Category: The Ten Commandments

Exodus 32

3/16/2024

          While Moses is up on the mount receiving from God the instructions for the tabernacle (Exodus 24:18, Deuteronomy 9:9), the Israelites begin to grow restless and impatient. They demand of Aaron that he “…make us gods, which shall go before us…”. (v.1) (Acts 7:40, Exodus 13:21) The Israelites give the following justification for this demand: “…as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him…”. This statement reveals two things: 1) The people had already forgot who it was that had actually led them out of Egypt, and 2) they mistakenly assume they’re now without a leader. The Moody Bible Commentary states it as thus: “The people were foolishly impatient and fickle. Rather than allow Moses the time to receive the law from the Lord, they wanted events to happen in a time of their own choosing. This led to a god of their own making.” Just as Abraham committed his transgression with Hagar because he was unwilling to wait for God’s timing for Sarah to conceive, so the children of Israel were restless and unwilling to wait for Moses to return in order to receive further instruction from the Lord.

          Verses 2-6: Aaron tells the people to give him their gold earrings, which represent some of the spoil that the Israelites took from Egypt. (v.2) (Exodus 11:2, 35:22, Judges 8:24) From these Aaron creates a molten calf. When they see it, the Israelites respond with, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (v.4) This is a clear violation of the first and second commandments. (Exodus 20:3-4, 23, Deuteronomy 9:16, Judges 17:3-4, 1 Kings 12:28, Nehemiah 9:18, Psalm 106:19, Acts 7:41)
              It’s important to note here that only a few days – or perhaps a week or two – earlier, Moses had given to the people the ten commandments before he and Joshua went back up the mountain to meet with God again. Therefore, there is no excuse for the Israelites’ blatant disobedience against God with their worship of this golden idol. Not only that, but the children of Israel had also been firsthand witnesses to God’s supernatural power over the Egyptians and their false gods, one of which is Bat, a cow goddess. Bat is closely linked in Egyptian mythology with Hathor, the goddess of sexuality, motherhood, music and dance. To ascribe power to these false deities is to rob the one true God of His rightful worship and praise. When Moses had finished giving them the law, the Israelites had promised, “All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.” (Exodus 24:7) Sadly, it doesn’t take them long to forget that promise.
            The fact that the people go to Aaron indicates that they are looking to him to be their new leader. He should have said ‘No’ to this demand and rebuked the Israelites for their disobedience. Instead, Aaron gives in to the mob’s request, and, when he sees their reaction to the calf, he encourages their apostasy by building an altar before it. He then declares, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” (v.5) That proclamation hints at the possibility that the Israelites believe the calf actually does represent God. The term “Lord” in verse 5 is the English translation of the Hebrew word “Jehovah”. The children of Israel very likely committed the same sin that so many Christians today fall into: mixing truth with falsehood. In this case, the creation of the golden calf, along with the sexual immorality and feasting described in verse 6, under the guise of worshiping the true God of Israel, JEHOVAH, is the real transgression.
            This is why God is giving Moses the instructions for the tabernacle, the Aaronic priesthood, and the system of sacrifices. Israel’s transgression proves that without the tabernacle and the priesthood they would easily fall into the heathen worship and idolatry of their neighboring nations. The phrase in verse 6, “…rose up to play…”, along with the reference in verse 25 to the nakedness of the people, indicates sexual immorality. Nearly all of the false religions of the ANE incorporated polygamy, prostitution, orgies, and bestiality in their regular worship practices. Having just come out of Egypt, the children of Israel were quick to fall back into the immorality and false religion of the Egyptians instead of patiently waiting for Moses’ return from Mount Sinai. (The picture at the top of this posting is an artist's rendering, courtesy of Logos Bible Software, of the events of this chapter.)

