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Awesome Hands – Part 68

“The ten commandments” part 1

November 5th, 2014

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Toward the end of the last study, I quoted Revelation 14:12. I wanted to start this study off with this same verses as sort of a bridge to the topic tonight.

There is not a direct mention of “hand” or “hands” in chapter 20 that we will be covering tonight, but given that the 10 commandments are mentioned in this chapter, I think this chapter has a lot to admonish us on as to what the Lord would have us do as we obey His voice and keep His commandments.

Patience requires keeping His commandments and Faith. However, since Faith is a gift it should be pressing upon our minds that we need the Lord to bless us with the Faith of Jesus.

In essence, when we need patience it is due to a lack of Faith.

Since the 10 commandments are mentioned in this chapter, we are going to look at the spiritual significance of them now in our Christian lives.

“The first five commandments”

Exo 20:1  And God spake all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

1) It seems obvious on the surface to read that we are to have no other gods before God the Father, but when we apply what Jesus taught us, we should know that the Lord His telling us to not put … even ourselves… before God.

Here is what Jesus said we are, among other things:

Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

And here is what Psalms says:

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Psa 82:7  But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
Psa 82:8  Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

With the first commandment, we are to put no other gods before God the Father and that includes ourselves.

2) The second of the ten commandments is as follows:

Exo 20:4  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:
Exo 20:5  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;
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Most people usually see just the “graven image” being mentioned above and some even go as far as to say we are commanded not to make images of things that are in the heavens above, the earth below or the waters under the earth.

However, that could only be true if we didn’t consider WHY it is that the Lord tells us not to make these images. We are simply not to make and WORSHIP these “graven images.”

We know this is true because the Lord Himself commissioned the making of the tabernacle and all the images of different things that we in the tabernacle.

The Lord also told Moses to make a serpent to save the people with!

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

We see that there was no worship involved here but simply the beholding of the serpent which saved those that looked upon it.

When we think of “graven images” we can also relate this concept to idols and specifically idols of the heart. Idols of the heart can seem so innocent and invisible to us, but we are commanded to recognize what they are and NOT bow down and worship them in our lives.

There is only one God, the Father who we are to bow down and worship and when we do this we keep the commandments of God spiritually.

1Co 8:4  As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
1Co 8:5  For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

3) Commandment three is an admonishment we can all learn from and takes diligence to keep.

Exo 20:7  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.

Taking the Lord’s name in vain is not what I was taught in Sunday school or in my Baptist church.

Taking the Lord’s name in vain is not saying “God damn” or some other way of saying “God” with other words.

Taking the Lord’s name in vain is to NOT hallow His name because we are hallowed in Him.

Not taking the Lord’s name in vain is to “walk the walk, and talk the talk”, because The Lord’s name is His doctrine and His way of Life.

Lev 22:31  Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.
Lev 22:32  Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
Lev 22:33  That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.

For us, the children of God, we are to keep the doctrine of Christ which is His Father’s Words.

We keep His name and do not take it in vain by keeping His commandments and doctrines.

4) Commandment 4 is very interesting because it is one that Jesus Himself broke and one of the reasons given to crucify Him. So, why did Jesus “brake the Sabbath” given it was one of the ten commandments?

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10  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 that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11  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.

Here is a familiar story about Jesus and His disciples, “doing that which was not lawful” according to the Pharisees, which was breaking the Sabbath.

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Joh 19:7  The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

It indeed was NOT lawful to sell and buy goods on the Sabbath.

Neh 13:15  In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.
Neh 13:16  There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
Neh 13:17  Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?
Neh 13:18  Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.

The Sabbath is a day of rest for us and that is why we have the Sabbath. However, we just were told by Christ that He is greater than the temple and Lord even of the Sabbath day.

The reason we are not profaning the Sabbath and are able to keep the Sabbath holy is because we have entered into our Sabbath, entered into our rest, by entering into Jesus Christ.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Notice, we enter into His rest HAVING FAITH. Faith is so intertwined with keeping His commandments that we need it even to enter into rest with Jesus.

Also, how can we honor our Father and mother without having Faith?

5) The fifth commandment:

Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

As with the other commandments, we can learn spiritual lessons from them which do not appear in the law and letter of when they were first given by God.

It just so happens that Jesus spoke to us about honoring our father and mother in the New Testament.

Mat 15:1  Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 15:7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mat 15:10  And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
Mat 15:11  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Verse 15:5 is made clearer in the CEV version:

Mat 15:5  But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they have has been offered to God.
Mat 15:6  Is this any way to show respect to your parents? You ignore God’s commands in order to follow your own teaching.

The focus of honoring our father and mother is contrasted with Jesus proclaiming that the scribes and Pharisees taught their traditions instead of teaching what God told them to do with the 5th commandment.

Notice as well that Exodus 20:12 tells us that by obeying commandment 5 we will be given life, but to disobey it means we should be put to death. WHAT does that really mean?

Who is our Father and who is our mother? Yes, we have physical parents who were the focus of this commandment in the letter. However, we can take what Jesus spoke in His parable and know with the sum of the Word that He was ALSO talking about our spiritual Father and mother.

All parables spoken by Jesus are about the kingdom of God.

We have our one God and Father, and we have a spiritual mother. There are many supporting verses for these spiritual parents, but I will simply list a few.

1Co 8:5  For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Out mother consists of:

Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Notice that even our “mother” does the will of the Father because His will is all that matters as it pertains to keeping His commandments.

This is the pattern we all must follow and one which even Jesus followed perfectly.

When considering how we are to keep the 5th commandment spiritually, and weighing it against the parable Jesus shared with us consisting of “the traditions of men”, we can scripturally conclude that we are to obey God rather than men!

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with YOUR DOCTRINE, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

It should be manifestly clear that doctrine matters. This is how we do not take the Lord’s name and vain and how we honor our Head and body at the same time.

We honor our Father the Head and our mother the body by TEACHING the doctrine of Jesus Christ and NOT the traditions of men.

“Conclusion”

This is obviously not an exhaustive list of how these first 5 commandments are to be lived and kept in our lives today. However, I have listed the core of each of these spiritual concepts as they are t be applied within and without us.

Our walk, our conversation, must include these spiritual Truths if we are to keep these commandments of our Lord.

Ask yourself if these spiritual commandments are contained within the two commandments Jesus Christ gave us as having all the law of Moses and prophets wrapped up in them.

Next week, we will cover the last five commandments listed in Exodus 20 as well as the rest of the chapter, Lord willing.

Mat 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 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.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.