This may be the most famous portion of the Old Testament to most people. Even today this portion of Exodus is in the news - recently the Supreme Court issued contradictory rulings one upholding one striking down the display of the Ten Commandments.
For many people, these commandments represent the basis for all behavior - and the basis for whether God is pleased or not of His people. The Ten Commandments are just the beginning, but from that framework, for the next 12 chapters - God speaks to Moses about character, behavior, society, and worship.
For the first time, God sets down expectations for the people. They might not have realized that when God brought them out of Egypt He was purchasing them as a people. Now He begins to reveal to them the kind of character that He expects them to live by.
The Commandments - verses 3 - 17 are broken up into three groups: verses 3 - 6 involve who God is and how to and how not to worship Him. Verses 7 - 11 involve how they were to relate to this God personally, and verses 12 - 17 involve how to relate to one another as family and society.
Verses 1 - 3
God is not saying "you owe me for saving you from Egypt" even though that is true. He is simply stating a fact - simply there are no other Gods "before" or "besides" the Lord. But they were coming from and going to a land filled with "other gods."
Interestingly, the Hebrew construction here suggests a covenant making or marriage ceremony. God is telling them that they must give their lives and allegiance to Him alone. It is true that there is only one God - but it will take time for them to really see and understand that. Right now - in their infancy, they need to know that no matter what they saw or will see about other gods - Yahweh is their one and only God.
So Commandment #1: I am your only God
Verses 4 - 6
God says "don’t make any physical representation or worship any likeness of me (in heaven) or anything I have created (on earth)." To do that would instantly demean the Lord who is completely over and above the creation. Today, of course, people worship the earth and the trees and all sorts of created things. The peoples back then made all kinds of idols - of frogs and cattle and women and all sorts of things. God is telling them not to do that - nor should they worship Yahweh in that way either.
This is important because by Chapter 32 they will do just that. God, it says, is jealous. God does not want to share you with anyone. It’s not that you have something that God needs and He is selfish - but He knows that He has something you need and wants to keep you from losing it by trying to find life from any other "god."
Verses 5-6 can be confusing - what He is saying is that what parents do, children will do - those who hate God will beget those that hate Him as well - but those that love God will see His love - not to the 3rd or 4th generation - but to the "thousandth" (which is what "thousands" can mean.) It’s amazing how far the love of God will go!
Verses 7 - 11 Relating to God
The third commandment involves taking the Lord’s name in vain.
1. Saying something false about God (a rendering for the Hebrew saw "vain")
2. Using the name of Yahweh to bring harm to others (cursing)
3. Taking upon yourself the name of God without really meaning it (like being a Christian in name only, but not in practice).
In order not to break this commandment, the Jews to this day will not pronounce the name Yahweh, and recorded it only as YHWH.
The fourth commandment - the Sabbath
Remembering something is more than just calling it to mind - you have to do something. In this case, it is remember what God did - rescuing the Israelites - by doing nothing. God did it all. It harkens back to the creation - where God created for six days then finished the work - rested. It foreshadows what Jesus did in creating new life for us:
Colossians 2:16-18 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath . 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. ESV
The Sabbath was twisted over the years by the Jews - instead of a celebration it turned into a way to please God by self discipline.
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath ." ESV
Verse 12 The fifth Commandment
Now we move into treating those closest to us. What is honoring your father and mother? People have used this to say that if an adult child doesn’t obey some little thing that their parent says then they are disobeying the command.
I think we are simply asking too much of the 5th commandment. The Ten Commandments give us a general sense of who God is, and how we are to respect Him and those around us. Later He gets into more detail about what is dishonoring ("cursing").
The idea of "may live long in the land" was a warning to the nation as a whole. Honoring the family would prolong their stay in the Promised Land - dishonoring the family would shorten it.
Love God - honor the family - respect others. That could be the pattern for the entire Ten Commandments.
Verse 13 The 6th Commandment
"Murder" is a Hebrew word used for killing someone who is not an enemy of the people. God is not saying they will never kill - but intentional killing - or the causing of death through negligence - is what is in view here.
Life belongs to God - and it is up to Him to decide when it is taken. He will tell the Israelites when to shed blood - they are not to decide that on their own.
Verse 14 The 7th Commandment - Adultery
God has a very high view of marriage. Keeping marriage sanctified was very important to God - and so physical adultery is very clearly prohibited.
It is also important as a spiritual picture of God’s marriage to His people. Later Jesus would explain that this goes beyond just physical to thought adultery as well - but that is later.
