Introduction
Our last study was an introduction to the 10 commandments, looking specifically at the first two verses. We discovered that,
* the law is a means of helping us live in relationship both with God and with one another. If we want the privilege of belonging to God, then we must accept the responsibility that goes with it.
* the law expresses the character of God – it is in itself a revelation of his nature through moral imperatives.
* the law tells us how to be obedient to God.
Pulling these strands together, we are learning what it is to be the holy people of a holy God, and what the place of worship looks like. In this study we will look in at least a little detail at the commandments themselves.
God says in 19:4 that he has brought these people to himself, that he ‘possesses’ them in the sense of someone possessing another person in marriage. Of course a marriage is all about relationship, sometimes serene and beautiful, and at other times a little more tricky! But relationship is the fundamental key and so it is with God. We have come to the pivotal place in the Book of Exodus - the place where the marriage contract between God and Israel takes place.
An Overview
We soon see that the commandments are stated mostly in a negative format. To understand why, imagine trying to say as much in a positive form and to keep it to so few words! It's not so easy is it?
These negative commands limit behaviour, which recognizes that, left to his own devices, mankind will tend naturally towards immoral behaviour. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, interviewed by the BBC's Jonathan Dimbelby in January 2003 said that people are fundamentally good, but this does not seem to accord with God’s view and that of the Bible.
There is a simplicity to these negatives that make the commandments comprehensible by everyone and they serve their purpose well - to impart moral principles that will give guidance in as many potential situations that people find themselves in as possible.
Singulars and Plurals
We commented last week that whilst the Decalogue both has the purpose of social adhesion and is for the everyone in society, the structure of the Hebrew is first person singular, so that God is speaking to each individual person. Society, at all levels from the micro to macro, is made up of individuals and the social rules work only if morality starts at the personal level. Morality is about individual commitment to all others.
The Comprehensiveness of God’s Law (verse 3-17)
The scope of these commandments is as wide as it could be. God is claiming the whole of our lives for himself. God's all-encompassing claim on human life is not always easy for the Christian seeker to comprehend. At conversion, the new believer is committing themselves utterly to Jesus, to the last hair on their head. My own conversion happened when I realized this simple truth, that God wants all of me, my whole life, and not just a little bit which is what I had been offering to him.
Structure
In our last study we already made the obvious structural split of the commandments, that of the first four being directed towards loving God and the last six being responsive to the first four in loving other people. However, we might split them into different groupings, especially as we pinpoint which spheres of life is God claiming with each command.
Ralph Dale Davies, the American Bible teacher, splits them as follows, and I propose to follow his pattern:
Commandments 1-3 :claim your worship
Commandment 4 : claims your work
Commandments 5-9 : claim your relationships
Commandment 10 : claims your heart
Convincing and full study of these commandments should be the subject of a lifetime's work and more! My purpose is not to cover every angle and bring to light every nuance of meaning, but to bring some ideas forward for consideration. I would much rather that we grasp the big picture of Exodus 20, of how it fits into Scripture and God's plan of redemption as a whole, than get stuck in details, however fascinating they are.
I will err on the side of saying how they apply to the original audience and therefore the matter of ownership might strike we modern people as distasteful. And yet this was not so to the Israelites and other cultures of the time. They would not question God's ownership of them, especially after what he had done to bring them thus far. Perhaps our 21st Century culture with its broken marriages and business ethics would do itself a favour by returning to the idea of ownership to under gird relationships.
Commandments 1-3 claim our worship
1. Have no other gods before me
Here, the focus of worship is being limited. The phrase 'before me' is literally 'to my face' and was used of taking a second wife whilst the first lived. At issue here is the breach of an exclusive relationship. God should be sufficient for us and we should need no other comfort.
Note, that as we go through these commandments you will find it useful if you think in terms of relationship and ownership to uncover their meaning.
2. Have no idol
This tells us that we should control the manner of your worship. God wants us to remember that our relationship is with a living person and not a cold, dead image or idea. The word idol used here means literally 'carved image' – something chiselled into a likeness. Cole comments that the prohibition refers only to, 'the making of direct objects of worship, not the representation of any living object'. This means that there is no problem with the carving of the cherubim who will sit atop the ark of the covenant.
An idol is man-made so that we are no longer worshipping the transcendent creator who is bigger than us but ourselves. A danger of physical images is that God would become confined and compartmentalised: God would become no longer everywhere but somewhere, no longer omnipotent and transcendent but bound and subjected. Such a view would diminish him. There is a tendency for some church people to confine God to a church building, and their own church building in particular, and so they spend much of their Christian lives glorifying and worrying about buildings rather than the souls of the lost! It's absurd.
Like me, in some fellowships you will have noticed how religious people nod in reverence before the communion table or cross on the church wall. It’s running close to the disobeying this command as these people are doing these things before man-made, crafted objects which at best, are merely visual aids and images of God's character, not God. Israel did not see God directly as he gave his commands. Always the emphasis is on the voice and the words of Yahweh. God has revealed himself primarily in an audible way, not visually.
