Exodus 20:1-11
SS Lesson for 09/12/2010
Devotional Scripture: Gal 3:13-29
The concept of the outline of the lesson came from Bible Expositor and Illuminator. This week's lesson reviews God's Covenant with Israel and how it relates to us as Christians. The study's aim is to show that our God is a covenant keeping God like no other. The study's application is to affirm that God gives us rules for our blessing and always keeps His side of the covenant.
Pastor Glen Martin, in the Holman Old Testament Commentary (Anders, gen. ed., Broadman and Holman), tells of a Sunday when a revival of sorts broke out in a certain church. After opening events, the Sunday school superintendent dismissed people to class, but nobody moved. Then a man who had recently been devastated by divorce stood and gave God thanks for being so good to him. That opened the door to an unplanned time of testimonies, prayers, singing, and weeping. Many went to the altar to pray. It was a morning that everyone present would always remember. Following the service, the Sunday school secretary, who had been downstairs counting the offering, came running, saying, "Pastor, Pastor, I don't know what to do about the attendance. Nobody went to class. I don't think anybody got counted. What are we going to do? What about the numbers on the board?" To which the pastor responded, "Forget the numbers. Today was more than numbers. Just cut a piece of cardboard and slip it in the slot on the board and write on it 'God came.'" In Exodus 19 and 20 we have a record of the day when God came to manifest His presence before Israel at Mount Sinai. This week our study about our incomparable God and how He reveals Himself continues. If we are able to understand how God showed Himself through His covenant with His people, we will have made considerable progress in understanding the nature of our incomparable God. He makes Himself known to His people by keeping His promises to them. He is faithful. He also expects us to do our part in keeping our side of the bargain. Covenants were common among the people of biblical times. There were covenants between warring parties when they made peace. There were covenants between neighbors. So it is not surprising that God made a covenant with His people Israel. A covenant has two sides; in order for a covenant to be valid, both parties have to keep their side of the bargain. In the Bible, the covenant was used by God to show Himself to His people. It was a revelation of His faithfulness.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
50 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
11 The Lord said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
8 "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
6 "This is what the Lord says — Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the Lord.
12 "'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
11 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear — not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
15 Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.
14 "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
3 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath — rest for the people of God;
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any." 27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.
4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out."
3 "'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
23 He said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'"
14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.
13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.
2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord.
The Ten Commandments are something most Americans are at least somewhat familiar with. If you asked the average person to name some of them, you would no doubt get varied answers. You would surely get some correct answers, although it would be a rare thing to find someone who knows all ten in order. This week's text is the first commandment. It is foundational for all the other commands. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments by writing them on stone tablets, He was pointing out the permanence of these statements. By saying "I am the Lord thy God," He was using the name "Yahweh." This name signifies God's transcendence over time. "I am, I was, and I will be" is really the meaning. So God has been, is now, and will be. What does that have to do with life in the twenty-first century? It has plenty to do with it. Quite often in the Old Testament, God announced that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is how God came to Moses initially (Exod. 3:6). Why did He say that? Because He wanted Moses to know that He was the God of the past. He was the same God who had worked in the past. The great things He did for the patriarchs and for Israel were still in effect. And that brings us to the present. It has been said that there really is no present. As soon as we speak of it, it is gone, it is in the past. Yet the point is that God is here now. He walks with His people each day. What an awesome comfort! God is the God of the present. He will be there for us down the road. Perhaps you have lost your job. That can be a fearful matter. But because the God of the past is here taking care of us and will continue to take care of us, we do not need to fear at all. Easier said than done? Absolutely. But that is where the rubber meets the road in terms of our faith. We can trust God right now and even tomorrow because He has shown Himself faithful in the past. Exodus 20:3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," is quite interesting. If misunderstood, it sounds as though God could be saying that it is OK to have other gods, just do not make them more important than He is! Sadly, that is how many people (even some Christians) live their lives. They do not mind having the one true God in their lives as long as they do not have to give up anything else. That most certainly is not what the text is saying! The Hebrew actually says, "You shall have no other gods before my face." The idea is that there can be no other gods in addition to Yahweh. As Matthew Henry wrote, "We cannot have any other God but he will certainly know it. There is none besides him but what is before him" (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, Hendrickson). Our lives are quite complicated. We often feel that life is going a million miles an hour and that we have to be in two places at once all the time. Satan tries to use all this to get in the way of putting God first. A good way to prevent that is to start the day with God. Daily devotions are not a panacea, but they do not hurt, either.
1. God's commands have authority because they are based on who He is and what He has done (Exod. 20:1-2)
2. No person or thing is to take precedence over God in our lives (vs. 3)
3. We distort God's holiness when we replace God with representations of God (vs. 4-6)
4. We dishonor God when we bring disrespect on His name (vs. 7)
5. We honor God as Lord of all by setting aside one day a week for worship (vs. 8-10)
6. By participating in weekly worship, we acknowledge God as Creator (vs. 11)
We all have seen the quote "If you cannot make it work, read the instructions." This week's lesson gives basic instructions for a sound, healthy spiritual life. When yours does not work, maybe it is time to check on these basic rules.
God reminded His people that He is almighty God and that He had acted on their behalf. He is number one, and He had rescued them out of slavery. Similarly, since you have trusted Christ and He has redeemed you out of enslavement to sin, God is number one to you too. If you regularly place trust in your own self-confidence, self-esteem, education, physical abilities, "luck," money, or anything else, you have put something or someone else alongside God. Make sure He is your one and only. Trust Him.
The trap here is that you may come to worship an object rather than God Himself. You may feel that as long as you have the object nearby, all will be well. Many people have done and are doing this. Satan is smarter than to try to get you to reject God outright. Satan may seek for you to back off a bit from sincere worship while still thinking you are loving and obeying God.
Taking the Lord's name in vain often involves more than just speaking His name in an oath or swearword or expression of extreme surprise or dismay. It could also involve calling yourself a follower of God or a Christian and then living in a way that denies Him. The language you use in your mind is just as important as what you say aloud. If you use God's name in vain in your head, you will soon use it the same way with your lips. God can hear your thoughts, so make them very respectful toward His name and His character.
God explains in these verses that He made the world and everything in it (including people) and rested the seventh day. God did not need to rest, but He knows that man needs to rest and that seven days is just the right cycle for work. Our resting the seventh day also has the greater import of reminding us that God is our Creator. We owe Him our loyalty, worship, obedience, and thanks. We were made by Him and for Him. We are responsible to obey Him. Apart from His grace, we have no hope of forgiveness or eternal life. People instinctively know that if God is their Creator, He owns them. They know they are answerable to Him. This is the real significance of the Creation-evolution controversy. Mankind does not want to acknowledge God, live according to His rules, or be held accountable by Him. People will go to any length to get out of this responsibility. We will even think up our own "gods" that we can manage, like "Mother Nature," and hold them in the esteem we should have for God alone. But everyone who knows what day of the week it is should reflect upon what they owe to their Creator. We are saved by God's grace through faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, not by keeping the Ten Commandments, observing ceremonies, or by attending church. But when living out our faith, we do well to observe the basic rules God gives in our lesson text (and through Exodus 20:17). They are recorded for our blessing and God's glory.