EXODUS LESSON 35


    In this lesson we will see Moses receive the Ten Commandments from
God. We begin this lesson in chapter 20, verse 1.

    Exodus 20:1 "And God spake all these words, saying," Exodus 20:2
"I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

    In these first two verses, here, God stated once more that He was
their absolute God. He reminded them that no effort of their own got
them out. God did everything for them.  He was about to give them the
Ten Commandments that the 613 that include the whole law is based
upon. You will notice also that Jesus broke the 613 and the ten down
to just two. In Mark chapter 12 verses 29 through 31 we see in Jesus'
own words, Jesus condensing the commandments down to two. Mark 12:29
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear,
O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:" Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first
commandment." Mark 12:31 "And the second [is] like, [namely] this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these."

    You see, the first four of the Ten Commandments deal with God, and
the six latter deal with our dealings with man. Jesus just said, "Get
everything in order with God and with man and you have fulfilled God's
law." We remember now that the people and the priests have cleansed
themselves. God would give these commandments for them to hear.  Some
call these Commandments the moral law.  Our government in the U.S. is
based upon the law given here. These Ten Commandments spoken by God are,
also, called the Decalogue. This voice of God which speaks and the
finger of God which writes give no room for change of this law. It is
divine in nature. Every man, until this time, had done what was right in
his own sight. Now, there was established a basis for all law. The law
was simple and easily understood. No one could say later, from this
group, that they did not know. They were gathered near the mountain and
all heard the voice of God distinctly. They were without excuse. This
law is not given to them as a group but to each individual then, and
now.  In the word "thou" (this is the impression one might get). The
simple way Jesus explained it, shows us that God deals with us as
individuals and that is what He desires from us. To keep our lives
right with Him first, and then with others. This law left no room for
selfishness and pride, and was simply understood. We will see from this
that God spoke to His people in a way that they could understand. This
law was not to be given to Moses alone, and then down in command, as
other messages from God, but was to be heard and understood by the
whole nation of Israel.

    Commandment number 1

    Exodus 20:3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

    They had just left a nation with many false gods.  God had shown
them, that without any doubt at all He (Jehovah) is the one true God.
Many confuse this to mean only the Father when in fact God the Father,
God the word, and God the Holy Ghost make up this one God.  First John
chapter 5 verse 7 explains it, V-7, "For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one."  They are one Spirit. God is a Spirit as we read in
John 4:24 "God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
[him] in spirit and in truth." God is a jealous God, and will not share
us with false gods.  We will see this in verse 5, here, and also in
Exodus chapter 34 verse 14, "For thou shalt worship no other god: for
the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"  You can easily
see why we must not play around with worship of any false gods at all.

    Commandment number 2

    Exodus 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:" Exodus
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;" Exodus 20:6 "And shewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me, and keep my commandments."

    These very chosen people of God were about to commit a sin by
making a golden calf. You see, they could not say that they did not know,
because God told them in verses 4, 5, and 6 above, that they must not
do this. In Egypt, it was the practice to make statues of animals and
other things that they worshipped. Many times, they believed that a
spirit entered these statues, and so, they bowed to the false gods.  We
see here that God would not permit any type of false god to be
worshipped by His people.  Objects of false worship in other cultures
should not be in a Christian's home either.  In our day professing
Christians have totem poles, little Buddahs, horoscope signs, and all
sorts of objects of false worship in their homes. Some people even
have little stuffed devils and witches. This is very displeasing to
God. God will not allow His children to recognize (even if they are
not bowing down to it) other gods. Many people take exception to the
sins of the fathers being passed down to the children, but you can
easily see how this would come about. If a family does not pray at
meals, a child grows up believing that it is not important to pray. We
pick up many bad habits and traits from our families. Parents who
drink heavily, can expect their children to drink heavily, and take
drugs. You see, unless the pattern is broken, several generations will
make the same mistakes their parents made, and will displease God.
Anything that displeases God is sin. On the other hand, If your
parents went to church regularly and took you when you were a child,
it would be very easy for you to become a Christian. You see, family
influence goes a long way. We are not condemned to hell because of our
parents sins. We are condemned to hell for our own sins. This is just
saying, that the way we are raised in our homes has a great deal to do
with what we do, because of influence. Someone whose parents are lost,
can be saved, but they must repent of their sins, break away from old
habits and begin a brand new life free from sin.  God will forgive and
help us. We must love Him with everything that is within us, even if
it means separating ourselves from family and friends who do not
believe. I want to say right here, if you truly love God, you will
keep His Commandments, because the desire of your hearts is to please
Him. This doesn't mean that you can't have pictures. It just means
exactly what it says. DO NOT elevate anything, or anyone, above God.

