Setting The Table Series

This week, I was challenged by a post from Jared Wilson, “We take God lightly. We treat Him flippantly. We are too busy saying ‘whee’ in church when we should be saying ‘woe is me.’ The weightiness, the gravity, the all-encompassing and awe-inspiring glory of the Creator God, the Great I AM, is woefully neglected in far too many places…”

I think of how God vaporized Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire and how Uzzah was extinguished for daring to touch the Ark of the Covenant. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a serious matter to approach the Almighty. We cannot and must not be irreverent, bored, passive or come to Him on our own terms. Most of us are way too casual with God and we don’t take His commands or His commission seriously enough. God is big, mighty, marvelous, holy and is to be revered.

Before you think this was just how people in the Old Testament were to worship God, check out Hebrews 12:28-29 in the New Testament: “Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

Redemption, relationship, and reverence come before God gives His requirements.

4. Requirements. I appreciate Kevin DeYoung’s insight: “The Ten Commandments are not instructions on how to get out of Egypt. They are rules for a free people to stay free...God said, ‘I hear your cry. I will save you because I love you. And when you are saved, free and forgiven, I’m going to give you a new way to live.’”

Grace comes before the guardrails. Relationship was established before the requirements were given.

One of our purposes in this series is to learn the 10 Commandments from Exodus 20:1-17. To help us with this, we’ve provided some bookmarks in the seat backs. Pull one out now and let’s read together.

1. One God

2. No idols

3. Revere His Name

4. Remember to Rest

5. Honor Parents

6. No murder

7. No adultery

8. No stealing

9. No lying

10. No coveting

Our Awana children know the 10 Commandments since they are woven into memory verses, handbook activities and large group teaching. Let’s make sure we know them as well as they do.

I recognize just quoting the commandments does not mean we’re any closer to keeping them. But we must first know them before we can grow in our obedience to them which reminds me of a cartoon I came across. Moses is holding the Ten Commandments and his face is beaming. “Hey, these are great,” he says enthusiastically. “From now on, nobody will have trouble distinguishing right from wrong.”

Observations

Here are 10 observations about the 10 Commandments.

1. In Hebrew, the commands are called the “Ten Words.” In the Greek translation of Exodus 34:28, they are called the Decalogue, deca means ten and logue refers to words.

2. God’s commands reveal God’s character. When we gaze upon His law, we see His glory, His greatness, and His goodness. Deuteronomy 5:24: “The Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness…”

3. The commands mark Israel as God’s chosen people. Psalm 147:19-20: “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.”