Act 7:41-60 God Gave Them up to Worship the Host of Heaven

[Study Aired February 5, 2023]

Act 7:41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Act 7:42  Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Act 7:43  Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Act 7:44  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
Act 7:45  Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Act 7:46  Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Act 7:47  But Solomon built him an house.
Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50  Hath not my hand made all these things?
Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Act 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Act 7:57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

We continue with our study in Luke’s account of the kangaroo court of the Sanhedrin, which was convened for the purpose of stopping Stephen’s preaching and teaching in the temple. Stephen was well read in the scriptures and was so persuasive in answering his critics that they were forced to bring him to trial to keep the gospel from literally taking over Jerusalem.

Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

Stephen used the opportunity of his trial to remind the church of his day, which typifies and signifies the church of today, that according to the scriptures from the time of Joseph, the Lord’s own people have always rejected those whom the Lord sends to show them how far they are from the Lord. Stephen pointed out that the Israelites had rejected Moses just as the patriarchs, Joseph’s brothers, had earlier rejected Joseph, forcing Moses to flee to Midian to save his life. Just as the Lord had brought Joseph forth from the Egyptian prison and set him over all Egypt, so the Lord also brought Moses out of the wilderness of Midian and empowered him to bring Israel out of Egypt and bring them to Mount Sinai where He gave them His laws.

Exodus 19-24 records the giving of the law to Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, just as the very first “feast of weeks” began. The law was given to the congregation of Israel at the base of mount Sinai before Moses went up to receive the two tables of stone with the ten commandments written on them. The leaders of Israel were given the law “and they saw the God of Israel” before the building of the golden calf.

Exo 19:1  In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
Exo 19:2  For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

Exo 24:1  And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
Exo 24:2  And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
Exo 24:3  And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Exo 24:4  And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Exo 24:5  And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exo 24:6  And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exo 24:7  And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exo 24:8  And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

The law was given to and read to all the people and was consecrated with the blood of “offerings of oxen” (Exo 24:5) on the very first “feast of weeks”, later to become known as the feast of Pentecost. This giving of the law to Israel was done a short time before the Lord called Moses up into the mount to give him the instructions for the building of the tabernacle and to give Moses the writing of the ten commandments on two tables of stone.

The making of the golden calf took place after the feast of firstfruits and while Moses was spending forty days fasting on Mount Sinai, where he received the instructions for the building of the tabernacle and the two tables of stone. All the people of Israel had agreed to keep all the words of the law (vs 7), and then immediately after giving their word to do so, they did the exact opposite and built to themselves an idol to worship. This is what took place at the very first ‘feast of weeks’ shortly before the making of the idol of a golden calf:

Exo 24:9  Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10  And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
Exo 24:11  And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Exo 24:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

Stephen continues with the history of the apostasy of the Lord’s people:

Act 7:41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

Idols are “the work of [our] own hands.” However, our hands do only what our hearts and minds first conceive. That is what makes a physical idol the perfect type of an “idol of [our] hearts”, meaning a false doctrine. A false doctrine is “the work of our own hands.”

Most idol worshipers honor their idol with festivals, during which they perform rituals which they are taught will appease their false god. These festivals always occur during the various seasons of the year – spring, summer, fall, and winter – and they always require a sacrifice.

This is what the Lord warned Israel not to do to Him after they drove out the idol-worshiping heathen from the promised land:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise [unto the Lord].
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

There are the words of the Lord at which we are to tremble (Isa 66:2). Do not say to yourself, “How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.” “Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God.” Do not ‘Christianize’ pagan holidays and say you are doing it to the Lord your God! That is exactly what the whole world does.

Stephen continues:

Act 7:42  Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

The Lord had given the heathen (the nations, the Gentiles) to worship “the host of heaven.” He had given His people His “carnal commandment” (Heb 7:12) which included the keeping of days, months, times, and years to worship Him, in type and in shadow:

Deu 4:19  And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

When we understand that the nations, within us and outwardly, are first given by the Lord to “worship… all the host of heaven” then we must understand that that is how they serve their gods, and it is not our job to deprive them of the only thing they have in this world to worship their god.

Here are a few verses of scripture in Galatians 4 and in Colossians 2 which spiritual Babylonian Christians “do… not understand… because [they] cannot hear [the Lord’s] words”, as the Lord Himself tells us:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech?  even because ye cannot hear my word.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? [Pray tell, what are these “weak and beggarly elements”???]
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Those to whom the Lord has given to “worship all the host of heaven” simply “do… not understand” what the holy spirit is saying in those verses of Galatians 4 “because [they] cannot hear [His] word.”

