Exodus: You Shall...

Exodus 20, another big moment in the book, as God speaks to the Israelites and Moses about the famous Ten Commandments. Im sure whether or not we are believers or not, new or old, we've heard and we know these ten statements. But as i've said with the previous passages, to fully see and read about them its true form, the actual text, you get all the gritty details and you can definitely take a lot more out of it. The Ten Commandments are,

"you shall have no other gods before me."
Idolatry. The God we love and the God we serve is the king of kings, Lord of Lords and the creator of the Universe. Nothing in this world, natural or manmade, material or relationship should ever be in a higher priority than God in our lives. When God says "no other gods" it is timeless. It can mean gods as in Allah for instance, to the everyday things we're faced with, money, status, or a relationship.

"you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything."
When I read through the passage, I became a bit confused getting to this portion. Both this commandment as well as the first sounded so similar, and after thinking about it, and looking deeper, I think they are almost the same. The only difference I see is that here, we should not "make" an idol, which could refer to the golden calf that was made by Aaron later on in Exodus. While reading the extra content for my devotions, it struck me that its possible that God found idolatry to be so important that he had to emphasize it by listing it twice. In fact even after the ten commandments, in verses 22-26, he continues to speak on the topic of idolatry and how unacceptable it is.

"you shall not misuse the name of the Lord."
We're not to call out using his name in vain, something as simple as "oh my God". When we speak to God, we speak out of respect for Him, he is above all, and when you toss around such a name left right and centre, you are disrespecting Him. Like in the Chisel Skit by the Skit Guys, they say "its more than a name, its more than a saying, its more than just a bad habit." We treat our teachers, or professors, our pastors, the president, people with high authority with respect, but why do we choose to treat this mighty God with so much less?

"you shall rest on the Sabbath day and do no work."
God made the universe in six days and rested on the Sabbath. He commands to also rest on the seventh day, to take some time to reflect on Him, to step back from our busy lives and refocus our lives on him. We shouldnt take it literally and not cook not work not drive not walk and just sit, but we should make use of this day of rest to regather ourselves before we take on the upcoming week.

"you shall honor your father and mother."
God gave us loving and caring parents to protect and provide for us. As we love, honor and serve our parents, we are also serving God. By obeying them, whether if it is to wash the dishes, or obeying the consequences of staying out late, we are called to follow them. There are exceptions to when we can disobey the commands of our parents but thats a whole different topic. HERE is a link that can maybe lead you further into that topic.

"you shall not murder." 
Im sure this commandment is fairly self explicable, but at the same time, you can take this command as an extreme. As I looked up the ten commandments, under the "children's version" this commandment was interpreted as "do not hurt one another." This goes from physical hurt, to verbal; emotionally, any way one can hurt another. But even at the extreme, there is no reason for us to take another person's life, no matter how they may have wronged us or what grudge we have against them, they are a child of God and deserve to live and be forgiven.

"you shall not commit adultery."
This touches on the topic of sexual immorality, which is listed several times in the bible, how we are not to lie with another man or woman after marriage, to keep ourselves sexually pure before marriage. We are not to cheat on our spouse. When one marries, they create a commitment, a life long commitment to their partner, and they are to keep it. Today's world, marriage has been corrupted and skewed, taken lightly, when God created it to be pure and powerful. It also parallels with our relationship with Christ. When we follow Jesus, we are "married" to him, and we are not to cheat on him or replace him with anything else, which brings back to significance of not committing idolatry.

"you shall not steal."
This, alike with murder is self explanatory, we are not to take another's possessions, we've been blessed with enough, more than enough, we should never have the urge to steal. Reflect and be thankful for the things God has granted us!"

"you shall not give false testimony against your neighbour."
We are called to be righteous and holy, and lying is simply sinning. Withholding the truth when it is to be known. Be honest in both your words and your actions, to your neighbours, your friends and even strangers. God only speaks the truth, and as representatives of Him, we ought to do the same.

"you shall not covet your neighbour's house." 
Covet is defined as "to yearn to possess or having something". Again back to stealing, we are not to be jealous of one another. It is natural to have desires for worldly things, but its when we act on it, it becomes a sin.

Now after reading all that, I was yet again struck by the passage if we look deeper. Throughout the bible, in the new testament, God gives us two more important commandments.

First, to love God.

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. - Matthew 22:37-38

Second, to love Others.

³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. - Matthew 22:39

As we look closely at the ten commandments, these two commandments are actually hidden inside of them. Commandments 1-4 relate to loving God, of course placed first because God is most important above all else. Whereas commandments 5-10 relate to loving others and putting others before yourself. Isn't that amazing?

I know that i myself easily struggle with idolatry as well as resting on the sabbath. Sometimes there are just sins that i cannot cut out of my life yet that i hold on to and need to learn how to let go. At the same time, taking a day of rest is difficult with such a busy schedule and routine, i always get so caught up with work and with life that i tend to easily forget about Christ.

Although sometimes these may sound like restrictions, we must be mindful, knowing that these are for our protection because God loves us.

Now after going through the commandments, which ones do you struggle with most? Do you have a good balance between loving God, loving others as well as loving yourself?

verse of the day: Matthew 22:37-39

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.