Deuteronomy 10:12-13 "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?"
I guess the verse above about sums it up. Here Moses recounts the giving of the ten commandments.
Something I realized here is that the Israelites probably don't have any sense of history. They don't have any sense of context for their actions. They probably railed against God because he probably appeared to be punishing them for absolutely no reason whatsoever. They probably thought they were doing pretty darn good for themselves.
They had no play-by-play going on when they screwed stuff up. When they openly rebelled against God. They had the commands and decrees, given numerous times, I might add, and continued to be failures.
What a wonderful revelation of the love of God, to be reminded that everything, the earth, the heavens, the highest heavens...all that belong to God, were created by Him, and he chooses to set His affection upon the Israelites. Humbling.
God is strength for the weak, the widows and orphans. That's how I can sum up chapter 10.
Showing posts with label Ten Commandments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ten Commandments. Show all posts
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Dt. 5: The Ten Commandments
Deuteronomy 5:29 "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!"
Moses hits the ten commandments in his Wandering In Review series. I can't really add any more to what was already said in that commentary.
Verse 3 makes me wonder though. Moses says that "It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today." These commandments were given to their fathers, but also, they were for everyone. Perhaps the verse says the same thing as "It was not just with our fathers..." I'm not sure.
Verse 15 is not duplicated in the original passage on the ten commandments in Exodus 20. With an "outstretched arm" God led the Israelites out of Egypt. God reached out from where He was, offering His hand.
Also, these commandments are given with an added reason, "that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." God is giving them this land, but the land itself is not the entirety of the gift. A long, prosperous life is the true gift. Life has always been the gift! To Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Joseph...
I want to get the instant replay on the blazing mountain in verse 23. Regardless of size, it would be sweet to see a mountain completely engulfed in flames. I wish I could have seen it. That would have given me a lot more to fear and believe about God, especially if I was an ignorant Israelite.
When Israel told Moses they would obey everything the LORD set down, God was moved by this. There seems to be a bit of longing emotion in God's words in verse 29. "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands..." Not to please God. Not so they can earn rewards. Not so that God can boss people around. "..so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" That is unselfish. That is a giving, sympathatic God. I just love that part. If people would just walk straight, and not turn aside to the left or the right...
Moses hits the ten commandments in his Wandering In Review series. I can't really add any more to what was already said in that commentary.
Verse 3 makes me wonder though. Moses says that "It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today." These commandments were given to their fathers, but also, they were for everyone. Perhaps the verse says the same thing as "It was not just with our fathers..." I'm not sure.
Verse 15 is not duplicated in the original passage on the ten commandments in Exodus 20. With an "outstretched arm" God led the Israelites out of Egypt. God reached out from where He was, offering His hand.
Also, these commandments are given with an added reason, "that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." God is giving them this land, but the land itself is not the entirety of the gift. A long, prosperous life is the true gift. Life has always been the gift! To Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Joseph...
I want to get the instant replay on the blazing mountain in verse 23. Regardless of size, it would be sweet to see a mountain completely engulfed in flames. I wish I could have seen it. That would have given me a lot more to fear and believe about God, especially if I was an ignorant Israelite.
When Israel told Moses they would obey everything the LORD set down, God was moved by this. There seems to be a bit of longing emotion in God's words in verse 29. "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands..." Not to please God. Not so they can earn rewards. Not so that God can boss people around. "..so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" That is unselfish. That is a giving, sympathatic God. I just love that part. If people would just walk straight, and not turn aside to the left or the right...
Friday, January 11, 2008
Ex. 32: Israel Freaks Out...Thousands Dead
Moses is gone. 40 days and nights (give or take) go by, and the Israelites have no idea when he'll be back. 40 days is a long time actually, to wait for someone who says they will be be back, but don't really give a set time. Anyway, during this time, God must not have been communicating to the Israelites in the way to which they were accustomed. Even though there was that giant cloud on the mountain the whole time. They knew God was there.
