The Ten Commandments

At the mountain. Three months after leaving Egypt, Israel camped at Mount Sinai (19:1-2). This was the mountain where God had first called Moses at the burning bush. Rescued first. God reminded them, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself” (19:4). God saved them before He gave them rules. A special treasure. God said they would be “a special treasure to Me above all people… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (19:5-6). Getting ready. The people washed their clothes and prepared for three days (19:10-11). Meeting God is serious. The third day. “There were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled” (19:16). Fire and smoke. “Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire… and the whole mountain quaked greatly” (19:18). Moses goes up. “Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up” (19:20). What we learn. God is holy and powerful, and He is also the God who rescues and loves His people.

Arrival (19:1-2). Israel reaches Sinai “in the third month.” The sign God gave Moses at the bush is fulfilled: “you shall serve God on this mountain” (3:12). God has brought His people out, and now He brings them to Himself. The story moves from rescue to relationship. Grace before law (19:4-6). God's speech begins with what He has done: “I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.” Only then does He say, “if you will indeed obey My voice.” The order matters. God did not give the commandments so the people could earn His love. He had already rescued them. The commandments showed them how to live as His people. Treasure and priesthood. Israel is to be God's segullah (say: seh-goo-LAH), a treasured personal possession, and “a kingdom of priests” representing God to the nations. Peter applies this language to the church (1 Peter 2:9). Holiness displayed (19:16-19). Thunder, lightning, thick cloud, trumpet, fire, smoke and earthquake together express God's holiness. The boundaries around the mountain (19:12, 21-24) teach that sinful people cannot casually approach the holy God. A mediator ascends (19:20). Moses alone is called up. The people need someone to stand between them and God. Hebrews 12:18-24 looks back at this scene. It says believers now come to God through “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.”

God's people traveled for three months. Then they came to Mount Sinai. God told Moses something wonderful. He said He had carried them like an eagle carries her babies. God had rescued them from Egypt. Now they would be His special people. God told them to get ready. On the third day, God came down on the mountain. There was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud covered the top. A loud trumpet blew. Smoke rose up like smoke from a big oven. The whole mountain shook! The people trembled. God is holy, which means He is perfect and pure. God called Moses to the top of the mountain.

God came down on the mountain. There was thunder and fire. God is holy and great. He loves His people.

God introduces Himself. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (20:2). The commandments begin with grace. First commandment. “You shall have no other gods before Me” (20:3). God must come first in our lives. Second commandment. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (20:4). God cannot be shaped into a statue or an image we control. A warning and a promise. God is “a jealous God” who punishes sin, but He is also “showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (20:5-6). Jealous here means God protects His love relationship with His people. Third commandment. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (20:7). In vain means in an empty or careless way. Fourth commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (20:8). God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh (20:11). What we learn. Loving God means putting Him first, worshiping Him as He really is, honoring His name and making time for Him.

The preface (20:1-2). “And God spoke all these words.” The Ten Words (aseret hadevarim, the Hebrew name behind “Decalogue”) open with God's self-identification and saving act. Obedience is response to redemption. Exclusive loyalty (20:3). “Before Me” can mean “in My presence” or “besides Me.” No rival may share the place that belongs to God alone. No images (20:4-6). The second commandment forbids making images to worship, even images meant to represent the Lord. God reveals Himself by word, not by statue. The “jealousy” of God is covenant zeal, like a faithful husband's protective love. Judgment reaches “the third and fourth generations,” but mercy reaches “thousands.” God's mercy is far greater than His judgment. Deuteronomy 24:16 adds that each person is judged for his own sin. The Name (20:7). To take God's name “in vain” (lashav, say: lah-SHAHV, emptiness) includes careless speech, false oaths and claiming God's name while living against it. The Sabbath (20:8-11). The fourth commandment grounds rest in creation. It extends rest to servants, animals and foreigners, a humane provision in the ancient world. Jesus taught that “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). Most Christians gather to worship on Sunday, the day Jesus rose. That is a church practice, not a command in Exodus 20.

God began with who He is. He said, “I am the Lord your God.” He reminded them He rescued them from Egypt. Then God gave four commands about loving Him. First, have no other gods. Nothing should be more important than God. Second, do not make idols. People in Egypt bowed down to statues. God is too great to be made into a statue. Third, do not use God's name carelessly. His name is holy, so we say it with respect. Fourth, remember the Sabbath day. God made the world in six days and rested. He gave His people a day to rest and worship.

