TEN COMMANDMENTS STUDY

Amazing-Grace · May 1, 2017

My take on it is this; "nik naks"used for decoration is something else completely, it's the WORSHIP of things that is the problem.

oldhermit · May 1, 2017

blue_ladybug said:

If you will notice, God defines the context of this prohibition. This is not a prohibition of making household decorations, it is a context worship. They were not the make them to "worship or serve them."

oldhermit · May 1, 2017

Part two

II. The Fear of the Lord is the Foundation for Keeping the Words of the Lord. If you have no fear of the Lord, why would you keep his words?

What we see in the Sinai experience is the direct connection between the Ten Commandments and the Presence and Power of God. At Sinai, the h generated a massive set of geophysical phenomena that was intended to impress upon Israel the awesome power and nature of the God who had brought them out of Egypt. The severity of this display was interpreted by the people as a sensory overload. It was simply more than they would allow their minds to accept. They trembled and stood far off in fear and begged Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” Exodus 20:19. They immediately began to place conditions by which they would be willing to hear the words of the Lord. They feared that anything more than this would be disastrous to them. The implication was that they were not willing to listen to the voice of the Lord. The point of significance of this display by the Lord was that the ten commandments were connected to the “thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking.” Israel was being forced to conclude that the words of the Lord and the set of geophysical phenomena that accompanied it translated to sever consequences. The Lord's point in this demonstration of power was to show Israel the importance of revelation. When this principle is removed from our thinking about God we begin a rapid descent into idolatry. This is the picture we are given of man's spiritual decline in Romans 1, and this was precisely what happened to Israel in the golden calf fiasco.

Scripture has been placed by the Lord into human possession to warn us about adopting a casual attitude about the word of God. The acknowledgement of this relationship was to result in the FEAR of the LORD and in Exodus 20, it certainly did that. However, God knew that man would employ human rationalization to these events and to revelation and that eventually, truth would quickly be rationalized out of importance in Israel, which of course it was.

This casual relation cannot rationalize out of existence the power behind the words of God. Just because man removes the revelation of God from his mind does not lessen its power. Once the meaning of scripture is subjected to rationalism then it no longer connects God to time. It removes God from the world of man. When the Word of God is excised from its supreme significance it becomes reduced to nothing more than a book of history, or fiction, or literary work that is of no more value than any piece of religious work of human origin. Revealed truth was eventually dispelled from Israel and the fear of God was dispelled with it. And here we are today. Routinely, the word of God is read as nothing more that just another piece of literature. It has been robbed of its reveled significance. Consequently, there is no fear of God in the earth.

The demonstration of power at Sinai frightened Israel to such a degree that they sought a solution to lessen the assault on their senses. “Then they said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.'”

At the heart of their request was the desire to humanize the encounter between themselves and the Lord. This way, they could soften the personal effects of their encounter with God. They did not understand the phenomenon of the fear of the Lord. To them, it was an intolerable sensation from which they sought to distance themselves.

From now on, they would have to connect the fear and power of the Lord to the words of the Lord every time they considered these commandments knowing that the Lord would be judging how they kept his commandments. To them, this sort of intrusion into their lives was completely unacceptable. Today, the Bible is read no differently. It is not permitted to intrude too far into our lives for the same reason. Human reason is routinely employed as the watchdog against the word of God to keep it at bay, to keep it at a comfortable distance. If biblical truth does not pass the muster of rationalism or 'common sense,' it is allowed to intrude no further and that is the humanization of scripture.

Humanization is a very effective deception. When Moses spoke to the people this did not diminish the power nor the demands of the words of the Lord on the people of Israel, no matter how they thought otherwise. Just the knowledge of the ten commandments or any other words from the Lord, was not enough. The fear of God has to be connected to the word of God and this in turn results in obedience to the commandments. The indispensable unity is between the word of God and the fear of God. The desert generation refused to learn and accept this providence. Humanization overruled the fear of God and consequently, it overruled the word of God in the hearts of the people.

There are two cosmologies that emerge from a study of Exodus and in truth these are the only two cosmologies that exist. Everything owes it existence to one or the other of these two. A cosmology is simply a proposed structure of things, of the universe. Everyone has a cosmology. A cosmology is how one sees the larger picture.
1. The first cosmology is the revealed word of God. This is the Lord demonstrating to man that he is real, present to human affairs, authoritative, determinate in all things, and that heistobefeared!
2. The second cosmology is humanism. This cosmology is based solely on man himself as the causative agency. Humanism reverses the true understanding of the universe that is supplied by revelation. Moses was to say to Israel, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6. The operative term here is “You shall not make.” This is the human cosmology in full bloom. By so doing, man presumes to determine what reality is. He decides what is true. He fashions his own objects of worship. As a matter of historical record, people prefer the humanistic cosmology precisely because it is man made. Man regards himself as the supreme causative agent and elevates himself to the position of God. Yet, God has said, “You shall not make for yourself an idol” representing anything!