Well, they had to worship something, and in chapter 32 they surround Aaron and tell him to make them some gods who will go before them. They were evidently tired of being in this one place for so long, and got the wanderlust. Aaron, the priest, who went up on the mountain, who ate and drank with God Himself, is like, "OK, bring me all your gold earrings." He makes a golden calf out of them.
Extremely unsettling what they say here next in verse 4. "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egpyt." Wow. So it wasn't just a need to follow a different god. A replacement god. They go even further, and misattribute the LORD's miraculous power in bringing them out of Egypt to a lump of gold carved out of their earrings. This was after Moses sprinkled them with the blood of the covenant, gave them the ten commandments (one of which being "have no other gods before me") and they themselves proclaimed they would do everything the LORD says.
Aaron sees this, and figures this god needs an altar and some sort of offering, as the real God did, so he built an altar in front of this calf, and declared that the next day would be a festival unto this god. Aaron even calls it LORD. And the next day, the people got up early, sacrificed to the calf and presented offerings, ate, drank, and generally just raved.
Well, God of course sees this, and tells Moses to
Is Israel's worshipping this calf their way of excusing themselves from God's covenant with them? They were told to destroy other idols back in chapter 23. Would this be a way of passing Israel from God's covenant to Moses?
God tells Moses to leave him alone so that his anger can burn and God can destroy them. Not unlike a teenage girl throwing a hissyfit, not wanting anyone to see her trash her room.
Or perhaps this was to call Moses out on their behavior? Was Moses not taking ownership of this priesthood? Perhaps he did not fully understand what it is his position meant to Israel ( and to himself). Was this God leading Moses to a response, testing him, and seeing where Moses was and to whom Moses was allied?
I find Moses' response very calming, and probably what God had hoped he would say. Moses brings up the Egyptians, asking why they should say that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them out? Moses reminds God of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. I don't think this was Moses trying to soothe God's fragile ego, or manipulate the mind of a deity. I think God wanted Moses to show some fortitude. And he did.
So God relents, and doesn't kill everyone. Whew. And Israel had no idea what almost was.
So Moses goes back down the mountain with Joshua...and I don't know if Joshua was actually in the cloud with Moses or what. Something tells me he wasn't witness to what happened between God and Moses, as he mistakes the sounds of Israel's pagan revelry for the sound of war. Moses hears the sounds, and says, "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing I hear." They must be poor singers to make Joshua think they were at war. War sounds are not beautiful sounds. Moses sees the calf and the dancing, and completely loses it. He had just gone to bat for these people, and now he sees for himself how bad it really is. He smashes the tablets on the ground at the foot of the mountain, and creates some old fashioned Bible justice. He burned the calf in the fire, melted it down, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. I don't think he held each one by the throat and poured calf-inated water down his gullet. He probably scattered it on their only water source, so they had no choice but to drink it.
Moses confronts Aaron, and Aaron blames the people, essentially saying, "You know Israel...."
He saw the people running about wild, and knew this was ridiculous in the eyes of Israel's enemies. So he took a stand, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." The Levites took the call and rallied to him. Moses forwards a command from God to go back and forth in the camp, killing his brother, friend and neighbor. And they did as they were commanded, and kilt off about 3,000 people. Which is just horrible. But they were warned. God blessed them for being more loyal to Him than to their own sons and brothers. Following God's commands was so important, they were to put their sons to death. Sons who were wicked.
The next day, Moses addresses a (probably) shocked and subdued camp, telling them that what they did was super naughty, and that he would talk to God and see about letting them off the hook. As indicated in the previous chapters regarding atonement and sin offerings, sin was going to be a given, which was why there was a need for these offerings to take place. God knew that.
