Exodus 20  Here is the beginning of the Law.  I realize the it is not Leviticus, but it is the basis from which the law was built.  Notice also that it was not a hard set of rules to follow, they were common sense rules that the Lord had established.  He simply established what He expected out of His people.  It wasn't intended to be hard, read through the requirements, I think that you will agree.  Compare this to our Christianity, we aren't far from this set of standards for a victorious Christian life.  Outside of the requirements for sacrifice, everything else is common sense and still applies.  20:5-6 is often misapplied, notice that the curse is lifted when the children come to know the Lord and keep His commandments.  Notice also all the punishments that are due when people violate these commands, today we wonder why we don't have victory in our lives, here we see a real reason why.  If we follow the Lord, He wants to be Lord.

Joe Turner
Exodus 20:

About the Sabbath and the Fear of God...

After giving Israel sufficient time to prepare for his coming, the Lord speaks to the nation from Mount Sinai (v. 1). While the "Law of Moses" is comprised of approximately 612 statutes and ordinances, most people are familiar with the 10 listed here in Chapter 20. Interesting to note that 9 of the 10 listed here are essentially repeated in the New Testament, however the Sabbath ordinances are not, and I wanted to take a moment to speak on it that.

The 4th Commandment regarding the Sabbath is one that has been hotly contested through the years. Some present day denominations go so far as to hold the position that if you do not keep the Sabbath (Saturday) then you are not saved. A mandatory requirement of Sabbath keeping would establish a salvation on the basis of works and not grace and the Bible clearly speaks to the contrary (Eph. 2:8-9). What many fail to realize is that while the Sabbath has not changed (it was and continues to be Saturday), the Sabbath was given to the Children of Israel as perpetual and everlasting token of their covenant with the Lord: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever" (Ex. 31:16-17). It was never intended for Gentile Christians to keep the Sabbath, and this is why the Apostles did not impose this in their decree from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). In fact for the first 300 years of the Church’s existence, many Christians observed BOTH the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord’s day (Sunday), until the Council of Laodicea moved to abolish this practice in AD 364.

Finally, I again see that after hearing the voice of God for themselves, the Israelites were simply terrified. When you really sit down and think about it, who would not be? The awesomeness of God was just too much to handle and they pleaded with Moses to be their intermediary between the Nation and God, despite Moses' reassurance that God's intent was not to strike fear in his people, but to build up and test their desire to remain committed to serving him (v. 20).

Reggie
 
Exodus 20:1-13

December 14, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Song of Solomon 3-4; Revelation 7-11

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 2:5

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

I realized after sending the study yesterday that I put the memory verse in the wrong spot.  I went through the study yesterday and felt the need to change the memory verse at the end, then changed the wrong spot, sorry.

Exodus 20:1-13 (NASB95)
1 Then 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 slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to 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 leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 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 of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. [1]

The prerequisite to the Ten Commandments is found in verse 2.  "I am the LORD your God," This simple statement sets the tone for the rest of the words of God.  If a person does not have God as the Lord of their life, then what is the point of following the Ten Commandments? We will see that the Ten Commandments are the basis of the entire law. 

The first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me."  As Christians all of us would heartily agree that this is the truth in our lives, but is it?  Consider everything in your life, is there anything that takes more priority in your life than God does?  If anything has a higher priority than God, then that is the god of your life.  The people of Israel probably thought that that was a no-brainer, since all the false gods of Egypt were proven to be fakes.  Later though, we will see Israel chasing after false gods with a passion, as a result of this sin, they experienced exile to Babylon and Assyria, later to be busted up as a nation and scattered to the four winds.  Recently they have been re-gathered as the Nation of Israel. 

The second Commandment had to do with worship of God.  It almost sounds like a repeat of the first commandment until you think about it.  The first commandment had to do with each persons relationship with God.  That had to do with the everyday lives of Israel, the second commandment is different.  It had to do with worship of God. 

