Ten Words to Live By (Overview)
Exodus 20
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
07-06-2025
Top Ten Lists
Our culture loves lists, especially top ten lists. David Letterman had a top ten list every show. My friend Becky gave me a Bathroom Reader that is nothing but top ten lists. Rolling Stone magazine does a top ten every year and even a top ten of all time. The number one song of all time? Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”
God has a top ten list as well. We know them as the “The Ten Commandments” although that name is never used in the Bible.
In Hebrew, this top ten list is known as the “Ten Words,” or Decalogue, and we find them in Exodus 20.
Last week, we witnessed the Israelites arriving at the foot of Mt. Sinai and God coming down to speak to Moses. There was lightning and thunder and the mountain shook violently just like Moses’s knees.
Remember, for over 400 years they had been slaves in a country that had thousands of gods. Now, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, they will learn experientially that Yahweh is the only true God and that being in His presence creates terror, dread, and awe.
Moses was about to be given the Law of God, the blueprint for a new nation. Before the commandments there needs to be consecration. Before obedience there needs to be a sense of God’s ownership.
Today we embark on a study of these ten commandments. Let me ask a question to begin - do you know them?
A talk show host was interviewing a politician that was sponsoring a bill to place the ten commandments in the Senate chambers. When the hosts asked if he could name the commandments in order, he sputtered and named a couple and then sheepishly admitted that he really didn’t know all of them.
Before we make fun of him, what percentage of Americans can name all ten in order?
Even though 80% of Americans say they believe the ten commandments, only 14% can name them. But 25% of Americans can name all six Brady children!
By the way, in the 1690s during the Salem Witch Trials, one of the ones they “knew” someone was a witch was the fact they couldn’t recite the Ten Commandments.
So, obviously, there is a general ignorance of the Ten Commandments.
That is new in our culture. 50 years ago, most churches discipled their children and new Christians using the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and The Lord’s Prayer.
But in this culture, we don’t like being told what to do and how to do it.
C.S Lewis wrote:
“The atheist can’t find God for the same reason the thief can’t find a police man.”
Many people see God as a killjoy who wants to keep them from having fun and enjoying their lives.
Atheist Richard Dawkins wrote:
“Do you advocate the Ten Commandments as a guide to the good life? Then I can only presume that you don't know the Ten Commandments.”
If you think that way, then you don’t really know or understand the Ten Commandments. My prayer is that over the summer, as we study each one, that the Holy Spirit would help you see that these rules are given for our protection, freedom, and joy.
The fourth President James Madison wrote, “We stake the future of this country on our ability to govern ourselves under the principles of the Ten Commandments.”
Turn with me to Exodus 20.
Prayer.
The Law
In Exodus 20, God began to lay out the Law for His people. These are the rules for living as a distinct nation.
One of the questions I get sometimes is, “Are we still under the Law? Are the Ten Commandments still relevant for Christians?”
To answer that, we need to understand that there were three parts of the Law - the civil, the ceremonial, and the moral.
Civil Laws - the laws of government for Israel. waging war, land use, regulations for debt, etc. Israel was to be a theocracy, with God as its judge. We can tell a civil law by the punishment demanded and everyone was aware of what would happen if they broke one of these laws.
When Rome destroyed the city of Jerusalem in AD 70, the civil laws came to an end.
Ceremonial Laws - these dealt with the various offerings and feasts of the Jewish religious system - clean and unclean foods, instructions for ritual purity, guidelines for priests, and a lot of instructions about how to offer sacrifices. The “offerings” of bulls and goats provided temporary atonement but could not wipe the sin away permanently.
