The 10 Commandments Intro
Notes
Transcript
The 1st Commandment
The 1st Commandment
The Law of the Ten Commandments is the strength of sin because it creates self-knowledge.
Martin Luther
Today we begin our series on the a section of the Mosaic Law we have come to know as the 10 commandments.
We know we are not under the law, but the law plays a vital part in our salvation, in that it shows us just how unrighteous we are.
How desperately we need a savior.
It has been said the law is a mirror that reflects the glory of God.
We all know what Romans 3:23 says about God’s glory.
So with that in mind we will begin our study today. We are primarily going to be in Exodus chapter 20, but today we are actually going to begin in chapter 19.
You can also reference Deuteronomy chapter 5.
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.
And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.
So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
*Open Prayer*
We start off with a dramatic scene.
The decent of God is signaled by a display of power and authority over all the Earth.
Thundering, lightning, thick clouds.
This sets the tone for the law that was about to be received.
When we study the 10 commandments, we need to understand the law is straight from God himself!
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
We also need to see God takes this serious.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Take the Lord’s name in vain, its the same as being guilty of murder when you stand before a HOLY and JUST God.
But we know the law does not save us. Jesus is the savior of all, old and new testament.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
So knowing all this, we can see why God would display great power and authority before the people. The mountain literally burned with fire, the ground quaked, and the people feared the Lord!
Too many self professing “Christians” today, do not have a healthy fear of the Lord.
If your really a child of the king, we don’t fear him because of we think He is out to get us. We fear failing him!
And we so often do…
We like to think we can understand our God and all of his power, glory, and might.
Yet, in reality, we cannot even begin to comprehend His true Glory!
God actually sets up this scene to protect the people that may attempt to even gaze, unworthily, upon the Lord.
We see Moses and Aaron were given special ability to even be in God’s presence.
Its amazing to think how many people think that on judgement day they are going to “reason” with the Lord.
How arrogant is that thought? That we are even worthy to talk to Him, let alone attempt to talk Him into letting us into Heaven.
I often think about that song, “I can only image”.
I don’t know what that day will be like, but somehow I doubt I will even be able to stand, or speak for that matter, when I see the face of Jesus.
This event takes place just 55 days after the first passover in Egypt.
Keep in mind, God’s power and glory should be fresh in everyone’s mind after witnessing the plagues.
Yet they are all still terrified of what they are witnessing.
Do we get an idea of how big and powerful our God actually is?
Now this timeline marks the feast of Pentecost.
7 weeks of 7 days, the people arrive at mount Horeb. The next day Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law.
The 50th day after liberation from Egypt, marks the beginning of the old testament Church.
50 days after Jesus’s Resurrection, we receive the gifts of God’s faithfulness.
The day of Pentecost.
Is it not just amazing how the Old Testament flows into and is reflected in the New Testament?
The smoke in chapter 19 is described as being so intense, it is compared to smoke from a furnace.
Compare this to the cloud described in Matthew 17.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Look at the difference when God is pleased.
We really do struggle to comprehend all the attributes of God.
In our text today, God’s arrival is even marked with the sound of a trumpet.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Can we see why it is good for us to have an understanding of the whole Bible, and not just pieces and parts?
It is very clear to the people this is not a natural event.
Its not just a violent storm, or the way atmospheric gases react to the rotation of the Earth.
There is NO logical, natural explanation of what is taking place.
The same will be true for the rapture of the church.
What an intense scene we are looking at today. We have not even looked at the first commandment yet.
But all this is important to understand, so we see how important and serious the first commandment is.
Now we are prepared to look at Exodus 20.
And God spake all these words, saying,
I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
God starts off the same way he does many times, by announcing who He is!
He uses the Hebrew name Yahweh, which is a specific name. Today we read it translated as simply as “Lord”.
I’d like to read some commentary from a man named Waldemar Janzen.
Exodus (The Redeemer’s Self-Introduction 20:1–2)
The Redeemer’s Self-Introduction 20:1–2God introduces himself with a self-definition that is at the same time a reminder: I am Yahweh. That is the name God gave to Moses (3:13–15), the name that was to replace God’s earlier and, for Israel, more familiar names of God, in keeping with the new acts with which God would surprise Israel (cf. 6:2–3). At that time, these new acts were still shrouded for Moses in the unknown future merely hinted at by the mysterious interpretation I will be who I will be (3:13–15, notes).Now, however, that mystery has been replaced by experience, the experience of salvation from Egyptian slavery reported in the book of Exodus thus far. From now on, Israel is to remember for all time that the name Yahweh stands for Savior/Redeemer. Verse 2 is the O T’s closest equivalent to a definition of Israel’s God (at least up to this point in the story; cf. 34:6–7, notes):I am Yahweh your God,who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
The introduction of who God is sets the tone for the first commandment we see.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Something interesting to note. Although when we see 10 commandments posted somewhere, the wording isn’t always exactly as we see it in the verse.
For instance you may see something to the effect of “you shall not lie”, when the verse talks about bearing “false witness”. While not lying only part of bearing false witness, you still get the idea. Some, especially in Catholicism, really mess up these commandments.
The Catholic 10 commandments is widely different than everyone else’s interpretation of what is clearly presented in Exodus 20. We will talk more on that throughout this series.
But typically, they write up the first commandment to the effect of “you shall not have strange gods before me”
Here we see some differences.
Although the term “strange gods” is found in scripture, it very clearly and very intentionally is not recorded that way in verse 3.
Well why is that? What is the opposite of strange?
It is familiar. If you read a catholic take on the 10 commandments you may walk away with the conclusion that you can worship “familiar gods”.
i.e. familiar spirits. Which as we know are actually demons disguised as deceased people we know.
Even though we the Catholic church claims to only worship God, they clearly worship and pray to dead people. They just call them “saints”.
Can you see why it is important to actually study the scripture and not just accept what people tell you?
So besides worshipping dead people, what are other gods that we worship?
First lets define that word worship. Source Websters dictionary.
Worship-
to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.
Now that we have an understanding of what worship is, lets make a list of things we tend to worship. Here are 7 things, but the possibilities are endless.
Identity- who we are in our eyes and the world around us. Things like job title or social status become priorities in our lives.
Money- wealth is often directly associated with power. So more money would equal more power.
Physical appearance- while it is important to take care of ourselves, worshipping physical appearance can consume us.
Entertainment- Netflix, sports, social media, games. Last year Netflix reported 222 million subscribers worldwide. In 2020, an estimated 204 million hours were collectively streamed during the first covid lock down.
Lustful desires
Comfort/technology
Family
How much time do you spend devoted to things other than God?
This first commandment may be a lot harder to follow than we originally thought.
Lets look at a passage in Luke 18.
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Over the next several weeks we will be diving deeper into this list. It is my hope that we see how serious God is about sin. That we see a small glimpse of his Glory.
And realize there is no possible way any of us are able to truly keep these.
We will see just how far short we fall short of God’s glory!