written. The people promised to obey all the words that God had given Moses to write. Moses then wrote their solemn promise in a book, and made a sacrifice unto God for the people.SRme 1.610

"Then. . .[Moses] took the book of the covenant, in which the Lord's commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, 'We will obey the Lord and do everything that He has commanded.'SRme 1.611

"Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw. . .[the blood] on the people. He said, 'This is the blood that seals the covenant which the Lord made with you when He gave all these commands'" (Ex 24:7, 8).SRme 1.612

The Israelites repeated their solemn promise to the Lord to do all that God had said, and to obey Him.SRme 1.613