    Commandment number 3

    Exodus 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."

    No one who truly loves God will curse and use God's name.
 Personally, I believe, that there are ways to take the Lord's name in
 vain, besides cursing. My own opinion is that when we reject the name
 of Jesus and deny the power in the name of Jesus, that too is taking
 His name in vain. You see, the name of Jesus carries power in it. I
 believe that swearing a lie in His name, also, is what is intended
 here. Anything that would defame God would be included in this also.
 You see, this would be disrespectful to God.  Any defamation of
 Jesus, the Father, or the Holy Ghost would be included in this. To
 deny any of the three, would be very dangerous.

    Commandment number 4

    Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Exodus
20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:" Exodus 20:10
"But the seventh day [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:" Exodus 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."

    In Mark chapter 2 verse 27, we see an explanation from Jesus about
why the sabbath was instituted.  Mark 2:27 "And he said unto them, The
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:" You see, God
realized that mankind needed to rest one day out of every seven.
Man's body will not hold up to work continuously without any rest.
Even worship was set up for mankind, as well.  Mankind has a desire
inside of themself to worship.  They are well aware of the weakness
within themselves and are on a never ending search in life to find
something, or someone, that is greater than self, that they can look up
to and depend upon. Mankind are a miserable creatures until they find
God.  Nothing but God can satisfy this need in man. Six days man works
to satisfy the needs of the flesh, but there is a soul and spirit of
man that needs to be fed, as well. I believe God set this one day
aside to feed the spirit of man. A time when we can be still, and know
that He is God. A time when our mind and spirit stops thinking of self,
and stays upon our God. In Romans chapter 14 verses 5 and 6 we read
about a holy day different people set aside for God.

    Romans 14:5 "One man esteemeth one day above another: another
esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his
own mind." Romans 14:6 "He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto
the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not
regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God
thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth
God thanks." 
    This is saying, that physical Israel (Hebrews) celebrate
sabbath which is Saturday. We, Christians, (spiritual Israel) celebrate
first fruits, which is Sunday. Both days are a special day set aside to
worship God.  The formality of the day is not what is important.  The
important thing is that we love God enough to set aside one day in
seven to worship Him. Of course, if we are believers, we do not worship
Him just once a week, but He is the center of our daily life, as well.
Notice, here, that if we are an employer, we are to allow the people
working for us to have their day of rest also.  Even our children are
to have a day to rest. Horses and cattle which carried heavy loads
needed this time of rest, as well.  You can readily see from the
animals resting, that this day was not only to worship God, but to rest
from the weeks labor. We see here that God is not so interested in
which way we worship. He just wants us to set aside one out of seven
to worship Him. With physical Israel it must be Saturday or sabbath.

































                          Exodus 35 Questions


1.  What did God remind them, one more time, here at the mount, before
    he gave them the commandments?
2.  These Ten Commandments are the bases for the --------------
    Commandments of the Hebrews.
3.  How many did Jesus need to cover the Ten?
4.  Which Commandments deal directly with pleasing God?
5.  What is another name for these Commandments?
6.  What two things leave no doubt who gave the law?
7.  This law leaves no room for ------------and ------------.
8.  What was different this time about God speaking to the people?
9.  What is the first commandment?
10. In First John 5:7, we learn what about this one God?
11. What name that God has lets us know for sure that He will not
    share us with other false gods?
12. What is the second Commandment?
13. Iniquity in a family can go for ------------.
14. Whom will God show mercy on?
15. Can the pattern of sin be broken in a family?
16. How?
17. We must love God with everything within us even if it means giving
    up -----------and --------------.
18. Do not elevate -------------- or --------------above ------------.
19. What is the third Commandment?
20. What does the author believe about taking the name of Jesus in
    vain?
21. What is the fourth Commandment?
22. What day is sabbath?
23. What day is firstfruits?
24. Who was sabbath made for?
25. When we celebrate a particular day as our holy day, how should we
    regard it?
26. Why were the animals not to work one day in seven?