Exodus 20:14 -- Adultery

Exodus 20:14 Do not commit adultery.

This is very cut and dry.  Do not commit adultery.  Do not forsake your spouse by being with someone else, whether in thought or deed.

Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Again, breaking this commandment leads to death.  The ones who committed the acts must die.

Proverbs 6:27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.

This is what Solomon had to say about adultery.  Sleeping with another man's wife is like embracing fire and getting burned.  It is dangerous.  You will get punished.  Proverbs goes on to say:

Proverbs 6:32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will get a beating and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.

You have no sense and you will be disgraced.  You destroy yourself when you commit adultery.

Matthew 5:28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew is saying here that just looking at a women with the desire to sleep with her is just the same as actually committing the act itself.  You have had her in your mind, so how is that different than actually do it?  God knows your heart and your intentions when you think them.  Many people praise the fact that they did not commit some particular sin, but fail to mention that they thought about wanting to do it all day long.  Like our pastor said concerning adultery in one of his sermons: "A man came home and told his wife, 'you would be proud of me today, honey.  I did not commit adultery, but man I really wanted to!'"

Matthew 5:32 But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

and

Matthew 19:9 And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Here is states that if a divorced person remarries, then they are committing adultery.  I wonder how many Christians read this today?  There are many people who claimed to be Christian when they divorced and then later remarried, for reasons that were not considered sexual immorality.  Do those Christians know they are committing adultery?

Adultery is rampant in our culture.  A lot of times it is swept under the rug, or whispered about behind ones back instead of confronted and dealt with.  Divorce is out of control, especially within the church.  If we truly loved God and our fellow man like the Bible says we ought, then I think the divorce rate among Christians would drop drastically.  We, as a society, had a hard time understanding sacrificial love, that is necessary to keep a long term relationship going.  You can't be in a healthy marriage if all you worry about is yourself and how you can be happy.  There must be concern for the other person involved.  You must love them so much that you are willing to sacrifice some of your wants and desires to make them happy or feel loved or satisfied.  Marriage is not a one way street.

The Bible also talks of adultery in a much deeper sense when referring to Israel's relationship with God.

Jeremiah 3:6 In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there. 7 I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. 9 Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.”

Both Israel and Judah have given themselves to foreign gods and worshiped them.  They have made their idols out of stone and wood and worshiped them instead of the on true God.  They have betrayed God and followed after other gods.  As we know from the New Testament, Christ is our groom and us, as the church is his bride.  We must remember the bride of Christ is both Christ and the chosen Jews.  For any of us to follow after other gods or idols is like us committing adultery against God.

Exodus 20:13 -- Do Not Murder

Exodus 20:13 Do not murder.

This command is simple.  Do not murder.  Do not kill another person.

Exodus 21:12 “Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death. 13 But if he didn’t intend any harm, and yet God caused it to happen by his hand, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee. 14 If a person schemes and willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from My altar to be put to death.

The one who murders unintentionally will be sent to a place to flee.  If the person comments the crime knowingly and intentionally, he must also die.

Luke 23:24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand 25 and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.   

I am wondering here if the Jews had forgotten their command of putting murders to death.  Here, the people chose to release a murderer.  He was able to go free, and not suffer the punishment the Lord had deemed for ALL murderers.

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree.

Since the Jews had cried out for the murderer to be released and called for the death of an innocent, Christ, they themselves are murderers.  Even though they did not drive the nails, even though they did not use their hands to shed His blood, they were still guilty of the murder.  All they had to do was cry "Release Him" and Jesus would have been freed and the murderer receiving his just consequence.

1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

If you just hate another person, you are a murderer.  Just thinking about someone in a hateful way is the same as murdering that person in the eyes of God.  We must strive to think no ill thoughts towards anyone, not even those who hate us.  

What Happens When Women Say "Yes" to God by Lysa TerKeurst

My First Impressions:
Well, I was not too thrilled with this book when the ladies chose it.  I know we as Christians should obey God.  Many of us do not all the time, and I knew that is where this book would take it.  After receiving the book, the study questions seem very shallow and easily answered without even reading the book.  I do not see much scripture just flipping through.  To mean a book for a Bible study needs to cover scripture, not just someone's opinions on a topic.  Many of the verses I did see, especially in the first section come from "The Message" which I do not believe is a real version of the Bible.  (Being that it was not written as a translation but as a study to accompany the Bible).

