365 Reflections

Exodus 20:16 (ESV) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Lying is not usually considered that big of a deal. We even rename it to make it sound more "innocent." We say it's a "white lie" or we call it fibbing or "stretching the truth just a bit" or even exaggeration. All of them seem harmless but can often be small ways in which we deceive others for our own advantage.  Notice that this command is the first command to conclude with the words, "against your neighbor." Lying is a living offense against someone in your community for your own benefit. Murder takes a life, adultery takes stolen pleasure, stealing takes property from someone else. A lie is self-advancement over others. The original intention of this command refers to lying in court against someone else.  We really come to understand the depth of God's heart in this command when we realize how easy it was to condemn someone in the ancien...

Exodus 20:15 (ESV) “You shall not steal. You could be tempted to think this Commandment is boring and simple. It is not. It is a glorious reminder to those who hear it: "GOD WILL PROVIDE." If there is one act of obedience that strikes at the very heart of trusting God in our lives - it is not taking things that do not belong to you. As God's people, we are believe the source our all our lives is our Father in heaven who loves us and provides for us. Israel was to be a people who earned their own living by the grace of God and respected the boundaries of other people's property. Stealing says to God, "I don't trust you and I don't know you."  What have we learned about God since Genesis more than the fact that all things come  graciously and generously  from Him? He is the giving God, not a taker. He is the one who will " supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19. Here in Exodu...

Why do we hate sin? Or, why SHOULD we hate sin? I fear that many Christians hate sin for all the wrong reasons. We particularly hate the sin in OTHERS because hating their sin makes us feel less bad about our own sin. Shinning the spotlight on the inadequacies of someone else makes us feel a bit more adequate to judge their behaviors. Christians have been doing this for years. The preacher that rails against adultery but looks at porn. The choir leader who hates all forms of sexual immorality but gossips incessantly. The board member who condemns homosexuality but undermines and dishonors spiritual authority. All readily examples of the wrong way to hate sin. We may also hate sin for the harm it causes us. Sin destroys our bodies. Sins like overeating, sexual infidelity and drug abuse are the obvious culprits. But those emotive sins like jealousy and anger can do damage to our hearts and blood pressure. We hate sin because it hinders our lives from their fullest potential. Yet this...

Exodus 20:13 (ESV) “You shall not murder. With four words God declares human life sacred. The Hebrew for "murder" here can also refer to  causing human death through carelessness or negligence. God has more in mind than simply hunting someone down and taking their life. In fact, in America we have laws against "manslaughter" BECAUSE of this further stipulations of this commandment in the rest of the book of Exodus. Neglect and unintentional actions can lead to human death bringing damage to society. The flip side of this commandment is of serious importance. We are not simply being told not to kill people. We are being told to value them! We are NOT to be negligent or careless with others in our lives. We are to act with regard to God's heart for all human beings in our interpersonal relationships. Every human has worth. Every human has a purpose in the world. Every human being is to be respected. Human beings are made in the image of God and therefore t...

It's such a simple command. It's such a deep word. Exodus 20:12 (ESV) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. God includes the honor of Father and Mother in the top 10 commands of the Bible. There should be no doubt that God takes this institution seriously. The marriage of a man and woman and the procreation of children deserves honor from all people, but it starts in the home with the children.  Why does God command honor for parents? Because a parent's job reflects God's endeavor. He is our Father in heaven. Jesus described himself as a "Hen who longed to gather her chicks under her wings." (Matthew 23:37). God's parental role is exhibited throughout the Scriptures starting with Adam who is termed the "son of God" in Luke's genealogy. Why does God command that honor for parents start with the children? Because God knows that children will have the biggest ...

Every seven days, Israel was to stop everything and remember who made it. Exodus 20:8–11 (ESV)   “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. In Genesis 2, the Sabbath is the first thing God calls Holy. Think of this commandment in light of God's own reference to creation. "The Sabbath is made for man" , Jesus says to those who stifle His healing of the man with the withered hand.  The Sabbath is a gift to reorient ourselves around God's sovereign power over all His creation. Christians get a reminder ev...

Exodus 20:7 (ESV) “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. The most important thing about this command is understanding the word, "take" in Hebrew means "to bring, to carry, to lift." This command is not simply about "saying" the name of the Lord with vain or blasphemous intent, as wrong as that is. It is a command to consider strongly how we bring God's Name into the world through our lives and witness. It is a serious thing to bear the name of the Lord in your life. Why does God put this commandment in the top 10? Because His work is made to represent His glory, including most of all, humanity. You and I were made to represent the wonderful creative glory of our God. How you live should reflect the wonder of His power and the beauty of His imaginative omniscience. As Christians we are "ambassadors for Christ" and called to be the light of the ...

Exodus 20:4–5 (ESV)   “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, The second commandment deals with graven images. Some would call this idolatry but the specifics of the command make it clear fashioning an idol to represent the true God is in mind here. God is saying to His people "I AM" in this command which means He IS Who He is and that is always the same. Therefore any representation of Him fashioned by mankind is always null and void of the true reality.  You cannot make God want you want Him to be. No, we may not carve statues out of wood and rock today as we have become civilized, but we do redefine God according to our own whi...

Here we are at Exodus 20. The Ten Commandments are given to God's people. But a word about how the law comes is important. Arthur Pink notes, "Moses went up into the mount and received the Law, inscribed by God’s own finger upon two tables of stone, signifying that our hearts are naturally so hard that none but the finger of God can make any impression of His Law upon them." Amazing. It is true that we need the finger of God upon our hearts to make us change. If you remember, the finger of God was involved in the action from Creation up to now for Israel. The Lord is not the sub-set deity of moon, sun, harvest or sky. He is the One who made all of it. He is far above the gods of the Nile, the cattle or the Pharaoh. He alone is all-powerful and all knowing. I believe the first commandment is the summation of all Israel has heard thus far in their story. Exodus 20:1–3 (ESV) And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of th...

In Exodus 19 we get the main purpose of the entire deliverance event of the people of Israel. Exodus 19:4 (NLT)   ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. God's goal was to be WITH his people for His people to be WITH Him. The covenant is here enacted at Mount Sinai. God's people are called to be a special possession in the Earth: Exodus 19:5–6 (NLT)   Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6 And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.” The whole nation was supposed to be a Priesthood of believers for the world to see. They were represent God to the nations and represent the nations to God. All people were to look at the nation of Israel, behold the wonderful relationship they had with their God and desire it...