Bible Materials

Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments)

by Paul Choi   05/26/2019   Exodus 20:1~17

Message


You Shall Have No Other Gods

(The Ten Commandments)

Deuteronomy 4:44-5:33

Key Verse: 5:7 “You shall have no other gods before me”

  The book of Deuteronomy is composed of three of Moses’ sermons. The first sermon is found in 1:1-4:43, reminding the Israelites of what God had done for them in the past. The second sermon is found in 4:44-26:19, telling about Moses’ reinterpretation of God’s law and its teachings. The third sermon is found in 27-30, predicting about the future of Israel related to the covenant.

  Today we will study the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments is the covenant law which God gave to his people through Moses. The Ten Commandments teaches us two things: loyalty toward God and morality for men. Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments with two sentences: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:37-40) According to Jesus’ words, the spirit of the Ten Commandments is love. God loved his people and gave them this life principle, with which they should live as God’s people. When we love God and love others as ourselves, we understand and keep these holy commandments. Let us study each commandment one by one and learn how to apply them to us and to this generation.

First, is the Ten Commandments necessary for our generation? (4:44-5:5) In 1980, the US Supreme Court banned reading of the Ten Commandments in public schools. In 2014, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the removal of the monument of the Ten Commandments from the State Capital building. In the name of separation of state and religion, America removed school prayer, Bible reading, and the Ten Commandments one by one. What is the consequence of removing school prayer and Bible reading from public schools? America now confront serious moral depravity and deterioration of the value of human life. According to David Barton’s statistics, “America - to pray or not to pray”, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, divorce rate, and violent crime have rapidly increased high since 1962 when school prayer was banned in public school. (Video)

  Moses received the Ten Commandments forty years before at the top of Mount Horeb while the Israelites were in the desert. This was written in Exodus 20. Forty years later, Moses instructed on the Ten Commandments to the next generation just before they entered the promised land. Moses gave this law while he was in the valley of Beth Peor, in the east of Jordan (4:46). Look at verses 5:1-4. “Moses summoned all Israel and said: “Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.” (1-4) Here Moses said that all God’s law was not only for those who had received it in the past, but also for those who were alive and for those who hear now. Even though the generation changed, God’s word does not change and applies to all generations to come. What is the Ten Commandments?

The first commandment is ‘You shall have no other gods before me. (6-7) The Lord God said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods.” Here the Lord is “YHWH” (Jehovah), and God is Elohim, which means ‘All powerful’ and ‘Almighty’. Our God is the Almighty God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery. God punished King Pharaoh in Egypt with ten plagues and opened the Red Sea for the Israelites. Who could open the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross as on dry land? Who can control nature and determine human destiny on this earth but God alone? Our God is the Creator God who made the heavens and the earth. All things came from him, things in heaven above and on the earth here, and in the waters below. Our life also came from him, not from ameba. God created us in his own image and his own likeness so that we may acknowledge him and have fellowship with him. When we believe that there is God and that he exists, our life is full of meaning, purpose, value, and hope.

  There were many gods in Moses’ time. The Pharaohs - the kings of Egypt - were worshipped as gods. There were many gods in the land of Canaan where the Israelites were about to enter, such as Baal, the god of fertility, Astarte, the god of sensuality, Asherah, the mother of 70 gods, and so on. All these gods were not true gods. They were man-made gods. They couldn’t speak, talk, love, or act, because they were made of stone, wood, and other materials. The Lord God cannot be compared to other gods. He is the only true God, who started the whole universe and rules world history. He is not only the God of Israel, but also the God of the whole universe. He is the living God, who speaks, talks, feels, loves, cares, creates, works, heals, saves, punishes, changes, and so on. We are limited in our ability to explain and describe about the greatness of God and his power and love in our limited tongues and pens. He is the only true object of worship, love, loyalty, and devotion. I like to see the banner in my office which was made by HBF members, “I am a child of the one true king.”

  The first commandment, ‘You shall have on other gods before me’ teaches us about Jesus Christ, the only Savior and the mediator between God and men. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” According to 5:5, the Israelites couldn’t come to Mount Horeb because they were afraid of God, who would judge sinful men. The sinful Israelites couldn’t approach to the Holy God. So they sent Moses as their mediator between God and them. In the same way we sinful men cannot save ourselves. We cannot come to the Holy God. So God sent Jesus Christ as the mediator between Him and us so that we can come to Him through Jesus, who died for our sins on the cross. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” People say that there are many ways to be saved. There are many religions on this earth. Many came and said that they are the messiah. But the Bible says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Ac 4:12) Amen!

  Why did God give this commandment first? The first one is the most important and basic, which starts our good and right relationship with God. If you put the first button into a wrong hole, all other buttons follow in wrong holes. This first commandment teaches us loyalty to our God. We must put God first in our priority. God should be the center of our life, our family, and our ministry. He should be acknowledged first in our decision, plan, direction, and purpose. Jesus said, “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:33) This is why Jesus taught us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength (Mt 22:37). ‘You shall have no other gods before me’. If we love someone or something else more than God, we are guilty of idolatry. Our God is a jealous God. He is jealous because he loves us. He wants to give his children the best. He wants his children to be happy and to live blessed lives when we acknowledge him in all our ways and love him most.