Verse 15 - The 8th Commandment - Theft
Theft comes from greed - you want something of someone else’s. No society can exist if rampant thievery is condoned - just remember what happened in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans - looters ran free in the streets.
As with many things - without values set by our creator, sinful man will naturally degenerate into chaos.
Verse 16 - The 9th Commandment - Perjury
This is not lying - but making false statements in court. As with all of these commands - God will add further clarification in the chapters to come.
Here, for instance- a murder accusation required two witnesses - and the accuser must cast the first stone. If the accusation proves to be false - then the accuser gets stoned instead!
Verse 17 The 10th Commandment - Coveting
Coveting is defined as an inward desire that, if encouraged, leads to action - that action might be murder, adultery, thievery, or even bearing false witness.
As with the last third of the commands - this involves making sure the community can live together in harmony.
I think it also points out that we need to get what we need from God - not from casting our eyes around us.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. ESV
Now the reaction to what God has said:
Verses 18 - 21
This is similar to what we saw in Chapter 19 - and it’s possible that God Himself actually spoke the words of the Ten Commandments to the people - who became completely frightened at hearing His voice.
They pleaded with Moses to be the go between. Hearing the word of God does remind us that we are dead without His mercy and grace. Often times today His words are relegated to the literary bookshelf or castigated as a fable - or worse yet - a purposeful attempt to control people.
We can hide only for so long from God - one day we will all stand before Him and hear Him talk to us - even show us all the events of our lives written down in a book. That event will either frighten you to death or welcome you into life depending on whether you have a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
So now God begins a series of clarifying statements on what was meant by the Ten Commandments. It’s known as the Book of the Covenant, which goes through the end of chapter 23. It’s almost like God wanted to give some more concrete examples of what the people might encounter as they enter the Promised Land - and some principals for worship and social order to help them keep their wedding vows. First, in chapter 20 versus 22 - 26 we see the first two commandments clarified.
Verses 22 - 26
This section might seem a little strange - in a way God is saying "I came to talk to you in person - you can see that I’m not like any of the gods of Egypt or of Canaan where you are going so don’t treat me the same as you do them. I’m the real deal!"
He tells them to make altars of earth or unhewn stone. Any attempts to improve upon God’s created order will not be tolerated in worship - the only way to God is His way. But with this comes a promise - that wherever you acknowledge Me, I will bless you. That holds true today - whenever we proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ blessing follows - it is God’s way of salvation through Jesus - no man made religion will do it.
The idea of no nakedness is probably another reference to Canaanite worship, which was known to be very sexually debauched. Later, when steps were created in the Temple - the priests wore linen undergarments.
Conclusions
I want to make a series of statements about God for us to ponder that come from this chapter:
1. God has spoken
God literally spoke the words of chapter 20 to the people. They heard Him audibly. Later God spoke to Moses who wrote it down but it still had the same force. Later still God spoke to the prophets whose words were also written down - but again, God’s words. Then God’s Word Himself came and spoke - Jesus Christ - then Jesus spoke to the Apostles through the Holy Spirit who wrote the words down. All this we have recorded as the Bible.
Today many people poo-poo the Bible - but it started with God’s audible speech. God has communicated with man. And we are responsible for what He has said.
2. God is truly terrifying
God is love - that is true. But just to hear God speak put these people in a terrified state. Without the holiness that comes through the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ - hearing God’s voice should fill us with the deepest of dread - knowing that He is holy, we are not - and that we cannot come near Him without assistance. God can show His love only through Jesus Christ.
3. God’s Law is simple - it’s living it out that is so hard
Piece of cake - love God alone, love others. Why should it be so difficult? Many people try to tell us that we can do it on our own. Man, they say, is inherently good - so if we give man a chance we can bring in God’s character to the earth.
Sorry - no we can’t. The reason is because although we started out in God’s image - we have taken ourselves as a race and turned ourselves over to rebellion. That infection has spread so that no matter how hard we try - we cannot follow these things. They simply are not in our nature.
We need a heart transplant. With the new heart and new life that Jesus gives us - the power of the Holy Spirit inside us naturally wants to follow God’s Law. It isn’t that the Ten Commandments went away - but they were fulfilled in Jesus who now fulfills them in us.
Our problem is that we still try to follow the Ten Commandments outside of Jesus. The Seventh Day Adventists tell us to do that. You still can’t do it on your own. Only by allowing the power of the Spirit to work in you with a vital ongoing relationship with the Lord can that happen - and it will happen.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. ESV
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