The Ten Commandments, Part 2 Of 6: The Preamble And First And Second Commandments

The Ten Commandments, Part 2 of 6: The First Commandments

Scripture: Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21

Summary: In the following weeks, I will preach the Ten Commandments.* This sermon covers the first two commandments.

This group of sermons is a look at the Ten Commandments. First, some background. The traditional English translation of the Hebrew “aseret ha-d’ varim” found in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and Deuteronomy 10:4 is “The Ten Commandments.” However, a more accurate translation is “The Ten Words/Statements/Pronouncements.” Perhaps the most descriptive of these is “The Ten Pronouncements” for they were ten formal decrees from God Almighty Himself; God gave the commandments to the people “face to face;” they were “written by the finger of God.”

There is sometimes confusion when one reads different commentaries on the commandments for Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews do not number the Ten the same; indeed, I found seven different traditions for numbering the commandments. Each of these traditions has some justification based on the text of the commandments. For example, Roman Catholics and Protestants consider Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6 the prologues of the commandments, the Jews consider these verses their first commandment. In Jewish thought, while these verses are not in the form of a commandment, they establish the foundation for the commandments. Further, the Jews combine into their second commandment what Protestants and Roman Catholics name commandments one and two. Roman Catholics invert the last two commandments on the Protestant list. The Samaritan tradition has as its tenth commandment, Deuteronomy 27:2-3, “You shall set up these stones, which I command you today ….” Do not let the numbers confuse you for if you read Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 you have covered them no matter how they are numbered.

The commandments were truly unique. Other ancient societies had laws against murder, theft, and adultery, but they were conditional: “if … then.” “If” someone murders another, “then” this is the punishment. God went much further. He said that these commandments are absolutes: “You shall not.” These laws are about more than what actions are illegal and punishable; they are about what disrupts society. These laws tell us a major concern of our Father is how we treat one another.

All of the commandments, either explicitly or implicitly, have both negative and positive meanings. They tell us what we are not to do and what we are to do. If something displeases God, the opposite pleases him. For example, “You shall not murder.” God forbids us to hurt or harm a neighbor unjustly because He wills that the neighbor’s life be dear and precious to us. “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.” We are not to use our tongue to harm our neighbor rather we should use our tongue to speak only the best about all people. Martin Luther, arguably the first Protestant, wrote, “This much is certain: those who know the Ten Commandments perfectly … in all affairs and circumstances are able to counsel, help, comfort, judge, and make decisions in both spiritual and temporal matters.” The Ten Commandments function as eternal universal laws that provide instructions for the life and faith of all believers.

God gave us the Ten Commandments so that we might live by them and thus maintain the freedom He gave us. While only the Ten Commandments earned a place in the Ark, there are 603 laws beyond the Ten Commandments. Most of these add detail to the Ten. Other laws define Temple worship, sacrifice, offerings, ritual purity, and impurity. Of all of the laws Jesus said, Matthew 5:17-20, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (KJV)

Jesus is saying that if the world lived but by the Law, freedom would rule the world for Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and freedom. In Luke 4:18, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.”

Exodus 5-15 brings us the story of the freeing slaves, of the Israelites out of Egypt. God says this process had a purpose: “that you may know that I am the Lord.” Further, God said, in Exodus 6:7, “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God.” The Israelites had spent hundreds of years in Egypt surrounded by pagan deities, deities worshiped out of contemptible intellectual and moral ignorance. They were slaves who had hard lives from which there was no escape until God Almighty intervened. Even as they left Egypt, circumstances caused their faith to faint; the Israelites complained about the threat of Egyptian soldiers at the Red Sea. Their faith was weak, they complained about the bitter water at Marah. They complained about the lack of bread, meat, and water at Rephidim. In each instance, Yahweh responded by giving them what they needed: deliverance at the Red Sea, sweet water at Marah, manna, quail, and water at Rephidim. God was making a Nation out of these former slaves. A nation must have a structure different from the slave culture of Egypt. God began giving that structure with the Ten Commandments.