          Verses 7-14: God informs Moses of the Israelites’ sin, telling Moses to get down from the mountain. (v.7) Take note of the wording of this verse: “...for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt…” God has verbally disowned the Israelites! They are no longer His chosen people because “…they have corrupted themselves…”. That verb is used here in the same manner as in Genesis 6:11-12, hence the depth of God’s anger and desire to destroy the entire nation. “They had not just erred, this was not merely a ‘mistake in judgment’ but they had quickly turned aside, they had rapidly and rashly fallen into iniquity and transgression. They had failed to walk in the ‘…way which I commanded them…’; they had missed the mark and fallen short (32:8a). Taking the definition of ‘sin’ as ‘any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God’ (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 38), the people had failed on both counts.” (Moody Bible Commentary)
           The Lord then gives a summary of all that transpired in verses 1-6 (v.8). In verse 9, He refers to the Israelites as “…a stiffnecked people…” (Exodus 33:3, 5, Exodus 34:9, Deuteronomy 9:6, 2 Chronicles 30:8, Isaiah 48:4, Acts 7:51) and expresses to Moses his desire to destroy them. (v.10) (Exodus 22:24, Numbers 14:12, Deuteronomy 9:14, 19) The phrasing in verse 10 is interesting. God says to Moses, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” God tells Moses what He is about to do, as if Moses possesses the ability to prevent God from carrying out His righteous judgment! This is reminiscent of God’s dialogue with Abraham in Genesis 18:20-33, where Abraham acted as intercessor on behalf of the righteous remnant within Sodom and Gomorrah. God accepted Abraham’s mediation and promised not to destroy the cities if at least ten were found righteous within them. The same scenario seems to be playing out here in verses 10-14, this time with Moses as the mediator and intercessor. And now it’s God’s chosen people who are the object of His wrath and judgment.
            By revealing his plan to utterly destroy the Israelites for their disobedience and rebellion, God allows the opportunity for Moses to act as mediator on their behalf. The Holman Bible commentators state it as thus: “Earlier the Lord had needed to persuade Moses to accept His plans; now Moses uses the Lord’s own words to persuade Him to have mercy on His people. This displayed the depth of the victory that the Lord had won in Moses’ heart.” Moses seeks the face of the Lord. (v.11) (Deuteronomy 9:18, 26) His question to God is essentially this: “What will the Egyptians and the peoples of the promised land say if You destroy the Israelites now? Did you bring them out of bondage in Egypt only to slay them in the wilderness?” (v.13) (Numbers 14:13, Deuteronomy 9:28, Joshua 7:9) Moses then reminds God of His promise to Abraham and his seed, “…to whom Thou swarest by Thine own self…”. (v.13) God had promised Abraham that his seed would be as great as the number of stars in the sky and that they would one day inherit the promised land forever. How could that promise be fulfilled if God utterly destroyed the nation now?
            There is also a test here for Moses. God says in verse 10, “I will make of thee a great nation.” Moses displays great humility and maturity here by refusing God’s offer. He instead beseeches the Lord on behalf of Israel, showing just how much he has changed from the impetuous, angry, immature man that was hiding out in the desert when God first called him to be the leader of the Israelites.
            God, of course, does not renege on His promise to Abraham. (v.14) If he had, he would not be God. Moses is quite correct in pointing this out, and he also passes God’s test of character and true leadership. The verb “repent” in verse 14 is the same as that in Genesis 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:11, 2 Samuel 24:16, and Zechariah 8:14. It means that God is grieved and heartbroken by the sin and apostasy of his creation. “This repentance does not mean that God has literally ‘changed His mind’ about what He intended to do. Rather, ‘when God is said to repent, it indicates 1) his awareness that the human situation has altered and 2) his desire to act in a way fitting to this changed situation.’ (Bruce A. Ware, God’s Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2000], 90)”. (Moody Bible Commentary) (For a more detailed commentary of this, see my notes on Genesis 6.)

          Verses 15-19: Moses descends the mountain with the pair of stone tablets. (Deuteronomy 9:15) Verses 15-16 emphasizes that the tablets are written on both sides and that they are “…the work of God…”. (Exodus 31:18) This underscores the depth of Moses’ anger in verse 19. The point at which Joshua is waiting for Moses is high enough up the mountain that he is unaware of what is transpiring in the camp. He can, however, hear some kind of noise from the camp far below, and he mistakes it at first for the sound of battle. (v.17) But as he and Moses draw closer to the base of the mountain, Joshua realizes it’s the noise of singing and festivity. (v.18) When they’re finally close enough to see what’s really going on, Moses hurls the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them in the presence of all the Israelites. (v.19) The same phrase “…anger waxed hot…” is used again here to describe Moses’ righteous fury, reflecting the same righteous wrath displayed by God in verse 10. (Deuteronomy 9:17) “Moses’ breaking of the tablets was an important symbolic act done carefully, deliberately, and openly for the benefit of the Israelites because of the way violation of a covenant is routinely described in the ancient Semitic world as a ‘breaking’ of that ‘covenant.’ ” (Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary)

