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Dear Brethren,

In this present writing I am posting the ‘First Commandment’ from The Ten Commandments Booklet that is in its final stages of being completed by me.
Your friend,

Don Billingsley
Chapter One

1.
The First Commandment
The First Commandment Identifies God:

And God spoke all these words saying, “I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, You shall have NO other gods BEFORE Me” (Exodus 20:1-3).                         

This very first commandment has to do with identifying the Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ. They are the only Ones worthy of worship for there are no other gods beside Them (Isaiah 45:5)! To worship anything or anyone else is to commit idolatry. God makes known that He is a jealous God and will not accept or tolerate this false worship, worshipping gods that are no gods (Exodus 20:5).

To enable one to understand more fully what God said to mankind in the first commandment, it seems necessary to review briefly the history of His chosen nation of Israel who was forced to leave their home country and go down into Egypt due to a severe famine (Genesis 45:9-11; 46:1-7). They remained there for many years (Exodus 12:40-41).
Over those years they multiplied so much Pharaoh became afraid of them. He then dealt very harshly with them and enslaved them (Exodus 1:1-22). Because of the harsh bondage, and the pagan idolatrous nation it was, Egypt became symbolized as sin; they worshiped many gods (Exodus 12:12; Revelation 11:8).
The one and only true God revealed Himself to His chosen nation, Israel, and commanded their worship of Him, and Him, only!

And to know and worship the true God one must come out of spiritual Egypt, a type of this world (James 4:4), and their worship of false gods just as found written in that first Commandment.

All other so-called gods are inanimate objects due to their being the creation of man, having no life, and no power to do anything. They are dumb objects (Isaiah 44:6-20)!
This age is a lawless age! It is one in which mankind as a whole refuses to acknowledge God as the Creator and the Supreme Ruler of the heavens and the earth. Instead they have their own gods of their own devising (Acts 17:28-31).
Just as the Egyptians had many gods so do most of mankind! And worship has to do with more than kneeling and worshiping an image! One’s god can be whatever he, or she, places before the true God and consumes his or her time.

This can be many things!


The Rejection of God and His Laws by Mankind


Mankind in high places in government and on the lower levels, that reaches into society at large, have turned their backs on God and have made laws against all human decency.

This rampant and pervasive evil can easily be seen as a form of a godless society worshiping themselves due to their acceptance, toleration, and reveling in it.
There has been a breakdown of the moral laws in America; and sadly the judiciary has upheld these laws!

Further, their rulings are in the progressive stage of removing any reminder of this great and awesome God from virtually all of the Federal and State buildings.

In a question and answer session on television, some few years ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated the Supreme Court was coming to be more political in their rulings and interpreting the constitution according to strong political opinion in contrast to its founders who were believers in God and His laws.
Supreme Court Justices Debate Constitution

October 26, 2009 8:08 PM
BY HOWARD FISCHER, CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
“One of the most conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday his more liberal colleagues are trying to manufacture new constitutional rights that were never intended by the drafters.

The fight is about the Supreme Court inventing new rights nobody ever thought existed,'' Justice Antonin Scalia said in an appearance at the University of Arizona College of Law
The fight is about the Supreme Court inventing new rights nobody ever thought existed,'' Justice Antonin Scalia said in an appearance at the University of Arizona College of Law.

"Right to abortion?'' he asked. "Come on. Nobody thought it violated anything in the Constitution for 200 years. It was criminal.''

The same, said Scalia, is true of homosexual sodomy. Yet the nation's high court has struck down state laws banning both.

"They may be bad ideas,'' Scalia said. "But don't tell me its unconstitutional."
But Justice Stephen Breyer, who shared the stage with Scalia, said his colleague was taking an overly literalistic approach to the 18th century document. He said that the changing nature of society, by necessity, requires more than looking at what Scalia called "originalism.''

Read more: http://www.yumasun.com/articles/scalia-53784-constitution-approach.html#ixzz1ZY5b3iVQ
Further the political rulings of the Judiciary all the way from the Supreme Court of the United States to the lower courts are against all decency, such as the legalization of the language of filth, openly displayed pornography, the rights of sodomy and the teaching of it on the same level as that of the natural use of sex within the school system – to the little children. And then last, but not least, the legal right to brutally murder the unborn babies.

These are the gods they worship – themselves! They have placed themselves above God! Further, they reflect society as a whole due to their bowing to society’s demands. The Judiciary of the United States can be compared to the judges in Nazi Germany during the reign of Hitler who bowed to his demands bringing severe judgment on those who tried to save their nation from this tool of Satan the devil.