There are two sections to this commandment, first the warning.  God warns them that if they become involved in idol worship, the sin will be punished all the way down to the third and fourth generations.  The next words are interesting, "of those who hate Me".  How would you consider these words applicable to the daily lives of believers?  How could they hate God?  If something else becomes greater than God, in the case of this commandment, graven images, then by comparison, God is hated.  Think of it another way, let's say that our gods are our computers, trucks, boats, or even what they can do for us, spending time at the river, surfing the net for pornography, whatever, then when this takes a place of more importance than God has in our lives, we hate God.  He clearly establishes that He gets first place in our lives, anything short of that is hatred.  (I didn't write it, just making observations).

The second part of that commandment is interesting, NIV makes a little different translation that makes it even more interesting.  God said he would visit the sin on three or four generations, righteousness will be passed on to a thousand generations!  Those who keep His commandments will sow the seeds for their family to live the righteous life of obedience and love toward God for forty thousand years, (if a generation is 40 years).  Which would you rather be a part of?

The third commandment is interesting.  A lot of people look at this commandment as a order not to curse or use curse words.  It is not saying that although that could be one application.  The words actually speak of "mis-use" of God's name, another way to look at is is that the name of God is used "lightly".  This takes on an entirely different focus than we have traditionally focused on in this commandment. 

Leviticus 19:12 (NASB95)
12 ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

Psalm 139:20 (NASB95)
20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Deuteronomy 5:11 (NASB95)
11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. [2]

One way that the name of God was used in the Old Testament times was in the form of an oath.  Someone would swear by the name of God.  Yet this was only one application of the intention of this commandment.  The focus of the commandment was upon the Name of God.  The name Yahweh occurs 6828 times in the Old Testament, while Elohim occurs 2,600 times.  Both of these names are used in reference to the God of Israel, while Yahweh is used as an exclusive reference to the God of Israel, (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 3: Exodus).  The name of God was considered to be so sacred that the vowel markings were left off by the scribes of the early writings, and as a result of that, the proper pronunciation has been forgotten.  In short, any misuse of God's name is considered to be wrong, whether it is in the use as a validation of a contract, or in the use as a swear word.  God's name is Holy, therefore any misuse of it is serious, the end result, God's name is not to be taken lightly, it is a serious matter. 

The forth commandment deals with the Sabbath.  Last Year Reggie Norman sent in a comment that is excellent in this area, here it is: "The 4th Commandment regarding the Sabbath is one that has been hotly contested through the years. Some present day denominations go so far as to hold the position that if you do not keep the Sabbath (Saturday) then you are not saved. A mandatory requirement of Sabbath keeping would establish a salvation on the basis of works and not grace and the Bible clearly speaks to the contrary (Eph. 2:8-9). What many fail to realize is that while the Sabbath has not changed (it was and continues to be Saturday), the Sabbath was given to the Children of Israel as perpetual and everlasting token of their covenant with the Lord: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever" (Ex. 31:16-17). It was never intended for Gentile Christians to keep the Sabbath, and this is why the Apostles did not impose this in their decree from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). In fact for the first 300 years of the Church’s existence, many Christians observed BOTH the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord’s day (Sunday), until the Council of Laodicea moved to abolish this practice in AD 364."  

This is the longest text of any of the commandments.  If God spent that much time to detail who should be keeping the Sabbath, it must have been imporant to Him.  Consider also that the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest, yet it was the one day that was set aside to worship the Lord through spiritual services and sacrifices.  God led by example, He worked for six days to create the earth, then rested on the seventh.  Reggie pointed out that this command was only to the Jews, and he is probably correct in that, on the other hand, why do we buy the other nine commandments and throw this one out?  Perhaps the early church had it right, perhaps it would be better to worship the Lord on Saturday, and on Sunday.  It kind of makes you wonder why the forefathers of our nation developed a five day work-week, doesn't it? 

The first four commandments deal with the relationship between God and man.  This changes in commandments 6-10, they deal with relationships which is between men.  They are common sense rules about good community standards.