            Verses 20-25: (Numbers 5:17, 24, Deuteronomy 9:21) Moses immediately melts down the calf and grinds the gold into powder which he casts “…upon the water…”, presumably a nearby stream or river flowing from Mount Sinai. He then orders the children of Israel to drink the bitter-tasting liquid. This is especially just punishment in light of the incident at Marah, just after the exodus from Egypt, when God had changed the bitter water into sweet. (Exodus 15:23-26) Moses had warned the children of Israel then that if they would always hearken to God’s voice and “…do that which is right in His sight…”, as well as obey all His commandments and statutes, that God would always care and provide for them. (Exodus 15:26) Disobedience, however, will always be punished accordingly.
            Next, Moses confronts Aaron. He demands of his brother to know what the people did to Aaron to convince him to bring “…so great a sin upon them?” (v.21) Aaron’s initial response of “Let not the anger of my lord wax hot…” echoes the same description from verses 10 and 19. He then blames the people, telling Moses “…that they are set on mischief…” (v.22), meaning that the Israelites are prone to evil, and that they demanded that he make for them the golden calf. (v.23) This is the very reason that Aaron should have refused the people’s request, and the fact that he is attempting to deflect the blame from himself is further proof that he knew from the start that this was wrong. His explanation for the creation of the idol in verse 24 is utterly laughable, “…I cast it [the gold] into the fire, and there came out this calf…”, and only serves to underscore the weakness of his character as well as the depth of his sin. This is the reason for Moses’ initial demand in verse 21. He is holding Aaron responsible for bringing this great sin upon the children of Israel. This is further confirmed by the statement in verse 25: “…Aaron had made them naked unto their shame…”. (2 Chronicles 28:19) This indicates the sexual immorality and extreme debauchery that was taking place while Moses and Joshua were up on the mountain.

            Verses 26-29: Moses stands in the gate of the camp where he can both be seen and heard. These verses indicate that many of the Israelites refused to leave their idolatrous worship and the orgy that was still taking place even though the golden calf is no longer present. The time has come to separate the ones who are persisting in their disobedience and rebellion from those who were only bystanders caught up in the heathen festivity. Moses’ declaration is clear, direct and loud enough for all to hear: “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me!” (v. 26) Only the men of the tribe of Levi answer his call. This is interesting when one considers Jacob’s pronouncement in Genesis 49:5-6. The descendants of the two brothers known for their anger and vengeful violence are now the ones who stand with Moses and will be the executors of God’s wrath upon their fellow Israelites.
            Moses commands the men of Levi to go through the entire camp and slay every man and woman that is still participating in the idolatrous orgy. (v.27) This must have been heartbreaking for these sons to have to kill their own families as well as their neighbors, but they obey Moses nonetheless. When all is said and done, about three thousand men are dead. (v.28) Verse 29 reiterates the reason for this harsh judgment: God’s law – which the Israelites had readily agreed to honor and obey (Exodus 24:3) – demanded that no other gods or idols be worshiped in place of JEHOVAH, the one true God of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth. (Exodus 20:22-23) The Israelites had committed the sins of pride and rebellion, giving in to the lusts of their flesh rather than obeying God, and such grievous sin demanded swift and righteous punishment.

            Verses 30-35: Moses ascends Mount Sinai to once again “…go up unto the Lord…” (v.30) But now his purpose is to atone for the Israelites’ sin. “In the next section of the exodus experience, we can see Moses taking on two roles. He became the intercessor for Israel, and at the same time the intimate companion of the Lord.” (Moody Bible Commentary) Once again, we see a very different man here than the one God first called at the burning bush on the backside of the desert. Moses casts himself down before God, begging the Lord to take his life as an atonement for the children of Israel. (v.32) Moses is so distraught that he can’t even finish the conditional sentence that begins this verse. Instead, he finishes with a plea to “…blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Psalm 69:28, Isaiah 4:3, Malachi 3:16, Romans 9:3) This is possibly a reference to the same book that is mentioned in Revelation 20:12, 15, also known as the Lamb’s Book of Life. It’s also possible that this is merely a metaphor for salvation as it was understood by the OT saints. Moses is, in essence, offering up his own salvation and eternal security if it means it will stay God’s wrath against the rest of Israel for their sin. This is the most selfless act any man could do for another, and it’s a testament to Moses’ character as a true leader and a man of God.
            But the Lord denies Moses’ request, saying that each man must pay for his own sins. (v.33) “…him will I blot out of My book.” (Exodus 17:14, Deuteronomy 29:20, Psalm 9:5, Revelation 3:5, 21:27) This is further proof that no man or woman can atone for another’s sins, only because we are all sinners – even the greatest men of God like Moses, Elijah, David or the apostle Paul. Only Jesus Christ, born in the flesh, who lived a perfect and sinless life, could properly and justly atone for the sins of all mankind. God commands Moses to lead the children of Israel to the promised land, repeating once more His promise from Exodus 23:20 regarding the Angel of the Lord. (v.34) He closes with an assurance that further punishment will be dealt upon the Israelites for their disobedience on this day. That judgment comes in the form of a plague. (v.35) Aaron is once again singled out by name for leading the people into sin.