Ariel82 · May 1, 2017

blue_ladybug said:

Let me clarify a bit more..

I've heard people say that we aren't to have any manmade images, such as statues or knick knacks of animals or people. Now I have SEVERAL knick knacks and such of cats, ladybugs, and some pics of Jesus. What I wanna know is, are those things considered graven images? After all, SOMEBODY made them.. lol

Only if you are Muslim.

Ariel82 · May 1, 2017

If you have no fear of the Lord, why would you keep his words?

Love of God and a desire to fellowship with Him and knowledge of the harm sin/not keeping His laws do to ourselves, others and the world is what motivates me to keep God's commandments.

I used to fear God, until he taught me how to love Him.

prove-all · May 1, 2017

8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

oldhermit · May 1, 2017

Ariel82 said:

Fear involves much more that just an emotion of terror. What this necessarily implies is that there is reverence and respect for the will and power of God and this is to be embodied in the keeping of his commandments.

Desertsrose · May 1, 2017

blue_ladybug said:

Hi Blue,I think an example of worship of graven images would be like the RCC and maybe the Eastern Orthodox Church. I think they have idols too, but I'm not positive on that.

They do bow down and worship them and even pray to their graven images.

SaveSave

Desertsrose · May 1, 2017

Magenta said:

Hi Magenta,

I immediately thought of this verse.

Romans 11:11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.

This Jewish person was very jealous when you called His God your God. You may have been planting a seed. I think the fact that he was jealous is a good sign.

Desertsrose · May 1, 2017

Ariel82 said:

You're right, Jesus did say you either serve God or mammon. I agree that the main idol of course is the wallet, but what it's really pointing to is the worship of self.

Desertsrose · May 1, 2017

oldhermit said:

Great study so far, Oldhermit.

Thanks for doing this!!!

oldhermit · May 2, 2017

Part Three

III. The Last Six Conditions Defined Israel's Relationship to Man, and this is where I want to spend the bulk of our study.

A. Condition five represents things that are destructive to the promise, 12.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” 12. Ephesians 6:1, “Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.” Colossians 3:20.

This is not about length of individual life, rather it is directly connected to Israel's title to the land which the Lord had given them. God established a direct relationship between honoring one's parents and their ability to remain in the Land. If they wished to remain in the land, they were to honor their father and their mother.
B. Condition six – “You shall not murder.” 13

1. Murder is a world magnitude. There is no corner of the globe where this human experience has not been found. This commandment is laid across the entire spectrum of killing but, the command discriminates. Not all killing is murder, Murder is arbitrary, deliberate, willful, and malicious. There is no inherent necessity for it. Murder can be either planned or spontaneous, and neither effects its nature.
2. The context of the meaning of murder is the will of God, not situation or circumstance. By this single commandment, God legitimizes human existence and attaches meaning and value to human life. Murder is an attempt to delegitimize and devalue human life. God has said you shall not do this.
3. Murder is an assault on the dignity of man and the nature of God himself because man is created in the image if his Maker. Murder is an unwarranted violent reaction to circumstance of whatever kind.
4. There is no such thing as the right to murder. The right of murder is not extended to governments nor to individuals. With these commandments, God is putting a cleavage between the power to do something and the right to do something, and these are not the same thing. This cleavage is an eternal prohibition against certain human behaviors.

Man uses legal powers to overturn the laws of God. Today for example, the fetus is denied protection from being murdered in the womb. From the legal point of view, the unborn has been fully delegitimized and devalued. It had been labeled as a non-person, thus it is argued that it is not murder to kill an aggregate of protoplasm.

The terminally ill have become subject to euthanasia when life becomes burdensome or inconvenient. They have simply been pushed aside and marginalized as having no intrinsic value. The idea is a very simple one, murder the Ten Commandments, then murder the people. More than one holocaust is emerging in our time. Murder is a crowning human overreach of power over the will of God. King Herod murdered for pragmatic reasons. Jesus was murdered for pragmatic interests. This command “You shall not commit murder” generalizes to situations where one has the power to act but not the right to act.

