Joel M Bradshaw

20“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the LORD alone, shall be devoted to destruction.–Exodus 22

1. WHO? This was written to ancient Israel and applied to ancient Israel.
2. WHAT? A sacrifice was a serious financial commitment that expressed thanksgiving and devotion and sometimes asked for a blessing.
3. WHEN? Ancient Israel had just been miraculously and powerfully delivered from slavery in Egypt by the very God making this law.
4. WHERE? The people were still at Mt. Sinai and Moses had just received the 10 Commandments.
5. WHY? This was important because Israel’s God demanded exclusivity in worship and commitment. An Israelite would notice that they were currently not a slave by a foreign power and remember the very God who powerfully freed them!
6. HOW? How did this punishment fit the crime? How could an Israelite give his allegiance to another? How seriously did God take this?

In context, remember Commandment 1…having no other gods before Yahweh. Seriously, weren’t they paying attention to the Exodus? Didn’t they see how there were no other objects of worship in His category? And then to treat another god or goddess like they indeed were?

We may think a law like this doesn’t apply today, but read between the lines and you might have a terrifying end-times scenario like Jesus later described.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23, emphasized)

1. God received religious syncretism as rejection worthy of punishment.
2. Ultimate punishment from God for the unrepentant is death.
3. Do you ever treat God or His Bible as one option equal to another on a buffet table? Do you pick and choose what to obey based upon your standards? Where is your heart when it comes to exclusive worship?–JMB