Narrative Lectionary Scriptures:
Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17
Scripture Texts:
Exodus 19:3-6 As Moses went up to meet God, God called down to him from the mountain: “Speak to the House of Jacob, tell the People of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. If you will listen obediently to what I say and keep my covenant, out of all peoples you’ll be my special treasure. The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’
“This is what I want you to tell the People of Israel.”
7 Moses came back and called the elders of Israel together and set before them all these words which God had commanded him.
20:1-2 God spoke all these words:
I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.
3 No other gods, only me.
4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
12 Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
13 No murder.
14 No adultery.
15 No stealing.
16 No lies about your neighbor.
17 No lusting after your neighbor’s house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor’s.
Commentary on Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17 by Brent A. Strawn
The preacher who takes up this unit has a lot to talk about. Too much, in fact.
All by itself, the section on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) could fund a series of sermons -- or rather a series of series! One sermon just won’t be able to deal with all of this material; neither will one brief exegetical essay. Tough choices will have to be made, then, and this is equally true for the present treatment, which focuses on Exodus 19:3-7, given its importance for all that follows in the Sinai pericope, and then offers a few remarks on the Ten Commandments, which are important far beyond the Sinaitic unit (see, e.g., Matthew 5:21-30).1
Exodus 19:3-7
The lectionary picks up in mid-thought with verse 3, after verses 1-2 set the stage. Exactly three months after departing Egypt, Israel arrives at the mountain of God (see Exodus 12:40-42; cf. 3:12). Verses 3-6 contain God’s introductory address to the Sinaitic covenant that follows.
Technically the Sinai pericope runs through Numbers 10:10, when the people finally depart from the mountain to resume their journey to Canaan. Israel is at Sinai, then, for most of the Pentateuch, and what they get at Sinai, mostly, is the law (Torah). The introduction to such a crucial and weighty section of Scripture is obviously fraught with significance.
The first verse of the lectionary text (Exodus 19:3) may seem something of a place holder -- further “setting of the stage,” as it were -- but it contains all of the subjects that will prove important in what follows: “Moses,” “God/the LORD,” “the mountain,” and “the house of Jacob/the Israelites” (note also “the covenant” in verse 5). God will speak to Israel, but has chosen to do so through Moses, up on a mountain.
God’s address begins, it seems, with a snatch of poetry:
You shall say the following to the house of Jacob,
and declare (it) to the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:3b; my trans.)
This snippet evidences all the hallmarks of good Hebrew parallelism. The covenant that will follow, not only in the Decalogue but throughout the Pentateuchal legislation, will not always be poetic -- some feels quite pedantic! -- but the covenant begins with artfulness, poetic balance, and high style. The law, too, is beautiful, and so is appropriately and artfully introduced.
The artfulness of verse 3 is continued in verse 4 which employs an image that has not been used heretofore to describe God’s exodus activity. The first part, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians,” is standard, and an oft-repeated remark. The unusual image is found in the next bit:
“how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.”
Both parts of this second clause are arresting and rather unique. The first likens God to an eagle that carries Israel -- how exactly, is not specified, though the power and swiftness of the eagle’s flight are part and parcel of the image. There may also be connotations of care: a parent taking care of young (see Deuteronomy 32:11-12).
The eagle image is arresting in part because it is singular, not repeated. The closest parallel is Deut 32:11, but the tenor of the bird imagery there is at least somewhat different, having to do with guidance in the wilderness and the protection of a mother bird. The only other passage that may be related to Exodus 19’s image is Isaiah 40:31, which promises that those who wait will “rise up on wings like eagles.” Perhaps this alludes back to Exodus 19:4 to evoke a return from exile that is analogous to the exodus from Egypt.
The second part of verse 4 is also unique: “and brought you to myself.” The language of bringing (Hebrew b-w-?, esp. in the Hiphil [causative] stem) is stock for the exodus event, but the complements that it occurs with tend to be locative: bringing out from Egypt or bringing out and (bringing) into Canaan. But here God says that the exodus act is an act that brings Israel “to myself.” The deeply personal nature of the act is underscored (cf. Exodus 4:22-23). God is involved, deeply and profoundly, in the exodus -- with Israel, yes, but also within the divine self.
