Working Preacher’s Narrative Commentary for Summer 2014 Sermon Series
Lectionary Scriptures:
Exodus 19:1 In the third month after the children of Israel had
gone out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness
of Sinai. 2 When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the
wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped
before the mountain. 3 Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of
the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell
the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I
bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own
possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall
be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which
you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
20:1 God[a] spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of
anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth: 5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor
serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those
who hate me, 6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me
and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for
Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 You shall labor
six days, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh
your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your
daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor
your stranger who is within your gates; 11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day;
therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be
long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
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, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor
his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 20:1 After “God”, the Hebrew has the two letters
“Aleph Tav” (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet), not as a word,
but as a grammatical marker.
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Commentary on Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-17
Rolf Jacobson
My teacher James Arne Nestingen once said, “Every preacher
should preach through the Ten Commandments once every three years.”
Ideally, a sermon series on the Decalogue would run twelve weeks
-- one week to proclaim the theological context of the law, ten weeks for the
commandments themselves, and a final week to proclaim the paradox that we are
freed from the law in order to make ourselves subject to the neighbor in love
(see Galatians 5:1-12). Ideally.
But the realities of the calendar often impinge on ideals. So,
the way that the Narrative Lectionary lays out the summer of 2014 allows for
only four Sundays on the Ten Commandments. The first week is intended to
provide the theological and narrative context for the law. The second week is
devoted to Exodus 20:3-11, which is the first table of the Decalogue -- those
laws that govern our relationship with God.
The third week’s text is Exodus 20:3-11 -- which includes most
of the second table of the law, those laws that govern our relationships with
each other. And the fourth week is devoted solely to the coveting
commandment(s). The decision to have a single Sunday just for the coveting
commandment(s) may seem odd. The reason for this choice is to emphasize that so
many of our sins start with our desires. And, of course, congregations may exercise
their freedom in Christ and change or adapt any of these decisions to the local
context.
As is well known, there are three major ways of dividing and
numbering the Ten Commandments. The following chart summarizes those three
systems.
Jewish
|
Catholic, Lutheran,
|
Reformed, Anglican,
|
|
1. I am the Lord your God
|
|
|
|
2. No other Gods(and no graven
images)
|
1. No other Gods (and no graven
images)
|
1. No other Gods
|
|
|
|
2. No graven images
|
|
3. Do not misuse God's name
|
2. Do not misuse God's name
|
3. Do not misuse God's name
|
|
4. Keep the Sabbath
|
3. Keep the Sabbath
|
4. Keep the Sabbath
|
|
5. Honor father & mother
|
4. Honor father & mother
|
5. Honor father & mother
|
|
6. Do not murder
|
5. Do not murder
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6. Do not murder
|
|
7. Do not commit adultery
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6. Do not commit adultery
|
7. Do not commit adultery
|
|
8. Do not steal
|
7. Do not steal
|
8. Do not steal
|
|
9. Do not bear false witness against
a neighbor
|
8. Do not bear false witness against
a neighbor
|
9. Do not bear false witness against
a neighbor
|
|
10. Do not covet your neighbor's
spouse or house
|
9. Do not covet your neighbor's
spouse
|
10. Do not covet your neighbor's
spouse or house
|
The Ten Commandments occur twice in the Old Testament -- they
are found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The major difference in the two
versions of commandments comes in the motive clause of the Sabbath commandment.
In Exodus, the motive for keeping the Sabbath is based on God’s blessing and
will for creation: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed
the sabbath day and consecrated it” (Exodus 20:11).
In Deuteronomy, the motive for keeping the Sabbath is based on
Israel’s experience of rescue from bondage: “Remember that you were a slave in
the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you
to keep the sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). The former emphasizes the Sabbath
as blessing, the latter emphasizes the Sabbath as an institution of justice --
the first fair labor law.
Finally, the Gospel reading for all four weeks is the same:
Matthew 22:34-40. In this passage, Jesus (following early Rabbinic tradition)
declares that two commandments are the greatest: “‘You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This
is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.’”
