LESSON 20
THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Memory Verse: Ex. 20:3 (N.W. 21:12)————Lesson: Ex. 20:1-26
The laws which God gave unto Israel may be divided into three classes (1) The moral law is to be found in the ten commandments. (2) The ceremonial law is found in the instructions of God concerning the sacrifices and related items. (3) The civil law had to do with the various regulations concerning their government.
I. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS GIVEN. v. 1-17
The first two verses might be called the preamble to the ten commandments.
A. Man's Responsibility To God. v. 3-11
1. No other gods allowed. v. 3. God is jealous and will not share His glory with another. Deut. 32:21, They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. I Sam. 12:20- 21, And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. I Cor. 8:4-6, As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. I John 5:20-21, And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
2. No images. v. 4-6. Idolatry of all kinds are prohibited. Any attempt to make a visible likeness of God is here condemned. All images used in worship would be wrong. Lev. 19:4, Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. Deut. 4:15-17, Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air. Amos 5:26-27, But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. Acts 7:43, Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Lev. 26:1, Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
3. His name not to be used in vain. v. 7. His name is holy and no one should use it irreverently. Matt. 6:9, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Hallow means, "sanctify, hallow, be holy; 1) to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow 2) to separate from profane things and dedicate to God." Lev. 19:12, And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
4. The sabbath day to be kept. v. 8.
a. The sabbath was given to Israel and not to the gentiles. It was a special sign to Israel. Ex. 31:12-14, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Neh. 9:13-14, Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant. Ezek. 20:12, 20, Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them....
b. The New Testament church is no where commanded to keep it. Christians are to keep the first day of the week after the pattern and example set forth in the N.T. after HIS death and resurrection. Col. 2:16-17, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Matt. 28:1, In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Mark 16:2, And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. John 20:19, Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. Acts 20:7, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. I Cor. 16:2, Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
B. Man's Responsibility To Man. v. 12-17
1. Honour father and mother. v. 12. Eph. 6:1-3, Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Matt. 15:4, For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
2. Thou shalt not kill. v. 13. This does not forbid the death penalty. Ex. 21:12, He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. Gen. 9:5, And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Matt. 5:21-22
3. Adultery forbidden. v. 14. Matt. 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. Matt. 19:9, And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. Rom. 7:2-3, For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4. Stealing forbidden. v. 15. Rom. 13:8; II Cor. 8:21; Eph. 4: 28.
5. Bearing false witness forbidden. v. 16. This would include gossip.
6. Coveteousness forbidden. v. 17. This includes the secret desires of the heart. Luke 12:15, And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. I Cor. 12:31; Mark 7:21-23.
II. THE LORD'S GRACIOUS PROVISION. v. 18-26
A. The Effect Upon The People. v. 18-21
1. They were afraid. v. 18
2. They saw the need for a mediator. v. 19. I Tim. 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
3. They needed to be proved. v. 20
4. The people standing afar off. v. 21
B. Special Reminders and Injunctions. v. 22-26
1. They are forbidden to make gods of silver and gold. v.22-23
2. The provision for the altar. v. 24-26
a. It was to be made of earth. v. 24
b. If made of stone, it was not to be hewn. v. 25. Thus it was to be made of natural materials.
c. No steps for decency's sake. v. 26. This was the protection, because of the way they dressed.
C. The Purpose Of The Law.
1. The Law is good if it is used right. I Tim. 1:8, But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.
2. It was not in order to save, but to show God's standard for right, and that man was a sinner. Gal. 2:16, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Rom. 7:7-14
3. To show man his need for a saviour. Gal. 3:19-24, Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
4. The law is to convict of sin. Gal. 3:21; 3:10-12; Heb. 10:28, He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Rom. 10:5, For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
5. The altar shows that a sacrificial offering needed to be made for man's sin. Heb. 9:12-14, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Heb 9:26, For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. II Co 5:21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
—by E. L. Bynum
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. State the threefold division of the law.
2. State the twofold division of the commandments.
3. Name the ten commandments in their proper order.
4. What day of the week was the sabbath day, and should Christians keep it today?
5. What is the first commandment with promise, and what is the promise or promises?
6. Does "thou shalt not kill" permit the death penalty? Why is this?
7. Name the three things that God commanded concerning the altar.
8. What was the purpose of the commandments?
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