The Greek word translated as “elements” in Galatians 4:9 is:

G4747
στοιχεῖον
stoicheion
stoy-khi’-on
Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of G4748; something orderly in arrangement, that is, (by implication) a serial (basal, fundamental, initial) constituent (literally), proposition (figuratively): – element, principle, rudiment.

‘Stoicheion’ is a derivative of:

G4748
στοιχέω
stoicheō
stoy-kheh’-o

From a derivative of στείχω steichō̄ (to range in regular line); to march in (military) rank (keep step), that is, (figuratively) to conform to virtue and piety: – walk (orderly).

Those who worship in the churches of Babylon the Great “conform to [the] virtue and piety” of Babylon and would not dare to fail to “observe [all the] days, months, times and years” which Babylon dictates must be kept by all the churches of this world. These “days, months, times, and years” are all the rituals and the “vanities” which, until this very day, “provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger.” Paul saw the churches returning to the observance of Jewish “days, months, times and years”, which are no different than Pagan rituals. They were doing so because Jewish Christians were telling them that if they were not circumcised, and if they did not keep the law of Moses, they could not be saved:

Act 15:1  And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Act 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

If the holy spirit inspired the apostle Paul to warn the new Gentile Christians about being seduced to return to the weak and beggarly elements of Jewish “days, months, times, and years,” how much more would he not condemn the keeping of heathen days like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, birthdays, and anniversaries, none of which have any affirmation or basis in scripture.

Colossians 2 reiterates Paul’s concerns in a more general tone using the words “traditions of men” instead of ‘days, months’ times, and years’ in the context of “the weak and beggarly elements” of the law of Moses:

Col 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [G4747: ‘stoicheion] of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

The Greek word translated ‘rudiments’ in verse 8 is the same Greek word which is translated as ‘elements’ in Galatians 4:9.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: ‘stoicheion’], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Here in Galatians Paul reveals that the weak and beggarly ‘stoicheion’ refers specifically to ‘days, months, times and years”, and he is referring to the same “weak and beggarly elements” when he uses the Greek word stoicheion here in Colossians 2.

Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Col 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Col 2:20  Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments [Greek: ‘stoicheion’] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21  (Touch not; taste not; handle not; [“never has anything common or unclean entered my mouth” (Act 11:8)]
Col 2:22  Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

The idol worship introduced to Israel by Jereboam, the son of Nebat, which none of the kings of Israel or Judah could ever completely purge from among the people, was the keeping of festivals at times not appointed by the Lord:

1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29  And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1Ki 12:30  And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
1Ki 12:31  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32  And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33  So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

1Ki 16:26  For he [King Omri] walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

1Ki 16:31  And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him [KingAhab] to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

1Ki 22:52  And he [King Ahaziah] did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:

2Ki 3:3  Nevertheless he [King Jehoram] cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

2Ki 10:28  Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
2Ki 10:29  Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

2Ki 13:2  And he [King Jehoahaz, the son of King Jehu] did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

2Ki 13:11  And he [King Jehoash] did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.

2Ki 14:3  And he [Amaziah, king of Judah] did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
2Ki 14:4  Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.

2Ki 14:24  And he [Jereboam the son of Joash, the king of Israel] did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:3  And he [Azariah, the son of Amaziah, king of Judah] did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
2Ki 15:4  Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

2Ki 15:8  In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
2Ki 15:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:17  In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
2Ki 15:18  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:23  In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
2Ki 15:24  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:27  In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
2Ki 15:28  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:32  In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
2Ki 15:33  Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
2Ki 15:34  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
2Ki 15:35  Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.

The sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was that he led Israel to keep days, months, times and years which were of his own devices and not according to the commandments of the Lord. They were centered around idol worship just as the days, months, times and years observed by the whole world until this very day.

If we are given to see that the observing of “days, months, times and years” are the very forms of worship of and toward false gods, which is given by the Lord “unto all the nations under the whole heaven” then we surely “[would] not do so unto the Lord [our] God” (Deu 12:31).

The world does so anyway:

Act 7:43  Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

This statement by Stephen references these verses of Amos:

Amo 5:21  I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Amo 5:22  Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Amo 5:23  Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Amo 5:24  But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Amo 5:25  Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Amo 5:26  But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Amo 5:27  Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

Amos says ‘Damascus’, and Stephen says ‘Babylon’. Of course, Babylon is well “beyond Damascus” which makes both true, and both are inspired and preserved by the holy spirit.

