Feb 5, Exodus 19-21
Exodus 19. After about 2-3 months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites find themselves at Mount Sinai (pronounced Sigh-nigh). This is the same mountain range area where God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. Again, we have different names here, as back in Exodus 3:1 the mountain that Moses went on was Mt. Horeb. But we learn that Horeb is a Hebrew word for 'waste' and was a specific location. The word Horeb is used 17 times in the Bible and you will see more of it, as Horeb is more like a mountain range with Mt. Sinai as a specific mountain in the range of Horeb. With the word also meaning 'waste' - we see that this location picked by God isn't what humans would pick as the place to show our power. But here in the desert waste land, God shows that it isn't the landscape that will make them prosper and picks a desert mountain to speak to His people. So here, Israel camped at the base of the mountain and Moss went up the mountain to talk with God. God is starting to prepare the Israelites for a life of obedience and holiness, structured with some rules to help them. In essence, if they obey, God will make them His treasured possession (think about that…). God, being very intentional, prepares to speak to Moses in front of the Israelites so that they may hear and that they may believe that Moses is forever a prophet of God. The people were warned and told not to come up on the mountain or touch it, or they would die. God told them - through Moses - to get consecrated (set apart, cleaned up for God) so that He can come to them. Just like God said, on the third day he appeared to them and the people trembled. God showed up in thunder and lightning. He came in a cloud with loud trumpets blaring! The sound was getting louder and louder; when Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder!
Here God speaks to all the people. Not just to Moses, as a speech messenger. God speaks so that all of those who came out of Egypt heard His Laws. The ten commandments are explained here. Try to think about the ten commandments not as something restrictive to not allow you to have any fun, as the world sees it, but try to look at it as a set of guidelines that liberates you to live a life free of regret and selfishness, and as a love offering (gift) of obedience, to the God that saves.
I am going to break down each commandment into simple language. So here it goes. This is what the Bible says:
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, (Yahweh your Majestic Creator) who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
#1 “You shall have no other gods before me. What this means is that there are other 'false gods' out there, vying for your love and attention. By this commandment you shall not depend on anything supernatural other than God in Heaven. As well as have anything more important on this Earth, than Him.
#2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity (sins) of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. What this means is that an idol is a visible image, which gives evidence of the presence of an invisible divinity. Or it can be something good that God has given you and it becomes so important that it takes God's place as important in your life. This can be a person, a car, a job. The idea that you carve it with your hands shows that we can make them, whether out of sheer will or guided by our hands. The list is endless. So we must be most careful with these first two. And the Lord knows this. So you will see this theme throughout scripture.
#3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. What this means is a little more then what you think it means. The word 'vain' in Hebrew actually means 'emptiness.' Which means that we must not utter the name of the Lord with emptiness of heart. What is interesting is that this word is from an 'unused word form.' Meaning that it is what is not spoken, which is also spoken of. This commandment also means that we must not speak His name in forgetfulness, which also refers to not giving Him honor, when honor is due. If you fail to give God the glory for something He has done, then you are breaking this commandment. An example would be, 'As luck would have it' or 'Look at the power of Mother Nature...' All forgetting to give honor where honor is due. It is what was not spoken, that is condemnable. Which isn't what we think about when quoting this verse.
#4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and 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. This Sabbath day, was actually Saturday. If we were from the days of old, we would have to reserve from doing anything on this day. This day, was a physical example, of knowing that our work, actually wasn't that important as God's work. Resting from work pointed to God, who we would rely on for our salvation as well as our well being. As those who rested on that day, they would also do sacrifices to the Lord and would remember Him. Today, since Jesus has come, it isn't one day a week we are to remember that God saved us. Instead it is everyday. Everyday, to the Christian, is a Sabbath rest from our works as we rely on Jesus for our salvation. Scholars are still divided whether this commandment was completed when Jesus was here, or if we in fact have to observe this day. But I think that if you are convicted to observe it, by all means, observe it. But for those that are convicted otherwise, they have just as much scripture to back them up. But Paul stated a little bit about this in the New Testament. He stated in Colossians 2:16 that Sabbath was a conscience decision, and no one should condemn those that didn't observe it. He also stated in Galatians 4:10 that we shouldn't observe days, months, or years. This makes me think that we don't have to do the Sunday thing or rest from our work, as Christ did all the work for us. But if you would like to, there is no harm in taking a day to enjoy the things that God has made. But just make sure you aren't squeezing God in, one day a week. He needs your everyday. For the Sabbath is everyday, for the Christian walk. If this intrigues you, jump ahead to Hebrews in the New Testament and read all about how Christians have entered God's Sabbath Rest, by trusting in Him.
