Giving The Ten Commandments

 Once his authority had been established, God began giving the Law.  He started by reminding them of what he had one for them up to that time, in Exodus 20:1-2,  “And God spake all these words, saying,  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”  By delivering them from Egypt, he had established that he was God, and more powerful  than any others who people worshipped.  He had demonstrated that he was capable of keeping his part of any covenant or contract, and that he would do so.  With that in mind, he gave the Ten Commandments as a general outline of what would be expected of Israel.

 

The first commandment was “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” according to Exodus 20:3.   As translated here, the implication is that they were not to put any other god ahead of God.  In fact the word translated “before” has a broad range of meanings, but the meaning here is that they were not to recognize any other being or object as a god. 

 

The second commandment was that they were not make any sort of an idol.  Exodus 20:4-6 commanded, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 

The third command was that they were to show proper respect to God, according to Exodus 20:7.  “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”  They were not to use God’s name in flippant, frivolous or disrespectful manner, or for no useful purpose.   It is not just some meaningless expletive to express disgust or other strong feelings.  While most Christians would hesitate to use his name in curse words, few consider that exclaiming “oh God” or “oh my Lord” is also taking the name of the Lord in vain.   

 

As a demonstration of their respect for God, they were to keep the Sabbath, as Exodus 20:8 commanded.  “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”   It was to be a day dedicated to God, as Exodus 20:9-11 explains.  “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

 

The first four commandments related directly to the attitude toward God.  The next six deal with how the Jews were to treat other people, who were created in the image of God, according to Genesis 1:27.  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”  The way one treats other people demonstrates one’s attitude toward God. 

 

When a child is first born, they are totally dependent on their parents, and their parents effectively become their god.  As they grow, they begin to realize they are not gods, but throughout their life their attitude toward their parents will influence their attitude God.  The fifth command was that they were to respect their parents, according to Exodus 20:12.  “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”  Billy Graham is quoted as saying that if children are not taught to respect their parents, they will never respect anyone.  For years there has been a concerted effort to undermine the parents’ authority, and as a result kids have little or no respect for anyone, including God.  Respect is a key ingredient of trust.  

 

Since man was created in the image of God, murder is an indirect attack on God himself.  The sixth commandment was that they were not commit murder, as Exodus 20:13 states.  “Thou shalt not kill.”  This was not some new law that applied only to the Jews.  Over a thousand years before, in Genesis 9:6, God commanded, “Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”

 

The seventh commandment was, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” in Exodus 20:14.  God created the man and the woman, then established marriage in Genesis 2, saying that they become one flesh.   Adultery breaks God’s plan, implying he does not have the authority.  In the process, it also takes away the rights of the adulterer’s spouse. 

 

Everything the person has is a result of what God has given him.  Stealing it implies we, and not God have the right to decide what people have.  Exodus 20:15 commands, “Thou shalt not steal.” A person ought to respect other people enough to leave their stuff alone. 

 

Similarly, a person ought to respect other people enough to not lie about them. The ninth commandment was, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” in Exodus 20:16.  The final commandment, in Exodus 20:17, was, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”  They were to realize the things their neighbor had belonged to him and they had no right to them.  If they wanted something similar, they had the right to try to earn it, but not to try to get his.

 

As a result of Adam’s sin, man acquired a conscience, which gave him an understanding of what was good and what was evil.  Unfortunately, the conscience can be messed up or defiled by the sin around us.  The written law gave a standard to show where the conscience was defective, as Galatians 3:19 tells us.  “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”  It was not setting some new standard.

 

As so often happens, the people were more concerned with the events around them than with what God said, as Exodus 20:18-19 tells us.  “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”  They recognized God’s power and were afraid of him, but they had no understanding of his love for them.  Like many Christians today, they expected him to let them die at any moment.   

 

Moses tried to explain that God was trying to teach them to have real respect rather than just being afraid of him, but the people refused to come close, as Exodus 20:20-21 tells us.  “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.  And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”  Unfortunately, most people never get close enough to God to learn to respect and trust him.  As Jesus said in Matthew 17:21, this kind of faith "...goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."