Hebrews tells us that the sacrifices were word pictures of Jesus, who the writer of Hebrews writes paid the price for our sin “once and for all.” (Hebrews 10:14). Jesus was the final sacrificial lamb that took the sins away of the world (John 1:29)
As Christians, we don’t observe food and clothing regulations, the feasts and special holidays because these were, according to Hebrews and Colossians “These are a shadow of the things to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col 2:17)
Jesus tells us that He did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it. When we could never keep all of the Law's rules, Jesus did perfectly as our representative. (Matthew 5:17)
The Mosaic Law was in effect from Exodus 20 until Jesus instituted the new covenant of grace with his death on the cross, burial, and resurrection from the dead.
Moral Laws - the laws are based on God’s character and God never changes. But God also promised that these commandments would be written on tablets of human hearts.
The song we are going to sing at the end of the service is in Eflat. We transposed it to D and that was too high to sing.
In the New Testament, we will witness Jesus transpose the commandments and take them deeper to a heart-level.
If you are able, would you please stand and read these commandments with me?
And God spoke all these words:
1. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. “You shall not murder.
7. “You shall not commit adultery.
8. “You shall not steal.
9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
The Ten
These commandments were give to Moses on the mountain by God:
"When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:18)
They were inscribed on two tablets. Both tablets contained the full Ten Commandments, front and back. In a covenant, both parties would get a copy of the rules of the agreement. That’s why both tablets were put in the Ark of the Covenant. (Exodus 40:20)
Theologians divide the ten into two sections. Section one through four - these are the commands concerning loving God. And 5-10 flow out of the first four and show us how to love our neighbor.
When I was in youth ministry, this was the theme of our entire ministry, love God, love others - LGLO
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)
Five Observations
These are commandments, not suggestions. They come from God and carry His authority. This is wisdom from above, as James says, and not human wisdom.
Just like some people consider traffic laws suggestions, others consider these commandments as suggestions.
Man’s wisdom isn’t always evil. Sometimes, men can be wise. I was raised on the wisdom of Mr. Rogers. But man’s wisdom is inconsistent at best and wrong at worse.
I had a mentor when I first started working at the psychiatric hospital in Mississippi. He taught me, “Don’t think. Just decide. That’s what leaders do.” Is this wise advice? Absolutely not. I learned a lot from him as I watched him get fired.
There has been a rash of injuries in Yellowstone park because people are getting out of their cars and taking selfies with the “fluffy cows” - Bisons!
God’s wisdom is one of the good and perfect gifts that come down from above.
B. The commandments are all about freedom, not slavery. Remember that the Israelites had come out of 400 plus years of slavery. God gave the commandments to help them enjoy their freedom, not hinder it.
Darletta Graham was the director of the pregnancy center in Pontiac. Every year, she would come and talk to our students about how doing life God’s way leads to freedom.
She would bring a fish bowl with a goldfish inside. She would tell the students the goldfish is smothered by the stupid rule that he needed to stay in the bowl. He wanted to experience life outside the bowl, where the real fun was happening.
She would then take the fish out of the bowl and place it on the table. At first, the students laughed but as the seconds ticked by, they started growing uncomfortable. The fish flopped around and the students started squirming in the chairs. Finally one of the students yelled, “Please, put the fish back in the bowl.”
Darletta yelled back, “How dare you impose your stupid ideas about what’s best for Mr. Fish.” The students got it and Mr. Fish went back in the bowl, where he can thrive.
An inner-city school decided that the fence surrounding the playground was “too restrictive” for the students and they took the fence down. When the fence was up, the children played all over the playground, but once the fence came down, they huddled near the building and refused to go any farther.
The fence was not to restrict them but to protect them.
C. The ten are really about one main thing - Idolatry. The first commandment prohibits having anything in your life that you consider more important than God. The last one prohibits coveting, which is making an idol out of something your neighbor has.
Next week, when we study commandment number one, you shall have no other God’s before us, we see that Calvin was right and our hearts our “idol factories.”
The Israelites had just come out of 400 years of slavery in a nation that worshipped thousands of so-called gods. God not only had to get the Israelites out of Egypt but He also had to get Egypt out of the Israelites.
