Exodus 20. The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments

• We don’t have to guess how to make our God happy! He tells us upfront His expectations unlike other ‘gods’.
• In Hebrew, the Ten Commandments are called עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים Aseret ha-devarim meaning “the Ten Sayings” or “Ten Words,” not “commandments.”
• Notice how there is no mention of the ‘tablets’ in this chapter. We won’t see that until chapter 24.
  • We probably have a different image of the two stone tablets than what they actually looked like. They’re often depicted as large, arched stones with the commandments split between them
  • in reality, they were likely smaller (biblical Hebrew doesn’t take up much space), and both tablets may have been identical copies of the covenant, as was common in ancient treaty practice.

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.

• The order matters:
  • God does not say: obey these commandments then I will rescue you.
  • God says: I rescued you, now this is how my covenant people are to live.

³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

• Do not have any other gods “to my face” is how this verse should be read – so not just keeping God first but removing all other idols.

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 fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

• Do not make images that you will worship: I don’t personally think this means you can’t make artistic images of Jesus, etc unless you intend to use it as worship.
  • God does command images of cherubim in Exodus 25:18
• Exodus 20:5 Consequences of sins can carry down generations (cycles of abuse, addiction, etc)
  • Notice the qualification “of those who hate me.”

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.

• I have an visual below on this one. Many believe this is either saying don’t say “Oh my G-d” or not taking an oath falsely using God’s name. I think it’s bigger than that.

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 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.

• I have a visual on the Sabbath commandment. Even with Jesus as our Sabbath fulfillment, I don’t think we should completely disregard it! However, as we are called to rest for 1 day, remember we are called to work for 6.

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

• Ephesians 6:2: “‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise)”
  • The promise:“that your days may be long in the land…”

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.”

• Interestingly, Scripture tells us there are “Ten Words” but never labels them Commandment #1, #2, etc.
  • In Catholic and Lutheran traditions, the commandment about not coveting is split into two (coveting your neighbor’s wife vs. neighbor’s goods), while the command about idols is grouped together with “no other gods.”
  • In most Protestant traditions, the command about idols is its own commandment, and the coveting part stays as one.
  • I’m kind of leaning towards the first? I always thought those were one commandment.
• What was God intending for the 10 commandments to be? ( 2 or 1 idol command vs 2 or 1 covet command).

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

• There are moments in the Bible where God’s presence doesn’t bring comfort but instead it brings fear! We see this here with the Israelites being so terrified by God’s voice and the thunder that they begged Moses to speak to them instead, saying they’d die if God spoke directly.
  • Isaiah, when he saw God in a vision, cried out, “Woe is me!”
  • Job, after finally hearing from God, repented in dust and ashes.
  • Even Jesus’ disciples fell facedown in fear at the Transfiguration when they heard God’s voice. 

Laws About Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. ²³ You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for me and 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 me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

• Even in worship, God cares about humility and purity as seen here with the altars