This reading has two points. The first point is that the first
table of the law can be summarized: Love the Lord your God. And the second
table of the law can be summarized: Love your neighbor as yourself. The second
point is that the purpose of the commandments is love. We do not keep the
commandments for our own pleasure or benefit. Rather, we keep them as a way to
love God and neighbor.
Preachers who are looking for other resources on the Ten
Commandments would do well to consider the following:
Martin Luther, “The Large Catechism” -- section on the Decalogue
Patrick Miller, The Ten Commandments, Interpretation
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009)
Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon, The Truth about God: The
Ten Commandments in Christian Life (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
_____________________
Notes:
1 This chart may be reproduced for congregational use, with the
following attribution: Chart courtesy of WorkingPreacher.org.
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John Wesley’s Notes-Commentary:
Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-17
Verse 1
[1] In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone
forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of
Sinai.
In the third month after they came out of Egypt. It is computed
that the law was given just fifty days after their coming out of Egypt, in
remembrance of which the feast of Pentecost was observed the fiftieth day after
the passover, and in compliance with which the spirit was poured out upon the
apostles, at the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the death of Christ.
Mount Sinai was a place which nature, not art, had made conspicuous, for it was
the highest in all that range of mountains. Thus God put contempt upon cities
and palaces, setting up his pavilion on the top of a mountain, in a barren
desert. It is called Sinai, from the multitude of thorny bushes that
over-spread it.
Verse 3
[3] And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out
of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell
the children of Israel;
Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and the children of
Israel — The people are called by the names both of Jacob and Israel, to mind
them that they who had lately been as low as Jacob when he went to Padan-aram,
were now grown as great as God made him when he came from thence, and was
called Israel.
Verse 4
[4] Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you
on Eagle's wings — An high expression of the wonderful tenderness God shewed
for them. It notes great speed; God not only came upon the wing for their
deliverance, but he hastened them out, as it were upon the wing. Also that he
did it with great ease, with the strength as well as with the swiftness of an
eagle. They that faint not, nor are weary, are said to mount up with wings as
eagles, Isaiah 40:31. Especially it notes God's particular care of them, and
affection to them. Even Egypt was the nest in which these young ones were first
formed as the embryo of a nation: when by the increase of their numbers they grew
to some maturity, they were carried out of that nest.
I brought you unto myself — They were brought not only into a
state of liberty, but into covenant and communion with God. This, God aims at
in all the gracious methods of his providence and grace, to bring us back to
himself, from whom we have revolted, and to bring us home to himself, in whom
alone we can be happy.
Verse 5
[5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for
all the earth is mine:
Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me — He doth not
instance in any one particular favour, but expresseth it in that which was
inclusive of all happiness, that he would be to them a God in covenant, and
they should be to him a people. Nay you shall be a peculiar treasure: not that
God was enriched by them, as a man is by his treasure, but he was pleased to
value and esteem them as a man doth his treasure; they were precious in his
sight. He took them under his special care and protection, as a treasure that
is kept under lock and key. He distinguished them from, and dignified them
above all people, as a people devoted to him, and to his service.
Verse 6
[6] And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy
nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
A kingdom of priests, a holy nation - All the Israelites, if
compared with other people, were priests unto God, so near were they to him, so
much employed in his immediate service, and such intimate communion they had
with him. The tendency of the laws given them was to distinguish them from
others, and engage them for God as a holy nation. Thus all believers are, through
Christ, made to our God kings and priests, Revelation 1:6, a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9.
Verse 1
[1] And God spake all these words, saying,
God spake all these words - The law of the ten commandments is a
law of God's making; a law of his own speaking. God has many ways of speaking
to the children of men by his spirit, conscience, providences; his voice in all
which we ought carefully to attend to: but he never spake at any time upon any
occasion so as he spake the ten commandments, which therefore we ought to hear
with the more earnest heed. This law God had given to man before, it was
written in his heart by nature; but sin had so defaced that writing, that it
was necessary to revive the knowledge of it.