Chapter 1: A Soul that Longs for More
So today, June 3, 2013, I started reading this book.  The stories the author tells are inspiring and I can see her vision of how to tell others of Christ.  I love the idea she had of giving away her Bible to a stranger who in turn gave it to someone else.  She has since started passing out many Bibles and one day hopes to see one of her Bibles return to her.  I feel this is a great idea.  If you share who Christ is and what he has done for us all, isn't is appropriate to give them the Word so they can learn more.  You cannot expect them to know anyone else who can answer questions, or even go and try to find more, but if you give them the Word, then they have all they need.  Yes, they may still have questions that need answering, but they have what they need to learn more until they find someone else or even a church to join.

There is one point in this chapter where she asks, "How many times have I told you no, God?"  I wonder this too.  There is not telling how many times we, as Christians, look to God and say, "No, I won't or can't do that."  Just think of how many times we have said, "no" and not even realize it!  Though the passage that sticks out the most to me is this:

"Yes. Lord. I want Your patience to invade my desire to fly off the handle." "Yes. Lord. I want Your perspective to keep my emotions in check." "Yes. Lord. I want Your provision so things do not seem overwhelming." "Yes. Lord. I want Your courage to do what I feel you calling me to do." "Yes. Lord. I want and need more of You in every moment."

I think this should be everyone's prayer, man or women.

Chapter 2:  Hearing God's Voice
In this chapter, the author tells of five questions she asks herself when she believes she hears God's voice.  If she can answer "yes" to all five questions, then she can be sure she is hearing from God and not reacting to her own thoughts and feelings.  I really did not find anything in this chapter that stood out to me or gave me any "ah ha!" moments, but I was also distracted with a little one running around!  Perhaps I'll have to reread this later to see if it speaks to me more.

Chapter 3:  When Obedience Becomes Radical
The chapter begins with the author talking about a time when she made a radical decision to be obedient to what God wanted her to do.  She also describes the manner in which one should be obedient to God.  "God is not interested in half of our hearts.  He wants is all, and He wants to remove the things that stand in the way of  that."  She also mentions about her husband's Bible study a little earlier that mentions, "sometimes we work so hard to make a heaven here on earth that our hearts are pulled away from our real home with God."

Chapter 4: You Never Know How God Will Use You Until You Let Him
This chapter begins with a letter from someone who described what radical obedience looked like in her life and how her life has changed.  This chapter posses a question that isn't clearly answered, where did this change in heart come from?  The answer is God.  God changed her heart to allow her to become radically obedient to the faith and God is the only one who can put that change in someone's heart.  We may long for and desire that kind of change in us, but only God can actually cause us to change that way.  The chapter implies the answer with the verses used, but never outright says it.

Chapter 5:  What Keeps Us From Saying Yes to God?
I can answer that... ourselves.  We don't want to for whatever reason or something else seems more appealing.  She begins the chapter by telling of people who discourage us from obeying God and to ignore them and continue to follow Christ.  She portrays the struggle between godly obedience and fleshly desires as a battle she fights daily, as it should be for all of us.  We should strive for the godly obedience and subdue and conquer the fleshly desires.  One point she makes that sticks with me, though obvious, is something I never really thought about before: "Whatever we worship, we will obey."  What we worship is what we care about the most and our life will revolve around that.  All of our actions. All of our decisions.  All of our thoughts.  Who do we worship?  If we want to follow and obey God they way we should, it better be him!

Chapter 6:  If It Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Worth Doing
She begins the chapter with an important message, when we say "yes" to God, we must do it out of love instead of duty.  We must love God enough to want to do what he commands of us and not feel obligated because we made a promise.  She also talks about removing the "I can'ts" from your life.  Never tell your self I can't do something God has called me to do because of whatever.  God would not tell you to do something you couldn't do.  He gives you the proper equipment and skills for whatever task he assigns you.

