THE FIRST LAW

You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3)

This law implies an agreement. It is as if this God had already had an understanding with the Israelites. If I am to be your God and you are to be my people, then you have to pledge that you will have no other gods. The first law communicates the concept of a covenant.

First, this law is a reaction to an existing reality as well as a warning to a potential mistake. It reacts against the polytheistic (worship of more than one God) behaviours that were existent in the camp. The Israelites and the Egyptians who left Egypt did not only pay allegiance to the God of Moses, however, they had other gods.

So the first law, is after installing absolute monotheism (worship of one God), a theme that will be developed through the book of Deuteronomy and Numbers. In fact, apostasy involving the worship of foreign deities was punishable by death (Numbers 25 and Deuteronomy 13)

This law we all have at one time violated and we are all guilty. Many people worship rocks, huge trees, others have all sorts curved things, I have seen many having their gods in their waists. Many buy new cars, build houses and ritually slaughter. Other gods can also extend to materialistic wealth. Other gods could be things we value more than any other thing, Kanyamunyu shot Akena dead for scratching his god. The law says: you shall have no other gods.

Other gods could be your boss, your wife, your children, your beauty, your achievements, there are many gods, we directly and indirectly worship. There are many things that take the place of God our creator and redeemer in this world and these we are warned against. I know of one god who in hearts and minds of many is stronger than the God we worship and that god has a name. His name is MONEY.

In the worship of this god, marriages have begun and ended, nations have risen and fallen, people have slept with animals, men have married fellow men, superpowers have ruled other nations by this god in form of foreign aid. Take away money and you have no drugs, take away money and prostitution will change face.

Money, money, money is a god. I know of wars in this world that cannot end unless the players shut their thirst for money, I know of pharmaceutical industry deals that create a virus and its cure – all due to money.

The entertainment (movie music, Art and Drama) world is founded on the altar of money. Politics good and bad is due to money, if you took away this god known as money from our world, crime and pain would reduce 90%.

Religionism and all cults are worshipping this god (money) in the disguise of the biblical God. Money is another god, and I wish he was a god of love. He is not, he is a god of selfishness, of competition, of hate, of consumables, and he is nothing but a paper that cannot help.

THE MOST POWERFUL god of our planet is one you can have in plenty and still die of hunger. He is a god you can have around and still be miserable, he is a god who convinces us we cannot live without him, but again we feel so insecure with him. Money is a deceptive god. From today, look at money as paper, not as a god…or something upon which your life depends.

The law says: thou shalt have no other gods before me…

Pr ITM WHITE

The Gospel Hawker