Act 7:44  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Indeed, that was the instruction given to Moses:

Exo 25:40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Exo 26:30  And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

‘Make it according to the fashion that he had seen’ is just another way of saying:

Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Christ is our tabernacle, and he is the “pattern” and the “fashion” by which we are all measured. He wants us to do the things He tells us to do without ‘adding to or diminishing from His words:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Act 7:45  Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

It is Christ Himself, through His own faith within us, who we bring into the possession of our inward Gentile, our old man, in these earthen vessels of ‘the land of promise’:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made [is making] it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

It is the next verse which speaks of “the redemption of the purchased possession” at the time of the resurrection.

Eph 1:14  Which [“spirit of promise”] is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Being in the land of promise and being given “the earnest of… the spirit of promise” is a wonderful and necessary place to be. It “is not worthy to be compared with… the redemption of the purchased possession” which is being given a part in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Act 7:46  Who [King David] found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Act 7:47  But Solomon built him an house.

King David’s desire to build “a tabernacle for the God of Jacob” signifies Christ in the flesh, cleansing the physical temple to signify how He is cleansing us while we are yet in these earthen vessels:

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels [Christ “the… spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13)] that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50  Hath not my hand made all these things?

Stephen simply quoted:

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

There was no chapter and verse breakdown of the scriptures in Stephen’s day. Stephen quoted from Isaiah 66:1 to the middle of verse 2.  “What house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” These words, followed by the rest of verse two revealed that the Lord’s anti-type temple was the hearts and minds of His people and not a physical temple made by the hands of men: “but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Those are words of the Lord Himself. There is not as much as a hint or a suggestion of Christ or any of his disciples wanting to destroy the physical temple.

The Sanhedrin, signifying the church of our day, wanted a physical temple, and had no appreciation of an inward spiritual temple within “him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word.”

At this point, Stephen draws the conclusion of his whole discourse of the history of the rebellions of Israel against the Lord and against His prophets:

Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Act 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

The “gnashing of teeth” symbolizes extreme mental and spiritual torment in the New Testament:

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:50  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 24:51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luk 13:28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Notice how the Truth triggers the guilty:

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.

Act 5:30-33 are the words of Peter and all the apostles which were addressed to this same Sanhedrin Stephen is now facing. Gamaliel does not speak up to save Stephen’s life as he did when all the apostles were on trial.

Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Act 7:57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

This is the same ‘Saul of Tarsus’ who would later express his zeal for the law by persecuting the church above many his equals:

Act 22:4  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Act 26:11  And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
Gal 1:14  And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen had the mind of Christ, and they both knew these members of the Sanhedrin, signifying the religious leaders of our day who actually teach and encourage their followers to fight against and kill the enemies of the nation of their birth, “cannot hear [Christ’s] words”:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Stephen was following in the steps of the Lord who said the same thing when He was being crucified:

Luk 23:33  And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

The Lord meant it when He told us:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 69

“The ten commandments” part 2

November 19th, 2014

I finished up the last study with quoting Matthew and what that means concerning all that Moses and the prophets wrote about in the law.

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.

Anything we are going to cover with the ten commandments is going to hang on the two commandments mentioned above.

It may seem like a trivial word to mention, but the word “hang” provides as an insight on what we can conclude about the ten commandments, what they mean to us and how they apply to our Christian lives today.

Mat 22:40  OnG1722 theseG5025 twoG1417 commandmentsG1785 hangG2910 allG3650 theG3588 lawG3551 andG2532 theG3588 prophets.G4396

The Greek word G2910 is found just a few times in the Greek:

G2910

kremannumi

Total KJV Occurrences: 7

hanged, 4

Mat 18:6, Luk 23:39, Act 5:30, Act 10:39

hang, 2

Mat 22:39-40 (2), Act 28:4

hangeth, 1

Gal 3:13

Mat 18:6  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Luk 23:39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Act 10:39  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Act 28:4  And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

The ten commandments, the law and the prophets hang down from and are summed up from two commandments given to us by Jesus.

In other words, these two commandments are just as important to us, when we consider how we live these commandments out today, as the CROSS is to who Jesus was.

As we ended the study last week we had some discussion as we always do and Steven Lozo mentioned Deuteronomy 6 in connection with the study.

Deu 6:1  Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
Deu 6:2  That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Deu 6:3  Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Deu 6:9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

It should be clear that the Lord wants us to keep his commandments, statutes and judgments. When we keep them we must realize that we are talking about the same commandment no matter what the “detail” is of that angle of the commandment.

“The last ‘five’ of the ten commandments”

For example, “love God with all your heart, soul strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself” is the same thing as saying “thou shall not kill”.

6) You may be thinking that they can’t possibly be the same, but let us examine that idea a little closer.

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

Here is the new man and new testament way of dealing with this commandment:

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

When you compare what eternal life IS to what the law and prophets are, you will find how it is we can enter into life aionion.