Chapter 7:  Keeping Our Vision Clear
This chapter focuses on how to keep our focus on God., how to keep him centered in our life and how that will affect our lives.  Once quote that stood out to me in this chapter was:

"Women who say yes to God are as unique in their approach to the sold-out life for Christ as pebbles found in the creekside. We've all been tumbled and smoothed in different ways, but we know we rest in the mighty hand of God. Right now we may simply be an unsuspecting rock, but at anytime God could use us to slay the mightiest of giants."

We must always be ready for what God has in store for us.  Always keep him centered and focused so that when he needs us to be hurled at a giant, we can take the challenge head on and be fully confident that it is God who sends us on this mission.

Chapter 8:  Giving Up What Was Never Ours
This chapter serves as a  reminder to us that everything we have is from God.  He owns everything and we take care of it.  We use it for His glory and not for our own.  This chapter focuses on sacrificial giving and the blessings that could come from that.  Sacrificial giving is more than giving your tithe every Sunday.  It is a giving of yourself, your whole self and all you have.  If you realize that everything you have actually belongs to God, you will find it easier to give back to God the things/money he has graciously given to you.

Chapter 9:  Radically Blessed
This chapter shares that those who are radically obedient are also radically blessed.  Our blessings may not be material in nature, but may come in the form of spiritual peace and a surety of our place in heaven.  The author also challenges each reader to take a stance.  Say yes to God fully, or say no, not now.  Whatever you choose, you must choose it fully.  You can't half obey God.  You must fully obey Him.  I did like the Bible study part of this chapter the best.  It made you think of how each of the verses tied into the book and specifically on how one is radically blesses by being radically obedient.

Final Conclusions:
Overall, the book was better than I expected it to be.  It points out a lot of common biblical understandings in a new way and makes you rethink about notions that seem common and self explanatory in scripture.  Though I wish the author had included more scripture in the body of the book, she does being out many scriptures in the study guide at the end.  Most of the questions are simple, look at this passage and write what it says.  There are a few critical thinking questions that have you expound on your own beliefs and how well they line with scripture, but overall the study questions do not go very deep into scripture or make you think very critically.

Exodus 20:12 -- Honor Your Father and Mother

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Honor your father and your mother.  Do not disrespect them.  Hold them high in your mind.  Obey the commands they give you, so long as they do not go against the words of God.

Matthew 15:3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:
Honor your father and your mother; and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.

Those who break this commandment are to be put to death.  I see a theme here.  If you are and idolater, you will be put to death.  If you take the Lord's name in vain, you will be put to death.  If you break the Sabbath, you should be put to death.  God is very serious about His people obeying His commandments.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

We should obey our parents simply because it is right and it is what they Lord commands of us.  The promise of God to us if we keep this commandment is that we may live long and prosper (Ha!) in the land the Lord has given us.

Exodus 20:8-11 -- Rest on the Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

This commandment is telling us to rest on the Sabbath day.  We have 6 days in which to do our work and the seventh day should be made holy and set aside for rest.  The Lord set this example when he created the earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh day.

We know for the Jew, the Sabbath rest was taken very seriously.  Anyone who worked on the Sabbath was punished.  Christ, himself worked on the Sabbath in healing those from illnesses.

Luke 13:10 As He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.” 13 Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? 16 Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for 18 years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
17 When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.

Here, the leaders of the synagogue, accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath.  He responded that the what he did was not a breaking of the Sabbath but a releasing from the bonds of Satan for this woman.

Matthew 12:9 Moving on from there, He entered their synagogue. 10 There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? 12 A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

Here is another passage telling of how Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  Again the leaders of the synagogue were trying to trap Jesus so they could get rid of him.  Jesus put them in their place again and said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

John 5:9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s illegal for you to pick up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

Jesus again healed on the Sabbath.  The man who was healed did work on the Sabbath and was attacked by the other Jews for doing so.  He replied he did what Jesus had instructed him to do, with out question.  Jesus did not care it was the Sabbath and one should not pick up a mat.  Jesus was concerned more for the glory of His and His Father's name than for being legalistic about the Sabbath.

It seems for the Jews, the Sabbath rules were being followed so very strictly, they failed to see the true reason for the Sabbath.  A day for the Lord.  They may have visited the synagogue, said a prayer, rested the whole day, but failed to recognize the reason for why they had a Sabbath rest.  This is no different than the countless number of "Christians" who go  to church on Sunday, go through the right motions, then go about their daily lives without even realizing the significance of why they should be at church or singing praises to God in the first place.  It is what they have always known.  It is what their parents taught them, but there is no real conviction.  Just a habit they go through each week.  I pray that all professing Christians could understand the significance of the Sabbath and why we celebrate the Lord and rest from our toils.

