20:1.
“And God spake all these words, saying,”
20:2.
“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.”
As discussed
already, God’s literal liberation of Israel from Egyptian serfdom is also
typological of His deliverance of believers from bondage to Satan, sin, and
death; and since Egypt is a type of this evil world, the further truth being
declared is that that world, in spite of its wealth and pleasure, is the
prison house of every unconverted soul.
20:3.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
In spite of
this command, Israel quickly forgot her Benefactor, and prostrated herself
before the idols of the nations, beginning with her worship of the golden
calf made by Aaron even while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten
Commandments which were meant to govern her life under the beneficent
dominion of her Divine Deliverer.
Before rushing
to condemn her however, we should be certain that we haven’t aped her folly,
not in bowing down to literal idols, but in worshiping money, fame,
pleasure, etc.
20:4.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth:”
The listing of
the variety of creatures and things that man might worship would seem
needless were it not for the fact he in his folly has deified every one of
them.
20:5.
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy
God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”
For man to
worship any creature, or any likeness of anything, is to denigrate God, for
it is tantamount to declaring the idol to be His equal or superior. It is
small wonder therefore that He will slay the offenders.
Relative to
“visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,” this has to be
understood in the light of God’s nature. He never punishes the father for
the sin of the child, nor the child for that of the father, see Deuteronomy
24:16, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither
shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put
to death for his own sin.” The threat is against each generation which
rebels against God, for while the unconverted man may be also religious, in
his heart he is a rebel who hates God, as will also his children.
The threefold
mention of death emphasizes the deadly nature of sin.
20:6.
“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments.”
This is also
rendered showing mercy unto the thousandth generation, which is
another way of saying that His mercy towards believers is eternal, the
evidence of a converted state being the presentation of an obedient life,
the Lord Himself declaring, “If ye love me, keep my commandments .... He
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him,” John 14:15-21.
20:7.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will
not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
Alternative
translations of this verse are You shall not use the name of the Lord
your God lightly, frivoulously, or in false affirmation: You shall not
misuse the name of your God: You shall not invoke the name of the Lord your
God to evil intent .... for the Lord will not let him go unpunished:
Jehovah will not acquit: he will be judged a sinner by the Lord. James
adds the further warning, “But above all things my brethren, swear not,
neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let
your yea by yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation,” James
5:12.
20:8.
“Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
20:9.
“Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:”
In this
present age of grace the Jewish sabbath, the seventh day of the week, has
been replaced by the first day of the week as a day of rest, another having
pointed out that under law man worked for six days before he could rest, but
under grace the reverse is true: he begins the week by resting, rest having
been secured for him, not by his own works, but by the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ.”
20:10.
“But the seventh is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:”
Most
Christians - including the writer - believe that in this present
dispensation we are not to work on the first day of the week, except for
what is required by necessity and mercy, see e.g., Luke 13:15, which records
the Lord’s rebuke of the hypocritical legalistic Pharisee, “Thou hypocrite,
doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the
stall, and lead him away to watering?”
20:11.
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in
them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath
day, and hallowed it.”
This should
surely silence all objection to observing a weekly day of rest. The Creator
worked for six days, and then rested. Society however, has changed the
Divine order by doing business as usual every day of the week, employees who
are compelled to work on Sunday being given another day off instead.
But this
contravenes God’s command. For this age of grace He has appointed the first
day of the week as the one on which men are to rest, and believers are to
remember the Lord’s death, and celebrate His resurrection, see Acts 20:7,
“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to
break bread (eat the Lord’s Supper), Paul preached unto them....” and again
in 1 Corinthians 16:2, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you
lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him....”
God hasn’t
left it to men to choose the day on which they will rest and remember the
Lord’s death. He Himself has appointed Sunday, the first day of the week,
as that special day. His having hallowed it means that He has made it a
special holy, sanctified, consecrated day.
20:12.
“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
This has to be
understood in context, for clearly the reference is to godly, not wicked
parents.
20:13.
“Thou shalt not kill.”
20:14.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
20:15.
“Thou shalt not steal.”