God said, “Love Me most of all.” Do not make fake gods. Say God's name with love. Rest and worship Him.

Fifth commandment. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land” (20:12). Paul calls this “the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:2). Sixth commandment. “You shall not murder” (20:13). Every person is made in God's image, so human life is precious. Seventh commandment. “You shall not commit adultery” (20:14). God wants husbands and wives to be faithful to each other. Eighth commandment. “You shall not steal” (20:15). We respect what belongs to others. Ninth commandment. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (20:16). False witness means telling lies about someone. Tenth commandment. “You shall not covet your neighbor's house” (20:17). Coveting starts in the heart, with wanting what others have. Heart and hands. The last commandment shows that God cares about what we think and want, not just what we do. What we learn. Loving people means respecting parents, protecting life, being faithful, being honest and being content.

The second table. Commandments five through ten govern life with others. Jesus summarized them as “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), and Paul lists several of them before saying, “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). Honor (20:12). The Hebrew kabbed (say: kab-BED) comes from the word for weight or glory. To honor parents is to give them proper weight. The promise of long life in the land ties family faithfulness to the nation's flourishing. Life and faithfulness (20:13-14). The sixth commandment forbids murder, the unlawful taking of human life (the Hebrew ratsach). The seventh protects marriage. Jesus later deepened both, tracing murder to anger and adultery to desire in the heart (Matthew 5:21-28). Property and truth (20:15-16). Stealing violates a neighbor's livelihood. “False witness” originally referred to lying testimony in court, but it covers all deception that harms another's name. Desire (20:17). The tenth commandment reaches inward. Coveting (chamad, say: khah-MAHD) is disordered desire for what God has given someone else. Paul says this command showed him his own sin (Romans 7:7). The law is not only about behavior; it exposes the heart.

The next six commands were about loving people. Fifth, honor your father and mother. Honor means to respect and obey them. Sixth, do not murder. Every person is made by God. Seventh, husbands and wives must keep their promise to love each other. Eighth, do not steal. Do not take things that are not yours. Ninth, do not tell lies about others. Always tell the truth. Tenth, do not covet. Covet means to want what belongs to someone else. God wants us to be thankful. These rules help us treat others the way God wants.

God said, “Honor your mom and dad.” Do not steal. Do not lie. God wants us to love people.

Good gifts. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7). God's commands are good and wise. Love God and others. Jesus said all the commandments hang on two: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). The people's fear. “When the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off” (20:18). They asked Moses to speak to them instead (20:19). A mirror. The law shows us our sin, like a mirror shows dirt on our face. “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Guilty of all. “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). No one keeps the law perfectly. Pointing to Jesus. “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). Obeying from love. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). What we learn. The commandments show us God's goodness, our need and our Savior.

The people's response (20:18-21). Overwhelmed, the people stand “afar off” and ask Moses to mediate. Moses answers, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin” (20:20). Reverent fear is meant to keep them from sin, not drive them from God. What the law does. The law shows us what is right. It also shows us where we have done wrong (Romans 3:20). Paul says the law was like a guardian that led us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). For people who love God, it shows them how to live (Psalm 19:7-8). Holy, just and good. Paul insists, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). The problem is not the law but our inability to keep it; “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Galatians 2:16). Fulfilled in Christ. Jesus said, “I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). What the law could not do, “God did by sending His own Son” (Romans 8:3). Written on hearts. Jeremiah 31:33 promised a new covenant in which God says, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.” Tablets of stone pointed forward to hearts changed by grace.

Why did God give these rules? First, He loved His people. Good rules keep us safe, like a fence keeps a puppy safe. Second, the rules show us what God is like. God is holy, honest and kind. Third, the rules show us our sin. When we look at God's rules, we see we have broken them. Nobody can keep them perfectly. After God spoke, the people were afraid. They stood far away from the mountain. But Moses went near to God. Jesus is the only one who kept God's rules perfectly. He died for us when we broke them. Now we obey God because we love Him.

God's rules are good. They show us how to love. But we all break them. We need Jesus.

The Ten Commandments

🎉 All Matched!