The Big Ten # 10

Today we come to the tenth commandment. Exodus 20

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

After a series of very brief, to-the-point commands, this one really does serve as a catch-all for anything else.  In fact, coveting and discontentment often lie behind breaking the previous commands. Jesus told some rich leaders that they were not honoring their parents in their old age when they held back funds from caring for them, claiming they had "dedicated" the money to the Lord.  Wanting what is rightly someone else's does often lead to theft and murder.  People are willing to "lie to your face" to get what they want.  People often get into adulterous relationships because they see someone else they think will be more fulfilling (think David and Bathsheba).If you think you're safe on coveting a donkey, translate that to a new pick-up truck or any kind of transportation. Covetousness and discontentment planted in our hearts and minds will lead to all sorts of sin against God and others. Most of all, it says to God: "You are not enough for me. What and who you have in mind for me is not enough." It is a slap in the face to God.

The Big Ten #9

 

Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Truth-telling is almost a lost art.  From the time of the Garden, when Satan twisted the truth and Adam and Eve stretched it, we have found as many ways possible to avoid telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  The command here specifically is about giving false testimony as to what another person has done or what was done to them, thus denying them the justice they deserve. It either causes them harm or robs them of something rightfully theirs. That may make it sound like we are not bound to tell the truth in other situations, but the reality is: if we do not speak truth consistently, we will naturally not tell the truth in times like this "when it really matters."  We will also gain a reputation as untrustworthy, which will devalue our words and our effectiveness as a witness.  The bottom line is, truth-telling always matters, even if it does not end us up in jail for perjury. Lies make people suffer loss.

The Big Ten #8

 

Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.

Again, this command is so short and to the point, everyone knew what it meant without further explanation. They still do today, but many seek to justify their actions: "I'm just borrowing it. They won't even miss it. I need it more than they do.  It's not that big of a deal." And on the excuses go.  The point is that stealing is taking from God, who entrusts things to certain people.  Yes, they may have gotten it by illegal and immoral gain, but that misses many points.  God wants us to really trust Him to provide our needs, and he wants others to be able to trust us.  Working and reaping the rewards of our labors really is fulfilling and essential to our well-being. People need to know the joy of recognizing others in need, meeting that need anonymously, and seeing how blessed both parties are.  Stealing circumvents so many of the human joys and experiences God wants us to have, and it destroys trust, without with relationships die.  Take stealing seriously - in your own life, the life of your kids, and even those who steal from you. Care enough to instill a culture where stealing is unthinkable. 

The Big Ten #7

 Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery."

Once again, the foundation for this command goes back to creation, and beyond.  God's commands always flow out from His character, and are intended to help us understand Him better and relate to Him as He intends.  Marital fidelity - a lifetime of commitment and growing intimacy between husband and wife - is a picture to us of the eternal fellowship that the Triune Godhead enjoys, and which He invites us to be a part of.  Violating that bond is like turning away from God to idols; it keeps us from knowing and appreciating His love for us in its fullness.  That's why Paul uses marriage to help us understand the bond of love between Christ and His church, which he also reminds us goes back to creation and even beyond that to "before the foundation of the world." Playing loose with the seventh commandment makes us take all the other commands before and after it too lightly as well.  As the wise man said: "hold on to the wife of your youth." Cherish her
and remain faithful.  You'll be glad you did.

The Big Ten #6

 Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.

What a brief and to-the-point command.  It's as if God did not to explain Himself - everyone knew exactly what He was saying.  You don't look at someone and decide on your own that they don't deserve to live, so you kill them.  It did not rule out things like capital punishment by an established group of human leaders, as other laws God gave spelled that all out.  But it does reveal the potential darkness of the human heart. The real question is: "How is murder disobeying God?" Again, part of it goes back to Creation: He has made everything, so in a real sense, everything and everyone belongs to Him. Murder destroys one of His valued creatures.  But Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount that there is something deeper, behind the act, that God sees. He sees the hatred directed at that person, and in a sense for the God to Whom that person belongs.  It shows a lack of respect for God's gift of life.  It is an attempt to be God, to be the one to decide who lives and dies.  How dare we suggest we have the right as individuals to do so. 

