June 5, 2017
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Reading along with us in Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 20 (ESV)
And 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 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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of 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 hold him guiltless 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 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. 11 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.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
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 is your neighbor’s.”… Continue Reading
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God is calling on Israel to be distinctively different with the Ten Commandments. When the people around them are worshiping many gods, He calls upon them to worship Him alone. While others are worshiping idols and images, He calls upon them to be different. When others are mocking His name, they are to be upholding His name. When others are working seven days, He calls upon them to rest and honor the Sabbath. When others are acting in evil manner towards others, He calls upon them to live lives of integrity before others as a witness of the difference worship of the true God does make in their lives.
He calls upon us with the same charge.
Alters made of earth
Read Matthew Henry’s commentary on this to get a better grip on why the alters had to be made without tools and no steps. Have a sense if I understood Hebrew it would mean a lot more
I was struck by that too Jim, but it seems clear that God wanted the alters to come from material that came from His hand, unaltered by man, preventing man from taking credit as well as keeping it holy, uncorrupted by the work of man
How wise these commandments are even today, both in the way we conduct ourselves with God and how we conduct ourselves with each other. And notice verse 2. It is a pretty consistent way that God reveals why He should be trusted and why He should be obeyed: I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt! Let us not be familiar with all the things God has done for us and respond in the way that His care and His power warrants, by walking in His ways.
The ten commandments are a good start, but life in the Spirit is an even a greater call, to not only have the rules but the power to follow them. I am also struck by all the devastation that is in the world because we do not follow these basic commands. Just watch the news and see the bad things that are happening and you can be sure that 90% or more of the times, one of these commands are broken.
May they ring true in my heart and guide my steps!!!
Sad that the people didn’t want to hear from God directly due to fear. Moses had a great reply of healthy fear keeps you from sin.