The second commandment is “You shall not make for yourself an idol (8-10). Look at verse 8-10. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  The second commandment is the supplementary expression of the first commandment. God hates idolatry. Our God is Almighty. He is not confined in a certain space or form. He is omnipresent. God blesses those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. He punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. Mother Sarah Barry explained the second commandment in her book, “A Kingdom of Priests”, “Idolatry is an affront to God. God is Creator and Lord. He is Deliverer and King. God will not share first place with anyone or anything. One who puts money or personal ambition first in his life is guilty of idolatry. One who allows his feelings for some other person to control his life or who puts another person in the place of God is an idolater.” (p. 71)

The third commandment is “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. (11) The Israelites did not dare to call God’s name (YHWH) because of holy fear. So they spoke of God in different ways, such as“Adonai” ‘the Lord’, Elohim, El Shaddai, (Almighty God) Eloah, and so on. Each name represents his character. God wants his name to be honored and glorified. Jesus also glorified God the Father when he prayed. He taught us how to pray to God. “Our Father in heaven. Hollowed be your name…” (Mt 6:9) But these day people misuse God’s name when they become frustrated or curse others. Others abuse God’s name for their selfish purposes or benefits. All these are wrong, and they cannot escape God’s judgment. Our life should be to glorify God’s name. God gave us mouths and lips to praise him and exalt his name. May God bless our lips and mouths when we glorify God’s name and preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen!

The fourth commandment is to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (12-15) Look at verses 12-15. In the beginning God created the world for six days and on the seventh day he rested. God blessed the seventh day and commanded men to keep it holy. For six days we must work hard, and on the seventh day we must stop working and take rest in God. Sabbath means ‘rest.’ Taking rest on the Sabbath day does not mean sleeping all day on Sunday, but coming to church in order to worship him, praise him, and hear his words, and have fellowship with him and with God’s family. We have true rest and receive real strength for our souls when we worship God and serve him. Those who are exhausted and tired of doing things of the world come to God on Sunday and have true rest and strength by hearing God’s word and refreshing their souls.  We Christians have kept Sunday as the day of Sabbath, the day Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus said in Matthew 12:8, “For the Son of Man (I) is the Lord of Sabbath.”

  Mother Sarah Barry said in her message, “Keeping the Sabbath day holy is essential if we are to keep our relationship with God vital and alive. We must worship and praise and have fellowship with God. He is a personal God. He wants us to spend time with him and with his people. (p 71,72)

Thus far, these four commandments explained about our relationship with God. All these teach us how to have right relationship with God and what our attitude should be toward God. Now, the next six commandments teach us about how to have right relationship with other people. They teach us morality as God’s people. Let us study each commandment briefly.

The fifth commandment is ‘honor your father and your mother. (16)  Honoring our parents is a universal moral value for all human beings for all generations. Confucius taught the Chinese to honor their father and mother. The constitution of the old Korean dynasty also taught Koreans to honor their parents as the first commandment. Honoring our parents and respecting them is the most basic moral value. The Bible teaches us this commandment more than just teaching us morality. It promises God’s blessing and its succession to children through their parents. Parents are the channel of God’s blessing for their children. Look at verse 16 carefully. “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” God blessed Abraham and made a covenant with him. God’s covenant blessing was conveyed to Isaac when Abraham blessed Isaac. God’s covenant blessing was inherited by Jacob through Isaac’s blessing. Jacob blessed his twelve children. Honoring parents keeps spiritual order in a family and bring peace to a home.

The sixth commandment is “You shall not murder.”(17) God forbids murder because each life came from God and belongs to him. God is the sovereign Lord over our lives. No one takes away another’s life created in God’s image. We must respect God’s authority and acknowledge his sovereignty over each person’s life. We also respect another’s life as we do ourselves. When we love others as ourselves and respect another’s life as ourselves, there will be no more hate crimes and no more racism on this earth.

The seventh commandment is “You shall not commit adultery.” (18) Adultery is violating a marriage vow by having sexual relationship with another man or woman other than with their spouse. Adultery destroys a unity of family. Family is the cornerstone of society. When family is broken, society is shaken. God is concerned about each family, which is established under his oath. Faithfulness and trust are the cores of a happy and healthy family. These days, adultery is interpreted and applied at large for sexual immorality such as premarital and extramarital sexual relationships, fornication, incest, and all other improper sexual conducts and relationships. Jesus reinterpreted this commandment in Matthew 5:27,28. “You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  No one can dare to say that they are perfectly clean and holy before God according to Jesus’ words. May God help us to be holy and call on his name with pure hearts and clean lips. Amen!

The eight commandment is “You shall not steal.” (19) Stealing is taking other’s goods or property without permission or consent. We must respect the property rights of others as we do our own property rights. Cheating during the school exam and shoplifting at stores are acts of stealing. Attempting to draw attraction from another’s wife or husband is also an act of stealing. You shall not steal.

The ninth commandment is “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (20) This commandment says, ‘you should not lie.’ Lying destroys relationships. It damages unity, too. Lying is a selfish conduct. People lie in order to escape momentarily. But everything is exposed under the sun. All things will be disclosed later. The result of Abraham’s lying in Egypt brought serious consequences to his family and to others. We must tell only the truth. God is truth. We must not tell a lie.

The last tenth commandment is “You shall not covet.” (21-22) This commandment is different from others because it deals with our inner life, motive and thoughts. Coveting is stealing. One’s inner life is the spring from which our actions come. God, who is unseen, sees the heart. He demands the loyalty of the whole heart. Covetousness comes from a lack of faith in God. When we are content with what God has given us, we don’t covet other things. We also believe that God will provide all necessary things for us.

  Today we studied about the Ten Commandments. When Moses taught the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, they responded in a loud voice in verse 27, “Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.” One of the presidential candidates said recently, “Everything is terrible; I am the only one who can fix.” But no one can fix this morally and spiritually depraved and broken society and nation. When we repent of our sins, restore our faith in God Almighty and morality based on Bible principles, this country has hope. Some of us memorized the Ten Commandments when they were baptized. Others put this on the wall of their house. I pray that we all may listen to this law and obey so that we may live long lives and that all may go well with us. Amen.


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