EXODUS LESSON 36

    We will pick up this lesson with the six Commandments pertaining
to our fellow man.  This lesson begins in Exodus 20:12.

    Commandment Number Five

    Exodus 20:12  "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may
be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

    This is the first Commandment with a promise attached to it. This
promise of long life is on the condition of honoring your mother and
father. In the Old Testament, it was a serious offense to rebel
against your parents. A rebellious child was to be taken to the edge
of the city and stoned to death. You see, to honor parents was very
high on God's list of priorities for His people.

    Commandment Number Six

    Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill."

    This Commandment is speaking of premeditated murder.  The word
translated, here, does not mean killing in self-defense, or in war, but
means we must not murder people to satisfy our greed, jealousy, and
hate.  We read in St. Matthew 5:2l and the first part of 22: "Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:"  V-22, "But
I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a
cause shall be in danger of the judgment:" In First John 3:15, we read
an even stronger message about hate.  V-15, "Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him."  There is no doubt at all that "kill" in the Sixth
Commandment means premeditated murder, or first degree murder.

    Commandment Number Seven

    Exodus 20:14 "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

    One of the meanings of this word "adultery" means apostosize.
This covers physical adultery and spiritual adultery.  Adultery from
the physical standpoint includes all sex sin.  Any sex relation (with
man or woman) aside from the marriage bed is adultery.  That includes
homosexuality, lesbianism, and animalism. God will go into great
detail about what all is covered, when He gives the over 600 specific
laws. These ten laws, here, are just a general law which encompasses
many more detailed laws. The number "ten" shows that God is dealing with
world government. Jesus said, if you look upon a woman to lust for her,
you have committed adultery already in your heart.  Matthew 5:28, "But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."  You see, the
heart determines whether we are good, or evil.  The desires of our
hearts are what we are.

    Commandment Number Eight
    Exodus 20:15 "Thou shalt not steal."

    Here, again, we see selfishness and greed as the cause for
committing this sin.  Stealing is very close to coveting.  To steal, we
have to want something that does not belong to us. The bad thing about
this sin is that you hurt someone else, when you commit this sin.

    Commandment Number Nine

    Exodus 20:16 "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour."

    Swearing a lie in court is a favorite past time of our people
today. The sad thing about bearing false witness is that we badly
damage others. If we could only keep in mind that all of us are one
big family (the family of God), we would not be going around telling
things that are not true about our brothers and sisters. The way to
get to the top is not by pushing someone else down. The way to the top
is take your brothers and sisters with you.

    Commandment Number Ten

    Exodus 20:17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy
neighbour's."

    One terrible error that is being taught today, in some of our
 churches, is picking out something that belongs to someone else, and
 claiming it for yourself. This is coveting. We could take a lesson
 from Paul in this. Paul said, whatever condition he found himself in,
 he would be content. He learned to be abased and to abound.
 Philippians 4:11-13.  Philippians 4:11 "Not that I speak in respect
 of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to
 be content." Philippians 4:12 "I know both how to be abased, and I
 know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed
 both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
 Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which
 strengtheneth me."  This coveting covers everything thy neighbor has.
 Keeping up with the Joneses requires coveting. Don't want (covet)
 anything that belongs to anyone else.

     Exodus 20:18  "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the
lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking:
and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off."

     You can imagine how terrified they were at the awesomeness of
 God.  They were, probably, in a state of shock after seeing all of this,
 and hearing a voice come from the midst of it laying down ten basic
 laws that they were to follow. It was time to move back away from
 this mountain, in fear that they might touch it and die.

     Exodus 20:19 "And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and
we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

     Before, they were questioning whether the messages Moses gave
them were truly from God, or not.  Now, they were so frightened by the
terribleness of God, that they feared for their lives and requested Moses to
represent them to God from then on. Their opinion was: if anyone was to be
killed, let it be Moses.  No more would they doubt that Moses was from
God.

    Exodus 20:20 "And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is
come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye
sin not."

     Moses was telling them that a reverent fear of God was the
beginning of wisdom.  This reverent fear of God would keep them from
sinning.  Had they not seen this awesomeness of God on this mountain
and heard His voice, they would not have been so careful not to
displease Him.  Fear of God is a healthy condition.

     Exodus 20:21 "And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near
unto the thick darkness where God [was]." Exodus 20:22  "And the LORD
said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye
have seen that I have talked with you from heaven."

    Moses was to remind the people, that it was God who talked with them
from heaven, and gave them their laws to live by.  We see also, that
Moses had a closeness with God that allowed him to enter the dark
cloud and talk to God.  Not just this one time, but many times.

    Exodus 20:23 "Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither
shall ye make unto you gods of gold."

    Here, we see the making of gods made of silver and gold
specifically forbidden. The children of Israel soon forgot. Not long
after this, they did this very thing that God forbade.  They made a
golden calf.

    Exodus 20:24  "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and
shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings,
thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will
come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Exodus 20:25 "And if thou wilt
make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for
if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."

    The altar that the offering was made on was holy unto the Lord. We
do know that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built an altar wherever they
went and they ordinarily used stones piled one upon another.  Carvings
on the stones might have caused them to get into some type of false
worship.  In the building of the tabernacle, we know that there was
not to be the sound of a hammer, so probably, noise is irreverent.  We
know, also, that the sacrifice of animals was already being practiced,
so these people understood about sacrifice even though they had,
probably, not practiced sacrifice, while they were in Egypt. If they
worshipped God the way they should, God would be in all their places of
worship.  This tells me, also, if we worship God in a pleasing way, he
will dwell in our churches today that carry the name of Christian.

    Exodus 20:26 "Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar,
that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon."

    This altar, it seems, was to be built on the ground.  This,
probably, had to do with modesty of the one who was carrying out the
sacrifice unto the Lord. Modesty should always be the rule whether men,
or women, of God are involved. They should wear modest clothing all the
time, but especially in church.


                          Notes











































                          Exodus 36 Questions


1.  What was the fifth Commandment?
2.  What reward would come from keeping this Commandment?
3.  What was the penalty in the Old Testament of rebellion against
    your parents?
4.  What was the sixth Commandment?
5.  What does the word "kill" mean, here?
6.  Whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of-------------.
7.  Those who hateth their brothers are ---- ---------------------.
8.  What was the seventh Commandment?
9.  What did this include?
10. These ten laws are representative of ------laws.
11. Jesus covered all ten laws in how many?
12. If you look upon a woman to lust, you have committed ------------.
13. What was the eighth Commandment?
14. What was the ninth Commandment?
15. If we remembered what, we would not covet?
16. What were the things we should not covet in the tenth Commandment?
17. What is a false teaching in the church today that is really
    coveting?
18. What was a good lesson Paul taught about coveting?
19. All the people saw the ------, -------, and the noise of the
    --------.
20. What did the people feel, when they saw the awesomeness of God?
21. What did they ask of Moses, because they were afraid of God?
22. Why does God want them to fear Him?
23. What is the beginning of wisdom?
24. Where did Moses draw near to, where he could talk with God?
25. Ye shalt not make ye ------ of ------- neither shall ye make unto
    you --------- of --------.
26. How did the children of Israel quickly sin?
27. What was the altar to be made of?
28. What kind of offerings were to be made there?
29. If they follow God's instruction, what would God do?
30. If they make the altar of stone, what kind of stone are they to
    use?
31. Why was it not to have steps?