              The incident of the golden calf proves the depravity of our sin nature. God created us to know, love and worship Him. It’s hardwired in the DNA of our souls. If we reject God, we will love and worship something else: money, career, family, false religion, or even just our own selfish pride. Just as the Israelites tried to satisfy their God-given need to worship something greater than themselves, so we do the same today, whether we realize it or not. This is the reason that so many false religions exist in the world. Satan knew of this need God placed within Adam and Eve, and that’s how he successfully deceived them, and how he’s still successfully deceiving mankind today. He convinced Adam and Eve that they could love and worship themselves by being “as gods” if they ate of the forbidden fruit, and he deceived all of their descendants the same way. All of us are born trying to fill that specific void within with everything BUT God. Only when we finally realize and admit the truth of our fallen, broken nature and then reach out Jesus as our LORD and Savior do we finally find the only missing component that truly completes us as created, sentient beings. That was God’s beautiful, perfect design for us – and this world – from the very beginning!

0 Comments

Exodus 20

1/21/2024

0 Comments

          As you’ll recall from my commentary on Genesis 3, there are at least seven distinct dispensations, or ages, of human history, starting in Genesis 1 with the creation of the heaven and the earth. The term “dispensation” refers to the primary method by which God has related to – and dealt with – mankind. Throughout human history, God has revealed Himself to man in different ways and by different means, and He has also changed His methods by which He has dispensed or instituted His governing of His creation. The Believer’s Bible Commentary puts it this way: “While God Himself never changes, His methods do. He works in different ways at different times.” Doctor C.I. Scofield, the famous 19th century American theologian, minister, and Biblical scholar, listed the following dispensations according to his study of the Bible:
         1. Innocence (Genesis 1:27-28): from Adam’s creation up to his fall.
        2. Conscience or Moral Responsibility (Genesis 3:7): from the Fall to the end of the Flood.
       3. Human Government (Genesis 9:1-17): from the end of the Flood to the call of Abraham.
        4. Promise (Genesis 12:1-3): from the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law.
        5. Law (Exodus 20:1-17): from the giving of the Law to the Day of Pentecost.
        6. Church (Acts 2:1): from the Day of Pentecost to the Rapture.
      7. Kingdom (Revelation 20:4): the thousand-year reign of Christ.
          The illustration that I provided at the end of my commentary for Genesis 3, given to me by Pastor Cliff Taylor in his Bible Institute class last year, lists nine dispensations. Doctor Taylor inserted an age of transition between the age of the Law and the Church (a.k.a. the age of Grace), as well as another dispensational age for the Tribulation (Revelation 6:17) between the Church age and the Millennial Kingdom age. That latter one makes sense because God’s direct dealings with mankind will be distinctly different than they are now as well as what will be during the Millennial Kingdom after Christ’s third return to earth. However, the age of Transition that Pastor Taylor believes exists solely in Christ’s three year ministry here on earth in the four gospels is based entirely on Jesus’ words in Luke 16:16, and is up for some debate. In any case, it is clear that while God Himself never changes and is the same today as He was at the creation of the world, His methods and ways of dealing with – and interacting with – mankind have changed at various times and ages throughout human history. (For further reading and study on dispensations, I recommend Scofield’s book Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth.)
         Here in Exodus 20, with the giving of the Mosaic Law to the children of Israel, God is ushering in a new dispensation. Until now, there was no direct, clear commandment from God regarding His relationship to mankind as well as mankind’s responsibilities to God and their fellow man. As noted in Scofield’s list, God had primarily used man’s conscience, then human government (which was given to Noah after the Flood), and then the covenantal promise to Abraham as methods of ruling over and guiding his creation. Now, God is giving to Moses the law by which the Israelites – and the rest of mankind, by extension – will be judged and dealt with until the death of Christ upon the cross.

