““You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,…“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.” Exodus 20:3-5, 7 NET https://bible.com/bible/107/exo.20.3-7.NET
The pinnacle moment of Israel’s departure from Egypt is giving the law of God to Moses on the mountain. The Ten Commandments, written on stone by the hand of God, are recorded for eternity for all people to have a fundamental understanding of the core behaviors God requires of all men. God begins His relationship with His people by listing four commands for relating to Him: have no other gods besides Him, make no images of Him, worship nothing besides Him, and never curse Him. These are summarized in the new covenant as we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is how we relate to our God, how we are to get along with Him, how we should plan to live with Him, and how we are to serve Him. In Ephesians, the human or horizontal example of this vertical interaction with God is summarized in how husbands and wives live with each other. Like the old covenant, wives are to honor and respect their husbands. Like the new covenant, husbands are to love their wives as Jesus, God Himself, loved us and gave His life to establish His church (unlike Adam, who did not give his life for Eve). So we honor and respect God by obeying God, demonstrating true love for God. God is not our buddy, not our spare tire on the road to life when it is not working for us. God is the Lord, the King of the universe, the Judge of all men, and the Determiner of our lives everlasting. He is to be acknowledged with our thoughts, words, and deeds before all men in everything we do in the way He has commanded, for He is God, and we are not. We are His servants, and He is our Lord.