In verse 5 we see the truth of G. K. Chesterton’s quip: “all morality hangs on an ‘if.’”2 The results on the other side of this “if”-clause are profound: Israel will be God’s treasured possession out of all peoples (verse 5a), a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation (verse 6). But there is a contingency, or, in truth, two contingencies: the first, most prominent one is that the “if” in question depends on obeying God’s voice and keeping God’s covenant. These are no easy things. The great irony of the Golden Calf debacle is that Israel finds itself in violation of God’s covenant at the very moment of its instantiation.
The subsequent history of Israel and of the church and, yes, of ourselves, shows how large and weighty this little “if”-clause truly is. We are -- all of us -- typically unable to meet its requirements. This “if” clause is thus our bane but also our great hope because it is not just all morality that hangs on this “if,” it is the opportunity to be God’s very own people (“a treasured possession”), as God so desires us to be (“priestly…holy”). The stakes couldn’t possibly be higher.
The second contingency is found in verse 5b. It is so brief that it is easy to read right past it. Immediately after saying that Israel will be God’s treasured possession, God adds, “Indeed, the whole earth is mine.” The comment is almost an aside; it seems out of place.
But it is well worth dwelling on. Since (not if) “the whole earth is mine,” the people of God have a proper perspective on being a treasured possession, and this in two ways: first, while they may be a treasured possession, they are not the only possession. God is bigger than God’s people.
Second, if God’s people fail to be (or become) God’s treasured possession -- if they fail in passing the “if”-clause -- then God has other possessions that, perhaps, might just do the job. This is a trope already in the Old Testament (cf. Deuteronomy 32:21) and plays a role in various New Testament passages -- or at least in interpretations of the same -- vis-à-vis the Old Testament.
The point that should not be missed, however, is that this is a cross-canonical dynamic. That means, in brief, that even if one would like to be supersessionistic about, say, the Gentile Church versus ancient Israelite religion, the canonical dynamic suggests that the former, no less than the latter, can be set aside if (there’s that word again!) it fails to be God’s treasured possession, which hangs on hearing and keeping. In point of fact, the history of the Christian church, no less than the people of God throughout Scripture, indicates that the best word to use is not “if” but “when.”
The Ten Commandments
Among the many things that could be said about the Ten Commandments is that they are a locus of our disobedience. One needs only to examine the Decalogue closely and then take a long hard look in the mirror to realize how often one fails to live up to the “if”-clause. If one is overconfident about that, then one may be in some sort of denial, may have become cavalier with the Ten Commandments,3 or is perhaps unacquainted with how Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount make several of the Commandments even harder to keep.
We must not hear these words causally, then,4 especially as they come as the first part of God’s direct address to Israel (the voice they are to hear in Exodus 19:5) and the most important part of the covenant (which they are to keep according to the same verse).
The importance of the Ten Commandments is underscored by three considerations:
1. their pole positioning in the legal material in which they appear (Exodus 20ff. and Deuteronomy 5ff.);
2. the fact that they are repeated (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, and the way Deuteronomy 6-9 develops the First Commandment, and Deuteronomy 12-26 expands the Decalogue as a whole),5 and
3. the fact that they are the only words that Israel hears directly from God’s own mouth, the rest being mediated by Moses (see Exodus 20:18-21).
These three factors illustrate how the legislation itself is holy, how the Decalogue is an “ever expanding guide for making one’s life holy,” and how “[t]o hear law properly is like meeting God face-to-face.”6
The subsequent unfolding of the Ten Commandments shows that they are not a complete summary -- “[i]f anything,” Anderson states, “they are a stenographer’s shorthand” such that “[t]o understand any one commandment properly, one must set the Ten Commandments in the developing trajectory of biblical thought.”7
And yet this very trajectory or development (“interpretation” may be the better word), shows that while the Decalogue is constantly being negotiated, it remains non-negotiable.8 Finally, the fact that Israel finds the Decalogue all that it can bear to hear directly is a reminder of just how difficult these words are, how easily transgressed, and how absolutely fundamental they are to living our lives as God’s people.9
Notes:
1 See further Patrick D. Miller, The Ten Commandments (Interpretation; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009).
