A Look At The Ten Commandments- Part 1

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 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. 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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 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. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 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. Exodus 20:3-17 (KJV)

Let’s take a look at each of the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God. We’ll cover the first five today and the rest of them tomorrow.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Israel was instructed to worship only God, the one, true, living God. Other nations worshiped many gods- false gods actually. We are to worship and seek the Lord God Yahweh only. We are not to worship any false gods, which are actually satan or his demons posing as deity. Don’t substitute anyone or anything for God. God is God alone, and he alone is who we worship. A false god is anything we put before God. (See Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 6:4, 13, Deuteronomy 10:20, Matthew 4:10)

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…. In the worship of false gods, the worshipers used images made by men to represent the “gods” they were serving. God was saying that no image is to be worshiped in His place. No one should be bowing down to an image to worship a false god or an image that is supposed to represent the true God. God is a Spirit and is to be worshiped in spirit and truth. There are to be no idols worshiped in Christianity. Worship of God is to be based on His Word only. (See John 4:23-24, I John 5:21)

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…. The Lord’s name is to be worshiped and honored. it is not to be used as a curse word. Speak His name reverently and not loosely or as slang, such as “Oh my God.” Do not say His name insincerely or without thought. God’s name is holy and we should treat it as something sacred. (See Matthew 5:33-37, Matthew 6:9, James 5:12)

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Keeping something holy means it is sanctified and set apart. God rested from His works on the seventh day, setting an example for us. God expected the Israelites to set aside one day a week to rest and honor Him. We are to come apart and be with God, to worship, refill, and be refreshed. Jesus is now our sabbath rest and we find rest in Him since He made man right with God. However, it is still a good idea to set aside a day each week to worship God and put our focus on Him. The sabbath rest is good for us and helps us to keep our eyes on the Lord. We should come apart so we don’t fall apart. (See Genesis 2:1-3, Hebrews 4:1-3, 9)

5. Honour thy father and thy mother…. We are to love, respect, and honor our parents. This is the only command that actually has a promised attached to it. If we do this, we are promised long life. we are to speak and act kindly toward our parents. One sign of the last days is that children will be disobedient to parents. This commandment means we are to honor and care for our parents at any age. When they are elderly, it is up to us to make sure they are cared for- and cared for well. We are to remember to visit them and watch out for their interests. (See Ephesians 6:1-3, II Timothy 3:2)

The Ten Commandments have not gone out of style. They have been fulfilled in Christ, but are still important to the Christian life. We’ve seen the first five commandments. Tomorrow, we will wrap up by examining the other five.