Verse 2
[2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
I am the Lord thy God — Herein, God asserts his own authority to
enact this law; and proposeth himself as the sole object of that religious
worship which is enjoined in the four first commandments. They are here bound
to obedience. 1. Because God is the Lord, Jehovah, self-existent, independent,
eternal, and the fountain of all being and power; therefore he has an
incontestable right to command us. 2. He was their God; a God in covenant with
them; their God by their own consent. 3. He had brought them out of the land of
Egypt - Therefore they were bound in gratitude to obey him, because he had
brought them out of a grievous slavery into a glorious liberty. By redeeming
them, he acquired a farther right to rule them; they owed their service to him,
to whom they owed their freedom. And thus, Christ, having rescued us out of the
bondage of sin, is entitled to the best service we can do him. The four first
commandments, concern our duty to God (commonly called the first-table.) It was
fit those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love before he had a
neighbour to love, and justice and charity are then only acceptable to God when
they flow from the principles of piety.
Verse 3
[3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The first commandment is concerning the object of our worship,
Jehovah, and him only, Thou shalt have no other gods before me - The Egyptians,
and other neighbouring nations, had many gods, creatures of their own fancy.
This law was pre-fixed because of that transgression; and Jehovah being the God
of Israel, they must entirely cleave to him, and no other, either of their own
invention, or borrowed from their neighbours. The sin against this commandment,
which we are most in danger of, is giving that glory to any creature which is
due to God only. Pride makes a God of ourselves, covetousness makes a God of
money, sensuality makes a God of the belly. Whatever is loved, feared,
delighted in, or depended on, more than God, that we make a god of. This
prohibition includes a precept which is the foundation of the whole law, that
we take the Lord for our God, accept him for ours, adore him with humble
reverence, and set our affections entirely upon him. There is a reason
intimated in the last words before me. It intimates, 1. That we cannot have any
other god but he will know it. 2. That it is a sin that dares him to his face,
which he cannot, will not, overlook. The second commandment is concerning the
ordinances of worship, or the way in which God will be worshipped, which it is
fit himself should appoint. Here is, 1. The prohibition; we are forbidden to
worship even the true God by images, Exodus 20:4,5. First, The Jews (at least
after the captivity) thought themselves forbidden by this to make any image or
picture whatsoever. It is certain it forbids making any image of God, for to
whom can we liken him? Isaiah 40:18,25. It also forbids us to make images of
God in our fancies, as if he were a man as we are. Our religious worship must
be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination. Secondly,
They must not bow down to them - Shew any sign of honour to them, much less
serve them by sacrifice, or any other act of religious worship. When they paid
their devotion to the true God, they must not have any image before them for
the directing, exciting, or assisting their devotion. Though the worship was
designed to terminate in God, it would not please him if it came to him through
an image. The best and most ancient lawgivers among the Heathen forbad the
setting up of images in their temples. It was forbidden in Rome by Numa a Pagan
prince, yet commanded in Rome by the Pope, a Christian bishop. The use of
images in the church of Rome, at this day, is so plainly contrary to the letter
of this command, that in all their catechisms, which they put into the hand of
the people, they leave out this commandment, joining the reason of it to the
first, and so the third commandment they call the second, the fourth the third,
etc. only to make up the number ten, they divide the tenth into two. For I the
Lord Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God, especially in things of this nature.
It intimates the care he has of his own institutions, his displeasure against
idolaters, and that he resents every thing in his worship that looks like, or
leads to, idolatry: visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation - Severely punishing. Nor is it an unrighteous
thing with God if the parents died in their iniquity, and the children tread in
their steps, when God comes, by his judgments, to reckon with them, to bring
into the account the idolatries their fathers were guilty of. Keeping mercy for
thousands of persons, thousands of generations, of them that love me and keep
my commandments - This intimates, that the second commandment, though in the
letter of it is only a prohibition of false worship, yet includes a precept of
worshipping God in all those ordinances which he hath instituted. As the first
commandment requires the inward worship of love, desire, joy, hope, so this the
outward worship of prayer and praise, and solemn attendance on his word. This
mercy shall extend to thousands, much further than the wrath threatened to those
that hate him, for that reaches but to the third or fourth generation.