2 My memory banks locates this citation in Chesterton’s well-known book, Orthodoxy, but I have been unable to confirm the citation proper; it may be my paraphrase.
3 Cf. Gary A. Anderson, “Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; 20:1-17,” in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts: The First Readings: The Old Testament and Acts (ed. Roger E. Van Harn; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 99, on “the danger of [the Ten] becoming tired old saws.”
4 Ibid., 100.
5 In addition to Miller, The Ten Commandments, see Dennis T. Olson, Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses: A Theological Reading (repr. ed.; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2005).
6 Anderson, “Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; 20:1-17,” 101-102.
7 Ibid., 102.
8 I owe this formulation to Walter Brueggemann, Deuteronomy (AOTC; Nashville: Abingdon, 2001).
9 See Miller, The Ten Commandments for a breathtaking and comprehensive study.
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
God of the commandments, you gave the Israelites laws so that they might live in harmony with one another. Show us how to live in peace, so that all may know of your love. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
HYMNS:
"Spirit of God, descend upon my heart" by George Croly, 1780-1860
1. Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,
and make me love thee as I ought to love.
2. I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no opening skies;
but take the dimness of my soul away.
3. Has thou not bid me love thee, God and King?
All, all thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see thy cross; there teach my heart to cling.
O let me seek thee, and O let me find.
4. Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh;
teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
5. Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,
one holy passion filling all my frame;
the kindling of the heaven-descended Dove,
my heart an altar, and thy love the flame.
"On Eagle’s Wings" by Michael Joncas (1979)
1. You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
who abide in his shadow for life,
say to the Lord: "My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"
REFRAIN:
And he will raise you up on eagle's wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of his hand.
2. The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
and famine will bring you no fear: under his wings your refuge,
his faithfulness your shield.
REFRAIN: And he will raise you up on eagle's wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of his hand.
3. For to his angels he's given a command to guard you in all of your ways;
upon their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
REFRAIN: And he will raise you up on eagle's wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of his hand.
CHORAL:
"Give us the wings of faith" by Ernest Bullock (Isaac Watts)
1. Give me the wings of faith to rise
Within the veil, and see
The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.
2. Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears:
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears.
3. I ask them whence their victory came:
They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
Their triumph to His death.
4. They marked the footsteps that He trod,
His zeal inspired their breast;
And following their incarnate God,
Possess the promised rest.
5. Our glorious Leader claims our praise
For His own pattern giv’n;
While the long cloud of witnesses
Show the same path to Heav’n.
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary:
Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17
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 7
[7] And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
And Moses laid before their faces all these words — He not only explained to them what God had given him in charge, but put it to their choice, whether they would accept these promises upon these terms or no. His laying it to their faces speaks his laying it to their consciences.
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!