Moses asks God to forgive the Israelites for their golden calf episode, recognizing how serious it actually was. If God refused, Moses offered to have his own name blotted out of something called God's book. Was this a list of names of righteous people who have found favor in God's eyes? Was it a book of every single person, and when they sin without atonement, the name is blotted out? God tells Moses whoever sins against him will be blotted out of his book, at any rate. God tells Moses to go on, and follow the angel, and God will punish Israel for their idolatry with a plague when the time is right.
Well, they had to worship something, and in chapter 32 they surround Aaron and tell him to make them some gods who will go before them. They were evidently tired of being in this one place for so long, and got the wanderlust. Aaron, the priest, who went up on the mountain, who ate and drank with God Himself, is like, "OK, bring me all your gold earrings." He makes a golden calf out of them.
Extremely unsettling what they say here next in verse 4. "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egpyt." Wow. So it wasn't just a need to follow a different god. A replacement god. They go even further, and misattribute the LORD's miraculous power in bringing them out of Egypt to a lump of gold carved out of their earrings. This was after Moses sprinkled them with the blood of the covenant, gave them the ten commandments (one of which being "have no other gods before me") and they themselves proclaimed they would do everything the LORD says.
Aaron sees this, and figures this god needs an altar and some sort of offering, as the real God did, so he built an altar in front of this calf, and declared that the next day would be a festival unto this god. Aaron even calls it LORD. And the next day, the people got up early, sacrificed to the calf and presented offerings, ate, drank, and generally just raved.
Well, God of course sees this, and tells Moses to
"Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'This is a seeming contradiction to what God has been saying all along. First off, He calls Israel Moses' people. All along, they have been God's chosen people. Then God says Moses brought them out of Egypt. Yet all these festivals and commemorations were designed to celebrate God's bringing the people out of Egypt. Why would God say this? Why would God throw Moses under the bus like this for Israel's behavior?"I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."
Is Israel's worshipping this calf their way of excusing themselves from God's covenant with them? They were told to destroy other idols back in chapter 23. Would this be a way of passing Israel from God's covenant to Moses?
God tells Moses to leave him alone so that his anger can burn and God can destroy them. Not unlike a teenage girl throwing a hissyfit, not wanting anyone to see her trash her room.
Or perhaps this was to call Moses out on their behavior? Was Moses not taking ownership of this priesthood? Perhaps he did not fully understand what it is his position meant to Israel ( and to himself). Was this God leading Moses to a response, testing him, and seeing where Moses was and to whom Moses was allied?
I find Moses' response very calming, and probably what God had hoped he would say. Moses brings up the Egyptians, asking why they should say that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them out? Moses reminds God of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. I don't think this was Moses trying to soothe God's fragile ego, or manipulate the mind of a deity. I think God wanted Moses to show some fortitude. And he did.
So God relents, and doesn't kill everyone. Whew. And Israel had no idea what almost was.
So Moses goes back down the mountain with Joshua...and I don't know if Joshua was actually in the cloud with Moses or what. Something tells me he wasn't witness to what happened between God and Moses, as he mistakes the sounds of Israel's pagan revelry for the sound of war. Moses hears the sounds, and says, "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing I hear." They must be poor singers to make Joshua think they were at war. War sounds are not beautiful sounds. Moses sees the calf and the dancing, and completely loses it. He had just gone to bat for these people, and now he sees for himself how bad it really is. He smashes the tablets on the ground at the foot of the mountain, and creates some old fashioned Bible justice. He burned the calf in the fire, melted it down, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. I don't think he held each one by the throat and poured calf-inated water down his gullet. He probably scattered it on their only water source, so they had no choice but to drink it.
Moses confronts Aaron, and Aaron blames the people, essentially saying, "You know Israel...."
He saw the people running about wild, and knew this was ridiculous in the eyes of Israel's enemies. So he took a stand, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." The Levites took the call and rallied to him. Moses forwards a command from God to go back and forth in the camp, killing his brother, friend and neighbor. And they did as they were commanded, and kilt off about 3,000 people. Which is just horrible. But they were warned. God blessed them for being more loyal to Him than to their own sons and brothers. Following God's commands was so important, they were to put their sons to death. Sons who were wicked.
