The Ten Commandments (Exo 20a)

The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-17

Key Verse 20:2-3

Introduction:

God freed Israel from the bondage in slavery under Egyptian King and led Israel out of Egypt to this mountain, Horeb on her way to the Promised Land. God led her this way with a clear purpose. He wanted to have a solid relationship with Israel; offered a particular relationship, God as their Lord and Israel as His chosen people with a great blessing.   God expressed this intention clearly in Exo 19:6 in form of covenant.  Israel accepted God’s offer.  Upon receiving this agreement, God decided to come down on earth in order to give Israel the covenant of promise. As God came down on the mountain Horeb, His presence was notable by the billows of smoke and fire. All Israel came closer to the foot of this mountain in order to meet God in a very close proximity. There was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. (19:16) In this way God was there and spoke before Israel and Israel heard directly the voice of God. What God said in this encounter is called ten words or the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments is the first part of the covenant conditions. This is followed by a series of covenant codes, called ‘the book of covenants (24:7).  This second part, God spoke to Moses and Moses gave it to Israel because Israel was so fearful of God speaking directly to them (20:19). Upon receiving this second part, Moses and the leaders of Israel built an altar at the foot of the mountain and the covenant was ratified before God (24:9-11).

After ratification of the covenant, God called Moses to come up on the mountain. So Moses went up and stayed there for 40 days to receive two tablet stones inscribed by God as well as more details of the law on the means of worship (25:1-31:18). 

So we are to understand that the Ten Commandments is the first and the most essential condition of the covenant condition between God and His chosen people.

Preamble/prologue:

V1“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

This is called preamble, identifying the parties involved on this covenant. Also it makes the prologue, stating the condition of this covenant between God, the Lord, and his people Israel.

Here, God introduced himself as the God that led Israel out of the slavery in Egypt. By saying so, God reiterating the fact that God had showed them His grace and mercy as well as Hs power as the Lord of the heaven and the earth. In this way. Israel was greatly indebted to God for their very existence.
Based on these facts, God was proposing these conditions of the covenant.  By this, God also implicitly claims that he has a right and reasonable authority to demand their obedience in faith.    

So, if one takes the Ten Commandments simply as the law of human moral, then he is likely to fail to recognize the full meaning and significance of the Ten Commandments.   The key to proper understanding of the Ten Commandment is that it was given as a part of covenant between God and Israel based on a prior agreement to enter into covenant relationship and the recipients of this covenant is greatly indebted to God for their very existence. If one is not willing to enter into a covenant relationship with God, and if one does feel indebted to God, then this commandments may be just a simple code of human morals and unqualified or unwarranted demand from God.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

First, God demanded that Israel choose to take God as their only one God. He is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He is the God that rescued Israel from the bondage of Egypt through his mighty acts upon Egypt, the ten plagues. The last of the ten plagues, killing all firstborns of Egypt while exempting Israel’s firstborns, was a demonstration of God’ authority as a righteous judge of all the living. Who this God became clear in two ways: first he is the God of promise, a very specific promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Second he is the God who demonstrated His power as well as His love for Israel by led them out of the slavery in Egypt. In both of these two, God made himself known clearly who He is through historical events in which God demonstrated his power, authority, will and character.  In this way when God said this to Israel, it was all too clear for them who this God was. There are so many gods. How can those gods be tested if they are genuine god or not? Here are two; if any gods did not demonstrated himself with such mighty power in human history and if any gods that did not prove themselves as the authority of history through promise-fulfillment, then those gods failed to be true God and the God that appeared and made covenant with Israel.  Though God himself gave these two proofs in history, in order to convince the world, God gave third one. He sent His son Jesus. Jesus’ ministry proved in these two ways that God, His father was genuine, the only God. Jesus calmed the storm by his words and walked on the water, healing all kinds of diseases and raised a dead to life. These miracles demonstrated that His father is God of creation and life. God did raise His son from the dead as the final proof as the Lord of life and as the God of promise. In this way God gave the world ample evidences that He is the one and only God of the universe.

In today’s world, the entire human races are exposed to all the religions of the world through easy travel and easy communication. Many people of different beliefs are struggling to coexist together. Each religious belief claim that they believe the genuine gods. So monotheistic beliefs, polytheistic beliefs, as well as syncretic beliefs, not to mention agnostics and atheists, are living side by side.  Such claims created great confusions in the minds of people in 21^st century.

