2026.03.15 The Big 10 - Home And Life
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 - Home And Life
The Big 10 - Home And Life
This week, we shift from the commandments related to our relationship with God to the ones involving our relationships with other people.
Today we deal with Commands 5 and 6.
Paul made note in Ephesians 6 that Commandment 5 is the only one of the 10 commandments that comes with a promise:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:12]
12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land Yahweh your God is giving you.
And thus, the list of commandments dealing with other humans begins … ‘at home’.
In ancient Jewish culture, this was considered one of the most sacred obligations. According to one commentary: “In some ancient societies, the helpless aged were thrust out of the dwelling of their children to be eaten by beasts or die of exposure.”
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 1, Pat 1: Genesis-Deuteronomy a. The Principles of the Covenant—The Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17)
The Old Testament tells us to honor our parents; it tells us that age is to be respected; and we are to revere our elders.
Of course, as children, we have dishonored our parents. But what about older parents? If you’re like me, my dad can be frustrating sometimes. I can say knowing he may be watching … because I’ve said it to him. Not that I am not frustrating for him to deal with … I am. But how do I respond to that frustration?
I’ll admit that as I wrote this sermon, I felt a little convicted for how I sometimes think about my dad. I may not dishonor him with my actions, but in spirit, I realize I still violate this one occasionally.
How’s your relationship with your parents? For those whose parents are still living, just a bit of advice to myself and I’ll let you hear it:
Dealing with older people can be very frustrating. Our expectations of of each other are often unrealistic. I lost my mom in 2011. What I wouldn’t give for some of those 15 years back. Don’t waste the time you have with your parents lamenting things. Cherish the time you have, because once it’s gone, it’s gone.
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Home And Life
The Big 10 - Home And Life
Moving to Commandment 6. This one’s an easy one, right?
You likely can’t read the graphic on the screen, but Commandment 6 reads “Thou shalt not kill.” While this is the traditional translation, it’s not a very good translation.
If you noticed, our reading didn’t use that wording:
►►►SLIDE [Exodus 20:13]
13 “You must not murder.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary says: “The verb kill used here is the technical Hebrew word for ‘murder’ or ‘slaying with premeditation.’ It voices a law which is intuitive to human nature.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 1, Pat 1: Genesis-Deuteronomy a. The Principles of the Covenant—The Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17)
This is one of three commands that includes only two words in the original language.
►►►SLIDE [word plate]
This is a very simple passage:
Hebrew reads right to left, and the two words here are
Lo [low]
Tirtzach [tear - tzach]
Lo means “no” and tirtzach means “murder”
Simple, right?
By the letter of the law, I’ve never violated this commandment.
Let’s look at how Jesus defined the spirit of this law. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5
►►►SLIDE [Matthew 5:21-22 - reference]
21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’
22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
Okay. Well, that’s a little different than pulling out a gun and shooting somebody, isn’t it? Christians often think Jesus made living a faithful life easier. However, he made it harder!
One commentary suggests these are ascending scales of offenses.
If you are angry … you’re subject to judgment. This likely refers to a local court.
If you you say “Raca” to someone (you idiot) … before the court. This likely refers to the Sanhedrin - the highest Jewish court.
If you curse someone … fires of Hell. This is the place of final torment.
How serious was Jesus about this? Well, we’re at verse 22, let’s just continue reading from there:
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
He goes on, but I’ll stop there.
God himself instructs us to leave our offering at the altar, go be reconciled to the person holding something against us, and THEN come back to offer our gift.
This reconciliation thing is a really big deal to Yahweh.
►►►SLIDE [secondary title]
The Big 10 - Home And Life
The Big 10 - Home And Life
God tells us to honor our parents, and to not hold anger between each other.
What relationship in your life needs some work in this area? Where is there angst? Even the slightest infraction makes a person guilty. Are you willing to try to set it right?
In a minute, I’m going to pray and we’ll move on.
Today’s sermon is intentionally short.
I’m leaving time on the clock … for you. I trust the Holy Spirit to identify a relationship that needs some work in your life. Whatever relationship that is, whether it’s a parent or someone else, I want to encourage you to take the extra time this morning to write a text or make a phone call to try and reconcile a broken or difficult relationship.
It’s one thing to violate God’s laws. It’s another thing to continue holding on and refusing to repent. Let’s fix that this morning.
Let’s pray...
[ask Holy Spirit to identify the relationship that needs attention]