#5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. This commandment accepts that God is the one that has orchestrated our family line, and is in control of our current situation. I know there are times and circumstances that aren't ideal and that makes the honoring part hard. But as Christians we are to love the best that we can, and know that God has put us where we are. We can do our best and honor these parents God has assigned to us. Even if we can't have a 'relationship' with them; we can still love and pray for them.
#6 “You shall not murder. This commandment sounds easy. Do not murder anyone. Now accidental or war 'murder' is also another issue here; as the word in Hebrew means 'man-slayer.' Meaning murdering by hate or evil. But apart from the obvious it also means to not hate. This is the hard part. Who do you hate? If you hate someone, you are in big trouble with this commandment. As 1 John 2:11 states that whoever hates his brother isn't obeying God's law. We have to learn to let God be the judge. And part of this commandment is letting God take revenge over you. It is not your job. This also condemns suicide or assisted suicide, as well as abortion, as they are all types of premeditated murdering.
#7 “You shall not commit adultery. This means that you shall not do anything physical or emotional with someone who you are not suppose to. This means if you are married, to not do anything with another person that is personal. I have friends who have just have not had 'sex' with the other person, but did all sorts of other sexual things. But that isn't what this means. This means 'anything.' This also means anything 'digital.' Pornography is a sin against God (and your spouse if you have one) every time you click 'yes.' This mental adultery is destructive and addictive; both terms define sin to a tee. Living in a pornographic society, this makes this number 7 especially hard to obey. For example, the Super Bowl commercials are pornographic in nature and unashamed no less. We debate what pornographic really consists of. But if it has anything to do with lust and the promotion of sexuality; it is pornographic. This means that most of our video games, movies, tv shows, advertising boards, and the like - are infected with breaking this commandment. So- flee from any form of sexuality that does not honor God.
#8 “You shall not steal. This means the obvious to 'not steal' as well as to not take anything that isn't yours. Remember God is the one who has decided what physical things are yours in the first place. To take something that doesn't belong to you, is defying your acceptance to God's orchestrating. This also means the little things. Pens that aren't yours, that you take because you like them. Silverware from restaurants. Anything. This word also indicates 'deceiving' as sometimes we have to deceive to keep something we stole. All connecting in one big web of stealing. Even if it isn't something big. It can be something big of course, but sometimes it is the small things that no one knows about, that actually get us in the end.
#9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This is not to lie about other people. This word, means to deceive, disappoint, and falsehood. The idea is that God has orchestrated which people are around you. We will really only know a handful of people in this world. And instead of ripping everyone apart with words, actions, and backstabbing. We are to look out for each other. To look out for each others best. To not spread gossip, or lies about each other, in order to destroy their character. I am sure we have all had this happen to us, and it is horrible, especially if it isn't true. So we need to make sure that we are not these people. It is dishonoring to God.
#10 “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 is your neighbor’s.” What does covet mean? It means 'to want.' 'To desire.' It also means 'to take pleasure in...' This commandment, doesn't sell well in our culture. Does it? Our culture is made, from people wanting other peoples stuff. Now we might not want our neighbors ox or servant. But that is like saying today, don't covet your best friends new SUV and housecleaner. It also means that we shouldn't want what God hasn't given us. Because that is the heart of it. We don't trust what it is that the Lord has given us, and we want things outside of what He has allotted us. And even though, God ends with this one. It also is at the heart of most of the commandments. If we didn't covet the other person that isn't our spouse, we wouldn't have committed adultery. If we didn't covet the lady on the movie, we wouldn't have looked at pornography. If we didn't covet the pen, then we wouldn't have stolen it. If we didn't covet the silverware at the restaurant, we wouldn't have stolen it. If we didn't covet our friend's life, we wouldn't have talked bad about them. You see, coveting is at the heart of a lot of bad things we do. Therefore, God ends on this note. But He has another note for us.
Note, that there is forgiveness from the Lord, for all of these broken commandments that you made. This is where grace comes in - to see the sin - to turn away from the sin. The point is to not do the sin again, in obedience to the Lord. Our Lord is a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love... But He did set these up to obey. And obey them, we must. The ultimate objection here is not perfection in your ability to keep all the commandments but rather to stay within where God wants us to be. In obedience to Him, always trying to do our best in loving Him, and that means keeping these commandments. Back to the story... The Israelites were afraid when all of these things were spoken by God. They asked Moses if he could be the 'go to guy.' As it was too scary to hear the Almighty talk. The Lord ends with talking about idolatry (loving other gods and making physical things to remind the people about them) because God knows that if you love the Lord your God, you will obey these commandments. But if you love other gods and other things, it will pull your heart away from the One True God.
