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Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:1-17)
May this be a wonderful Friday for you and yours, dear Friend! My prayer is that this find you well and preparing for a day in which you will honor God.
Our Fridays have been dedicated to several Old Testament stories and we have been witness to Moses and his leadership in serving God, from his interesting birth to his faithful service to God. Last week we saw how God indeed provides. And today we study how God formed a people (or tried to!) from the 40 years. The passage from today you understand to be the Ten Commandments, or the foundational laws on which most of the world's laws are based. Called the Mosaic Law, these ten commandments follow a solid pattern of how we should relate to God and to each other. If you know these by heart, they helped shape you and your decisions and interactions, and helped make you a disciple.
Let's begin. No better way to start than with a reminder. God is giving these laws and He begins with a reminder of what great event He had just done for them. You are no longer in a strange land or under slavery because of me; thus for the first commandment we find: You shall have no other gods before me. God knew the neighborhood and he knew people all around this new land that Israel was coming into had devised gods to serve their purpose. God laughed at those attempts, and more laughter followed as He named the attempts people sometimes make to make gods. Idols they were called, and as much work as you may have put into your fine idol, it was still something your own hands had created. Put those up against the one true God. I should mention that anything or anyone that we put in the place of God becomes our god. The rightful place for our God is on the throne of our heart. God demands this, for these are commandments not suggestions or guidelines. This commandment is so important there's a punishment clause in it; God does not tolerate unfaithfulness when it comes to His worship.
The next commandment is the sacredness of God's name. We as Christians do not take this commandment as seriously as our Jewish brothers and sisters. You may have seen a Jewish writer write God as G-d. His or her respect towards God's name keeps him from even completing the name God. In Hebrew, God's name Yahweh is spelled out YHWH without vowels as well. Again, out of respect for God's sacred name. And even more sadly, is the lack of respect towards God's name when we utter profanely His name as a curse word. Even as old as I am, it still makes me winch to hear someone, without really thinking saying, the terrible cuss word. "The Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses His name.
The fourth commandment is related to a special day of the week. It is the Sabbath Day when God rested after six days of creating the world. It is a day dedicated to rest and worship. Worship was considered a restful practice of remembrance. The day with which we recognize as the sabbath is Saturday. The Spanish word for Saturday is Sabado, which means Sabbath. But, we as Resurrection People celebrate our worship on Sundays.
The above commandments are tied into the relationship and respect we are to have towards God. God has His special place in our hearts and lives. He is God and we are not. He is worthy of our worship and respect. His name is holy and we should treat it as such. And we should set aside a day in which should worship God.
The next commandments are such that we is we follow them we will have the right relationship with our fellow human beings. The first of these is related to our parents. The word used is "honor." During my teenage years I struggled with this commandment because of my thoughts about life versus what I was being told was life. The word that troubled me was "obey." Sometimes a Sunday school teacher would go on about how we should obey our parents. I was still on honor. And this commandment comes with a promise, "so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." I hope you did not have the same trouble as I had with this commandment. I'm glad to say I figured it out in time.
The following commandment is short but powerful: "You shall not murder." The respect of life is very important in all our relationships. We hold life to be sacred and we should treat one another with that respect and sacredness.
"You shall not commit adultery." refers to the proper respect and relationship we should have towards our spouse and respect we should have towards the spouse of other marriages. This commandment addresses the sacredness and seriousness God holds towards marriage and we should as well.
"You shall not steal." Again, a commandment that calls for our respecting those things that are not ours and wanting them so badly we take them as ourselves without proper authority. If all people followed all commandments we would see police departments changing their scope of business. But, we sadly know the reality.
The ninth commandment is on our being honest towards each other, not lying, and being honest with each other.
The tenth commandment is to not have the the desire for things, especially those of others, control our thoughts towards acquiring them. Coveting is that which can overtake our every thought, and God directs that towards spouses, homes, property, and livestock.
One can appreciate the strength of a foundation built on these commandments; proper respect towards God, proper and correct relationships with others. These were the foundational laws on which God would form His people. As they traveled through the desert, God would remind them again and again of Who He was, and Who they were in relation to God. We would do well to follow that as well.
PRAYER: Loving God, may the foundation of my life be built on You. May the commandment shared with Your people be those imprinted on my heart and mind. Grant me the gifts to receive these and live a life that blesses You. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Live a life that blesses others with a stronger foundation.
Eradio Valverde
