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“‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Deuteronomy 5:6–10 NASB
Whether we’re secular or religious, we all worship something. What does it mean to worship or not worship? The Torah reading עקב Ekev or Eikev (“consequence,” “because,” Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25) focuses on an elaboration of the First and Second of the Ten Commandments.
When an officer of an occupying force in ancient Israel found healing for a debilitating skin disease from a lowly prophet who used a dirty brook in the subjugated nation, that mighty warrior realized the God of Israel was superior and bowed in submission. Naaman recognized and the prophet Elijah recognized that kneeling or prostrating yourself in front of an object is not the complete definition of what worship actually means. It’s actually an acknowledgment of what the thing is. As recounted in the passage Ekev, God wanted to find out, “would you worship Me”? What is it that you’re doing when you kneel or prostrate yourself in front of something or someone?
The lessons in Ekev also teach us that Heaven’s blessings come with a condition: Listen to God; observe and follow.
Somebody will ask, “What about salvation? Salvation doesn’t come from works!” We’re not discussing salvation. We’re discussing our God.
The lesson in Ekev is more about building the relationship with Heaven than forming it.