The next day, Moses addresses a (probably) shocked and subdued camp, telling them that what they did was super naughty, and that he would talk to God and see about letting them off the hook. As indicated in the previous chapters regarding atonement and sin offerings, sin was going to be a given, which was why there was a need for these offerings to take place. God knew that.
Moses asks God to forgive the Israelites for their golden calf episode, recognizing how serious it actually was. If God refused, Moses offered to have his own name blotted out of something called God's book. Was this a list of names of righteous people who have found favor in God's eyes? Was it a book of every single person, and when they sin without atonement, the name is blotted out? God tells Moses whoever sins against him will be blotted out of his book, at any rate. God tells Moses to go on, and follow the angel, and God will punish Israel for their idolatry with a plague when the time is right.
Monday, December 31, 2007
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.
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.
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.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.
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."
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.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Ex. 19: Fire on the Mountain
Month three after leaving Egypt, the Israelites reach the Desert of Sinai, in front of the mountain. Mount Sinai, to be clear. So Moses goes up to God as he typically did, and God gives him instructions.
Moses has to remind the Israelites of what they saw God do to Egypt, and how God saved them and brought them to himself.
Exodus 19:5-6: "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
A conditional covenant. If Israel does this, God will do this. Moses tells the elders and they're like, "Yeah, we will do whatever the LORD says."
God wants to meet with Moses in a manner that the people of Israel will be able to hear their conversation. In order for Israel to be consecrated, they needed to wash their clothes, abstain from sexual relations, and be ready in three days. God is coming down onto Mount Sinai in His dense cloud for all of them to see. God tells them to barricade the mountain, and not to let anyone touch the mountain, or they will have to be put to death. God's holiness. What can you do? Not only would the offender be put to death, it would have to be via stoning or shot with arrows. No one could touch this person. Or animal. At least until the ram's horn sounded, signifying God's departure from the mountain.
On the morning of the third day, it was the God show. Thunder, Lightning, loud trumpet blasts, and a trembling encampment of people. God came down in fire, and smoke poured upwards. The mountain shook violently. Seismically serious. The trumpet crescendoed. And Moses and God began to speak. God wants to make sure no unauthorized Israelites are able to push through the crowd and set foot on the mountain, and Moses tells God that they can't, because God Himself made them put up barricades.
God has Moses go down and bring Aaron up with him, but Aaron will be the only one allowed up. Apparently God has something important to say regarding this covenant.
Moses has to remind the Israelites of what they saw God do to Egypt, and how God saved them and brought them to himself.
Exodus 19:5-6: "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
A conditional covenant. If Israel does this, God will do this. Moses tells the elders and they're like, "Yeah, we will do whatever the LORD says."
God wants to meet with Moses in a manner that the people of Israel will be able to hear their conversation. In order for Israel to be consecrated, they needed to wash their clothes, abstain from sexual relations, and be ready in three days. God is coming down onto Mount Sinai in His dense cloud for all of them to see. God tells them to barricade the mountain, and not to let anyone touch the mountain, or they will have to be put to death. God's holiness. What can you do? Not only would the offender be put to death, it would have to be via stoning or shot with arrows. No one could touch this person. Or animal. At least until the ram's horn sounded, signifying God's departure from the mountain.
On the morning of the third day, it was the God show. Thunder, Lightning, loud trumpet blasts, and a trembling encampment of people. God came down in fire, and smoke poured upwards. The mountain shook violently. Seismically serious. The trumpet crescendoed. And Moses and God began to speak. God wants to make sure no unauthorized Israelites are able to push through the crowd and set foot on the mountain, and Moses tells God that they can't, because God Himself made them put up barricades.
God has Moses go down and bring Aaron up with him, but Aaron will be the only one allowed up. Apparently God has something important to say regarding this covenant.
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