C. Condition seven, “You shall not commit adultery.”

1. This commandment inherently recognizes the divine institution of marriage and adultery is an assault on the marriage union. In this case, adultery introduces a distorting effect into human relations, like redefining marriage into a reality that God does not recognize. When considering the possibilities of engaging in this or any other sin, we need to ask ourselves, “Shall I distort time and circumstances in this way or not?” A believer MUST prepare to face and resist temptation before the temptation arises. This begins with one's acknowledgement of the supremacy of the commandments of God. Unchecked human appetites can distort one's life circumstances beyond the possibility of repair. It the application of revealed sanctions against certain behaviors that protect us from these distortions. We are not even permitted to knowingly walk into a situation where there is danger of violating the will of God, in this case the temptation to commit adultery.
2. Human nature is a powerful enemy to the believer. Satan knows this and routinely capitalizes on this fact. Against human nature, the power of abstinence is greatly over matched. Commitment to the commandments of God is the only possible way for us to protect ourselves from the life distorting consequences of sin. Obedience must be allowed to displace rationalism as the context for human behavior. The world sees any distortion of the word of God as a liberating human advancement, but the Lord has promised that he will challenge all distorted behaviors. All situations and circumstances are to be devoted to the Almighty. Obedience to the commandments of God isolates us from the dangers of distorted behavior. We are not to respond to our circumstances or situation but to the word of God. When confronted by any given situation, we are to bring the commandments of God to bear on that situation. This is precisely the way Jesus handled the conditions of temptation in the Matthew 4 experience.

OneFaith · May 2, 2017

oldhermit said:

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS STUDY

Exodus 20

From Dr. J.M. Strawn and oldhermit.

Part One

The Ten Commandments Stand as a Supernatural Set of Conditions for Living. For Israel, the ten commandments served as the foundation of the entire Law. These were nothing less than the embodiment of eternal principles rooted in the reality of God that qualify man's relationship to God. The New Covenant, as well as the Old, are both built upon these eternal principles which still stand as the foundation of man's relationship to God and man's relationship to man. Everything else within the Law of Moses was simply regulations and ordinances that instructed ISRAEL in how THEY were to honor these eternal principles. The single foundational principle upon which all of these ten commandments stand is “to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good.” Deuteronomy 10:12-13. Consequently, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3.

These commandments represent ten conditions of relationship that are divided into two categories. The first four govern man's relationship to God while the remaining six govern man's relationship to man. The two divisions are then linked by a fundamental principle that the violation of any one of these commandments was a sin directly against God. You cannot violate your neighbor without offending the Almighty.
These commandments are the imperative ethical absolutes that stress the absolute holiness of God and these emphasized to Israel how God views sin. These commandments were a revealed ethic given to govern Israel as a nation. When Israel was brought out of Egypt, God knew they would need a standard by which to govern themselves as a society. The only standard or code of conduct they knew was the one imposed upon them as slaves in Egypt. God brought them to Sinai and delivered through Moses a law that would serve as a standard of moral and ethical behavior. This would come to be known as the law of blessing and cursing. This standard of ethics would govern every aspect of their lives. No part of Israel’s life was to be surrendered to any humanly derived standard of ethics.
1. This law instructed them on how to behave privately, and with members within the family unit.
2. It instructed them how to relate to one’s neighbor as well as to the stranger in their midst.
3. It told them how to behave internationally and within their own boarders.
4. It set their judicial guidelines concerning crime and punishment.
5. It defined their relationship with God and how they should represent the material world.
6. Guidelines were provided to instruct them in cleanliness and dealing with defilements.
7. Worship was strictly regulated.
8. Specific guidelines were given as to what constituted good and evil. Sin was defined.

9. It needs to be pointed out that concerning divinely specified punishments for crimes, there was a difference between the punishment of the offender and the attitude of God toward the sin. The offender may be given forty lashes for a particular offense but this certainly does not fully reflect the attitude of God toward the offense. The forty lashes were only a marginal representation of how God viewed the sin. It was at the alter in the shedding of blood and taking of innocent life that Israel was to be made more keenly aware of God’s attitude toward sin as the worshiper came to understand that the body lying on that altar should be me; That I am the one worthy of that death because of what I have done.
All of these conditions of relationship are summed up in two commands, “Love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul.” Deuteronomy 11:13. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18.

Very good, but it also needs to be said that under the Old Covenant the Israelites carried out God's law physically, but under the new covenant we carry out God's law spiritually. For example, our Sabbath is not a physical rest on a physical day- but the peace that surpasses understanding- both now and in heaven. Under Moses you could not take human life, but under Christ, if you hate your brother, you are already guilty of murder whether or not you carry it out physically. So God's law does not change, but the way we obey it has- from physically to spiritually.