Among monotheistic beliefs, one of the most common confusion that we face is if the god of Muslim faith is the same God that gave this commandments. The god of Muslim faith failed to this test; that god did not give the promise through Jacob, and did not demonstrated the mighty power that were demonstrated through the process of freeing Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The most prominent demonstration of God’s power is his saving of the firstborns of Israel while killing all the firstborns of Egyptians and dividing the red sea and giving manna from heaven, his visible presence as pillar of fire and cloud.  No gods of the world has anything to do with what God demonstrated in history.

Out of these confusion comes a belief to accept all major religions to be genuine and fuse few of them together into one.  We call this a syncretic belief. In this belief, one accept God of Israel and gods of other religions as well.  The best example is Baha’i faith.

Here God is saying that there should be no other gods before Him. Jesus called this God, my father. He also said that His father gave promise to Abraham. In this relationship, father-son, God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and His son Jesus excludes all other gods of this age as the object of our faith. 

That God is the one and only God for the world, for the universe. There are many gods or so called gods. But for His chosen, this God should be the one and only Lord of universe. Israel must honor the Lord as their only Lord and as He is worthy of. 

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Second is about how to serve or worship God. Almost all religions of the world have some form of images to worship. Buddhism and Hindus are the best examples. Images are man-made forms of gods. They, without exception, come out of the objects of what men can see in this world. Such images derives its origin from visible objects of this world to which men can easily identify and remember; fundamentally they are out of men’s mind or from what they see and understand. But God forbid his people making any form of images because only true God is not of this world and cannot be represented by any objects made by men or any objects of this world. If one makes image of a god, it is surely not of the Lord, the God of Israel.  

This is made clear in what Jesus said in his conversation with a woman; John 4:24 “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Men’s life and minds are utterly fixated on what they see and understand through their minds. The true God cannot be found or understood by what we see and understand from the world we are living in. The moment we make up an image of god thinking that this is the Lord, then we miss out the true God in spirit and His revelation to us.

So the Lord God wanted to make sure that his children shall not think that any objects and images of this world be object of worship or part of their Lord.  If one does so, then it is considered as an expression of their hate or distrust toward the true God, YHWH and God would surely bring judgment on his children reaching to third and fourth generations. We know that three or four generation can live together; grand-grandfather, grandfather, father and their children, i.e. three or four generations of a family, can share their living together. Once they see these objects or images, it is hard to erase the images from their minds and stands as obstacle against knowing the true God. Once such images of god is created in their mind, the true God is excluded and they are surely excluded from God’s blessing. 

Instead if one loves God who demonstrated himself through history and shows respect that God revealed in history and honor to that Lord God in history, God would surely bring His blessings to the thousand generations. So loving God is not through images but through His revelation in history and in His words.  Those who believe the God of Israel, the only creator God shall not make any images of gods and shall not bow down or worship any images of gods

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

The Third one is not to misuse the name of the Lord. It is about how we use the name of the Lord in our communication with others. In other words, it is about how we relate with others within the faith in Him. Whatever ways we utter the name of God, they must reflect or honor His authority and His power as the Lord. We cannot falsely represent His authority by using His name carelessly or we should not use his name in the context of demeaning his authority and power as the Lord. If true God, the Lord, is in our hearts, then what we say must reflect our honor to Him in our word as well as our behavior. We cannot say that we believe and honor the Lord from our hearts and dishonor him by our spoken words.

In these three commands, God clearly delineated the boundaries of how we are to relate with God; he is the only one God and we should not worship any images, should not misuse of God’s name. We are to relate him in spirit as the one who has authority over our lives.  Within these boundaries, we are free to believe, serve and honor Him.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

The fourth one is to keep the Sabbath.

In reviewing human history, there was no records of the seventh day of rest before God initiated it in Israel. So it is God’s novel idea.  Israel did not have the Sabbath when they were living under Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. God created the Sabbath in their calendar as he gave manna to his people Israel. He deliberately gave Israel manna double portion on the sixth day so that they might not need to go out to get manna on the seventh day. So we may say that one of the reason of offering manna was to introduce the Sabbath for Israel.  By this time, i.e. the time of getting this commands, they experienced the Sabbath day twice; in these two times, they did not go out to pick up manna. They rested and ate the manna that were already cooked on the sixth day.  This would continue for the next 40 years. God would train them the observance of the Sabbath for the next 40 year by giving them the double portion of manna on the sixth day. So by this history, God spoke clearly one message; God supplies the needs of his people and the Sabbath day is the day to celebrate it and give thanks to the Lord. 