There is a stern warning added to this commandment that underlines the seriousness of this sin. We find here the principle of imputation. Imputation is where succeeding generations being punished for their parents’ sins. Under the New Covenant that disappears and faith in Jesus becomes all important.
3. Do not misuse God’s name
This commandment requires the reverence of our worship. The original thrust of this command is that we should not make a false oath in Yahweh’s name. James (5:12) makes the same point in the New Testament. We must not be careless in using God’s name.
An example of such a misuse could be the liberal use of 'God's will' to vindicate our own desires. We say, "God told me to do such and such," when in fact, we are only guessing at his will because of a feeling rather than objective truth. This is not to repudiate all such urgings. I think most wise Christians would say that a perpetual urging on our minds ought to be investigated, especially if it conforms to God's biblical line. In such circumstances we should begin to push the door for confirmation of God's will. After all, did God not prompt us through our consciences to sort out our stand on Jesus shortly before we came to faith?
Commandment 4 claim your work:
4. Remember the Sabbath Day.
This is not the first explicit mention of the Sabbath in Exodus. The passage in Exodus 16:22-30 gives instructions about gathering manna for the Sabbath day, which occurs one in every seven days, so we see God making this seven day cycle of life definitive for humanity, and broadening its context. In Egypt, the Israelites would have worked on a ten day cycle, rather than God’s cycle of seven. This longer cycle of days was tried in the Soviet Union in the 20th Century but proved unworkable. This is no doubt because the creation design demands the seven day cycle.
God instituted the Sabbath rest in the creation week of Genesis 1 and 2. Verse 8 of our present passage begins, "Remember..." although this is like God remembering: it is a call to action. The sense of the commandment is this, "Remember the Sabbath in order to keep it holy". So the emphasis is on holiness. Worship is a matter of copying God’s character and behaviour.
There are implications about work in this command to rest. It's always a good idea to approach a command from the side of what is explicitly included in it and what is not. So if this command tells us about resting one day a week, what does it imply about the other six?
· It is a command both to work and a prohibition to work, for ourselves, our bosses and those who serve us.
· It is after God’s own work-rest pattern, says Dale Ralph Davies. Work should always move towards rest, to keep our Christian ministry or work from becoming our idol and god.
· It includes God in the normal weekly cycle.
Re-creation
At the risk of over-egging this pudding, having the rest day in the week is the creation pattern and the Israelite nation is in one respect at the point of new creation. Perhaps we should say re-creation of the original pattern.
In Eden, God’s people were in God’s place under God’s law, as Graeme Goldsworthy would describe it. The Israelites are about to enter Canaan where they will be God’s people in God’s place under God’s law.
From Vertical to Horizontal
Commandments 5-10
Having dealt first with out vertical relationship with God, now the attention of the commandments switches to horizontal relationships. Our calling to God has much to do with other people, not just God. For one thing, we are called into community with other Christians! We are not just saved individuals but part of a saved people. So we might call the last six commandments the 'community commandments'.
Commandments 5-9 claim your relationships:
5. Honour Your Mother and your Father
It seems appropriate that these community commandments should start with this one. Notice that the first relationship commandments is about close family, although the original Hebrew concept covers older people outside the family also to some extent. People learn first about social relationships in the family setting as they grow up. It is here they learn about respect for authority, right and wrong, about discipline, about love, compassion, trust and faithfulness. It will not be lost on you that God calls himself our Father. Children learn about relationship with God through their family relationships with their parents.
Sadly, in our day, this process has largely been dispensed with as many families break apart and parents choose not to instil these values in their offspring.
We know a parent who whilst not a believing Christian, is Christian in a cultural sense. She objected to her children being told about about a Hindu festival. Rather than tackle the issue with the headmaster at a private meeting she marched into the classroom mid-morning and had a blazing row with the teacher in front of the children. It ended with her assaulting the poor teacher.
At the school gate we would observe parents collecting their young children speaking in strings of expletives to them. Many children did not know what father figure they were returning home to, some went to homes with only one parent, and one family's parental role was played by two lesbians.
All too often, whilst parents refuse to take responsibility for instilling moral values and good behaviour in their children, they expect the school to do this job for them. In Britain this is impossible as the schools cannot by law use reasonable means of discipline, and are rarely backed by parents when they try. Indeed, parents often become hostile and take the child's disobedient viewpoint! And this was the primary school. You can imagine how these horrors are magnified at the secondary level.
This fifth commandment contains a promise, that the Israelites will live long in the land of Canaan. Successful society relies on successful relationships, particularly respectful relationships from young to old. I suggest that strong families and respect for older people make for a strong society as they pass down their wisdom. Divorce and disrespect for others kindles nothing but insecurities and both encourages and perpetuates hatred.
6. You shall not murder – life.
A strict vegetarian in my office once displayed a sticker that stated, 'meat is murder'. We had some interesting discussions about that. The sticker is not technically correct but it did indicate at least a conscience that was headed in the right direction.
Moses, himself a murderer, must have found this commandment difficult to repeat in front of his fellow Israelites. This command states that life is sacred. Whilst there is a general distinction between premeditated and accidental killing, some unintentional killing is also included in the Hebrew word used here.
