Exodus 20:5

AMP

Exodus 20:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Bow down

For i

Visiting

Of them

General references

Exodus 20:23

Bible References

Bow down

You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].

‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.

so that you do not associate with these nations which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear [an oath by them], or serve them, or bow down to them.

But when the judge died, they turned back and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, in following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.

with whom the Lord had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, bowed before them, and burned incense to them.

Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god [from the same wood] and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol [with his own hands] and falls down and worships it!

and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

For i

—for you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; He is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].

for the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled and burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the earth.

‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins.

For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].

For jealousy enrages the [wronged] husband;
He will not spare [the guilty one] on the day of vengeance.

He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of hair on my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol (image) of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.

The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles of the house of God; and he brought them into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and brought the articles into the treasury of his god.

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His];
The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

Do we [really] provoke the Lord to jealousy [when we eat food sacrificed to handmade “gods” at pagan feasts]? Are we [spiritually] stronger than He? [Certainly not! He knows that the idols are nothing. But we deeply offend Him.]

Visiting

keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].”

then I shall set My face against that man and against his [extended] family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in playing the prostitute (commit apostasy) with Molech.

You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.

‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’

Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when Israel came up from Egypt.

There was famine in the days of David for three consecutive years; and David sought the presence (face) of the Lord [asking the reason]. The Lord replied, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil (catastrophe) in his lifetime, but in his son’s days I will bring evil upon his house.”

However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath which was kindled against Judah because of all the despicable acts with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

“His children are far from safety [and included in their father’s ruin],
They are oppressed and crushed in the [court of justice in the city’s] gate,
And there is no one to rescue them.

“You say, ‘God stores away [the punishment of] man’s wickedness for his children.’
Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.

O do not remember against us the sins and guilt of our forefathers.
Let Your compassion and mercy come quickly to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.

Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

“You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!

“Indeed, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay it [directly] into their arms,

“Therefore I will still contend (struggle) with you [by bringing judgment on you],” says the Lord,
“And I will contend with your children’s children.”

You who show lovingkindness to thousands, but repay the wickedness (sin, guilt) of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], O great and mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name;

“Therefore, take notice, I am sending you prophets and wise men [interpreters, teachers] and scribes [men educated in the Mosaic Law and the writings of the prophets]; some of them you will kill and even crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues, and pursue and persecute from city to city,

Of them

but repays those who hate Him to their faces, by destroying them; He will not hesitate with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.

If I sharpen the lightning of My sword,
And My hand takes hold of judgment,
I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.

Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.

“But he who fails to find me or sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love and court death.”

The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil.

“If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents,

the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot,

You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

General references

You shall not make other gods [to worship] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make [these lifeless idols] for yourselves.