Exodus 21:17 (NASB95)
17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

Leviticus 20:9 (NASB95)
9 ‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.

Proverbs 20:20 (NASB95)
20 He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

Deuteronomy 21:20-23 (NASB95)
20 “They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear. 22 “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.[3]

The fifth commandment is interesting because if a child did not honor his father and his mother, he was thrown over the city wall and stoned to death.  Rebellion was not tolerated.

Genesis 9:6 (NASB95)
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. [4]

The sixth commandment is highly debated as to whether it means actual pre-meditated murder or murder in any sense of the word.  The cities of refuge were in place to protect those who unintentionally murdered someone. 

I am going to close here, rather than hurrying through the chapter. 

Father, as we read through Your Word today, impress Your thoughts on our minds. Show us practical ways that we can apply Your word to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

[1] [2] [3] [4] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
Joe,
 
Thanks.
 
Reggie's comments are very useful and right on the mark! Nine of the commandments are repeated in the New Testament. The fourth is changed for we worship on the Lord's day, the first day of the week:
1. Worship only God:
Exodus 20:3 (NASB) “You shall have no other gods before Me.
Matthew 4:10 (NASB) Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
Revelation 22:9 (NASB) And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.”


2. Not make and worship graven images:

Exodus 20:4-6 (NASB) 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Acts 17:29 (NASB) “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

Romans 1:23 (NASB) and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.


3. Not falsely swear using the Lord's name in vain:

Exodus 20:7 (NASB) “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

James 5:12 (NASB) But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; so that you may not fall under judgment.


4. Observe the Sabbath:

Exodus 20:8-11 (NASB) 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 of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

BUT:

Colossians 2:16 (NASB) Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—

Note a change from the Sabbath (seventh day) to the first day of the week for Christian worship:

Acts 20:7 (NASB) And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

Revelation 1:10 (NASB95)
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,

 


5. Honor father and mother:

Exodus 20:12 (NASB) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

Ephesians 6:1-3 (NASB) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.


6. Not murder:

Exodus 20:13 (NASB) “You shall not murder.

Romans 13:9 (NASB) For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”


7. Not commit adultery:
Exodus 20:14 (NASB) “You shall not commit adultery.
Romans 13:9 (NASB) For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:13 (NASB) Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
8. Not steal:
Exodus 20:15 (NASB) “You shall not steal.
Romans 13:9 (NASB) For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
 Ephesians 4:28 (NASB) Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.


9. Not give false witness:

Exodus 20:16 (NASB) “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Colossians 3:9 (NASB) Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

10. Not covet:
Exodus 20:17 (NASB) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Romans 13:9 (NASB) For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Ephesians 5:3 (NASB) But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints;

Lifted up the requests.
 
IHG,
 
Erik

 
Exodus 20:14-26

December 15, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: 2 John

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 2:5

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Exodus 20:14-26 (NASB95)
14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 ‘You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall 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. 25 ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

Hebrews 13:4 (NASB95)
4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Genesis 2:24 (NASB95)
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:1-12 (NASB95)
1 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”[1]

We read through this commandment and miss the impact of what is being said.  God considered marriage to be sacred, once you were married, it was for life.  Jesus confirmed that when He taught on earth, validating that there was absolutely no excuse for divorce.  As a matter of fact, even if a couple got divorced, they still committed adultery if they took part in another relationship according to Jesus.  In other words, if divorce takes place, the couple is to remain celebrate for the rest of their lives in order to comply with the teachings of Jesus.  Hard stuff isn't it?   

Leviticus 18:20 (NASB95)
20 ‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

Leviticus 20:10 (NASB95)
10 ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 22:22-27 (NASB95)
22 “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. 23 “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 25 “But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. 26 “But you shall do nothing to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, so is this case. 27 “When he found her in the field, the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her. [2]

The rules regarding adultery were stiff in the Old Testament, it included death.  The reason for this is because it challenges the very basic structure that the home is built upon.  There are a lot of references in the Bible which speak of our relationship with God like the relationship in marriage.  If the marriage is corrupt, then the picture of the relationship between God and man could also be corrupt.   