CeileDe · May 2, 2017

oldhermit said:

It would be similar to our earthly father. We love him but as kids we did have a slight fear of the wrath he could unleash if we did something wrong. It isn't terror but we know in the back of our minds we could get in trouble by not obeying him.

oldhermit · May 2, 2017

CeileDe said:

This is true, however, I would suggest that the Lord is certainly someone of whom to be terrified. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Grace777x70 · May 2, 2017

oldhermit said:

I agree.....if unbelievers that still have sin on them from choosing to not receive Christ's work - it is going to be a terrifying thing to have His presence reveal it's wrath on that sin.

For believers - we are in a different boat entirely. While we do have reverence and are awestruck with Him we - are not fearful of Him.

1 John 4:17-19 (NASB)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

[SUP]18 [/SUP] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

[SUP]19 [/SUP] We love, because He first loved us.

oldhermit · May 2, 2017

D. Condition eight, “You shall not steal.” This is a revelation of set conditions.

1. Inferred here is the appointed relationship between people and things. This command establishes the divinely appointed right of ownership. If something belongs to one person, then God has placed a set condition on that thing. It belongs to no one else. The people of God then are charged to recognize and acknowledge the relation established by the set condition.
2. This commandment applies to all others who do not own the thing in question. Taking something away from someone or taking it by force, stealth, subterfuge, or legal manipulation is forbidden.
3. The Lord authorizes, sponsors, and protects private ownership. This command by its very nature invalidates the practices of socialism, communism, and collectivism. This command in fact institutes economic freedom as long as the commandment is obeyed. Is it any surprise then why there is such a strong movement to eradicate and remove the displaying of the Ten Commandments in our schools, state and federal buildings, and other public places? The Almighty is a witness to private ownership. People of God are granted the right to own things, big things and little things – farms, money, businesses, houses, tracts of land.... You can buy it, sell it, build on it, and inherit it. What you are not permitted to do is steal it from someone else.
4. Adam and Eve ignored this particular set condition by following a Satanic impulse and appropriating that which belonged the Lord. This met with immediate and eternal consequences. The entire world is placed under a body of set conditions that are linked to consequences.
5. The reality of set conditions is one of the primary reasons why a believer prays. When we pray, we are seeking certain set conditions to be brought to bear on our situation. If we do not believe that God will impose such set conditions upon our circumstances, then why do we pray?
6. Scripture assures us that the entirety of creation is held within applied set conditions. For example:

a. If one is born a male, he is NOT permitted to entertain or pursue any options for gender manipulation. Gender is a set condition that is NOT subject to the socialization of gender nor to emotion. Gender is not based on how one feels about it from one day to the next. Gender is a biological absolute. In case you are confused about this issue, allow me to explain. If you have a 'y' chromosome, you are a male, period. I don't care what you cut off or how you feel about it. This is a set condition from the Lord.
b. From Romans 1, we learn that the assumptions and practices of homosexuality directly correspond to the abandonment of set conditions. Human governments make a concerted effort to overrule supernatural set conditions. One of the most sacred of which is the redefining of traditional marriage.

Naturalism as a philosophy, considers only natural elements and forces, and pointedly excludes any consideration of the supernatural or spiritual. As a theology, naturalism is the doctrine that all religious truth is derived strictly from a study of natural processes and not from revelation. Politically, naturalism is consumed with the rejection of the complete biblical inventory of set conditions. They refuse to recognize any revealed constraints upon human behavior. The ten commandments are just such a set of behavioral constraints. The growth of injustice, the impulse toward moral decay, and the collapse of social cohesion are all directly indexed to the dismissal of set conditions. And again, here we are today.

oldethennew · May 2, 2017

Thanks Old,

a well written lesson...

MattforJesus · May 2, 2017

It is nice when people explain scriptures to people,and maybe they need it to be explained to them,for them to grasp it,but the commandment thou shalt not steal does it for me,and the reason God does not want us to do it is because it is not love.

Some people may benefit from explaining scriptures to an extent,but the 10 commandments are self explanatory to me,not to downgrade what anyone writes.

Whatever they say is all I need to know to grasp them.

iamsoandso · May 2, 2017

So "Honour thy mother and thy father",,,why?,,I know God said to do it,,,but why,"why is it the correct and right thing to do?",,,

TEN COMMANDMENTS STUDY

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