Note that the commandment is 'murder', not kill. It refers exclusively to people made in the image of God. There is a sanctity to life. Animals are covered by our obligations of stewardship and that is why I objected to my colleague's sticker. If it read 'Meat is Killing', then it would have been correct. Whilst I applaud her stand against cruelty to animals, like other vegetarians, she cannot claim any moral grounds for her belief.
In the New Testament this law covers anger and hatred too when Jesus raises the stakes of God's commandments and underlines the fact that God is interested in our hearts and our inner lives rather than outward manifestations necessarily!
7. You shall not commit adultery - sex
This commandment underlines the sanctity of marriage. Again the inner attitude is of paramount importance to Jesus. Abstaining from physical affairs is one thing but it might be against a backdrop of seething inner desires. This is not to belittle the way people have victory over inevitable sexual temptation. In one respect it see physical betrayal, and explains why some women view their partner's interest in pornography little short of adultery itself. For the man, the interest can be the cause of much grieving as he longs to be free of the sin and finds too little strength to withstand the temptation.
As shocking as it may sound to us, the thrust of the commandment is not against polygamy and neither is it to prohibit sex with prostitutes. It has to do with belonging. The principle at play is that you don’t infringe on another person’s rights. God has 'bought us' and has an exclusive spiritual right to us because we belong to him. Really, it seems logical that polygamy and the use of prostitutes is hugely damaging and contrary to God's law taken as a whole. They are contrary to the law of, 'loving your neighbour as yourself'.
8. You shall not steal – property
Stealing undermines community, creating mistrust and fear. It could lead to destitution in a simple peasant society such as that of the Israelites. It effects would have been much more immediate and so would have instilled outrage to an extent that modern Western humanity, with all its material riches, would not feel. After all, we buy insurance to protect ourselves.
The Hebrew word for steal (ganab) has the sense of deception and so this commandment includes a multiple of crimes from embezzlement, extortion and fraud to not revealing all material facts. It could result from active sin or sin of omission. Again, let me stress that possession is the key issue. It is sinful to try and take what belongs to another, and we must not steal God's authority from him. Is that not what some Christians do when they try and appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit to 'heal' themselves. Their asking of the Holy Spirit is often more of a command to the divine person rather than a simple request. In doing so we make ourselves 'become like God' and revisit Eden all over again (Genesis 3:5). Isn't it amazing that that original temptation is so much alive and well, even amongst God's own people!
9. You shall not give false testimony – truth.
This command has a judicial purpose, of particular importance in societies without forensics and fingerprinting, like the Israelites. In a society where most crimes were punishable by death, truthful witness is vital. In Deuteronomy 17:6 it is established that two or three witnesses are required before capital punishment is incurred and the accuser must cast the first stone, and would suffer stoning himself if the accusation is found to be false. This law stops trivial cases from arriving at court. How refreshing such harshness would be in modern courts in cases of perjury.
We must, 'worship God the Father in spirit and in truth,' according to Jesus in John 4:23. It is important that we are not involved in character assassination and the sin of tearing people down rather than building them up.
Commandment 10 claims your heart
10. You shall not covet
With this commandment we are coming much closer to the concern of Jesus in the Sermon in the Mount. Coveting is internal possession – not just our overt actions but what is going on inside a person. It’s a matter of intent. If we don’t check our desires they grow until we act on them, often for the worse.
Desire as such is not wrong. It when it is misdirected to an object owned by someone else that it becomes wrong. We might view this commandment as a 'catch-all' commandment. Even if a person could outwardly obey all the other nine commandments, it is plainly apparent that this one would find them out and pass a guilty verdict on them.
Well, that's an utterly inadequate coverage of the Ten Words but I hope we have at least begun to see some of the principles underlying them. I would encourage you to spend more time delving into them. When teaching this chapter in home groups, open discussion brings many useful perspectives and angles on them.
In the last study of this chapter, we will explore the reaction of the Israelites as they listen to God's voice from the foot of the mountain.
www.Bible.org gives the following list of the sins which were punishable by death. I am quoting directly from this excellent site that I encourage you to use in your studies on a regular basis.
· Premeditated murder (Exod. 21:1214).
· Kidnapping (Exod. 21:16; Deut. 24:7).
· Adultery (Lev. 20:1021; Deut. 22:22).
· Homosexuality (Lev. 20:13).
· Incest (Lev. 20:1112, 14).
· Bestiality (Exod. 22:19; Lev. 20:1516).
· Incorrigible delinquency and persistent disobedience to parents and authorities (Deut. 17:12; 21:1821).
· Striking or cursing parents (Exod. 21:15; Lev. 20:9; Prov. 20:20; Matt. 15:4; Mark 7:10).
· Offering human sacrifice (Lev. 20:2).
· False prophecy (Deut. 13:110).
· Blasphemy (Lev. 24:1114, 16, 23).
· Profaning the Sabbath (Exod. 35:2; Num. 15:3236).
· Sacrificing to false gods (Exod. 22:20)
· Magic and divination (Exod. 22:18).
· Unchastity (Deut. 22:2021).
· Rape of a betrothed virgin (Deut. 22:2327).