I was listening to a teaching on the book of Exodus recently. When we arrived at the Ten Commandments, the teacher camped for a few minutes. He spoke about how we can understand the laws God gave us as wedding vows. He reminded us that these laws aren't just God being a tyrant but that we are all aware that these are for our own good.
As he went through each commandment, the Lord did as he does for us sometimes. He gave me revelation beyond what was being taught. As the teacher spoke of how the first four commandments are toward God and the final commandments are toward others, God showed me the commandments as a journey. I’d like to share that journey with you.
The first commandment is:
You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3
This is our starting point. This journey cannot begin unless we know God as He really is. He is the Creator God (Genesis 1:1)). He is the God above all other Gods (Psalm 95:3). There is none like Him (Jeremiah 10:6). We cannot navigate through the rest of the commandments until we put God where He belongs in our hearts, and that is first.
When we don’t place God first, it is idolatry. We may not think that this is the case but I assure you it is. God created us to worship. We are always worshiping something and we will always place something first.
Think of it as a ladder or a pyramid, but there is only room at the top for one. We are most prone to place ourselves in that position, but it can be anything: money, work, physical pleasure, food, the list goes on. But when we place God where He belongs, at the top, everything else falls into place.
Commandment number two says:
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. Exodus 20:4
We have established who God is and his place in the universe, now we come to the next stop in our journey. And while we now know where He belongs in our life, we can’t truly conceive Him. He is beyond our reckoning. Remember, everything you can see or touch, everything you have ever heard about or even imagine (because everything you imagine is influenced by what you know) was created by Him. The vastness of space and the beautiful galaxies and nebulae there, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench and all the undiscovered things there, nothing in the created world can compare to Him. We are not to try to fit him in a box by giving Him attributes of the very things He created. That would be absurd, except for one thing. We are created in His image.
People are supposed to be able to see God in us, not some carved idol. We are imagers of the God of the universe. The way God chose to reveal Himself to the entire universe was through us, mankind. The Bible says that angels are eagerly watching these things happen, 1 Peter 1: 12.
Can an animal or some hybrid as portrayed in ancient sculptures manifest God’s plan in the universe? No, mankind, made in the image of God Himself is how God chose to reveal His love, His vast mercy, and even His justice to the entire universe.
The second commandment helps us realize that we, as the imagers of God, are not to look for that His image elsewhere. When we realize who and what we are, we are ready to take the next step in our journey.
The third Commandment says:
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20: 7
This is probably the least understood of all the commandments. Most people think that saying, “Oh my god!” is breaking this commandment. This is not the case, although using the actual name of God as slang or a curse word, is a different story. It really does make me cringe to hear people use the name of the Lord Jesus when they are cursing. Even worse than that, they tend to divide the Jesus and the Christ with some horrible or mocking expletive. They will indeed be held accountable for this and it certainly violates this commandment. But it doesn't necessarily violate the commandment in the way you think.
There are many verses that give us insight into the importance God places on His name. There are three verses in one chapter of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:9,14, 22) where God says He acts for the sake of His name. There is another verse in Ezekiel where God lets the people know that He isn't doing anything for them, but for the sake of His Holy Name (Ezekiel 36:22).
These are only a few. The prophets are full of verses like these and since I think everything after Deuteronomy is just insight and commentary on the Torah, let's go to Leviticus for some foundation on the subject.
Leviticus 18:21 says:
"And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord." KJV
This is what the New International Version says:
"Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord."
We aren't going to go into the atrocity of child sacrifice here, but we are looking at how God views this detestable act. It profanes His name. There is an aspect of the Third Commandment that is tied to our behavior. We shame the name of God when we are ungodly.
According to the Strong's Concordance, the word 'vain' in the Third Commandment means: emptiness, vanity, falsehood, lying, worthlessness of conduct. Wow, most of us never get past that 'empty' definition to the 'action' aspect of the word.
I think that it is interesting that Strong's concordance includes lying and falsehood in the definition. Remember where Jesus said that we aren't supposed to swear by anything, but let our 'yea be yea and our nay be nay?' (Matthew 5:37). It would almost seem that lying or breaking a vow is part of that whole 'vain' thing in the Third Commandment.
The point is, vain doesn't just mean 'without cause' as in don’t say God’s name without cause. It indicates an action. Remember 'worthlessness of conduct' was part of the definition.
Now comes the clincher for me. The Commandment says,
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
How does Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible define the word 'take' in the above commandment? It means:
" to bear, to lift, to carry, to take (as in take with you)."
That, my Friends, is the heart of the matter. To speak or utter is not included in the definition. Go ahead, search it online. Strong's number is 5375. When the commandment says to take the name, it means to carry.
Now do you see how this is part of our journey? We recognize God as who He is. We realize that we are His image and are not to try to make Him into any other. Then He sends us forth bearing His name. We carry it. His name represents His nature, His authority, and even His reputation. Remember what He said in Leviticus? “Don’t do this detestable thing and profane my name.”
Commandment number 4 is tricky and says:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Exodus 20:8-11
I’m not going to argue the merits of Saturday over Sunday worship. I’m not going to tell you that you can pick a day and make it your Sabbath. But I am going to tell you two things about the Sabbath.
First, it is the Lord’s Sabbath and it is one of the Ten Commandments. It is important. Not only that, it predates the Sinai Covenant, it predates the Abrahamic Covenant and goes all the way back to creation.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. Genesis 2:1-2
So, what is the significance of this commandment? How is it a part of our journey? It marks us. It sets us apart.
The second thing I want to share about the Sabbath is, whatever day you choose, Jesus is our Sabbath. He said:
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
The Lord of the Sabbath Himself explains that He is the rest for our souls.
The Sabbath is what kept the Jews a distinct people all through their exile. It was how everyone knew that they were different. That means that this commandment ties in with commandment number three. Carry my name with honor and dignity, and be set apart.
Most people will say that commandment number five begins the separation of the commandments that are between us and God and those that are between us and others. It is much more than that. It is the transitory commandment, meaning it is not just toward others. Nor is it just toward God. It is both. This commandment says:
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12
Our first relationship in this world is with our parents. How we treat them is a reflection of how we treat God, and ultimately others.
Commandment number five is different from all the other commandments. The Apostle Paul tells us that this is the first commandment with a promise (Ephesians 6:1-3). But if you read carefully, it is the only commandment with a promise. It lies in the place where God meets humanity in us. If we can learn to honor our parents, we will have no problem honoring God, and we will have far less problems showing honor to others.
Deuteronomy 32:6 tells us that God is our Father. Of all the many ways the Old Testament reveals God, the Rock, the Mighty one, Lord of Heaven’s Armies to name a few, Jesus shows us that Father is preferred for his children and that is grounded, I think, right here in the 5th commandment. If you come across someone who has no respect for their parents, you don’t have to wonder too much about their relationship with God.
Please know that I am aware of this broken world and that many have suffered at the hands of their parents. I’m not saying that we aren't to acknowledge these sins. I’m saying that when we know who God is, make sure we hold him in the proper place in our hearts, then we can forgive and heal. This in turn shows the world God’s mercy and forgiveness.
So you can see how I came to the conclusion that the Ten Commandments are a journey. We start at God. We embrace His image in us. We take on His name, meaning his reputation. Then we begin to show our respect and honor to God by the way we treat our parents, and this is the beginning of how we show God to the world.
Now comes the big steps outward as God’s representative.
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 his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.`` Exodus 20:13-17.
The world is looking on. Let us keep our perspective. Let us love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength; and let us love our neighbors as ourselves, as the images of God we are.
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