          Verses 1-2: Once again, God reminds Moses and the children of Israel why He is the one giving them this law. He is the one who redeemed them, who brought them out of slavery and bondage in Egypt (Hosea 13:4, Deuteronomy 7:8), who guided and provided and cared for them thus far in their journey, and now God expects of His chosen people covenantal faithfulness, obedience and worship. The Moody Bible Commentary makes this note regarding verse 2: “The opening words of the Decalogue proclaim three great theological truths: The Lord is the God who speaks (in words), He is self-revealing, the God who relates: I am the LORD your God (emphasis added). The Lord is the God who acts, He is the God who redeems, who brought you out.”
        As noted in the previous chapter’s commentary, God is now fleshing out the details of his new treaty with the Israelites. The ten commandments specify Israel’s responsibilities to Him as their King and Lord, as well as His expectations of their responsibilities towards each other.

          1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (v.3) (Deuteronomy 6:14, 2 Kings 17:35, Jeremiah 25:6, 35:15)
            The phrase “before Me” means “in addition to”. God is the only true and living God, the creator of the heaven and the earth and all that is in them. There is none like Him, and He alone deserves all of our obedience, worship and praise. The Moody Bible Commentary puts it this way: “Nothing else, no other gods (money [see Matthew 6:24], pleasure, power, fame, even one’s self) can have the priority in one’s thoughts, words, or deeds. God’s people and indeed all living creatures, owe ultimate allegiance to Him and Him alone.”

       2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (v.4) (Leviticus 19:4, 26:1, Deuteronomy 4:15, 27:15)
             In all the archeological digs in the Middle East there has yet to be found any carved image of Yahweh at the site of any known Israelite city. For all other nations and cultures of that time period, archeologists have unearthed many carvings and engraved images of all kinds of gods and other idols pertaining to religious worship. But there is none of the one, true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God that defeated Pharaoh and all the false gods of the Egyptians.
       God states in verse 5 that “…I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…”. (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, Joshua 24:19, Nahum 1:2) He further commands the children of Israel, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…” God is Yahweh, the One who has always been and always will be. God is holy, and His holiness is the cause of His righteous jealousy. He alone deserves our obedience and our worship and our praise precisely because of who He is.
       Furthermore, the attempt to create a physical image of God distorts and perverts the nature of God Himself. God is a spirit, invisible to the human eye, and thus, the very methods and processes by which an image of Him would be made by human hands could never truly represent God. John 4:24 states this command as follows: “God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary puts it this way: “The best way [for the Israelites] to know and worship Him was to recall what He had already done and said and to be alert to trust Him and see what He would do in the future.”

        Verses 5-6: As a consequence of idol worship, God states that He will visit “…the iniquity of the father upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me…” (v.5) It seems, at first, that God is contradicting Himself here with other passages such as Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20. But, in actuality, God is addressing only the specific sin of idolatry here in verses 5 and 6. Those verses from Deuteronomy and Ezekiel are addressing other types of sins, such as theft or murder or adultery. Those verses are also referring to legal matters of the law. In a court case, the son or daughter will not be held liable for the crimes committed by their parents. God has always held each of us accountable for our own choices and actions. However, one of the consequences of idol worship – along with almost all other sins – is that the children will almost always follow the example of their parents. Thus, God is warning the Israelites here that if they worship false gods instead of Him, their children will do the same, as will their children, and so on. This type of sin naturally carries itself over from one generation to the next, and that’s what God means by his statement in verse 5.
         Verse 6 is the corollary of verse 5. If the Israelites worship God alone, then their children will very likely do so, and their children’s children, and so on. God will show mercy and love to those who keep His commandments – and teach them to their children – and they will not suffer the natural consequences of their sin, as well as avoid God’s wrath for those who disobey Him. (“…them that hate Me…”)