D. Each commandment that is a “shall not” has a positive counterpoint.
No other gods = Love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
No idols - worship God in spirit and truth
don’t use God’s name in vain = use God’s name to tell of his love and rescue mission for a lost and dying world.
Don’t kill = respect life from the womb to the tomb
Don’t steal = respect others property as you would want them to respect yours.
Don’t lie - Tell the truth, even when it hurts
No adultery = honor the covenant with your spouse and love them as Jesus loved the church.
No coveting = be content with what God has given you
E. These commandments grow out of grace. Look at what is called the prologue:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
God did not wait for them to obey Him before He rescued them. He rescued them, not based on anything they did, but simply because He chose to love them.
David wrote in Psalm 147:
“He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know His rules.”
The commands are not a ladder that if you keep them all perfectly then you get brownie points from God.
In fact, the most important point of the commandments is that you cannot keep them.
Want me to prove it?
Do you love God perfectly all the time? Is He the center of every decision, thought, and desire?
Have you ever looked with lust at someone who wasn’t your wife or husband? Have your thoughts been absolutely pure every minute of every day of every year?
Have you ever stolen something? Anything? Ever?
Have you alway told the truth every single time you had a chance to lie?
Have you ever been so mad at someone that you secretly wished evil upon them?
We are in deep denial about how sinful we are.
Research has shown that more than 70% of Americans say that they would cheat on their spouse if they knew for a fact that wouldn’t get caught. 74% would steal from those who won’t miss it. 64% would lie as long as no one gets hurt.
In a Reddit survey, the question was asked, “Would you kill someone if it was guaranteed you would get away with it?” Over 1,000 people said yes!
The Scriptures say that if you break just one of the commandments you are guilty of breaking all of them.
James wrote:
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” (James 2:10). If you say that you keep all these commands, you/re breaking the 9th commandment!
We need to understand the real purpose of the Ten Commandments.
The Bible says that the commandments are like a
curb that limits the damage of our sinful urges. It’s been said that there are 40,000 laws in the US to try to keep the Ten Commandments.
Tutor that teaches you that you can never be good enough to fulfill these commandments. Galatians 3:24: “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
Map shows you how to LGLO. Augustine was famous for saying “Love God and do what you please.” Because if we really love God then our desire will be to obey Him, not to earn anything, but out of a grateful heart.”
Mirror that shows us as we really are not what we want others to think. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote: “When you look in a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you do not reach to take the mirror off the wall and attempt to rub it on your face as a cleansing agent.”
Paul wrote in Romans
“Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)
Author Jen Wiken writes, “The Law drives us in desperation to grace, but grace drives us in gratitude back to the Law.”
“Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need for the Gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned us and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus.” - John Stott
The Law had no power to save, just to show us that we need a Savior.
It can to set us free, it only proves to us that we are slaves.
"Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” (Galatians 3:23)
Paul wrote in Romans
“Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)
We can’t obey the Ten Commandments, but Jesus is the embodiment of the Ten Commandments. To obey these rules is to look like Jesus.
In fact, Jesus said “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15)
John Calvin wrote:
“Moses had no other intention than to invite all men to go straight to Christ.”
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.” (Romans 8:3)
The only way we can keep these commandments is to have the Holy Spirit inside guiding us toward what is good, true and right.
In Dane Ortlund’s Beautiful book, “Gentle and Lowly,” he writes
“The Christian life boils down to two steps: #1, go to Jesus. #2, see #1.
I’m not good enough, but Jesus is.
Video: Jesus is by Leeann Crawford YT
Communion
Many people believe that if they obey then they will be accepted. That’s not Christianity.
C.S. Lewis once wrote that we never really know how bad we are until we try to be really good.
Christianity teaches that we are accepted, therefore we obey.
We are in such awe of the saving acts of God, we are so overwhelmed by His majesty and mercy, we are so grateful for His extravagant love, that we obey freely, fully, and joyfully.
And from that kind of obedience flows His blessings.
Ending Song: God of Every Grace
