Before God did anything, He first gave Moses a warning by declaring His name (v. 6). For God to declare His name means that He assumed His position. He would never leave His position, but He would keep it by declaring who He is. When Moses heard this declaration, “he hastened and bowed his head toward the earth, and bowed himself down” (v. 8).
After declaring His name, the Lord went on to say, “Behold, I am making a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels which have not been wrought in all the earth, nor in all the nations; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of Jehovah, for it is a fearful thing which I am doing with you. Observe what I am commanding you this day; behold, I will drive out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite” (vv. 10-11). Here we see that the Lord promised to do marvelous things before the people, and these marvelous things were to be accomplished for a specific goal—to bring His people into the good land. Whatever God did for the children of Israel, whether in giving them manna or in defeating their enemies, was for the purpose of bringing them into the good land. The good land was God’s goal.
God wanted His people to enter into the good land so that eventually He could have a temple on earth. That temple was to be God’s testimony. The temple was to be for God and also for His people. As long as God could have the temple as His testimony on earth, the situation with His people would be all right. When the Israelites had a proper relationship to God’s temple, they were in a proper condition in the land. But when they lacked a proper relationship to God’s temple, they had serious difficulty. Eventually, they lost both the temple and the land.
We have seen that God’s goal in doing marvelous things for His people was to bring them into the good land. In typology this indicates that God is doing marvelous things for us and with us with the intention of bringing us into Christ. According to the record in the Old Testament, it was not an easy matter for the children of Israel to enter the good land. Outwardly they were frustrated by circumstances and by the enemy; inwardly they were frustrated by certain things within themselves. This was the reason it took forty years for them to be brought into the good land. Today it is also difficult for us to be brought into Christ. I know this from experience. For more than fifty years I have been laboring in the ministry for the one purpose of helping the saints to get into Christ as the good land. How many of us have been brought into Christ experientially? Some may say that we are all in Christ. Of course, this is true doctrinally and objectively. But how much of Christ are you enjoying day by day?
God’s marvelous doings are for the one goal of bringing His people into the good land for the building up of the temple. God told Moses that He would bring the people into the land. He would take care of their needs and defeat all the enemies. He would do everything necessary to bring the children of Israel into the good land.
Then the Lord went on to give a warning concerning the snare of idolatry: “Guard yourself, that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, that it may not become a snare in your midst. But you shall break down their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and cut down their Asherim; for you shall not bow yourself down to another god, for Jehovah—Jealous is His name—is a jealous God” (vv. 12-14). In verse 17 the Lord continued this warning: “You shall not make for yourselves molten gods.” In these verses the Lord seemed to be saying, “Beware of the snare of idolatry in the land of Canaan. At present, the whole land is occupied by idols. There is the danger that after you come into the land, you will be snared by pagan idolatry.”
This is not only a word for the children of Israel; it is also a word for us. There are many idols among God’s people today. These idols preoccupy them and keep them from the enjoyment of Christ. It is possible for almost anything to be an idol to us. Even a necktie or a tiepin can become an idol to us. Many Christians are fully occupied by things, matters, and persons other than Christ. As an example of these occupations, I would refer to talking on the telephone. Some saints claim that they are too busy to pray. However, they have much time to spend talking on the telephone. For them, talking on the telephone has become an idol.
An idol is anything that keeps us from the enjoyment of Christ as our good land. This means that any thing, matter, or person that preoccupies us and keeps us from the full enjoyment of Christ is an idol.
According to the history in the Old Testament, many of the wars and battles in which the children of Israel were involved were due to the fact that they had idols. Whenever God’s people had idols, the enemies came to attack them. Today we all desire to live a victorious life, a holy life, and a spiritual life. However, many Christians experience failure because they have idols. Actually, if we have idols, things that preoccupy us and keep us from enjoying Christ, we have already lost the battle against the enemy. We simply have no way to fight. With God there is no problem bringing us into the full enjoyment of Christ. But with God’s people there is still the problem of idolatry. Therefore, at the beginning of a chapter concerned with the remaking of the broken covenant, God declared that He would do everything to bring the people into the good land. But He also pointed out the danger of idolatry. God seemed to be saying, “I am fully able to bring you into the good land. But idolatry will nullify your enjoyment of the land. It will cause whatever I give you to be destroyed.”
God has done many marvelous things for His people. But the experience of Christians testifies that much of what God has done has been nullified or destroyed by preoccupations, by idolatry. How many Christians enjoy Christ? There are a great many Christians who know very little of the enjoyment of Christ. Many of us may know about the enjoyment of Christ. But to know about it is one thing, and to actually have the enjoyment of Christ is another thing.
Many of us have been kept from the enjoyment of Christ by different kinds of preoccupations. Why would you spend so much time talking on the telephone, yet you would not take ten minutes to pray? You have the time and the energy to talk, but you seem to have no time or energy to pray. This indicates that for you talking on the telephone has become an idol. Others may be able to spend much time reading a newspaper, but they easily become tired when reading the Bible. Some may say that they simply do not have the appetite for the Bible or the desire to read it. Yes, that is their situation. They do not have the desire to worship God, for their desire is to worship an idol. Spontaneously and unconsciously, they care for their idols. What a pitiful and tragic situation!
God’s warning in 34:12-17 concerning idolatry was actually a repetition of the first three commandments. On the positive side, these commandments are related to God; on the negative side, they are related to idolatry. Idolatry involves having another god. To practice idolatry is to make an image and then serve it and worship it. Idolatry also involves taking the name of God in vain.
Later in this chapter God spoke a word concerning the fourth commandment, the commandment about observing the Sabbath. Therefore, in this chapter the first four commandments, those related to God, are all covered. However, in this word of repetition, the six commandments concerned with our relationship to others are not repeated.
I hope we shall all be impressed with the fact that the Lord has promised to do everything necessary to bring us into the good land, into the all-inclusive Christ for our enjoyment. But we must take heed to His warning concerning idolatry. On the one hand, God will bring us into Christ. On the other hand, He condemns idolatry.