Leviticus 19:20 (NASB95)
20 ‘Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free. [3]

The word "adultery" goes beyond the idea of sexual purity in marriage.  It includes sexual purity between married couples, and those engaged to be married, (betrothed). The contrast to this is that immorality, or fornication between two unmarried people is not considered to be nearly as grievous because in the Law, those who committed fornication were allowed to live.  Adultery was considered to be a horrible crime against God.  When did the horrible sin stop being horrible?  In our day, many of the great sins of the Bible have been redefined by society to where they are hardly considered to be wrong at all.  Adultery is one of these sins.  Jesus spoke out against it in the New Testament, and people go through hoops explaining away what He said.  When Jesus said "except for immorality", the true intention of the text was that "even if your wife turns to prostitution", you are not to divorce her.  The idea according to the text is that this is the only time that you are not responsible for causing your wife to commit adultery, not that immorality is a reason for divorce.  Yep, that one won't go over well in our modern churches, we are looking for every way possible to justify divorce.  The disciples put the clincher on the statement in Matt 19:10, "The disciples said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.""  You get the picture, God gave the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, they did not change meaning by the time the New Testament came around, and they still have not changed meaning today.

Thievery is a real problem in any society.  God established that it was not acceptable because this cuts away at the very fabric of trust that a society is built upon.

Exodus 21:16 (NASB95)
16 “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 24:7 (NASB95)
7 “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you. [4]

Some feel that the verse is not translated properly and that the stealing that is spoken of is in regard to kidnapping or stealing humans for slaves.  This seems more consistent with the flow of the text because it is dealing with person to person relationships, not property rights.  Regardless the way that it is viewed, stealing cuts away at every fiber of society and undermines basic trust.

Deuteronomy 19:18-21 (NASB95)
18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.[5]

Bearing false witness includes lying or testifying falsely about your neighbor that is intentionally going to cause him harm or injury.  This puts in place protection for the reputations of people as well as their personal rights.  God saw false witnesses as being extremely evil and destructive in the relationships between people.  The idea behind this word indicates a judicial context where a person stands before a court.  Consider the reason God said this, Satan is a liar, the enemy of God is a liar, why would God want to allow His people to imitate that type of behavior?

The last commandment has to do with wanting what your neighbor has.  It doesn't matter if it is his wife, or his possessions, they are not to be sought after.  The idea behind this is that of self-gratification, wanting the possessions of another person so that it will make you happy or make you feel like you are successful.  This really comes down to comparing ourselves with others to gage our happiness.  We are not supposed to be comparing ourselves with our neighbors in order to attain happiness based upon the comparison with others.  Our happiness is supposed to be a result of our relationship with God.  The old saying "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" gives the attitude of this commandment.  This is another commandment that our modern day society would have trouble with.  One of the driving factors in our society is one-up-man ship, staying one step ahead of our neighbors.

Try to place yourself in the shoes of the Hebrews, try to imagine the awesome storm that was going on the mountain as well as the constant reminder of the trumpet of God playing in the background.  It was frightening and struck fear in the hearts of the people, literal terror.  Verse 20 translates a little strange, Moses tells them not to be afraid, then later that God wanted them to fear Him.  The translators dropped the ball on that one, the idea is that they are not to be afraid of God, but they are to have a respect of God based on His awesome power, as a result of that intense respect, they would find the strength to abstain from sin. 

The specific sins that God was concerned about was that they would not have any gods before Him.  He made a point of telling them that as a result of the respect that they had for Him, they were not to have any false gods before Him, and certainly not idols made of silver or gold that they were to make themselves.  This is interesting because God warned them in advance not to create the god that they would soon create and cause themselves a world of trouble very soon.

