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F.B. Meyer · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Meyer adds that “It is wrong to steal, or murder, or covet, not primarily because these sins are forbidden by the Decalogue. They are forbidden by the Decalogue, because they were previously forbidden by conscience; and they are forbidden by conscience because they are forbidden by the nature of things; and the nature of things is God.” David Thompson - It is absolutely impossible to win a spiritual championship with God by trying to keep the big 10 commandments. Truth is, Israel will not even make it past commandment #1. We may remember that Israel told God she would obey every commandment He gave (Ex.19:8). As we pointed out before, someone should have said, “you know back in Eden God gave just one simple commandment and Adam and Eve could not even obey that, we might have a little trouble with 613 commandments that reveal the perfect Holiness of God. But of course, Israel always thought more highly of herself than she should; so God decided to go ahead and give His law to actually show this nation and every sinner the need for believing in Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. God starts off by giving 10 simple commandments, which no one except Jesus Christ has ever kept. Phillip Ryken on how what the Law teaches about the attributes of God - When Jesus summarized God’s law he said, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Matt. 22:37, 38; cf. Dt. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Ro 13:9). In other words, the Ten Commandments can be reduced to two commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. So they are all about love. We love God by worshiping him and using his name properly. We love our parents by honoring them. We love our spouses by being faithful to them. We love our neighbors by protecting their lives, respecting their property, and telling them the truth. The God who gave these commandments is a God of love, who wants us to love him and to share his love with others. As Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21a; cf. 1 John 5:3a). If this is true, then we cannot separate God’s law from God’s love. (See Exodus: Saved for God's Glory) Kevin Deyoung - The law is an expression of the Lawgiver’s heart and character. We must think about that before we say, “I don’t care for laws,” or before we bristle at the thought of do’s and don’ts. The commandments not only show us what God wants; they show us what God is like. They say something about his honor, his worth, and his majesty. They tell us what matters to God. We can’t disdain the law without disrespecting the Lawgiver. They set us apart from the world. As Christians, we’re a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). We must be prepared to stand alone, to look different, and to have rules the world doesn’t understand. Of course, we aren’t always the holy people we should be, but that’s what he has called us to be. That’s who we are. We’re God’s people, set apart to live according to God’s ways. They don’t strip our freedom, but instead provide it. We too often think of the Ten Commandments as constraining us—as if God’s ways will keep us in servitude and from realizing our dreams and reaching our potential. We forget that God means to give us abundant life (John 10:10) and true freedom (John 8:32). His laws, 1 John 5:3 tells us, aren’t burdensome. God isn’t trying to crush us with red tape and regulations. The Ten Commandments aren’t prison bars, but traffic laws. Maybe there are some anarchists out there who think, The world would be a better place without any traffic laws. A few of us drive as if that were so! But even if you get impatient when you’re at a red light, try to zoom through the yellow, and turn left on a stale pink—overall, aren’t you glad that there is some semblance of law and order? People stop and go. People slow down when driving by schools. They stop for school buses. You wouldn’t be able to drive your car to the grocery store without laws. When you drive on a switchback on a mountain pass, do you curse the guard rails that keep you from plunging to an untimely death? No, someone put them there at great expense, and for our good, that we may travel about freely and safely.The Ten Commandments aren’t instructions on how to get out of Egypt. They are rules for a free people to stay free. They were not given so that we could earn our salvation. Some people view Christianity as: God has rules, and if I follow the rules, God will love me and save me. That’s not what happened in the story of the exodus. The Israelites were an oppressed people, and God said, “I hear your cry. I will save you because I love you. And when you are saved, free, and forgiven, I’m going to give you a new way to live.”Salvation isn’t the reward for obedience; salvation is the reason for obedience. Jesus doesn’t say, “If you obey my commandments, I will love you.” Instead, he first washes the feet of the disciples and then says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). All of our doing is only because of what he has first done for us. (10 Things You Should Know About the Ten Commandments - recommended read) Note that Exodus 20:1-17 is not referred to as the "Ten Commandments" but that description is found elsewhere in the OT - Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; Deut. 10:4. "As ABC’s Ted Koppel said in his now famous commencement address at Duke University, “What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions … they are commandments. Are, not were.”' (Ryken - See Exodus: Saved for God's Glory) Exodus 34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 4:13 “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. COMMENT - Combining the facts in these two passages it is clear that what was written on the tablets were the commandment Yahweh had spoken to Israel from Mount Sinai. God spoke all these words, saying - It is so easy to read past this and forget the impact of the statement that the Almighty God was speaking these words from Heaven and they clearly had a significant impact on the people for in Ex 20:18-19 they are so fearful that they ask Moses to speak to them rather than God! At this point however the "Ten Commandments" come directly from God without Moses serving as an intermediary. Presumably the entire nation heard these words at the foot of Mount Sinai. As an aside, we often refer to these laws as Moses' laws but they are more accurately described as God's laws, the point being that even Moses was subject to these laws. As
