SERMON II.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE OTHER GODS.
"I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants. Thou shalt not have other gods before my face."—Exodus xx. 2, 3.
The general meaning of this Commandment in its literal sense, is obvious: it forbids the worship of idols. It is to be remembered that at the time this Commandment was given to the Israelites, the whole known world was filled with idolatry. Every nation had its gods, to which it bowed down in worship. That the Israelites themselves were inclined to such worship, is evident from the fact that, within a month after this Commandment had been proclaimed from Mount Sinai, they made to themselves a golden calf and worshiped it. This custom they had learned in Egypt, where calves were worshiped. And at various other periods of their history, afterwards, there were introduced, under their kings, the idols of the nations around them, and these were made objects of worship.
The effect of idolatry was, to separate the mind from conjunction with the Divine Being, and to bind it down to merely natural and material things. Whether