But the Sabbath rest was not instituted at this time.

11 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.

God had created the world over 6 days. At the end of creation the earth was so good and perfect in his eyes. So in his happiness in the perfectness of the world that he created, God rested on the seventh day. Like this, the Sabbath rest was at the beginning of creation of the world and was the foundation the world that God created. So the seventh day is the reminder of that rest and shall be the day of rest in God’s perfection and goodness. Also what God created, i.e. the heaven and the earth, is framed in this cycle. Not just Israel but all living creatures, including animals, are to rest on the seventh day.

So God implemented this at the time when He gave manna to Israel in the wilderness. Eating free food on the seventh day was the reminder of that seventh day of creation, the celebration of that day and expression of that vision for the restoration of that day. (Heb 3)

This is the day of rest. God gave them manna and they did not have to work to eat. God’s message is clear; He would give them food and we are to rest in Him. The Sabbath is the living emblem of the rest that God offers. This rest is not just for men but for all the world, including the land.

As we know, soon after the fall of man, God subjected man into hard labor. So, no hard work and no food and there came endless anxiety to provide food on the table. This has been the true reality of men in sin.  So our body and mind are thoroughly framed by work-food principle. But God opened a new way for us in His grace. That is the seventh day rest in God’s provision. It can happen only by faith in God who would provide the food. Because of this, this day is the day of test if we believe in God or not. When God instituted the Sabbath first time in Israel, many went out on the seventh day in order to pick up the manna as they did on previous six days. But when they went out, they did not find any. They did not believe what God said. God rebuked them for their lack of obedience and faith. Like this, keeping the Sabbath is a test if one is believe in God  and His provision for life or not.

The rest now is a preview of the rest forth coming in the land of God’s promise. It is a foretaste of what God would provide for them for good in coming age of full blessing.  So by Sabbath keeping, Israel enjoyed the rest and they hoped for the day of eternal rest with God the father in coming years. In him is no death so by having union with him we taste and experience the peace in eternity.

The first three commands are expressed in negative fashion in order to set the outer boundary of our relationship with the Lord. This is to make their lives rich and full within this boundary. But here the command of Sabbath keeping is said in a positive form. This is an answer to the question on what the sense of direction is for them to make their lives rich and full. By trusting Him and relying on God’s provision for life, they were to keep their lives holy. So being and keeping holy is the sense of direction for His chosen people Israel. In this way, the salvation offered through this covenant as well as the sanctified life is already here in actual reality through the Sabbath keeping.

Lastly it is deeply rooted in God’s purpose of creating the universe and is purported to fulfill that purpose. At the end of all creation, God was so happy and rested from all works. It was perfect, reflecting the all aspects of his being, his love, peace, harmony and goodness and righteousness. When man sinned against God, all these are lost and God wanted to restore that perfection in peace; this become possible by restoration of His relationship with man. Sabbath is the center of that purpose and will, reestablishing the relationship with men in His holiness and righteousness.

Though it is a positive command, it is apodictic, i.e. absolute;

“‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.(Exo 31:14)

If one does not keep the Sabbath, he is missing out the peace and rest from the Lord and he has no connection to the Lord. Simply he cannot be part of God’s people. In this way Sabbath keeping is the sum action of all four commands that God gave.

How does this apply to us? Once Jesus’ disciples picked up heads of grain on a Sabbath. Pharisees saw this and blamed Jesus’ disciples. To them, Jesus answered this; 

8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ( Matt 12:8)

As we noted, the key feature of the Sabbath is rest and hope for that rest for men. Here Jesus as the Lord provided his disciples that rest and claimed that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. So Jesus himself is the Sabbath rest and Sabbath hope and Sabbath celebration. He demonstrated and fulfilled by overcoming the power of death through His resurrection. So honing him and celebration in His resurrection is all that God required Israel to do by keeping the Sabbath day holy. So it is not on Sabbath day, Saturday but on Sunday, the day of resurrection, the day when Jesus fulfilled all requirement for our rest in God.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

The Fifth is obviously the last of the first five commandments. It is about one’s attitude toward parents. The key word in relating one’s parents is ‘honor’. It is giving them proper respect and honor, not because what they do or what they can do, but simply because they are parents. They have statutory or standing authority over their children regardless of what they did or did not do. It is interesting that this command follows immediately after the commands concerning their attitude toward God. This implies that our parents are the authority to us next to our God. The content of the sixth to the tenth is mainly about one’s relationship with other people.  So we are to acknowledge and accept that one’s relationship with parents takes priority in its weight and importance over our relationship with other people. When one dishonor his or her parents, he or she would have difficulty in maintaining relationship with others in godly way.