God gives instructions as to how that they are to worship Him.  He details the specifics on sacrificing animals, event to the point of building an altar of uncut stones.  Think about that for a moment, why uncut stones?  Later God instructed them in how to build the altars, as well as how to have craftsmen build the implements in the temple.  The reason behind wielding a tool may not appear as it seems.  It could be that God figured that nothing men could do could compare to the simplicity of nature that He had put in place to smooth the rocks.  On the other hand, if men used tools to create a magnificent altar, wouldn't men be focused upon the workmanship and the quality of the altar?  The natural tendency would be to hire the greatest craftsmen to build literal works of art in serving the Lord.  The tendency for man would be to focus on the altar, and admire the workmanship of it, thereby profaning the entire purpose of the altar.  The altar is nothing, it is a pile of rocks, what is important is the sacrifice that is made upon the altar.

Take that a step further, Jesus was crucified on a cross.  The most important thing about that fact was that Jesus died on the cross, He was given as a living sacrifice and died upon a cross.  The important thing about that story was that Jesus shed His blood to forgive the sins of men and to offer the final sacrifice to end all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament Law.  Jesus was that sacrifice, He was what was important, not the cross.  Yet today many people have crosses hanging on their walls, glued to the dashboards of their cars and worn around their necks, even dangling from their ears.  These crosses mean almost nothing to most of those who display them because they are focused on the wood, not on the sacrifice that was made.  How many use their crosses as good luck charms and forget that Jesus died on a cross to offer the opportunity for man to be forgiven of his sins and to live with God for etenity in heaven? 

It is the same thing, if God had allowed them to build fancy altars, the people would have worshipped the altar, and not been driven to worship God as a result of the sacrifice that was given.  Just like the cross, when the altar is the focus, the entire purpose of the sacrifice is lost.

Verse 26 expounds further on the idea of the altar being of natural stones and nothing elaborate.  The altars to the false gods of the day had huge elaborate altars, with steps leading up to them since they were on elevated platforms.  God directed men to build simple altars, without craftsmanship, and low to the ground so that they would not have to climb up the steps to offer sacrifices.  This spoke of two things, first that the priest would not accidentally expose himself by climbing up on the altar.  That would be very bad and would distract people away from the intention of the sacrifice.  The second reason could have been that you can't get to God by building a high platform, He lives in fellowship with His believers, therefore lives among them.  Building a high altar suggests that God must be above men, dwelling in the heavens.  The intention of the sacrifice was to pay the penalty for sin so that man could be in fellowship with a Holy God.  This did not change, Jesus walked among men fellowshipping with them, died among them, and rose from the dead to walk again among men.  Our God is a personal God who reaches out to us on our level. 

I read in one of the commentaries that the last three verses in this chapter are misplaced.  I disagree with his stand on that, God set up the Ten Commandments, on which the entire law was based.  Everything in the Ten Commandments is the introduction for the rest of the law.  Yet nothing in the Ten Commandments means anything without the penalty for sin being paid in full.  We can live perfect holy lives according to all the rules of the Ten Commandments, and still go to hell because of the sin that is not forgiven in our hearts.  The instructions regarding the altar are necessary since we cannot even walk into the presence of God without the forgiveness of sin.  The sacrifice is what is important, for centuries men have tried to live perfect lives without acknowledging the sacrifice that was made.  Without the sacrifice, all the holy and righteous living means absolutely nothing in the sight of God.  His own exposition of the Ten Commandments confirms that the first commandment is the most sacred, and that the sacrifice is the most critical of all.

Hebrews 9:22 (NASB95)
22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

James 2:10 (NASB95)
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. [6]

I may have stretched the text a bit this morning, I apologize if I have offended you.  If you have differing opinions I would encourage you to write in and express your take on the passage, all comments are welcomed.  Remember, Christmas is upon us, it is time for all of us to re-think our Christianity and determine to place Christ first in our lives.  This is a New Year's Commitment started early, and committed to for a lifetime.

Father, as we consider Your word, speak to each of our hearts and take us beyond the actions of Christianity to the application of Your word in our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
 
 
 
Last changed: 09/17/08