God Speaks
Then God gave the people all these instructions:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
3 “You must not have any other god but me.
4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You must not murder.
14 “You must not commit adultery.
15 “You must not steal.
16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.
19 And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”
21 As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.
22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven. 23 Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.
24 “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use. 26 And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Exodus chapter 20 is made up of two parts: verses 1-17 contain the ten commandments while verses 18-26 begin the process of God telling the people of Israel how to worship Him properly. Jewish tradition and Dennis Prager* (and increasingly the author of this blog) say that verses 1-2 constitute the first commandment (or statement). It focuses on God and why He has the right to make these commands. Verses 3-6 forbid the worship of false gods, idols, or anything that usurps the place of God in our allegiance or affections. Verse 7 cautions against misusing or disgracing God’s name. Verses 8-11 teach us to reserve the Sabbath as a special day set aside for rest, refreshment, and reflection on our relationship with the LORD God and with other people. Verse 12 tells us to honor our fathers and our mothers which will bring the benefit of stability and possible longevity of life. Verse 13 says we should not take a person’s life gratuitously (murder). Verse 14 forbids adultery, a married person looking at someone other than their spouse lustfully or engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage. Verse 15 states that we must not steal. This is true whether what is stolen is tangible or intangible. Verse 16 about lying applies both inside and outside of a courtroom; lying distorts the truth and destroys trust. Covetousness in verse 17 (desiring what belongs to someone else to the point of taking action against them) is the launching pad for all kinds of evil. In verses 18-26 God instructs Moses in how the people should properly fear the LORD and build an altar to worship Him.
*In the first of the PragerU five-minute videos, “The Ten Commandments,” Dennis Prager introduces the commandments as a whole. In subsequent videos, he explains the meaning and importance of each one to the formation of a free and ethical society as well as good and happy individuals.
*The Rational Bible: Exodus by Dennis Prager, audio version, disk 7 (all) and disk 8 track 1.
Prayer: Dear Great Creator God who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, thank You for freeing me from slavery to sin, self, and Satan. Help me live out that freedom in Christ. Please apply the blood of Jesus to my sins and those of my nation (USA). I repent of not giving You the honor, worship, gratitude, and obedience You deserve. I confess that I (we) have turned and bowed down to many other gods such as preoccupation with and the misuse of money, sexual activity of many kinds outside of what You have prescribed in marriage, looking to other things or people (or even ourselves) to meet our needs rather asking and depending on You. Many times I (we) have dishonored Your holy name and rejected Jesus and Your Holy Spirit. Some have even perpetrated evil in Your name, bringing disgrace upon it and causing others to turn away from trusting You. I and my countrymen have become either workaholics or just too busy to take time to rest in Your presence or reconnect with family and friends even one day a week, and we are suffering because of it. Please forgive us and help us to turn back to enjoying You and each other. We do not honor our fathers and mothers. This is to our shame. Please forgive us so that our children will learn to respect those in authority over them and live good, long lives. Murder and mayhem are increasing exponentially in our nation. Please forgive us and show us what to do to stop this behavior. Sexual sins and perversions of all kinds are also increasing; it is destroying and/or discouraging marriages. Please restore our families; give us God-fearing fathers and husbands, mothers and wives, children, and teenagers. Thank You for the ways (like the overturning of Roe v Wade) that show You are in the process of doing this. Keep me alert to ways I am tempted to steal, lie, or covet. These are rampant in my culture and sometimes hard to detect and avoid. Please turn us back to goodness and purity of thought and action. Only You have the great love and power needed to accomplish this. In the name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will thank God for how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus made my pardon and freedom from sin, self, and Satan possible.
- I will repent quickly of any ways the Holy Spirit shows me that I have broken these commandments.
- I will spend more time reading and studying the Bible so that I can know what God calls sin and what He requires of people.
- I will look into how I can observe and benefit from Sabbath.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.