         3. 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. (v.7) (Leviticus 19:12, Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20, Matthew 5:33)
           The Hebrew term in this verse for the word “vain”, shav, means “emptiness, nothingness, vanity”. The children of Israel are to use the name of God (Jehovah, Yahweh) with reverence, fear and respect. “Vain” refers to all manner of falsehood or lying, as in worthless deeds (Psalm 127:2), all forms of idolatry (Jonah 2:8), and false prophecy (Ezekiel 12:24), to name a few. So yes, while this command does prohibit using the Lord’s name as a curse word, it also addresses a host of other sins related to the various ways and methods in which mankind relates to the holiness of God and His name.
        The phrase “Oh my God” is the most common violation of this commandment in our modern world. The unsaved use this phrase so flippantly and so irreverently that it doesn’t offend us Christians nearly as grievously as it should. We hear it so often at work or when we’re out and about in our daily activities that we’ve become numb to it. Very often, we even allow it in our homes through the TV shows and movies that we watch, and we so easily forget the gravity and solemnity with which God gave this 3rd commandment to His chosen people on Mount Sinai. Not only that, but the name of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, has also become nothing more than a profane epithet in the mouths of the lost and unbelieving of this world. I myself used it quite frequently in that manner before I was saved. Now it pricks my soul when I hear a customer spout His holy name in a very flippant and casual manner while speaking to someone on their cell phone as I am completing their transaction at my window. God’s name is holy, and He demands that His creation utter it with the deepest reverence, awe and respect that is always due Him. To do anything less is a sin.

        4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (v.8) (Exodus 23:12, 31:13, Leviticus 26:2, Deuteronomy 5:12)
            The sabbath is first described in Genesis 2:2-3, though not mentioned by that specific name until Exodus 16:23. God had designed for all mankind from the beginning a pattern of six days work and one day of rest. Now, here in chapter 20 of Exodus, God is formally instituting this pattern as law for His chosen people. The Jewish sabbath, observed from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, is to be set aside as a day of complete rest for the Israelites, as well as a day to contemplate and reflect on all that God had done for the children of Israel. That is what is meant by the phrase “…the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (v.11) God wants His chosen people to rest from their daily labor once every week, something that they as a nation of slaves in Egypt were never allowed to do. He also wants the sabbath to serve as a memorial of His deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 5:15)
          In a larger sense, the sabbath also represents complete rest for the weary believer at the end of this life. Just as God’s deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt is a picture of every sinner today freed from the bondage of sin at the moment of salvation, so this day of rest each week is a picture of the rest and rejoicing that we will experience in heaven when our lives here on earth are over at last.
         Of the ten commandments, this one is the only one that is NOT required of us today in the New Testament church age. Nowhere in the NT did Paul or any of the other apostles write that God commands for His church to observe the sabbath as laid down in the Mosaic Law here in Exodus. It is not even required of the Jews today, just as animal sacrifices are no longer required because of Christ’s atoning death on the cross for all mankind. False religions such as Seventh Day Adventists claim that we today must adhere to the Mosaic Law, but they are wrong. They and their founder, Ellen White, failed to properly study and rightly divide scripture, and thus they missed this one important rule: we should always take into account who is writing to whom when we read and study the Bible. God is giving His law to His chosen people here in Exodus and Leviticus, and the apostles in the book of Acts – as well as throughout the NT – reinforce all the other commandments for the church EXCEPT this one. A careful study of the book of Acts as well as the Pauline epistles will bear this out. (Strangely enough, the Seventh Day Adventists don’t offer animal sacrifices every day as God commanded the Israelites to do. Why be so picky about following every single command from God in the OT, yet not that one???)
         In the wake of Pentecost, the new believers began assembling on Sunday for worship and teaching because that was the day that Christ rose from the dead. That’s why we do the same today. And it is worthwhile to follow the pattern that God laid down at the completion of the six days of creation in Genesis. We should be setting aside one day a week to fellowship with other believers and focus on God as we take time out to rest and recuperate from our busy lives.

        5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (v.12) (Leviticus 19:3, Deuteronomy 5:16, 27:16, Matthew 15:4, Ephesians 6:1-3)
          “Honour” in this sense means “to prize highly”, “to care for”, and “to show respect for”. God commands us to love, respect and obey our parents, but not just when we are young. We are to continue honoring them throughout our lives, eventually caring and providing for them when they are too aged to do so themselves. This commandment is the key to a stable and functioning society, and it is the only commandment with a promise attached to it. God is speaking to the Israelites with regard to the promised land, but there is a broader application for us today. If we honor our parents by loving and obeying them for all of our lives and theirs, God will bless and reward us accordingly.
       By contrast, rebellion and pride bring about self-destruction and death. This pattern is seen often throughout the Bible, especially here in the OT, and many of Solomon’s proverbs contain warnings about the dire consequences of the sin of pride. (King David’s son, Absalom, for example.) Foolishness and pride – which naturally lead to rebellion against all forms of authority, including one’s parents – give way to a life full of conflict and strife, as well as the likelihood of an early grave. (Proverbs 20:20, 28:24) But humility combined with the search for wisdom will almost always lead to a long and fruitful life. (Proverbs 4:7-9)

