2026.03.08 The Big 10 - Give And Take
Notes
Transcript
1 Then God gave the people all these instructions:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
3 “You must not have any other god but me.
4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You must not murder.
14 “You must not commit adultery.
15 “You must not steal.
16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
►►►SLIDE [title]
The Big 10 - Give And Take
The Big 10 - Give And Take
Today’s two commands begin with language and move to inaction.
When I worked in Christian radio, we had a handful of people who called the radio station regularly. They only called when we’d done or said something they saw as offensive. We called them “the Spiritual Police”. For example, I was giving the sports report one morning, and gave the score for the Milwaukee baseball team’s game and I had the nerve to call them “The Brewers”. One of the most prolific of the Spiritual Police, Dana called to chastise me for making a reference to beer because I called the team The Brewers. Nevermind that the name of the team is “The Brewers”. Nevermind that they could be brewing tea or coffee or a witches stew … wait … that last one probably wouldn’t have been a good example either.
My favorite call from Dana was near the end of my time at that station. During a live telephone show someone called in to ask which artist sang a particular song. So I went into the studio to look in our computer, and when I found the artist’s name, I instinctively reached over and hit the button on the phone to tell the listener the name.
It was like when you lock your keys in your car … as I reached for the phone, I realized what was about to happen, but the momentum of my arm just wouldn’t stop. I hit the button and suddenly the phone I now had on speaker was live on the air and the program that was supposed to be on was dropped. As I leaned over the phone, I whispered, “Oh my gosh!” I quickly reached up and started the prerecorded show that was due to air after the phoned in show. I looked at the clock, and we were only off by a couple of minutes.
“Phew! Dodged a bullet on that one.” Then the phone rang. On the other end, Dana angrily sneered, “Did I just hear, ‘Oh my God’ on the air?” I replied, “No, but I just heard it on the phone,” and I hung up on her.
In Christian circles, we spend a lot of effort trying not to offend other Christians. Don’t say the wrong words … don’t express the wrong opinions … don’t ruffle any feathers. We don’t want to upset each other … and we tend to become the “Spiritual Police” when someone else says something we think is wrong.
The Third Commandment is about respecting God’s name:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:7 NASB]
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
What does it mean to say something “in vain”?
[without success or a result] … “She waited in vain for a return call.” “The team’s defense tried in vain to stop the scoring drive.”
Synonym phrases: “to no purpose” “pointless” “futile”
Maybe a different translation would help:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:7 NLT]
7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
When I go through the 10 commandments with people, I confess that in letter or spirit, I’ve violated all 10 of the commandments. If I give leeway on any of them … this is the one.
Looking at this passage on the screen, anybody want to guess why I would possibly give some leeway in this one?
Perhaps this will help:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:7 NLT - highlight “the LORD”]
If it doesn’t, let me try this one:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:7 - with Yahweh]
Looking at it now … why am I likely to give some leeway on this command? Because I don’t believe I’ve ever used God’s name in vain … because I rarely use his name in my everyday speech.
If you ever watched Seinfeld, Jerry had a nemesis in his apartment building. When they encountered each other, Jerry would say: “Hello … NEWMAN!”
►►►SLIDE [Newman]
I’ve never used God’s name like this. Dana didn’t catch me saying, “Oh my god,” but I’ve probably uttered that phrase countless times in my life.
I could go on a grammatical rabbit trail and prove without doubt that the word “god” in that exclamation cannot grammatically be a name. I won’t. But I want to make sure everyone knows I COULD! :)
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Give And Take
The Big 10 - Give And Take
I’ve shared this information before, but it really bares repeating in the context of this commandment:
The Bible includes many names for God. Many … perhaps most ... of those are titles, not names: Lord, Savior, Healer, Creator, etc. We have lost the fact that our God has a personal name. I believe recapturing His name helps us seek a more personal relationship.
►►►SLIDE [yahweh word plate]
Throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh (יהוה) is used as God's personal name. (If he had a driver's license, Yahweh would be the name on it.)