Verse 7
[7] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
The third commandment is concerning the manner of our worship;
Where we have, 1. A strict prohibition.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain —
Supposing that, having taken Jehovah for their God, they would make mention of
his name, this command gives a caution not to mention it in vain, and it is
still as needful as ever. We take God's name in vain, First, By hypocrisy,
making profession of God's name, but not living up to that profession.
Secondly, By covenant breaking. If we make promises to God, and perform not to
the Lord our vows, we take his name in vain. Thirdly, By rash swearing, mentioning
the name of God, or any of his attributes, in the form of an oath, without any
just occasion for it, but to no purpose, or to no good purpose. Fourthly, By
false-swearing, which some think is chiefly intended in the letter of the
commandment. Fifthly, By using the name of God lightly and carelessly. The
profanation of the form of devotion is forbidden, as well as the profanation of
the forms of swearing; as also, the profanation of any of those things whereby
God makes himself known.
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless — Magistrates that
punish other offences, may not think themselves concerned to take notice of
this; but God, who is jealous for his honour, will not connive at it. The
sinner may perhaps hold himself guiltless, and think there is no harm in it; to
obviate which suggestion, the threatening is thus expressed, God will not hold
him guiltless - But more is implied, that God will himself be the avenger of
those that take his name in vain; and they will find it a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God.
Verse 8
[8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
The fourth commandment concerns the time of worship; God is to
be served and honoured daily; but one day in seven is to be particularly
dedicated to his honour, and spent in his service.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy; in it thou shalt do
no manner of work — It is taken for granted that the sabbath was instituted
before. We read of God's blessing and sanctifying a seventh day from the
beginning, Genesis 2:3, so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the
reviving of an old law. 1st. They are told what is the day, they must observe,
a seventh after six days labour, whether this was the seventh by computation
from the first seventh, or from the day of their coming out of Egypt, or both,
is not certain. A late pious Writer seems to prove, That the sabbath was
changed, when Israel came out of Egypt; which change continued till our Lord
rose again: But that then the Original Sabbath was restored. And he makes it
highly probable, at least, That the sabbath we observe, is the seventh day from
the creation. 2dly, How it must be observed; 1. As a day of rest; they were to
do no manner of work on this day, in their worldly business. 2. As a holy day,
set apart to the honour of the holy God, and to be spent in holy exercises.
God, by his blessing it, had made it holy; they, by solemn blessing him, must
keep it holy, and not alienate it to any other purpose than that for which the
difference between it and other days was instituted. 3dly, Who must observe it?
Thou and thy son and thy daughter - The wife is not mentioned, because she is
supposed to be one with the husband, and present with him, and if he sanctify
the sabbath, it is taken for granted she will join with him; but the rest of
the family is instanced in it, children and servants must keep it according to
their age and capacity. In this, as in other instances of religion, it is
expected that masters of families should take care, not only to serve the Lord
themselves, but that their houses also should serve him. Even the proselyted
strangers must observe a difference between this day and other days, which, if
it laid some restraint upon them then, yet proved a happy indication of God's
gracious design, to bring the Gentiles into the church. By the sanctification
of the sabbath, the Jews declared that they worshipped the God that made the
world, and so distinguished themselves from all other nations, who worshipped
gods which they themselves made. God has given us an example of rest after six
days work; he rested the seventh day - Took a complacency in himself, and
rejoiced in the work of his hand, to teach us on that day, to take a
complacency in him, and to give him the glory of his works. The sabbath begun
in the finishing of the work of creation; so will the everlasting sabbath in
the finishing of the work of providence and redemption; and we observe the
weekly sabbath in expectation of that, as well as in remembrance of the former,
in both conforming ourselves to him we worship. He hath himself blessed the
sabbath day and sanctified it. He hath put an honour upon it; it is holy to the
Lord, and honourable; and he hath put blessings into it which he hath
encouraged us to expect from him in the religious observation of that day. Let
us not profane, dishonour, and level that with common time, which God's
blessing hath thus dignified and distinguished.