         6. Thou shalt not kill. (v.13) (Matthew 5:21-22, 1 John 3:15)
         The Hebrew word for “kill” in this commandment, ratsach, means “to murder” or “slay”, referring to the deliberate, premeditated act of taking a human life. This command from God is not referring to the slaughter of animals for food or other needs, such as the daily and yearly blood sacrifices required by the Levitical law, nor is it a prohibition against the necessary killing of one’s enemies, such as when God commands the Israelites to slay the heathen nations that currently inhabit the promised land. All life belongs to God, for He is the Creator of life. Therefore He is the only one who decides when someone should die, not us.
       This commandment prohibits murder, which is the sin that Cain was guilty of when he slew Abel. Man is created in the image of God, and thus, the willful, premeditated murder of a human life is a sin against God. (Genesis 9:6) It’s a transgression caused by pride and rebellion, both of which naturally give way to jealousy, envy and rage, and these are often the cause of murder. God is saying here in verse 13 that only He has the authority to decide the fate of every man, woman and child, and that for us to assume His role in that regard by taking the life of a fellow human is a grievous sin. (Romans 12:19)
        Nowhere is this commandment more grievously violated than in the form of child sacrifice. Ever since the days of Noah before the Flood and continuing into our present time, mankind has willfully, rebelliously assumed the role of God by sacrificing newborns on altars of fire to false gods, or by slaying the unborn in the womb. Abortion is a heinous and despicable act that grieves the heart of God, and every single man and woman that has had a direct, active role in such an act will stand before God one day and answer for that sin. If he or she has not accepted Christ as their savior and been washed clean in His blood, then they will be cast into the Lake of Fire and burn for all eternity for the crime of murdering the precious, defenseless, innocent life made in the image of God.

      7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (v.14) (Genesis 2:24, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:18, Matthew 5:27-28, Hebrews 13:4, James 2:11)
          Adultery is the act of sexual intercourse with anyone other than one’s spouse. Marriage is a sacred institution created and ordained by God, and He also designed human sexuality to be experienced only within the boundaries of marriage. Marriage is the foundation of the family unit, and God designed that unit to be the foundation of a normal, healthy society. As I noted in my commentary of Genesis 2, sexuality was one of the key areas that was corrupted by the Fall. Our sin nature has perverted and distorted God’s design for holy sexuality between man and woman, and God’s commandment here to the Israelites reflects His original design and purpose for marriage and human sexuality.
        One does not have to be married to commit adultery. Premarital sex between any two people who are still single is also seen as adultery in the eyes of God. Other perversions such as homosexuality, incest and bestiality also fall into this category. (Leviticus 18:6, 22-23, 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10, Jude 7) Sexual immorality was rampant among the heathen nations that inhabited the promised land, and God was making clear to His chosen people that they were not to practice these abominations. The same holds true for all believers today. We are to abstain from sex until marriage and then remain faithful to our spouse until death. That is the original intent and purpose of this 7th commandment.

      8. Thou shalt not steal. (v.15) (Exodus 21:16, Leviticus 19:11, 13, Matthew 19:18)
       The fundamental right to private property is also key to any stable, healthy society. This commandment, along with #9, reinforces respect for others by not unlawfully seizing the private property of one’s neighbor. This includes kidnapping.

       9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (v.16) (Exodus 23:1, 7, Deuteronomy 5:20)
       God is a God of truth. He hates “…every false way.” (Psalm 119:104, 128) Therefore, He expects His chosen people to reflect this aspect of His character in their dealings with others. The Moody commentators put it this way: “Lying is a denial that truth is always right. It is a denial of God’s character and of His attributes. Without truth-telling the whole social structure will fail. This command prohibits blatant lies, any conscious deceptions, and unsubstantiated assertions (i.e., gossip and rumor).”