During the Babylonian exile, the Hebrews somehow came to the conclusion that God's name was too holy to be spoken, so they started using "Adonai" ("lord" in English). Still today, when an orthodox Jewish person is reading in Hebrew, if the name Yahweh appears, they will say "Adonai" instead.
So, I almost hate to admit it … but their effort worked. I’ve never abused God’s name. But I rarely use his name and I often see him as distant rather than personal, so the downside may be worse than the protection it provided.
And while the letter of the law centers on his actual name, “Yahweh”, well, in the spirit of the law, I’ve treated God like he’s one among many. I’ve called on God for silly things and ignored him with major issues. So, I’m innocent of the letter of this one, but I’ve called out to him without purpose a time or two, so I’m guilty of this one, too.
While it’s easy to determine if someone violates the letter of the law … who can determine if the spirit of the law has been violated? [only the person being judged]
This is a major point in handling God’s Law. While it’s easy to determine if someone violates the letter of the law … Jesus teaches that the spirit of the law is more important … and only the person being judged (and God) can make that judgment.
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Give And Take
The Big 10 - Give And Take
Command #4 is about behavior, but it’s also much more personal than we have heard in the past.
[NOT ON SCREEN]
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
The Hebrew word sabbath is almost always defined as the seventh day of the week … but the word has a literal meaning. It means to stop, to cease.
The Sabbath is not just a day to not work … it’s a day to fully stop. This may be the most difficult of all commandments for us today if we take it literally.
And we’re not alone in that. Even in Jesus’ day, defining Sabbath was difficult.
Rabbis and Pharisees defined all sorts of activities that were prohibited or limited on Sabbath. You could walk, but only so far. You could carry something, but not in public. In orthodox circles today, Jewish communities erect and maintain something called an Eruv.
Thirty-four states have an Eruv, including 28 in New York City alone. Closer to home, there is an Eruv in South Bend, and one in Indianapolis.
►►►SLIDE [Indianapolis Eruv]
An Eruv is a wire (sometimes even as thin as fishing wire) that is strung up around an area. The purpose of the wire is to define an area as “not public” for Sabbath prohibitions. They often surround a neighborhood and the neighborhood synagogue. It’s really pushing the limits by leaning heavily on the letter of the law. But it misses the purpose of the Law.
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Give And Take
The Big 10 - Give And Take
Mark 2 starting in verse 23, Jesus walks through some grain fields with his disciples, and the disciples broke off heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees lost their minds because they DARED to pick grain so they could eat.
Listen to Jesus’ response:
►►►SLIDE [Mark 2:25-27]
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
I used to love mowing … I know … weird. People would drive by the parsonage, and it wasn’t unusual for me to spend Sunday afternoon mowing. I strapped on the headphones and everyone left me alone. While I rode around the yard, I spent some valuable time alone with God. It was Sabbath to me.
The letter of the law would say it wasn’t “stopping”, and I’ll admit I need to get better at stopping … really stopping and doing nothing for a period. But look again at Jesus’ last statement:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Give And Take
The Big 10 - Give And Take
Every once in a while someone would casually say that I shouldn’t be mowing on the Sabbath. I would first remind them that I work on Sundays, so my Sabbath has to be a different day than theirs (it’s Friday, by the way). Then, I would remind them that the Sabbath is for me, not the other way around.
Who would ever say that alone time with God is not keeping a time holy? Who would ever think someone would tell someone else to NOT spend that quality time with Yahweh?
The Sabbath is for you! It’s not for me to tell you what you should and shouldn’t be doing on Sabbath. The Sabbath is for YOUR restoration. God created us. He knows we need to spend time “stopping”. He knows our bodies and our brains get tired. Even in Genesis, Sabbath is for rest - rest...oration!
Are you weary? What activity or lack of activity is restorative to you? When is the last time you did that?
Don’t let the Spiritual Police define how you relate and respond to God.
You respect his name and who he is. And figure out with the Holy Spirit what Sabbath should look like for you. Then … fiercely defend that time!
Just like not using God’s name without purpose … don’t use your life without purpose. Spend some time “stopping” and let Yahweh restore you.
The Law is a gift from God. Don’t lament its expectations … instead … Enjoy its benefits!