Verse 12
[12] Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
We have here the laws of the second table, as they are commonly
called; the six last commandments which concern our duty to ourselves, and one
another, and are a comment upon the second great commandment, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. As religion towards God is, an essential branch of
universal righteousness, so righteousness towards men is an essential branch of
true religion: godliness and honesty must go together. The fifth commandment is
concerning the duties we owe to our relations; that of children to their
parents is only instanced in, honour thy father and thy mother, which includes,
1. an inward esteem of them, outwardly expressed upon all occasions in our
carriage towards them; fear them, Leviticus 19:3, give them reverence, Hebrews
12:9. The contrary to this is mocking at them or despising them, 2. Obedience
to their lawful commands; so it is expounded, Ephesians 6:1-3. Children obey
your parents; come when they call you, go where they send you, do what they bid
you, do not what they forbid you; and this chearfully, and from a principle of
love. Though you have said you will not, yet afterwards repent and obey. 3.
Submission to their rebukes, instructions and corrections, not only to the good
and gentle, but also to the froward. 4. Disposing of themselves with the
advice, direction and consent of parents, not alienating their property, but
with their approbation. 5. Endeavouring in every thing to be the comfort of
their parents, and to make their old age easy to them; maintaining them if they
stand in need of support.
That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee — This promise, (which is often literally fulfilled) is expounded
in a more general sense Ephesians 6:3.
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live long on the
earth — Those that in conscience towards God keep this and other of God's
commandments, may be sure it shall be well with them, and they shall live as
long on the earth as infinite wisdom sees good for, them, and what they may
seem to be cut short of on earth, shall be abundantly made up in eternal life,
the heavenly Canaan which God will give them.
Verse 13
[13] Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not kill — Thou shalt not do any thing hurtful to the
health, or life of thy own body, or any other's. This doth not forbid our own
necessary defence, or the magistrates putting offenders to death; but it
forbids all malice and hatred to any, for he that hateth his brother is a
murderer, and all revenge arising therefrom; likewise anger and hurt said or
done, or aimed to be done in a passion; of this our Saviour expounds this
commandment, Matthew 5:22.
Verse 14
[14] Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not commit adultery — This commandment forbids all
acts of uncleanness, with all those desires, which produce those acts and war
against the soul.
Verse 15
[15] Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not steal — This command forbids us to rob ourselves
of what we have, by sinful spending, or of the use and comfort of it by sinful
sparing; and to rob others by invading our neighbour's rights, taking his
goods, or house, or field, forcibly or clandestinely, over-reaching in
bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or found, with-holding just debts,
rents or wages; and, which is worst of all, to rob the public in the coin or
revenue, or that which is dedicated to the service of religion.
Verse 16
[16] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Thou shalt not bear false witness — This forbids, 1. Speaking
falsely in any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing
to deceive our neighbour. 2. Speaking unjustly against our neighbour, to the
prejudice of his reputation; And 3. (which is the highest offence of both these
kinds put together) Bearing false witness against him, laying to his charge
things that he knows not, either upon oath, by which the third commandment, the
sixth or eighth, as well as this, are broken, or in common converse,
slandering, backbiting, tale-bearing, aggravating what is done amiss, and any
way endeavouring to raise our own reputation upon the ruin of our neighbor's.
Verse 17
[17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Thou shalt not covet — The foregoing commands implicitly forbid
all desire of doing that which will be an injury to our neighbour, this forbids
all inordinate desire of having that which will be a gratification to
ourselves. O that such a man's house were mine! such a man's wife mine! such a
man's estate mine! This is certainly the language of discontent at our own lot,
and envy at our neighbour's, and these are the sins principally forbidden here.
God give us all to see our face in the glass of this law, and to lay our hearts
under the government of it!
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