Exodus Chapter 20 1 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. - Before declaring His law - God reminded Moses both of His divine name "I am" - {Yahweh} - and that He is the God who delivered the Israelites. - In this way - He also reminded Moses of His covenant with His chosen people (vs 2). 3 You shall have no other gods before me. - This is the first and great commandment of God, having an expanded meaning as given by Christ - "The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength" (Mark 18:29-30). - He should be their ultimate focus. He would not abide by anything else's vying for their worship and adoration. 4 You shall not make for yourself a graven 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 or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. - Graven image - "Idol" comes from a Hebrew word meaning "carved wood (or stone)." - Many people at that time - believed gods could reside in stone, wood, or metal. - The Lord did not want His people making idols to worship. - The Lord commanded that idols were not to be made like anything in the sky - such as the sun, moon, stars, and birds. - Or on the earth (animals) or in the water below (fish, crocodiles, and other sea life. - The Lord explained that idol making was forbidden because He is a jealous God. 1
- We usually have a negative thought process when we think about jealousy. How would you explain God's jealousy? - He is zealous to ensure that His people's devotion is rendered exclusively to Him - just as in a relationship between a husband and wife. - To explain His jealousy - God said He punished to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. - 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of 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. - This commandment guarded against - using God's name for insincere or frivolous purposes. - Using God's name in an oath - when there was no intention of keeping it was one way to infringe on this commandment. - Lev. 19:12-12 And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. RSV - God's people - were never to use the name of the Lord for evil purposes. 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 a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; 11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. - Because "holy" means being distinct - keeping the sabbath day holy involved observing or celebrating it differently than the other six days of the week. - How was this done? By everyone in an Israelite household ceasing from their labor on the Sabbath. (The word translated "sabbath" means "to cease" or "to rest.") - The foundation for this commandment - was that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. 2
- Gen. 2:2,3-2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. RSV - God did not intend for the Sabbath - to be a day in which His people slept all day and refused to do anything. - Rather - it was meant to be a day of spiritual service on which His people diligently focused on God and worshiped Him. 12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. - The word "honor" - is translated from a Hebrew word that means "to be heavy." - A heavy person in the ancient world was considered to be an affluent person - because he or she could obviously afford to buy more than was needed to sustain life. - And being wealthy - those persons were respected by others in the community. - So the underlying idea of this commandment - is for sons and daughters to be respectful of their parents. - The promise of longevity that is promised for adherence to this commandment - refers to Israel's duration (the time during which something exists or lasts) as a nation in a covenant relationship to God. - The people were told - that those who honored their parents would live long lives in the promised land. - The promise does not necessarily mean - that every person who honors his or her parents will live a long life, just as it does not necessarily mean that a disobedient child will have his or her life cut short. - Rather - it conveys the general principle that esteeming parents will contribute to a longer life. 3
13 You shall not kill. - People were forbidden to murder other people - no doubt because human beings are made in the image of God. - Gen. 1:27-27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. RSV - Later - the law clearly distinguished between murder and accidental killing (Exodus 21:12-14). - Exodus 21:12-14 - 12 Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him treacherously, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. RSV - Regarding capital punishment - it is the law of God that murderers shall be put to death by society (Gen 9:6); and that is not an option; it is a Divine order. The violation of it by self-styled liberal societies has already drowned the world in blood and may yet deliver the whole earth into the hands of ruthless murderers. Coffman's Commentary on Exodus - Gen. 9:6-6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. RSV 14 You shall not commit adultery. - God instituted the marriage relationship - and it is clearly a holy relationship in His eyes. - Gen. 2:24-24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. RSV - Consequently - neither men nor women should ever be found guilty of infidelity. - The act of adultery - is a sin against both God and the marriage partner. - Jesus applied this command of sexual morality - to our thoughts as well as to our deeds (Matthew 5:27, 28). - Matthew 5:27-28 - 27 You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. 28 But I say to you that 4
every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. RSV - Ask Yourself... Do I consistently make an effort to maintain purity even in my thoughts? 15 You shall not steal. - The command not to steal - is closely related to the tenth commandment (not to covet). - The law contains prohibitions - against stealing people (21:16) as well as property (22:1-4). - Exodus 21:16-16 Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death. RSV - Exodus 22:1-4 - 1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. He shall make restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or an ass or a sheep, he shall pay double. 2 If a thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him; 3 but if the sun has risen upon him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. RSV - The biblical prohibition against theft - is one that should affect our lives today. - For instance - how honestly do we file our tax return? Do we ever take home supplies provided only for office use? Do we ever loaf on the job? - All such activities - amounting to forms of stealing - are encompassed in this prohibition. - Ask yourself... Are there any forms of stealing which I may be guilty of and need to repent of? 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. - This commandment was especially important in Israel; many crimes had stiff punishments, including death. 5