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Meyer - Exodus 20:21 The thick darkness where God was. God is light, and dwells in light, but it is mercifully veiled to the weak eye of man. This is why Christ spake in parables — that seeing, they might not see. As Moses veiled his face when he spake to the people, so God veils Himself in the flesh of Jesus, in which He tabernacles; and in the mysteries of his providence, beneath which He conceals a smiling face. The Sun of Righteousness in whose beams we rejoice must needs hide beneath the cloud, else we should fall at his feet as dead. It may be that his light seems to us darkness, because of its excessive brilliance; but God dwells in the thick darkness — clouds and darkness are round about Him. The darkness of mystery. — God has still his hidden secrets, hidden from the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things you cannot understand; wait patiently. Presently He will reveal to you the treasures of darkness, the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil on God’s face. The darkness of trial. — Do not be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. The other side is radiant with his glory. “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” The darkness of desertion. — When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is nighest. Jesus once cried “Forsaken,” and immediately after, “Father.” God is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching — under the shrouding curtain of his pavilion you will find God awaiting you. The Go-Between Exodus 20:18-26 The people stood afar off, but Moses drew near . . . where God was. —Exodus 20:21 Imagine standing at the bottom of a mountain, elbow-to-elbow with everyone in your community. Thunder and lightning flash; you hear an earsplitting trumpet blast. Amid flames, God descends on the mountaintop. The summit is enveloped in smoke; the entire mountain begins to shake, and so do you (Ex. 19:16-20). When the Israelites had this terrifying experience near Mount Sinai, they begged Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (20:19). The Israelites were asking Moses to mediate between them and the Almighty. “So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was” (v.21). After meeting with God, Moses brought God’s messages back down the mountain to the people below. Today, we worship the same God who displayed His staggering greatness on Mount Sinai. Because God is perfectly holy and we are desperately sinful, we cannot relate to Him. Left to ourselves we too would (and should) shake in terror. But Jesus made it possible for us to know God when He took our sins on Himself, died, and rose again (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Even now, Jesus is the go-between for us to a holy and perfect God (Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5). Dear Jesus, thank You for laying down Your life so that I could know God. I worship You as the only one who bridges the gap between God and me. Jesus bridges the gap between God and us. Exodus 20:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. NET Exodus 20:22 The LORD said to Moses: "Thus you will tell the Israelites: 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. NLT Exodus 20:22 And the LORD said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven. ESV Exodus 20:22 And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. LXE Exodus 20:22 And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt report it to the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. KJV Exodus 20:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. NIV Exodus 20:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: ASV Exodus 20:22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. CSB Exodus 20:22 Then the LORD told Moses, "This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. NKJ Exodus 20:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:`You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. NRS Exodus 20:22 The LORD said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the Israelites: "You have seen for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven. YLT Exodus 20:22 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel: Ye -- ye have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you; I have spoken to you - De 4:36 Ne 9:13 Heb 12:25,26 Exodus 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT Exodus 20:22-23:33 John Currid says these laws in the so-called "Book of the Covenant" "are different and distinct from the Decalogue. For example, Exodus 24:7 tells us that these statutes were written on parchment and not inscribed in stone. In addition, they were written down by the hand of Moses and not by the hand of the Deity (24:4). The mediatorial work of Moses in presenting the laws of the Book of the Covenant to the people is quite evident (21:1). The laws in this section are specifically termed ‘ordinances’ (21:1). The Hebrew term is mishepāt, a word which reflects a case decision that rests upon prior precedent. In other words, the laws of the Covenant Code deal with specific social and economic contexts, whereas the Decalogue does not. This all points to one conclusion: the Covenant Code is descriptive law to fit the needs of the emerging nation of Israel. And it is descriptive law that is based upon the prescriptive law of the Ten Commandments." (EPSC-Ex) Kevin Deyoung - There are many more laws in the Old Testament. But these first ten are foundational for the rest. The Ten Commandments are like the constitution for Israel, and what follows are the regulatory statutes. (10 Things You Should Know About the Ten Commandments) Then - Moses had entered the dark cloud and now God begins to speak to him. the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel - He is speaking of the "Ten Commandments" which began in Ex 20:1 "then God spoke all these words saying...." Ligon Duncan says "the worship of God is to be radically Word-centered." You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven - God came down on the mountain but ultimately He spoke from Heaven. Don't misunderstand because "seen" does not mean they saw any form of Jehovah. They saw the supernatural effects of His presence. In other words they only heard the sound but did not see the form of Yahweh. Note the phrase from heaven which speaks of His Transcendent nature. He is not part of the creation, but Creator of it and separate from it. Moses reiterates this truth to the second generation before they entered the Promised Land declaring... “Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. (Ne 9:13) "Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form–only a voice." (Deuteronomy 4:12) COMMENT - Even though the first generation had died in the wilderness journey, Moses says to the next generation that they heard God speak. Perhaps some were small children at the time. One writer has suggested that even if they were only in the parents loins, they effectively entered into the Mosaic Covenant because of they parents' oaths.