Does anyone really like to be told what to do? In all likelihood, your answer to this is an emphatic NO! Yet no other document telling us what we shall and shall not do is more mentioned, more thought of, than the Ten Commandments. When we consider directions for our daily lives is there a more clear or precise resource? Hollywood has made millions on the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments whether in reverence or in farce. For years people have argued about whether or not the Ten Commandments should be allowed to be posted in schools and on court house lawns. The funny thing to me is that most of what the Ten Commandments is about is already built into the conscience of most people, the law of nature if you will. We intrinsically know such things as lying, stealing, murdering, cheating on your spouse and disrespecting your parents is wrong. We don't have to read the Bible or hear the Gospel to have a sense of a higher power working in this world either. (read Romans 1:18-2:16) Yet, I think God in his perfect timing was doing what needed to be done in order to avoid chaos from ensuing amongst the people of Israel, and to give us clarity in a world today where some just view the Ten Commandments more as suggestions. God was doing what we often do when needing to make something official. He put it down in writing.
We will be spending two weeks on the Ten Commandments so I want to share a little bit on what happened between the account of God giving the rock that provided the Israelites water (Exodus 17:1-7) up to God giving Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Then, we'll look at the first 4 commandments and save the last 6 for next time.
In chapter 18, two things occur: 1) Moses is reunited with his family 2) Jethro, his father in law, gives him leadership advice. We see Moses spending day and night hearing the disputes of the people and instructing the people in God's law. Jethro advises him to delegate and appoint trusted leaders over 1000 men, 100 men, 50 and 10. Is it any coincidence that this story comes before God establishing the Ten Commandments? The Israelites had grown to a huge nation but had been under Egyptian rule. God was now helping Moses to bring order to a newly independent nation. But God did not want it to simply be some document for Moses to use to rule and govern the people. God made himself known in a powerful way according to Exodus 19. We read of thunder, lightning, the sound of the ram's horn and smoke billowing everywhere. God wanted to make clear what he was about to do was more than make rules and regulations. He was giving an eternal promise, a covenant between Him and Israel, between Him and all who would come to believe in Him.
One thing worth noting about the commandments is that there is a natural
division between the first 4 and the last 6. The first 4 deal with our
relationship with God and the last 6 deal with our relationship to each
other. Another unique quality we see is that these commands use the
2nd person personal pronoun of "Thou" or "You." They are written
to speak to each of us on a personal level.
You shall have no other gods before me
We must note that there were other religions with sets of commands in this day and age, much like the Ten Commandments. Yet no other set of commands prohibited the worship of other Gods. Yahweh is making clear that He is singular and He is universal. He is also a personal God thus there is no need to worship anyone or anything else. Before this first commandment he gives the Israelites some ID. He declares He is the same God that brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He wants to leave no doubt in their minds of his true identity. He is more than enough and there is no need to look anywhere else for supernatural guidance.
You shall not make for yourself any graven images
This commandment takes a step beyond the first one. It clarifies that God can not be contained in an object for worship. We can have visual reminders that help us in worship but nothing, no object is deserving of our worship. I've always understood that anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God can become an idol. This obviously goes beyond the golden calf. It can be money, a job, a relationship, a desire to be popular or famous. It can even be religious practices that we distort. For example, people could hide their idolatry of being right all the time behind a zeal for their correct interpretation of the Bible. In so doing they forget to show others forgiveness, love, grace and compassion. If God was able to be worshiped through an object this would mean God could be controlled and/or manipulated. Our God can not be put in a box or in an object. He is not containable.
You shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain
For the people of Israel, names were a big part of who they were. A name wasn't just how you were called, it was a definer of your persona. So to use God's name carelessly or in a perverted manner was clearly not acceptable because of the importance of names in their culture. According to Maxie Dunnam to say something "in vain" means "empty, groundless, without basis, frivolous, insincere." (Communicators Commentary Series, Old Testament Vol. 2 - Exodus p. 258) Dunnam also suggests that this can be about profanity, but it's more than that. When people use God's name for advancing their political, economical or social agenda for personal gain, it is also taking the Lord's name in vain. These are harsh words from Dunnam, but it is a great reminder for us to be careful when we claim to speak on God's behalf. At the heart of this is a caution to not take God and/or his name too lightly.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy
Sabbath means to cease or to rest. It was important for the Israelites to be reminded that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and to remind them of their deliverance on the Passover. In addition to these, it is important for Christians also to be reminded of the Resurrecton of Jesus Christ on our Sabbath. Sabbath is a reminder of the need for our lives to have a rhythm that balances work with restoraton. This restoration goes beyond the physical. It needs to include mental/emotional restoration and the most importantly spiritual restoration. The Israelites considered the beginning of their days to happen at dusk, not at dawn. This way of thinking can teach us American go getters a lot about the rhythm of life. In the Jewish tradition, the day begins with rest and ends with work. Thus, in order to give God your best, the day begins with restoration, rest, sleep. Think about this, how would that change our way of life if we considered the beginning of our day a time to restore ourselves in order to give our best work when the sun comes up? How would that change our view of resting, slowing down, giving time to our family and to our God? The same holds true for our weekly pattern. Don't we really consider Sunday as part of our weekend and often think of Monday as the real beginning of the week? But isn't Sunday the first day of the week? What if we remember to consider Sunday as the day that prepares us for the week that is to come? Let us begin our week with Sabbath that restores us for the the challenges we will face during the week that is ahead.
Jesus told us the Greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Are these first four commandments nothing more than expanding upon the greatest commandment that Jesus taught us? May we be a people, a family, a church that instills these commandments in our young people in a fresh new way just as Jesus did some 2000 years ago. Let's teach our children to resist the urge to think as the world thinks. Let's help them to not take the Lord lightly. Remind them we need no other God or person or thing to worship. Help them to remember to rest in the Lord, to keep Sabbath rhythm to life. The best way to do this is to live it ourselves.
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