The Word of God is a crystalline mirror to our souls revealing our utter
depravity contrasted with His perfect righteousness. It is a total Law,
but divided into two perspectives – the first delineating our duty and
obligations to God, and the second those same duties and obligations owed to
our fellow man. The summary of the Law given by Christ which He quoted from the
Old Testament, perfectly divides those duties of the two Tables:
31 The first of all
the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 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. 31 And the second is
like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none
other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31) See how they are
postulated in the Old Testament: 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD
our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deut
6:4-5) and . . . thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. (Lev
19:18b)
The Commandments of God we are about to see in this chapter
written on Tables of Stone were intended to be inscribed on a more malleable
fabric with the coming of Christ: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared
to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with
the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy
tables of the heart. (2 Cor 3:3) The Law, being our school
teacher, was revealed to our hearts as a budding rose whose pealing petals revealed
more and more of the Love of God that defined its essence to us and revealed
their deeper meaning.
As we contemplate each of the Commandments, let us not lose
sight of the fact that the Ten constitute the whole of God’s Commandments, and
each is an integral part of that whole. The two distinctive tables of the
Commandments are distinguished by the Summary of the Law given by our Lord
above. The traditional manner of dividing those two tables is to assert that
the first four represent our duty to God, and the last six, our duty to fellow
man. But I respectfully would stipulate a slight difference in this division.
Though I agree that the last six do relate to our duties to our fellow man, I
believe the first FIVE describe our duties to God. “But”, you say, “there are
only Ten Commandments!” True, but I consider the fifth to be a transition of
emphasis between God and man. God is also our ultimate Father as our earthly
father is a lower office. We are to honor God even more devoutly than we do our
earthly father for we would have neither mother nor father had the Lord not
granted us the privilege.
1And God spake all these words,
saying, (Ex
20:1) In a military
or naval command, it is the Commanding General/Admiral who issues orders
relating to the elements of disposition or movement of an army or naval group.
Those orders, for an Army Group, begin: General Orders # _ _. All readers of
such orders will recognize that they are issued by, or at the behest, of the
Commanding General – they are his orders and bear the authority of his role as
Commanding General. Here we see the same in the introductory line to the Ten
Commandments. It is God by whose authority these Commandments are issued. Just
as there is no higher authority in an Army Command than the Commanding General;
so in the whole Universe, there is no higher Authority, or issuing authority,
than the Sovereign of the Universe – GOD! So the opening line establishes His
Authority and the import of that which follows. Remember, it is God speaking –
not lightly to be dismissed!
2 I am the LORD thy God, which
have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Ex
20:2) Who is the
LORD your God? Isn’t that the first question that begs the answer from every living
soul? Is your god of wood, silver, gold, precious gems, fancy automobiles,
opulent mansions – what? Is there any vision or commodity that possesses your
thoughts to the exclusion of all others? THAT is your god! The Lord God is not
a commodity, or a desired status. God is a PERSON, and not only a Person, but
the Creator of all that you can see, feel, touch and imagine. He made the
universe, He flung the heavenly bodies into their orbits, He made the earth and
all that is in the earth – including tiny YOU! He is All-Knowing and
Ever-Present in all places and times. He it is who has delivered Israel from
bondage in Egypt, and from the sins of today. If you are free born, it is
because He has created a new heart in you. He is the Triune God self-existing
in Three Persons. Those three are clearly present in the first verse of
Genesis, and the last of Revelations. Do you remember His graces to you, or do
you believe that you are self-made (some trick, huh?).
We are to remember God and His Lordship and Sovereignty at
all times. If we know Him as Lord and Savior, He is with us to guide, direct,
and sanctify. He is with always, even to the end of the world – and beyond. God
wants us to REMEMBER Him! “I am the LORD thy God!” The shepherd of
Bethlehem remembered God always. Read the words of David in the Wilderness: 3 Because thy lovingkindness
is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I
live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my
bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalms
63:3-6) You may
say, “But of course I remember God every day. I at least say grace before every
meal. Really? Is that sufficient? Since your next heartbeat and breath comes by His grace, don’t
you think we might do better than that? Do we remember Him during the night
watches on our beds? Meditate – do we MEDITATE on His Holy word and Presence?
The huddled masses of Israel trembled beneath the smoking
peak of Mount Sinai as this Voice of God spoke to them. At that time, there
were no doubters, only those whose hearts were filled with fear and dread as
God revealed His Law. That Law revealed exposed their sin and the nakedness of
each hearer before Him. It was intended so in order to hold their attention,
and to burn an indelible image on their memories. For faith and knowledge
begins with fear, but ends in love.
It will be profitable for us if we remember that this day
was that of Pentecost. Just as in the Pentecost of Acts 2, there was no
confused babbling in the words spoken. God spoke clearly to every man, woman,
and child of that gathering – and to us today . . . . “I am the
LORD thy GOD!” He is the Lord your God even if you do not know Him
either to your everlasting joy, or unending sorrow.
3 Thou shalt have
no other gods before me. (Ex 20:3) Is this not the first and great
Commandment from which all others are fixed? Friends, do you have other gods
beside God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost? Is money a god to
you that forecloses your service to God? Do you spend more time and thought on
how to acquire wealth, rise in the corporate ranks, or acquire a better house
than your neighbors than you do in considering your eternal destiny? Do you
make a pretended showing of piety once a week before a minister who preaches
ABOUT the Word? Is it not better to go to the Source of the Spring and drink
the Living Waters where they emerge from the ground than to drink downstream of
the herd where man and beast have polluted the waters? Preaching is important,
but we must be fully informed of Scripture in order not to be deceived by any
man – even ministers.
In a real sense, the Ten Commandments are not only arbitrary
laws laid down by God to subjects of a Kingdom – though it is that. The
Commandments are, in the best sense, a covenant of marriage between God and His
Elect. They shall be written on Stone Tables at Sinai, but transcribed in blood
on the soft sinews of our hearts at Calvary’s brow. Can you fathom the depth of
that truth! No sinner (guilty of breaching the Commandments) will enter into
the presence of God in Heaven. How then can we be accounted justified and
righteous at the last day, for no man has lived in perfection of the Law but
One – the Lord Jesus Christ. The terms of the Law require death for all who are
guilty of the disobedience of a single Commandment. 23 For the wages of sin is
death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Are the Commandments nullified
by the sacrificial death of Christ? No, not at all, but the penalty was paid by
Him to all who are the called and chosen according to His purpose! Just as the
babes of Goshen were saved by the blood of an innocent lamb, smeared on the
doorpost and lintels, so are we whose hearts have our doorways and chambers
marked by that precious Blood of the Lamb of God. We have His righteousness
imputed to us if we believe on Him with all of our hearts. He is the Lord our
God!
We have become a society of instant gratification in all
things, and multiple choice answers on all exams. We seek the shortcuts and
easy roads of life. Though those roads appear ‘easy’ they turn out to be most
grueling and catastrophic in the destination to which they lead. Yes, they are
BROAD, and, yes, they lead to the easy down-slope of life, but look to the end
ahead of fire and hurt! With God, the Way that may seem hard at first glance,
and not the popular road, and one whose incline is upward and onward, will at
last prove the easiest and most joyful of all. We cannot be double-minded when
it comes to God. He wants our hearts and minds alone and will not share with
the lesser gods of this world.
Friend, who is your God and who receives the greater measure
of your thoughts, deeds, and love?
