Ten Words · Stop 1
Why do the commandments start with freedom, and what does the first one ask?
Most rule lists start with the rules. The Ten Commandments start with a rescue. Before God says one word about what to do, God says, “I brought you out of slavery.” Today you'll find out why that order matters.
Start this stopNo other gods
In Hebrew, the Bible calls them the ten words. God gave them to Moses on Mount Sinai, after freeing Israel from slavery in Egypt. So they aren't rules for earning God's love. They're a gift for people God already loves and already set free.
Luther put the commandments first in the Small Catechism. He said every one of them grows out of the first: have no other gods. That's why each of his explanations starts, “We should fear and love God.”
A god, Luther said, is whatever you hang your heart on. Whatever you trust most when things go wrong. That could be money, being liked, grades, a team, or a screen. Those things aren't bad. They just make bad gods, because they can't hold you up.
Fear here means awe and deep respect, not being scared of God. Luther put it plainly: fear, love, and trust God above all things.
Read it in your Bible
- Exodus 20:1–3. God speaks to the people at Mount Sinai. First God says who God is: the one who brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery. Then God says they shall have no other gods.
- Matthew 6:24. Jesus says no one can serve two masters. You'll end up loving one and pushing the other away. You can't serve both God and money.
The First Commandment, from Luther's Small Catechism
You shall have no other gods.
What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
Words to know
- Sinai. The mountain where God gave Moses the commandments. Israel got there after God freed them. Freedom came first.
- Idol. Anything we trust or love more than God. Luther said an idol is whatever you hang your heart on. It doesn't have to be a statue.
- Exodus. The story of God freeing Israel from slavery in Egypt, and the book that tells it. The commandments come right after the rescue, not before it.
- Freedom. What God gave Israel before giving a single commandment. The commandments are for free people, to help them stay free and love each other.