The meaning of
these verses is so clear as to need no comment, except to note that
entertainment of the thought is as serious in God’s sight as commission of
the deed, see, e.g., Matthew 5:28, “But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
already in his heart.”
20:16.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
This is also
rendered You must not bring a false charge against your fellow.
20:17.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.”
To covet is
defined as to desire wrongfully, inordinately, without regard to the
rights of others. The desire to “keep up with the Jones” is what is
forbidden here, and it is one of society’s besetting sins. The scriptural
principle which is to govern our lives is briefly declared in Hebrews 13:5,
“Let your conversation (manner of life) be without covetousness, and be
content with such things as ye have; for He hath said I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee.”
20:18.
“And all the people saw (and heard) the thunderings, and the lightnings, and
the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw
it, they removed, and stood afar off.”
The phenomena
accompanying Jehovah’s presence so terrified the people that they moved far
back, prompting the question, What will it be like for the unconverted when
they are arraigned before that same Holy God at the Great White Throne?
Some idea of their dread may be discovered in what is written in Revelation
6:15-17 relative to the Great Tribulation, “And the kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and the
rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able
to stand?”
20:19.
“And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not
God speak with us, lest we die.”
Moses as
mediator is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom it is written, “For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5. As our Mediator, He has presented His Own precious
blood as the all-sufficient atonement for our countless sins.
20:20.
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and
that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”
“Prove” is
also rendered test. This display of His glory was designed to beget
the reverential awe that would deter them from sinning, as the Scriptural
record of it is meant to have the same effect on men today; but Israel’s
quick disobedience simply foreshadows today’s rebellion that defies God to
His face.
20:21.
“And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was.”
No spiritual
mind will fail to see in this a foreshadowing of what occurred at Calvary
when the One Whom Moses typifies was enveloped in darkness for three hours,
while God dealt with Him on account of our sins.
20:22.
“And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.”
That God
should have spoken to Israel from heaven was a miracle of grace. A greater
wonder is that He has spoken to the world through His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ - and not from heaven, but in person, from the cross to which men
nailed Him, as it is written, “God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son ....” Hebrews 1:1-2.
Nor, as might
be expected, is His message one of righteous retribution. It is rather one
of unbelievable love, grace, and mercy, “God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shuld not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved,” John
3:16-17.
20:23.
“Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you
gods of gold.”
The word
“with” reminds us that our God is a jealous God Who will not share His
glory, as it is written, “I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will
I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images,” Isaiah 42:8. He
alone is to be worshiped.
It is
instructive that here, as so often in Scripture, silver is mentioned before
gold - and for good reason: silver is the symbol of redemption; gold, of
glory. Men must be redeemed before they can be glorified.
20:24.
“An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy
burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all
places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”
Most scholars
understand that the altar was to be built of stone, not earth, see
Deuteronomy 27:5-6, “And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy
God, an altar of stones ... of whole stones.” It isn’t difficult to see in
that altar of whole stones a symbolic picture of the local church composed
of believers, those who are described as living stones, see 1 Peter 2:5, “Ye
also, as lively (living) stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.”
Nor was the
choice of location left to the people: the altar was to be built only in the
places designated by God, the lesson being that our corporate worship is to
be presented in the local church: the church being not a building, but the
assembly of believers in a local area meeting together as a corporate body.
“... and I
will bless thee.” Obedience commands God’s blessing.
20:25.
“And if thou wilt
make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if
thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.”
The lesson is
clear. Man is not to add anything to God’s commands, yet the ornate ritual
involving gorgeous robes, titles such as Pope, Archbishop, Holy Father, your
Reverence; magnificent buildings, choirs, etc., attest the extent to which
man has disobeyed this command. All these things have polluted the simple,
biblical order of worship, and are hateful to God.
20:26.
“Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be
not discovered thereon.”
This continues
to emphasize the extent to which man, by his elaborate religious rituals,
and under the guise of glorifying God, has glorified himself.
Since
nakedness speaks of an unconverted state, this qualifier indicates that the
majority of those who glory in religious ritual are unconverted.