       10. 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 anything that is thy neighbour’s. (v.17) (Luke 12:15, Romans 7:7, 13:9, Ephesians 5:3, 5, Hebrews 13:5)
          This commandment address one’s inner life, the source of the external actions that are prohibited in commandments 6-9. Covetousness is the root cause of murder, adultery, theft and lying. (Matthew 15:19) The purpose of this commandment is to remind us to always be focusing our desires on heavenly things, and not the accumulation of earthly possessions that are ultimately temporal and fleeting. God is teaching the Israelites – and us today – in these last five commandments to be content with what He has given each of them, and to not lust after anything that does not lawfully belong to them. (Philippians 4:11, 1 Timothy 6:6-8)
        The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the three basic sins from which spring all others, and these ten commandments address all three. (1 John 2:16) Covetousness and pride caused the fall of Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:6) As we strive for holiness in our daily walk with God, we must take care to keep His commandments at the forefront of our minds and hearts (Psalm 1:2), using the power of the Holy Spirit and the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11) to keep our heart’s door firmly shut against sin. (Genesis 4:7)

       Verses 18-21: These four verses are a retelling of the same narrative found in the previous chapter in verses 16-20. According to the Moody Bible Commentary, those verses in chapter 19 describe the events from God’s perspective. Here in chapter 20, the same event is described from the people’s perspective. Verse 18 is the same powerful and majestic display that is shown in Exodus 19:18-19. Here in chapter 20, after listing the ten commandments, Moses revisits that scene of thundering and lightning and fire, all of it accompanied by the quaking of the whole mountain and the prolonged trumpet blast. The people are so afraid of this awesome display of God’s power and majesty that they retreat down the mountain, and they ask Moses to speak to them on God’s behalf instead of proceeding further up the mountain to the designated meeting place with God as He had initially command them. (v.19) (Exodus 19:11, 13)
          Moses exhorts the people to not be afraid for their lives, but rather to have the right kind of fear. (v.20) The purpose of the fire and smoke and thundering and lightning was so that the people would be possessed of a healthy fear and awe of God and all His majesty and power and holiness. (Exodus 14:13, Deuteronomy 4:10, 6:24, Proverbs 3:7, 16:6, Isaiah 8:13, 41:10, 13) This, in turn, should motivate them to honor and worship God daily by keeping and obeying the commandments that He’s going to give to Moses. But the Israelites remain at a distance, and so Moses goes back up the mountain to meet with God.

         Verses 22-26: God concludes the giving of His law with some additional instructions. He says in verse 22, “…Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:36, 5:24, 26, Nehemiah 9:13) He then reiterates the 2nd commandment in verse 23: “Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” (Exodus 32:1-4, Deuteronomy 29:17) Unlike the false gods of the Egyptians or the other heathen nations that currently inhabit the promised land, God is a living God. He is the one, true God. As I noted earlier in the quote from the Moody commentators, the preamble to the decalogue in verse 2 of this chapter states clearly that God is self-revealing, that He acts of His own free will, and that He is now relating to His creation in a new and direct manner. All of those things set Him apart from all other gods that are created only from the wicked and prideful imagination of sinful mankind. God is now bringing his message to Moses full circle. The reason for the ten commandments is to show to God’s chosen people that they, too, are to be set apart from all other nations on the earth, and that they will show their allegiance to God by honoring and obeying all his commandments, for He is their God. There is none other besides Him, and He is a jealous God.
      In the closing verses of this chapter, God gives Moses instructions for the proper building of the altars upon which the blood sacrifices will be made by the Israelites. The first half of verse 24 states specifically that the altar is to be made of earth, not of the gold or silver that the Israelites had brought with them out of Egypt. The people can also use stones, but are not allowed to shape them or carve them in any way with tools. The stones are to remain natural and uncut, most likely to avoid the temptation of engraving on them in any manner that might violate the 2nd commandment. If they use tools of any kind in any manner during the building of the altars it would profane the altar and the sacrifice, thus polluting God’s name and glory. Nor are the Israelites allowed to build the altar upon a platform or a hill where the priest might accidentally expose himself to the people below because of the type of robes they would be wearing. This would also profane and corrupt the solemnity and purpose of the occasion of the blood sacrifice. The Believer’s Bible Commentary says it this way: “…sinners can approach God only on the ground of shed blood. The altar speaks of Christ as the way of approach to God. Man could contribute nothing to the perfection of Christ, either by the tools of personal effort or the steps of human achievement.”
          The Lord’s statement in the second half of verse 24 is meant to show the Israelites that God is not confined to a single place, again referring to the false gods of the Egyptians and other heathen nations. Their gods were limited to a single place or function, i.e. the sun god Ra, or Hapi, the god of the Nile. But God is everywhere, and He is over all things and all people, and He will bless the children of Israel as long as they remain faithful and obedient to Him and His commandments. (Deuteronomy 12:5, 16:6, 11, 1 Kings 9:3, 2 Chronicles 6:6)

0 Comments

The Book Of Exodus

Exodus 32

Exodus 20

Click here to get back to the chapter links on the Bible study homepage.

Archives

Categories