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

2Jn 1:5  And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

What all of these commandments simplify down to is that if you love God and your neighbor, thereby having eternal/aionios life dwelling in you, then you will NEVER murder your neighbor, you will honor your father and mother, you will not have any other gods before the One True God the Father, etc.

It is good to get down to the specifics of how we can apply these spiritual lessons to our lives today, but the “secret” hidden from the foundation of the world is that Jesus Christ encompasses all of this commandments and any of His body that He is dwelling in will have these “great” commandments LIVING in them as well.

7)  Adultery is just like the other commandments in both having a physical and outward application and also having a spiritual one.

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus mentioned specific roles in Matthew 5:27 and 28, but this applies just as much to women as it does to men. More importantly, this spiritual admonition applies to those “other women not our wives” who are ALSO not the “TRUE BRIDE” of Christ.

When we lust after any church or any “body” which is not the bride of Christ, then we are committing spiritual adultery against our Husband.

Simply put, we all do this in our time, but some of us are redeemed by the Lord and brought back to Him. If you think you are not one who is guilty of committing spiritual adultery, then you are excluding yourself from needing to live out the Revelation of Jesus within you.

The fellow servants of Jesus “keep the things written therein” (Rev 1:3, Rev 22:9).

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

8) It may seem fairly straight forward what “thou shall not steal” means for us and it is in the physical sense. However, we know there is more than meets the eye with all of these commandments.

Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.

So, how do we apply this spiritually?

Joh 10:7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
Joh 10:9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Anyone that came before Jesus is a thief. Anyone that doesn’t come through the door is not of the fold.

The spiritual application of not stealing is to not be a thief and a robber who speaks through a forked tongue, as they speak doctrine which was not spoken by Christ. These doctrines kill and destroy and hinder those going through to know the way, truth and life.

Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

9) Bearing false witness against your neighbor certainly is not showing that aionios life is dwelling in you.

Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

As with all the commandments we have mentioned already, the physical application applies, but what does it mean to bear false witness in the spirit? To answer that, I will use a parable that Jesus gave us.

Mat 15:13  But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
Mat 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Mat 15:15  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

If you already have the desire and intent in your heart to break one of these commandments physically, then you have a dirty cup on the inside which needs cleansing.

Mat 15:16  And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Mat 15:17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Of course one of the best examples of bearing false witness came against Jesus Himself.

Mar 14:55  And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
Mar 14:56  For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

To bare false witness spiritually is to again have false doctrine which DOES NOT agree together with Jesus, His Word and His deeds/works.

If we don’t believe the words, we must believe the works because they bear fruit which can be seen and which shows us what is on the “inside of the cup”.

Joh 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

10) Though shall not covet is a very important commandment that is often missed in spiritual application.

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

If we look at all the list of the things we are not to covet and then take those same things and apply them internally, then we are able to understand that these are spiritual GIFTS given to us by the Father.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Rom 12:7  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Rom 12:8  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Rom 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Rom 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Rom 12:11  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rom 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Rom 12:13  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Rom 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Rom 12:15  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

I could have continued to read the rest of Romans 12, but you get the picture. The items listed above are things which we ALL BENEFIT FROM if we are one mind and one body. Isn’t that abundantly clear?

How can we covet our neighbor’s spiritual house if our neighbor is loved as we loved ourselves? We should be seeing any gifts given to any individual as gifts given to the body of Christ and to be used for the body of Christ.

If we see them in this way, then we will not covet things given to another part of the body any more than we would want more than two feet or two hands.

Why covet something that the Father has determined is to be used for the body and has also supplied adequately enough so that the body will be in a healthy balance by what is supplied?

We are the house and temple of God. When we are one with Jesus and the Father, there is no purpose or need to covet another house.

Indeed, we are cleansed BY THE WORD, which is the contrast of all the things which occupy our heart and cause us to be a lawless and disobedient people.

The laws and commandments given to us in the ten commandments were given to us because we are all first naturally lawless and disobedient people.

1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

For the “righteous new man” in us, we can take the same law and use it lawfully, knowing that when we do, we will bear much fruit and glorify the Father.

We will know we are doing all that we do to glorify the Father when we bear much fruit in our actions and works.

Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

If we keep His commandments, then we are keeping His words, we are cleansed and we will have profit via fruit that glorifies the Father. These are the things which will remain when the fire comes to consume all it can.

Otherwise, we will suffer loss.

Jer 7:4  Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
Jer 7:5  For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
Jer 7:6  If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
Jer 7:7  Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
Jer 7:8  Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Audio Links

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.