Notes most of the information is original but there is some that I pulled out of different studies over the years.
10 Commandments Introduction
Exo 20:1-19 And God spoke all these words, saying: (2) "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) "You shall have no other gods before Me. (4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (7) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (8) "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (13) "You shall not murder. (14) "You shall not commit adultery. (15) "You shall not steal. (16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (17) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (18) Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. (19) Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."
History of God’s Relationship with Israel
Exodus 1
It is interesting to read the history as pertains to the early books of the Bible. In Genesis we see God begin His creation of man with Adam and Eve who began to multiply and a world of people was produced. Early on it seems that there was a split of people. Some followed the ways of God and some followed the ways of this world. Sin was not wanting because it was ramped. As time went on the world got worse so bad that God Himself repented of even creating man. Out of the millions of people in the world at this time only 8 people escaped the judgement of God upon the sin of the world.
Noah and his family began once again the role of repolulating the earth. Yet things were different. God began to deal with a man named Abram. I don’t know how far his heritage goes back. There would seem to be some hint in scripture that his father Terah was also a man whom God spoke to yet he became settled in Haran.
Yet through Abram God began to raise up a family of followers. From Abram – soon to be named Abraham to Isaac to Jacob (Israel) who led his family of 12 brothers and one sister into the land of Egypt.
By the time we get to Exodus 1 it has been 400 years of being in the land of Egypt and God was now about to deal with a whole nation. Things were changing in the kingdom.
Exodus one begins with this nation who was the son of Abraham also known as Hebrews also known as the nation of Israel. There was a fear upon the nation of Egypt that caused them to kill the babies of the Israelite slaves. This caused Israel to cry out to the Lord.
Moses – “drawing out” “rescued”
Exodus 2 shows us God raising up a man.
Moses Meets God – “the I AM”
Exo 3:1-15 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (2) And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (3) Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." (4) So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
(5) Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
(6) Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God (reverence).
(7) And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. (8) "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. (9) "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
(10) "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
(11) But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (12) So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
(13) Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" (14) And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Genesis 17:1 - And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I AM the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
The "I AM the Almighty God" is the El Shadday {shad-dah'-ee}
And it means Almighty, Most Powerful, The Almighty (of God)
Jesus the Great I AM – Helps us understand more who God is and wants to be in our life
Mar 14:61-63 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" (62) Jesus said, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." (63) Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?
John 6:48 "I am the bread of life. – He satisfies our hunger
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." – a light in darkness
John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. – a way of direction and comfort
John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. – you right leader,
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. – your hope for eternal life
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. – the true connection
Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." – have been and will always be, dependable
Rev 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." – the fulfilled Messiah, the light to all the nations, as we read in the New Jerusalem there will be no need for any light for Jesus is the light.
I Am in the Midst
Mat 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
What ever you need bring together and pray and He will do.
(15) Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'
Moses and the Law – Exodus 20
Exo 20:1-19 And God spoke all these words, saying: (2) "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
"I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the house of bondage.
The most interesting thing about the Commandments is how I AM begins his announcement of the Commandments. He doesn't say, for instance, that He is Creator. Now does He say He is powerful or some other introduction one might expect a God to say. Instead, I AM tells the people this piece of information: He is the Lord, their God, the One Who brought them out of slavery in Egypt. This certainly is an interesting way to introduce one's self. An interesting God indeed to form a relationship by telling a nation that He has freed them. Not only does this mean that their obedience to His laws should start with gratitude at their new-found freedom. But this introduction also shows that I AM "remembered" the relationship He had with their ancestors. This is typical of the Scriptures: Memory and Gratitude to God is the basis of religious obedience.
(3) "You shall have no other gods before Me. (4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (7) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (8) "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (13) "You shall not murder. (14) "You shall not commit adultery. (15) "You shall not steal. (16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (17) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (18) Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. (19) Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."
I AM gives the people commandments that can be divided into 1) sins against God, 2) sins against parents, 3) sins against spouses and lastly 4) sins against people in general.
Why Study the 10 Commandments
Logical Reasons
Ignorance of the 10 commandments – the basics of law, and we don’t know them, 85% of Americans believe the Ten Commandments are binding, or are laws we should hold to, only 15% could name them.
And the very truth that we fight to maintain is that which is against the 10 commandments.
Whether it be adultery, or murder, or lying or stealing, or desireing stuff, or even respect of authority, loving God and Him only.
Relativism – there is no absolutes, no truth, no right and wrong
Crisis in Ethics – our ethics have changed. You can’t rely on a persons conscience to guide them to do what is right any longer.
Personal Reasons
Invites us to see grace – in the law, the standard we can’t live we find grace.
Mat 5:17-18 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Invites us to see the gospel – we see the need of the gospel because of the law
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Invites us to see holiness – separation from the world and sin
Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The Message Rom 12:1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. (2) Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Invites us to keep pure
Rom 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Invites us to blessings
Psalms 19:7-14
The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Breaking down of the 10 commandments
I AM gives the people commandments that can be divided into
1) sins against God, 2) sins against parents, 3) sins against spouses and lastly 4) sins against people in general.
Commandments 1-4 teach duties we owe to God
Commandments 5-10 the duties we owe to people
Commandments 1-4 teach love for God
Commandments 5-10 teach love for others
Commandments 1-4 are vertical
Commandments 5-10 are horizontal
Commandments 1-4 are doctrine
Commandments 5-10 are practical