____________________________
Sermon Story by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 5 October 2014
Moses was called by God at the Mount Sinai to bring the Israelites out of their Egyptian slavery. Moses led the people out of Egypt by God's miracle signs and wonders. Moses led them back to the Mount where he first heard God's voice to go and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Now, we have him on Mount Sinai and God tells him to go down to the people and share with them the decalogue or the ten Commandments that they are to obey to continue to follow God. Yes, we could take these Ten Commandments and do at least a ten sermon series, but we are going to condense these commands into this one sermon. You see, the Ten Commandments are God's Laws to follow to be in constant communion with Him and His Presence to remain with them and us who have been grafted into the Nation of Israel through the Blood of His Son, Jesus. Too often, as we have observed in the Scritpures we have is that people have attempted to obey all these Ten Commandments as we observed from the rich young ruler who asked Jesus the way to eternal life. Jesus responded that he should obey the ten commandments as God gave them. The young man said that he has done this his whole life, what does he still lack? The young man heard from Jesus that he was to do one last thing to sell everything that he owns and give to the poor then to come and follow Him, Jesus. The young man walked away very sad because he owned quite a bit of possessions. We, throughout the ages and even today, have a tendency to see the law as written on our hearts, yes, but a law to follow in a legalistic manner forgetting the intent of the law. First, God has called them to realize that He is a Holy God and that they should worship him only. Then, they are not to have anything that comes between them and the worship of God whether a physically made image. Yet, even when the images were made and approved by the Roman Catholic Church to allow people to remember that they are only to worship God alone and not these images, people have a tendency to worship these images rather than God alone just as the Israelites began to worship the golden serpent on the pole that was originally made to heal the people of venomous snake bites and live. We, too often, have a tendency to worship people or corporations or even governments that take care of us financially rather than realizing that God has placed these institutions in place to benefit His people to worship Him alone and give Him all the glory and praise. An example would be in attempting to maintain a denominational structure as it has become without realizing that God is in the process restructuring His religious institutions to revive His people to live holy lives as He has called them to live from the beginning. There is a reminder of a man who watched the image of the ten commandments being taken out of a federal courthouse where the man yelled do not take my God out of there. This is one example of what God was referring to that too often we have made the ten commandments God, Himself, when they are only given by Him for us to worship Him alone. There are some religious institutions, such as Islam, who adher to the image thing very seriously that they even destroy the religious icons in Christian churches because they consider this blasphemous because you can only worship God alone. What can we learn from their zeal? How have we made certain images or representations of our worship whether it is a plague of the Ten Commandments or even the Bible? How can we seek to remember that these icons or images draw us to only worship God alone? As we prepare to come forward and take the Body of Jesus to eat and the Blood of Jesus to drink through the common bread and wine (grape Juice) through the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, let us sing this song "Words To Live By" by Mike Crawford:
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words how can they be mine
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words I want them to be mine
Blessed are the poor
Blessed are the weak
Blessed are the ones
Who can barely speak
Blessed in your hurt
Blessed in your pain
Blessed when your teardrops
Are falling down like rain
Blessed when you’re broken
Blessed when you’re blind
Blessed when you’re fragile
When you have lost your mind
Blessed when you’re desperate
Blessed when you’re scared
Blessed when you’re lonely
Blessed when you’ve failed
Blessed when you’re beat up
Blessed when you’re bruised
Blessed when you’re tore down
Blessed when you’re used
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words how can they be mine
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words I want them to be mine
Blessed when you’re heartbroke
Blessed when you’re fired
Blessed when you’re choked up
Blessed when you’re tired
Blessed when the plans
That you so carefully laid
End up in the junkyard
With all the trash you made
Blessed when you feel like
Giving up the ghost
Blessed when your loved ones
Are the ones who hurt you most
Blessed when you lose your
Own identity
Then blessed when you find it
And it has been redeemed
Blessed when you see what
Your friends can never be
Blessed with your eyes closed
Then Blessed you see Me
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words how can they be mine
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words I want them to be mine
Blessed when you’re hungry
Blessed when you thirst
Cause that’s when you will eat of
The bread that matters most
Blessed when you’re put down
Because of me you’re dissed
Because of me you’re kicked out
They take you off their list
You know you’re on the mark
You know you’ve got it right
You are to be my salt
You are to be my light
So bring out all the flavour
In the feast of this My world
And light up all the colours
Let the banners be unfurled
Shout it from the rooftops
Let the trumpets ring
Sing your freaking lungs out
Tell them Jesus Christ is King!
Jesus is my Saviour
Jesus is divine
Jesus is my answer
Jesus is my life
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words how can they be mine
These are words to build a life on
These are Your words I want them to be mine
Give us ears that we may hear them
voice that we may sing them
life that we may live them
hope that we may give them
hearts that we can feel them
eyes that we can see them
thoughts that we may think them
tongues that we may speak Your words
Your words
These are Your words
I want them to be mine
Be mine
Be mine
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment