10 Commandments Part 1
The Foundation of the 10 Commandments
Exodus 20:1–17 And God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Before looking at the commandments we must understand the context in which they were originally given. The first thing we notice is that God himself is the one speaking, so we should pay close attention. It is God’s will for us to have wisdom and insight, that we might live good lives and be blessed.
The second thing that stands out is the fact that Israel has just been set free from their slavery in Egypt. The primary context for the Ten Commandments is freedom. God has not only set them free, but He wants them to remain free; free from slavery and free from sin. The commandments should not be viewed as restrictive, but as freeing.
This leads us to the third point. The commandments tell us who God is and who He created us to be. They tell us how we are designed to think, feel and act. Again, they tell us how to live in freedom and how to be blessed.
The fourth thing we must understand is that the commandments were viewed by Israel as a marriage covenant between them and God. God is promising to love and bless them and they are promising to love and worship Him. They will prove their love for God by being obedient and faithful to His will. Because of their worship and obedience God will protect them, provide for them and destroy their enemies.
The last point that needs to be made is this: the death of Christ does not set aside the spiritual principles found in Ten Commandments. The commandments are still applicable for us today. When Christ died on the cross, He set aside the ritualistic laws, sacrificial laws, dietary laws, etc., not the spiritual principles or purposes of the laws. In fact, it is only through the cross of Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that we can actually understand and follow the spiritual principles of God.
Furthermore, Christ simplified all of the Old Testament laws, including the Ten Commandments, by what He said in Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” See also Mark 12:29-31, Galatians 5:14 and 6:2, James 2:8, Luke 6:31, 1 John 4:8-12 and Romans 13:8-10 for other examples of Christ reducing the law to loving God and loving others.
The First Commandment
The first four commandments explain how to have a godly environment for everyone: that is, how to have a godly nation.
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
The first commandment concerns the way we think. It addresses the center of our thought process or worldview. The phrase, “before me,” is literally, “in My Presence,” meaning, there are no gods in My Presence. What God is telling them is that there are no other gods and there never has been. He alone is God and He alone is the creator of all things. This command bans the mythology and false belief in many gods (a.k.a. polytheism).
The ancient world’s belief in many gods influenced virtually every aspect of life. It affected a nation’s social life, political structure, market place and family life. Most people had small idols or gods in their home, and the idea of many gods was considered normal. God is reminding them that this is a false belief because there are no other gods.
This is still the mindset we must have today. Everything we think and do should be based on the fact that there is a God and that He alone is our Creator. Knowing that we have a Creator is the only thing that allows us to perceive life correctly.
While we may not believe in many gods, we often forget that there is only one God. We allow things like money, careers, success, fame and pleasure to be our god. Instead of acknowledging God and allowing Him to guide and direct us, we turn to our own selfish desires and in essence, make our self god. There is no freedom in believing in any god other than the God of creation. We should never do anything without first asking, “Is this pleasing to my God and Creator?”
The Second Commandment
Exodus 20:4-6 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The second commandment is connected to the first commandment. Since the ancient world believed in many gods, they had many idols. This command bans the production and use of idols. It also bans the worship of animals or nature. We are to worship the God of creation and not the creation itself. This commandment reminds us that God is an eternal and spiritual being and we must not attempt to make an image of Him.
The use of idols to practice magic and cast spells was common in the ancient world. They thought they could manipulate the gods and make the gods do what they wanted them to do. In short, they were practicing witchcraft which is nothing more than manipulation.
Any form of manipulation by us today is also witchcraft. It is the attempt to get our way at the expense and manipulation of other people. It is using other people for our own self-centered fulfillment. There is no freedom in manipulation.
This commandment also comes with a warning to those who would violate it. If a father has an idol, the children will be punished to the fourth generation. It was normal during this time for a family to have three or four generations living together. God is telling them that if the head of the house sins, everyone in the house will be affected by his sin. If the father worships idols, the children are likely to worship them as well, causing the whole family to come under God’s judgment.
This commandment also shows them a better way to live. If they will refrain from the worship of idols and witchcraft, God will bless their families for many years. In other words, God’s grace is greater than humankind’s sin. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. There is freedom in God’s grace.
The Third Commandment
Exodus 20:7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
This command has often been misunderstood to mean foul language or taking the Lord’s name in vain. While it is wrong to misuse God’s name that way, that’s not the way the ancient Israelites understood this commandment.
This commandment is connected to the first and second commandment. Since there are no other gods, not only does God ban the use of idols, He is now banning the use of His Name for the purpose of witchcraft and for casting spells. It was common for people to use the names of gods in the practice of magic and casting spells. This commandment bans the use of God’s Name in the practice of anything evil or self-centered.
Even today, God’s Name is used to manipulate people. Cults use the name of God to manipulate and deceive. Many pastors and evangelist use the name of God to manipulate people in to giving them money, while pretending the money is going to a worthy cause. This command tells us not to do that. There is no freedom in using God’s Name to manipulate people.
The Fourth Commandment
Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 animals, nor the alien within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
At the time this commandment was given, there were no other nations who had a six day work week. Every known culture at this point in history worked seven days a week. Israel stood alone in the world and her example made the message clear: God will bless those who obey Him by working less, in order to spend more time with Him. And that is the purpose of the fourth commandment: to spend time with God, to develop a living, breathing relationship with Him.
The Sabbath day is about spending time with God more than resting. The Sabbath is an interruption of our normal routine and activities in order to gain more time with God. We all know that when we love someone we want to be with them. That’s the heart of this commandment: if we love God we’ll want to be with Him; we’ll want to spend more time with Him.
Additionally, spending time with those we love is something we look forward to. Our attitude toward the time with God should be the same. We should look forward to spending time with God. It should be our favorite time of the week. In fact, we should guard our time with God and not allow anything or anyone to separate us from our time together with Him.
The purpose for this command is found in verse 11. God created the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh day He did something amazing; He spent the day with Adam and Eve. In other words, the purpose of creation was to prepare a place for humankind to live. The purpose of humankind was to have a being made in God’s own image, that He could love and have a relationship with. I find it interesting that Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them as well.
The bottom line is this; honoring God and spending time with Him leads to freedom. Putting God before money means we are wise enough to know that God is our provision and not the world. God blesses those who put Him first and He adds all things to them (Matthew 6:33). After the resurrection of Christ, those who believed in Christ as the Messiah began to worship on the first day of the week (Sunday), instead of the Sabbath (Saturday). One of the reasons they did this was because Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. However, the day of the week is not as important as the reason why we worship Christ. God looks at the heart and He honors those who love and worship of Him, regardless of what day we worship on. In fact, the spiritual principle behind the fourth commandment, is that we should love Christ all day, everyday. The need for having a specific day to worship is that we might gather with other believers and worship as the body of Christ together.
