Ex. 20: The Ten Commandments

Up until now, God's conditional covenant with the people of Israel was rather nebulous. "Keep my commandments, obey me fully..." Well, what commandments? Obey what? Whatever you happen to say at the time? Whatever my conscience tells me is ok? Was God going to set precedent as things happened? How was a man supposed to know what was out of bounds, and what he should do as a child of God?

Well, God was about to let them know.

1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

2. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

So, idolatry and other gods were readily available at this point in history. I'm not sure what exactly punishing children for the sin of the father to the third and fourth generation entails, whether God would put a curse on that house, or whether the sin nature is something that is evident in the father, emulated by his son, exaggerated by the grandson, and by the time the fourth generation comes around, the kid has either become completely reprobate, or rejects the sin nature of previous generations, and comes back to God. It also shows how influential a person who loves God can be to his descendants. Oh, and God makes it pretty clear He is the lone power.

3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

What I'm reading here is that the name of God is so holy, so separate from our vulgar tongues, that His name should only be used in direct reference to or in addressing Him. That's why I cringe when I hear "Oh my God," etc. Makes shows like Extreme Makeover so excruciating to watch, because it is an avalanche of misuse. Yeah, its emotional. Congrats. Stop swearing already. Using God's name as a curse on someone or something...I find that behavior unbelievable.

4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Its very easy to get caught up in work, and all the distractions of life, that we don't take a moment, even more a day, to just relax. To allow some time to be thankful to God. An entire day was set aside as a sabbath to the LORD. God rested. In our striving to be like Him, I wonder why we cut this out? Seems like it would be easy to just take a whole day off. In our society, its nigh impossible.

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Amen. Now that I'm all grown up, I recognize how important this command is. God gives us a reason why we should honor our father and mother. Does it mean the God will mystically give us long life through some kind of a miracle? I'm not sure. Mom and dad are pretty wise in that they have gone ahead of us, and experienced what we may have not yet. Honoring their advice and their rules is a form of self-preservation, and an extremely valuable one.

6. You shall not murder.

Murder is just about the worst thing you can do to a person, so this one seems to be a no-brainer. God included it anyway. A reference point? Is there a distinction between murder and killing? Apparently. God allowed for military killings, as we have already seen with Abram and Joshua. It's my guess that murder refers to the premeditated or random acts of violence out of hatred or revenge. Does it include animals? Unlikely, as animal sacrifice is pleasing to God. But any killed animal was used, so I wonder if just randomly killing an animal because it's there (not for protection or food) is akin to murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

Marriage was designed by God. It is not allowable to let the heart wander outside the covenant of marriage. Sexual sin is self-defeating to a marriage, whether currently or not yet married.

8. You shall not steal.

I wouldn't want anyone taking my stuff, so don't take other people's stuff. Anything that doesn't belong to you is not yours.

9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Gossip and lying about someone is not cool. Honesty is a commandment from God. Fascinating.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Coveting something, or wanting someone else's stuff for your own is pretty depressing. If I keep dwelling on something I don't have, but someone else has, I'll begin to dehumanize that someone as a person, and think of him more as a competitor. A torturer who is keeping this thing from me that I think I deserve.

So, there's the ten commandments, and looking back through them...I could see why they shouldn't have any place in a courthouse where justice is carried out...

The first four deal with our relationship with God, while the final six encourage us to treat our neighbors and fellow people the way God wants them to be treated.

And then there was thunder, and lightning and smoke. And the trumpet. The people were so scared that they thought if God were to speak to them Himself that they would die. What awe. And to think how the 3rd commandment is broken almost constantly. Moses tells them that it is their fear that is keeping them alive.

Then God gives Moses further commands on how God is to be regarded. No gods alongside Him, none made of silver or gold (or anything, probably). The altars were not to be made of dressed or cut stone. Rather of earth and stones. Using a tool on it was said to be defiling it. God also adds not to have steps go up to the altar, lest his nakedness be exposed. Protect the eyes and protect the heart, I spose.

Oh, and a tip on how to remember where the ten commandments are in the Bible...

Exodus 20. 20th chapter in the 2nd book. 20 / 2 = 10.