Exodus 21 This chapter is setting up parameters contextually for the time that they lived on how to treat people with respect and to do what Jesus summed up for us, love God and love others. And it starts off where God sets up regulations about slaves. This is another example of why the Israelites weren't slaves in Egypt, like you may think of slaves - as some of them had Hebrew slaves. Historically, there were two types of slaves. There were slaves like there were in the United States or Africa, where they were owned and had no rights. And there were slaves that were slaves for a short time, like during bankruptcy so that they could pay off their debt. These were usually people that were in financial hard times and needed to pay off some debt. Some men would even become slaves to somebody to pay for a dowry for their daughters to be married, or pay for a bad year in farming. God set it up just like He did with the Sabbath - to set the slaves free after six years and how to respect them, no matter how they got there - but only if they were Hebrew. As it says in verse 2, "When you buy..." Here noting that you could buy Hebrew slaves. Obviously the Egyptian life had worn off on them, and God wanted to set things straight. If a slave wanted to stay with the owner willingly because the life with the master was better then being on their own, then they were allowed to do that and would actually pierce the ear of the slave to symbolize ownership. God also sets up rules for buying and selling female slaves, so that they don't get taken advantage of and sets up parameters that men have to financially take very good care of these female slaves, including food, clothes, and without sexually abusing her. If a man doesn't keep these three rules, she may go out as a free woman from him. Here we see that God is taking good care of the women who were usually overlooked in the slave industry. God also talks about killing someone by accident, and how they can escape to a place allotted for those who are wrongly accused. God also talks about those angry kids that punches his parents. And that they are to be killed for their evil act towards their parents. I know it sounds harsh, but I doubt that many kids would take the chance to be disobedient and dishonoring to the parents if that was the outcome. The Lord also forbids kidnapping and selling stolen people. Here we get to see the heart of God. And we know that Human Trafficking, is totally against God's ideals. Then God goes into some other things like hitting people and fist fights. When you read this, think, " This is the heart of God and how He ideally wants people to behave. This is the heart of God..." We also see in verse 22-25 what happens when someone causes an unborn baby to die, in the event of a fight. Here if man hits a pregnant woman and she has the baby and it is fine, there shall be no judgement. But if he hits her tummy and the baby dies, he shall be charged with murder. Here we see the law of God with regard for unborn babies. If the baby wasn't considered a real baby, there is no reason that God would demand the same payment for those convicted of murder. We also read about treatment of slaves, and how masters are not allowed to hit them, probably another thing they learned from Egypt. Here God sets them straight and reminds the masters that slaves are people and equal punishment will be made for them. God also talks about animals that have a tendency to hurt others should be killed, as well as how to to be fair and kind to those with animal issues. This shows that God is practical as well as logical.
To sum it all up:
• Here we see the heart of God and we are learning His ways as well as His Laws.
• Historically if you did not keep any of the ten commandments, you would have to perform a sacrifice to make right your sin against God. But this is where Jesus comes in. As weird as this sounds in the 21st Century. Jesus died for your sin. Let me use an analogy. Think of it like a credit card debt that you could never pay back and just the thought of paying it back, makes you want to do some more shopping, if you get my drift. So Jesus (God in the flesh) came to Earth to pay off our credit card debt, by dying on the cross and somehow holding all of our sin. God accepted his payoff and now Jesus extends His gift of paying off your credit card if you believe in Him and do your best to stop charging more on the card. In this way, Jesus gives us grace and also gives us life in the afterlife, with Him, if we trust His promises, just like Abraham. Here is the thing. You can not keep charging new debt on purpose, expecting Jesus to clear it all. Because Paul states, "Should we keep on sinning that grace my abound? By no means..."
• Ok enough of the analogy. Although we all have disobeyed these commandments, in one way or another. There is hope. This God who set these commandments up. Also made a way for us to be forgiven from the things we have done wrong and for us to have hope for the future. Grace. Grace is a word that means that God forgives our sins and takes the punishment of them (through Jesus' as your sacrifice, as mentioned above) and gives us a new heart to obey Him. Although we can never be perfect, He is perfect and He never gives up on us. If you are feeling bad about something you have done that is against the Holy God of the Bible. Please. Pray to God for forgiveness and newness of life. Believe that He has forgiven you and that He loves you. And ask Him to help you live a life that is pleasing to Him, and by not purposely going back to your old sin. Be baptized with water in this new life, ASAP, and pray that God fills you with the Spirit of God, so that you can obey Him and live this life for Him.
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