Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 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.

5 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:

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7 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.

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 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, this is within thy gates:

11 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.

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

13 Thou shalt not kill.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15 Thou shalt not steal.

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

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 neighbor’s.

Matthew 22: 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

MEMORY VERSE: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other command- ment greater than these. —Mark 12:29b-31

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Supreme love, devotion, and worship to the Almighty God will enable us to live up to the standard of His holy commandments and laws, and sincere and earnest love for our fellow man will enable us to relate to him righteously and in a manner well pleasing to God.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Exodus 20:4, “graven image”: A statue or figure carved out by man.

Ver. 5, “bow down thyself”: Humble one’s heart in praise, honor, or worship. “hate me”: Refuse to love, worship, or obey God.

Ver. 7, “take the name of the LORD thy God in vain”: Profess or speak the name of God without true love, worship, and obedience from the heart. “will not hold him guiltless”: Will not forgive.

Ver. 8, “Sabbath day”: The seventh day of the week, a day to rest and cease from work.

Ver. 11, “hallowed it”: Made it a special holy day in which to worship and honor God.

Matthew 22:40, “hang all the law and the prophets”: All the basis and substance of God’s laws and commandments to man are contained therein.

LESSON BACKGROUND

It was in the third month when the children of Israel, under the leadership and oversight of Moses, came to the wilderness of Sinai and were camped before the mountain there. God spoke to Moses out of the mountain, and told him to remind the Israelites of what they had seen God do to the Egyptians in delivering Israel from that land of bondage. He told Moses to tell the people of Israel that if they would obey His voice indeed, and keep His covenant, they would be a peculiar (special) treasure unto Him above all people. Moses obeyed the LORD and spoke those words to the people, and the people answered together that all that the LORD had spoken they would do. Then the LORD told Moses to instruct the people to prepare themselves to be ready, for in three days He was to come down in the sight of all the people on mount Sinai. On that day the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai and called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. The people were instructed to stay down at the foot of the mountain, and we have in our lesson today the Word that God spoke to them, giving them His ten commandments.

These ten commandments were the great message of God to Israel, lining out His standards of worship to Him, as God, and their relations to their fellow man. The first four commandments have to do with the people’s relations with God and what pleases Him. Then the last six of the commandments covered their relationship with each other and all mankind. These ten commandments have been shown and labeled by our Lord and Saviour as being contained in two great commandments. Both Matthew and Mark make mention of this that Jesus spoke. We have made Matthew’s words as part of our lesson, while we have Mark’s words together as our memory verse. These ten commandments are very vital and important, a solemn key to our relationship with our Creator. In the lessons ahead we will see how important they are and what transgressing and disobeying them will do to our hearts and lives.

–Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

1. What was the first commandment God gave?
2. Why did God forbid making graven images?
3. How can we take God’s name in vain today?
4. Why did God want Israel to keep the Sabbath day holy?                                                                                                                                       5. What did the remaining six commandments cover?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

The book of Exodus relates, in great detail, the course that the LORD God took in dealing with the nation of Israel. In Genesis we have the account of the family of Jacob being transferred from their homes in Israel to live in Egypt in the time of the seven years of famine through the influence of Joseph with Pharaoh. And then, after Joseph died, we see them fruitful and increasing abundantly and filling the land of Egypt. We see the new ruler of Egypt taking measures against Israel.

We then have the account of Moses being raised in Pharaoh’s household and being used by God to deal with the king of Egypt, bringing about the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. We see Israel going away, escaping from slavery in Egypt, passing through the Red Sea by a miracle from God, and hopefully starting on their way to their promised homeland. God worked to bring them to the place where He dealt with them in order to show and set forth His holy and sacred commandments and laws. This manifestation of His holy law is one of the greatest portrayals of His power and holiness that we have in Bible history.

In our lesson today, we have the ten commandments that God set forth before Israel. This is a sacred and holy record that has influenced humanity ever since. Later, in the Old Testament account, we have God inscribing on tables of stone these commandments and giving them to Moses.

Then there is the sad and terrible scene of Moses coming down from the mount and seeing the people of Israel worshipping the golden calf. In his anger, Moses broke the tables of stone. He later made some new tables of stone and inscribed the law on them himself; but, it was one scene of sorrow and frustration after another for Moses in his dealings with Israel.

The ten commandments that God gave carried on into further biblical history and are pictured in the New Testament along with the faith and victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and transgression.

It is to be remembered how Adam and Eve disobeyed the command and instruction of God in partaking of the forbidden fruit. This act of disobedience plunged humanity in the depths of sin and woe. We see it manifested in various places in Bible history. We see the general tide of humanity plunging into deeper and deeper depths of sin and wickedness, until God sent the flood in Noah’s time to destroy sinful humanity; then we see the various scenes of sin and transgression in other accounts. In our lesson today, we have portrayed the holy laws that God gave through Moses, and how they are still important for us to take heed to and obey in the will of God.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

Recently, while driving thru Woodward, Oklahoma, I noticed that someone had erected a Ten Com- mandments display in town. All ten were recorded. It was very refreshing to see them in an era when there has been great effort to remove the ancient landmarks our forefathers have set, from public and government sectors.

Across the nation, lawsuits are being waged against those who have religious convictions against promoting or supporting ungodliness. Psalm 11:2 states, “For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.”

The ten commandments have been a moral compass and bedrock foundation for justice and equity in our nation and others. The verse comes to mind, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). We need to pray for and support those who are under attack.

–Bro. Bob Wilson