The Ten Commandments
October 17, 2019
Commentary
These commandments were inscribed by the finger of God on tablets of stone. Four of them have to do with our attitude toward God and six with our attitude toward human beings. Jesus condensed them into two; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39).
1. First Commandment – Only worship the true andliving God (vv. 1-3).
2. Second Commandment – Don’t worship idols (vv. 4-6).
3. Third Commandment – God’s Word is not to be usedireverently (v. 7),
4. Fourth Commandment – The Sabbath day is set side for rest (vv. 8-11).
5. Fifth Commandment – Honor your father and yourmother (v. 12).
6. Sixth Commandment – You shall not murder (v. 13).
7. Seventh Commandment – We are not to commitadultery (v. 14).
8. Eighth Commandment – We are not to steal (v. 15).
9. Ninth Commandment – We are not to give falsetestimony against our neighbor (. 16).
10. Tenth Commandment – We are not to covetthings that belong to our neighbor (v. 17).
Application
Many people believe that you have to keep all of these commandments in order to go to heaven. As I read these over, I realize that it is impossible for any person to keep them. That is why I am so thankful for (I John 1:9); “When I confess them, He will forgive me and cleanse me of all of them."
Exodus 20:1– 17 (NET)
1 God spoke all these words:
2 “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, 6 and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. 9 For six days you may 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”