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John Calvin · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Calvin - "As in a mirror we discover any stains upon our face, so in the Law...." Matthew
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Calvin comments, ‘Let us be content simply to have one sole God and let him suffice.’ (EPSC-Ex) Sadly, Israel did not obey the second commandment even days after they had heard the terrifying voice of Yahweh give the commandment at Mount Sinai! What does that say about the power of the old sin nature? That's a rhetorical question of course, for Sin continually seeks to "reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts." (Ro 6:12+, cf Ro 6:16+). If they "backslid" that fast, then beloved, marked it down, you and I can backslide just as fast or even faster (because we have not seen the scene at Mount Sinai!). Moses records the tragic story... Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”(Ex 32:1, read the full account - Ex 32:1-9+). They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image. 20 Thus they exchanged (Same verb allasso in Ro 1:23!) their glory (THE GLORY OF THEIR MAJESTIC GOD) for the image of an ox that eats grass. 21 (WHAT WAS THE ROOT PROBLEM?) They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, (Ps 106:19-21) APPLICATION - Read the Word of God daily, seeking especially to be reminded of the greatness of our God and the great thing He has accomplished for us in redemption through His Son Christ Jesus! If you are not in the Book, then you are in the world (cf Ro 12:2+) and the latter will "blur" out the truth of the former and you fill fall into idolatry! It is almost a certainty! We all do well to rehearse the greatness of our salvation from slavery to Sin into the freedom in Christ. We often times emphasize the latter, which is fine, but we do well to not forget the greatness of the deliverance that brought us into Christ and freedom! Perhaps it would be wise to allot a portion of our prayers each morning to meditating on this truth, lest we fall into the same trap Israel did and forget what great things our Savior has done! “Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My people have changed (Same verb allasso in Ro 1:23!) their glory (THEIR GLORIOUS GOD!) for that ("a god") which does not profit. (Jeremiah 2:11) In his great sermon before the antagonistic Jews, Stephen alluded to the ongoing idolatry of the first generation of Israel that came out of Egypt... “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN.’ 38 “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you. 39“Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40 SAYING TO AARON, ‘MAKE FOR US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT–WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’ 41 “At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 “But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? 43 ‘YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP (quoting Amos 5:26). I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’ (Acts 7:37-43+) If Israel was delivered from Egypt in about 1446 BC, so the following words were written over 100+ years later by aged Joshua. So again after the second generation had possessed most of the promised land under his leadership, Joshua gave his last words warning to the sons of Israel: "Now, therefore, fear the LORD (SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS FEAR IN Ex 20:20+) and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt (THE IMPLICATION IS THEY WERE STILL CLINGING TO THE EGYPTIAN GODS!), and serve the LORD 15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” ....“Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the LORD (WHAT IS IMPLICATION? THEIR IDOLS WERE ON THE "ALTAR" OF THEIR HEART!), the God of Israel.” 24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice.” (JUST AS IN Ex 19:8+, GOOD INTENTIONS AGAIN, BUT WORDS THAT WOULD SOON PROVE EMPTY!) (Joshua 24:14 23-24) Keep the context in mind for Yahweh giving this first commandment. Israel had just been delivered from the idol capital (or at least one of them) of the world. The Egyptians had gods for everything and this widespread idolatry had penetrated into the hearts of the Israelites.
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Calvin says, it ‘strongly conflicts with the depravity of human nature’—a nature that desires power and bears submission grudgingly. Throughout Scripture there is one caveat to this command. The person in authority needs to represent Yahweh in the way he or she treats people (Eph. 5:22; 6:1). If the authority figure transgresses God’s law, or demands that his people do unlawful deeds, then, to quote Calvin again, they ‘have a perfect right’ to regard the authorities ‘as strangers who are trying to lead [them] away from obedience to [the] true Father’. The command is thus a two-way street: it relates to how people are to obey their superiors, and how superiors are to treat those over whom they exercise authority. (John Currid) Alan