The Big Ten #5

Having given us instructions on our relationship with Him, God then proceeds to give instructions on relating to one another in Exodus 20:

 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Why this command first? Because it naturally flows from what God had just mentioned about the Sabbath: Creation.  God made it this way.  God told Adam and Eve to fill the earth with family; family is foundational for God's plan. If love and respect are broken in the family line, there will be a breakdown in society.  If a man doesn't care for his mother, he's not likely to treat his wife properly, which will in turn have a negative effect on his kids, which is exactly what has happened throughout history.  Paul refers to this command as "the first command with promise", emphasizing not so much that it guarantees a long life or riches for the individual, but it does affect clans, nations and humanity as a whole.  The key point is this: "Am I respecting, loving, and honoring my parents? Can I improve the line by improving my own attitudes and behavior?  If your parents have passed, what are you doing to strengthen relationships between your generation and the next?

The Big Ten #4

Today we look at the fourth command on how God wants us to view and relate with Him:

 8 “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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.

So, what's the big deal about the Sabbath? Simply put, if we don't make time for God, we won't spend time with God.  God always takes instructions on the Sabbath back to the creation of man. God did not rest because He was tired, but he knows we will be. God made us in His image, and when he was done for the week, he stepped back to view what He had made; we need time to do the same. God made the Sabbath for fellowship with Him and one another; He made us not just to produce, but to share the goodness of His creation with others. Like anything God commands, men have a way of twisting the Sabbath and pushing it to extremes, like the Pharisees did, but more of us are far more guilty of neglecting God's Sabbath and His reasons for it. 

The Big Ten #3

We have seen in the first two commandments of Exodus 20 God's call to have no other gods at all, and that often we try to make or take our own gods, so we feel we are in control of them. The third command is in verse: 
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Many have thought: "What's the big deal?  It's just an expression of emotion to use the name God or Jesus Christ in some sort of exclamation when we feel angry or excited." But it really is much more than that. What we are implying is either that God is to blame for the situation, or we are able, by crying out, to make Him do something about it at our bidding.  It is as if whenever we use His name we are making an oath; His name is that holy.  Many Old Testament Jews would not even say His name, it was so holy to them.  To do so is to profane His name - to take it too lightly or to assign Him blame, which is really an attack on His character.  It robs God of the holiness He has and is due.  Do you use His name too loosely? 

The Big Ten #2

Yesterday, we began taking a fresh look at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The second command is in verse 20:

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

God says, "When you go looking for Me, don't look at what you can see.  Don't look at anything He has created on any of the days of creation: not in the air, on the land, in the water, or in the mirror. Don't think that you can make something or take something in your hand and hold it and say: "This is my God." Now that may sound crazy, but that really describes well what mankind has often done and still does today. We might not do it with our words like that, but we do it with our choices. We want to create and control, and even if we don't have much creativity to make, we still want to control as if we did create. We want a god we can tell what to do, not One who tells us what we should do.  What god are you trying to hold in your hand?

The Big Ten #1

 

I hope you enjoyed and were encouraged by the 21 Days of Worship.

Sometimes we get so used to a section of scripture due to repeated recitation - like the Lord's Prayer - that we can grow numb to it's deep meaning. The same is true of the Ten Commandments. Let's take a fresh look: Exodus 20 begins:

And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

First, notice that God does not just dump His commandments; He gives us a reason to live by them. He had delivered the people of Israel out of bondage, out of a pagan culture with many false gods and idols. That should have caused them, and should cause us, to take His instructions seriously: He has saved us.

Second, we often get the wrong picture of this word "before" in verse 3, as if God is simply telling us that we should always put Him first in our order of priorities. But it's more than that. The idea of "before" is "in His presence", and since God is everywhere we can go, there is no place for other gods - not second, third, twenty-seventh, or ten thousandth place. God alone is worthy of our worship, love, and obedience. What is there today that you need to remove from His presence, and yours?

Reminder: 21 Days of Worship Begins today!

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