"Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the Lord your God, am a passionate God. I punish children for their parents’ sins even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. But I am loyal and gracious to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6 Common English Bible
I love this song about the extravagant love of God. When I say something is extravagant I mean it's wildly displayed, no expenses spared, and breath taking to the beholder. As we look over the 10 commandments we start with the premise that God is jealous with love for Gods people. He puts His love on display over and over again. Parting the reed sea, rescuing His people from the most powerful army (Egypt) in the world, and coming as the Logos to be full God, full man in the person of Jesus Christ to die for our sins. We see that the command to have no idols is both a sign of God's extravagant love for His people. I will punish 3 or 4 generations for those who hate me. In other words, those who refuse to reciprocate love back toward God breaks Gods heart and He turns away. How can God not turn away when someone refuses something so extravagant and beautiful? God has put Himself in the seat of humility by cutting a covenant with Abraham and Sarah. He has overthrown Egypt. God has displayed Gods power to full extent to save His people. So how could He not turn away when His love is rejected?
But, before you get all huffy and even begin to think that God is not good, lets look at how long Gods blessings last! "I will be faithful to the 1000th generation for those who love Me!" There is a bit of a disparity between these numbers isn't there? God's love on display for a thousand generations all because one person decides to trust in the one true God of Israel instead of all the other religious propaganda of the day. If the average age of a person is 70 years that's 7,000 years of blessing, because someone came to rely on Gods goodness. If even one more person chooses to follow Him in the next generation, 14,000 years of blessing! Do you get what our author is doing here in this text? They are revealing that when you come into God's kingdom and see His goodness the extravagance of Gods grace and forgiveness that is poured out beyond human comprehension. God's jealous love may punish or correct for a moment, but His mercies are made new every morning! Not just this morning, but for a thousand lifetimes over! Gods goodness gets poured over Gods children. Now that is truly extravagant!
My prayer for you and I today is to know that God's love is so jealous if we would choose to love Him today He will pour out all His love for us day after day for a thousand lifetimes and more! Make today one of extravagant love, because God surely has spared not love for you. Selah
Richard
focusonthecross.org
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