As the result mankind continues to wander farther and farther away into the darkness of human reason that leads into more deviant and despicable sin. And in the process he is destroying himself.
God’s Indictment of Mankind

Notice God’s indictment of all who are guilty of the rejection of Him and His truth while worshiping himself and images of his own devising:

“For the wrath of God is REVEALED from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who SUPPRESS THE TRUTH in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, HIS INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES ARE CLEARLY SEEN BEING UNDERSTOOD BY THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE, EVEN HIS ETERNAL POWER AND GODHEAD so that they are without excuse, because, although they [once] knew God, they did NOT glorify Him as God, NOR WERE THANKFUL, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed THE GLORY  of the incorruptible God INTO AN IMAGE made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. … who exchanged the truth for the lie, and worshiped the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:18-25).

Those who do recognize God (in reality, Baal) have their own version and interpretation of Him including religion. As the result we live in a nation and world of sin.
Sin and Death

God makes known the true definition of sin:

“Whosoever commiteth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4, KJV).

And Scripture reveals the end result of sin is death:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
A World that has Rejected God’s Holy Righteous Laws

A highly skilled atheistic lawyer, who aided other lawyers in the trial of O. J. Simpson in his defense against murdering his wife and another man in 1995, was asked a simple and short question some few years ago before a large group of people: “What is right?”

He struggled trying to come up with an answer but unable to do so satisfactorily for there was no foundation on which to base his answer.
The leaders of this nation and Judiciary are suppose to adhere to the Constitution of the United States; since it is the supreme law of the United States of America.

It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.
However of recent years they have been rejecting the areas of the Constitution of which they do not agree. So it also is with the 10 commandments.

We live in a turbulent world due to man’s own reasoning as to what is right and what is wrong. As the result society is not happy today! It is a day by day struggle with mankind with no real long range goal that would give them the elusive and evasive happiness and fulfillment they inwardly yearn for and do not have due to their rejection of God.

This is a major reason for the major portion of today’s society using hallucinatory drugs; they create a mistaken impression of delusion, that gives a false impression of happiness, contentment, and peace; the same is true with the excessive use of strong alcoholic drinks, but as God says, “The way of peace they know not” (Isaiah 59:8). The way to great peace is to love God’s laws (Psalm 119:165); but these, they have rejected.

And that way to abundant life and happiness is still before them if they would only recognize the true God and begin to love Him more than they do the way of life they have chosen and now live (Deuteronomy 30:15-19).

“For this is the LOVE of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).
The Greatest of the Commandments

In response to a test question from a lawyer, who asked: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall LOVE the LORD your God with ALL of your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind. This is the FIRST and GREAT commandment” (Matthew 22:35-38).

This great God, who is also our Creator and sustainer of life, is the God of all love and the giver of all good blessings (I John 4:8, 16; John 3:27). He yearns to give life and happiness to those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

It is the desire of the Almighty God in heaven above that all of mankind experience health and well-being both physically and spiritually. This is why He created such a beautiful planet for the human family to enjoy by filling it with all of the necessary needs to sustain a life of enjoyable abundance (John 10:10).

God wants to be recognized as the only true God and for mankind to express his thanks and expression of love and devotion to Him.

For now the House of Israel and the Gentile nations are in a state of denial and rebellion against God and against one another.
The Existence of Human Life

In the context of life, and the elusive pursuit of happiness that is now out of reach of the majority of mankind, it is sad that hardly anyone ever considers how he and she came to have human existence.

One should realize it is inconceivable that mankind could have evolved or been created out of matter by anyone other than God, or anything of lesser intelligence! Yet there are many who deny His existence.  God says to such people:

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart. “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. Romans 1:18-32.

To seriously consider the human body and how wonderfully it has been made (Psalm 139:14), should alone be enough to acknowledge the existence of our Creator God!
Acknowledging this fact should lead to offering heartfelt appreciation to this wonderful loving God who has not only created human life, but in so doing has made possible the lives of every human being beginning with Adam and Eve.

Tragically the time is almost here when the wrath of God will be poured out on His chosen nation Israel and this world for their denial and rejection of Him.
A Plea for Repentance

It is not God’s desire to bring His wrath on anyone for He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. And because He wants to spare mankind from the horrors soon to come upon us, He pleads with rebellious mankind to repent!

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn, from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

God also makes known for all those who continue to stubbornly resist and deny Him will in future time come to finally acknowledge Him as the Creator God and will do so on bended knees seeking forgiveness for their rebellion against Him and for worshiping the gods of their own making and devising:

“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is NO other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return (unfulfilled), that to Me EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW …” (Isaiah 46:22-23).

In time to come beyond this present age—they will indeed come to know and worship the true God and Jesus Christ, and no other false god, but sadly this will not take place until after experiencing the consequences of their sins in the prophesied time of the Great Tribulation.

To be continued