In this way, parents may reflect somewhat the authority of God; it is hinted in this verse;

39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time (Deut 4:40)

Here if they keep Lord’s commands, they would live long in the land of God’s promise. This is similar to the fifth in the sense that if they honor their parents, they are promised to live long. What does it mean? One’s acknowledgement of God’s authority is inseparable to one’s honor to his or her parents. So as much as we honor God, we must not fail to honor our parents as long as their directives do not go against God’s will.

Sixth to tenth

The sixth through the tenth are about how we relate with fellow men

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

In looking at these five, it is obvious that they are listed in descending order, first one is the more important than the succeeding ones. So the violation of the first one is the most egregious sin against God; that is the murder, taking away life of another man. The last one is the least damaging, ‘coveting’ someone else’s, inner thought that is against others. 

The Sixth is the first of the second half; it is the most serious offense against our neighbor or fellow men. The best example of this is Cain, who killed his brother out of jealousy. His fifth generation grandson Lamech killed a man and said this:

Gen 4: 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.

Some injured him. So he killed the man. It was the utmost expression of his righteousness upon other men. It is denying God’s care for the man and God’s authority over the life of the man. It is also demeaning of righteousness of God. 

The seventh, the next to murder, is adultery.  It is a violation of trust and love between husband and wife. It is worse than stealing, and is almost as bad as murdering someone. In the time of Israel kingdom, death sentence was delivered to the violation of the first seven commandments, up to adultery. We can see how serious adultery was. But nowadays, adultery is nonconsequential. The law of the land does not consider it worthy to be judged or condemned to prison. The spouse may get divorce; that’s all. The reason is because the marriage is just an agreement between man and woman; it is not a violation toward God.

Stealing is taking someone else’s. Not work but to enrich himself; a form of selfishness

False testimony is also a form of selfishness denying God’s justice and there is no fear of God in the deceiving heart.

The tenth is what are inside of men’s mind. They are stated not against men’s actions but are simply a violation of God’s authority, his righteousness and holiness that exists in men’s inner being. Such ungodly thoughts are also a violation of the covenant that would jeopardize the covenant relationship because they are offensive to God’s character.  So, covetousness, that is sitting in the depth of our hearts, unexpressed in our actions, yet is hostile to God’s holiness and his glory. 

God looks at the totality of our being, which includes what we harbor in the depth of our hearts.

All these five commands are set against the core of our mindset, the selfishness, that is the mindset that is against God and against our neighbors; all these commands are set to the mind that is antithetical to love;

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Luke 10:

The Ten Commandments are God’s directives for men to move from the love of ourselves to the love of God and to the love of our neighbor. At the same time, God said; you must be holy because I am holy.  In order to keep the covenant effective; be his people and be holy nation, a priesthood nation. We must be holy.  It is rooted in God’s character, God’s holiness and God’s love.

As whole, the Ten Commandments are the outer boundary of God’s chosen people. If one chose to stay within this boundary, he has so much freedom and blessing and assurance in God’s provisions as His children.

Within this boundary, the sense of direction is holiness as we noted in the discussion on the Sabbath. This is far clearer when we consider how God delivered this commandments. God personally came down and spoke directly and presented Himself in form of holiness and judgment (19:9, 18-20).

They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

On seeing this God and hearing His word in such an overwhelming power and glory, what Israel felt was nothing but ‘fear of death’. God’s holiness and glory was with or accompanied with the Ten Commandments. It means that the ten commandment is the best representation or reflection of God’s righteousness and holiness. God’s purpose is clear; by offering the Ten Commandments, God demands His people to conform to His righteousness and holiness so that they may be His people and they may receive full blessing as children of God.

God has not changed his mind since. Despite of God’s overwhelming presentation of this commands, Israel failed to keep them holy. Jesus had to come and to make His people holy. Peter says this:

1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

If we want to know what is the outer boundary of ‘holy life’ then the Ten Commandments express it in a most explicit form. None of us shall not be found in violation of these commandments. God made this possible in us through our faith in Jesus, the perfector of our faith.