- And since a case could be decided on the testimony of two or three witnesses - it was important to make sure that false testimony not be offered in court, thereby resulting in someone's wrongful punishment. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor s house; you shall not covet your neighbor s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor s. - This is the most inward of all the commandments. - "Covet - is translated from a Hebrew word that means "to desire {or lust} for" or "to take delight in." - To clarify the commandment - God gave several examples of things His people were not to covet - house, wife, servant, utility animals. - Then God summed up the examples - by commanding His people not to covet "anything that belongs to your neighbor." - This commandment reminds us - that God looks on a person's heart as well as on outward appearances. - In fact - James 1:14, 15 tells us, outward sin typically begins as a wrongful desire, such as covetousness. - James 1:14-15 - 14 but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is fullgrown brings forth death. RSV - That is precisely why Christians are encouraged - to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor.10:5). - 2 Cor. 10:5-5 We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, RSV - Adam Clark declared that - "This command is a most excellent moral precept, the observance of which will prevent all public crimes. He who feels the force of the law that prohibits all inordinate desire for anything that is the property of another, can never make a breach in the peace of society." It can be seen how nearly to the root of all man's 6
difficulties this tenth commandment is directed. It is the most comprehensive of the commandments, forbidding all unlawful desire of every kind. Happy indeed is that individual who has learned to control the rebellious desires of the heart, the grasping covetousness that so easily lodges within the soul, and the envious observation of the wealth, honors, popularity, fame, or whatever may belong to contemporaries, setting off a jealous reaction to surpass them. How can this be done? Through the control of the affections. "Set your affections upon things above" (Colossians 3:2). We should think of things beautiful, lovely, honorable, of good report, etc. (See Philippians 4:8). Coffman's Commentary on Exodus Ask Yourself... How diligently am I making my thoughts obedient to Christ? - Question: Are believers today responsible to keep the Ten Commandments? - Because the New Testament states that we no longer live under the law (see Rom. 6:14, 1 Cor. 9:20; Gal. 5:18), this question has been hotly debated in some churches. - But all can agree - that believers should strive to live by holy standards underlying the Ten Commandments. - The apostle Paul said - "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" (Rom. 6:15). 18 Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood afar off, 19 and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die. - Even as God gave Moses the Ten Commandments - lightening flashed, thunder and trumpet blasts echoed, the mountain was wreathed in smoke, and the ground on which the Israelites were standing quaked. - The ground was not the only thing trembling - the Israelites themselves trembled with fear - as God's majesty and power were displayed all around them. 7
- They were so afraid - that they begged Moses to speak to them for God, so that they would not risk dying at the sound of God's voice (vss. 18, 19). - Moses urged the people not to be afraid - because it was not God's intent to kill them. - He said the chief purpose of God's display of power - was to test their reaction to Him. (vs. 20). 20 And Moses said to the people, Do not fear; for God has come to prove you, and that the fear of him may be before your eyes, that you may not sin. - The people had responded correctly - in the sense that being in the presence of God gave rise to fear and awe. - A healthy reverence for the Lord - would help curb the Israelites' propensity to sin. - Similarly - our reverence for the Lord should help curb our propensity to sin. - If believers find themselves remaining in sin without a desire to change - then perhaps those believers do not fear and revere God as much as they should. - Ask Yourself... Am I committing a sin that I have little or no desire to repent of? - While the people remained at a distance - Moses walked back into the cloud that surrounded the mountain. - God told Moses - to remind the people of the experience of hearing His voice. - He also told him - to further warn the people against worshipping false gods or idols. - If they really feared Him - they would forever abandon idol worship. 21 And the people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. 22 And the LORD said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 8
- Then God instructed Moses to build an altar - on which the people were to sacrifice offerings (vs. 24) - A burnt offering - consisted of an animal that was to be completely consumed by fire. - A fellowship offering - could be bread or meat - part of which could eaten. - An altar - would be a place for special blessings from God. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. - The altar for the burnt offerings - was to be unadorned by craftsmanship. - It was not to be built with hewn stones - because using tools on the stones to shape them would defile them - and thus the altar as well. - Natural stones - however, could be used. (Exod. 20 :25). 25 And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you wield your tool upon it you profane it. on it. 1 - The altar was also to be constructed without steps leading up to it (vs. 26). - The reason for this is that the long garments worn by worshipers - would trail behind them on the steps as they walked away from the altar, exposing their nakedness. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed 1 The Revised Standard Version. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1971, S. Ex 20:1 9