I have written on the Sabbath Rest once before.  You can read that post here: A Sabbath Rest.

Exodus 20:7 -- Do Not Misuse the Name of the Lord

Exodus 20:7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.

We should not use the name of the Lord in a way that would bring dishonor to him.  We should not use his name unless we are addressing Him or telling someone about Him.  Passages in the Old Testament tells us to take our oaths in Him name.  

The Bible is filled with references telling the people to not misuse God's name, here are a few.

Leviticus 18:21 “You are not to make any of your children pass through the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh."

Leviticus 19:12 You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

These two verses are straight forward.  Do not profane the name of God.

Deuteronomy 18:19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name.20 But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’

Here, a punishment is given for those who profane or misuse the name of God, he must die.

Psalm 74:10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?
11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out Your right hand and destroy them!

The Psalmist is pleading with God to destroy those who insult the name of the Lord.

Proverbs 30:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
9 Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.

Here in Proverbs it suggest that having plenty or too little could cause someone to profane the name of God.  Having just what one needs can help keep one from doing so.

Ezekiel 20:39 “As for you, house of Israel, this is what the Lord God says: Go and serve your idols, each of you. But afterward you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Ezekiel is telling Israel that they are defiling the name of God by serving idols.  By rejecting God and raising our lives to another god profanes God's name because we are not seeing Him for being the Holy God he truly is.

Ezekiel 36:21 Then I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.
22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight. 

Romans 2:23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

These two verses show that the name of God is defiled when those who proclaim His name do not act as though they follow God.  They confess with their lips but their actions are completely different.  Thus, those who see them out in the world get the wrong view of God, this His name is profaned.

1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and His teaching will not be blasphemed.

If you are subjected to following the rules or under the authority of another individual, no matter who they are, or how they act, you must show them respect so that your witness in Christ may be protected and that you will blaspheme the name of God.

Revelation 16:8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. He was given the power to burn people with fire, 9 and people were burned by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who had the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.

The people here experienced something horrible.  Instead of turning to God and repenting or even acknowledging the power of God to remove these horrible plagues, the people grumbled and complained that they were being burned.  Grumbling and complaining against God is another way to blaspheme His name.

There are many ways we can defile the name of our God.  It is more than spewing out a profanity.  It is a way of life.  If we have idols, if we grumble and complain against Him, if our actions do not match our speech concerning Him, if we deliberately sin, we are guilty of profaning the name of God.  God is all about His glory.  His name must be praised and exalted.  We must strive to do this every day by praising him and turning from our sins.

Exodus 20:3-6 -- God must be your God.

Exodus 20:3 Do not have other gods besides Me.

This is pretty self explanatory.  The Lord God must be the only God we follow after.  It leads directly into the second commandment:

Exodus 20:4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.

If we keep God first in our hears and minds, we will not make idols of anything to take his place.  Here God gives a specific punishment and reward to breaking and keeping this law.  If you bow to another idol, whether physically or mentally, you will be punished, your children will be punished, your grandchildren will be punished and so on.  Those who keep the command will be blessed, with their children and grandchildren and so on.

God is jealous.  He wants all of our hearts and minds.  Not part.  Not this little piece over here, he wants it all.

Leviticus 19:4 Do not turn to idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am Yahweh your God.

Here the command is repeated, this time without the consequence.  He says do not make idols because I am Yahweh your God.  I am God.  That is all the excuse He needs to want your full heart and mind and obedience.

Again there is greater incite to this command:

Deuteronomy 4:15 “For your own good, be extremely careful—because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb— 16 not to act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, 17 or the form of any beast on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, 18 any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. 19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the array of heaven—do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.20 But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.

The Lord chose us to be his.  This alone should keep us from making idols.  The Lord said that when he appeared to the Israelites, he did not show them His form.  He was just a smoke cloud to the people.  God did not reveal his true form, so the people cannot make a form and call it Him.  We were made in God's image, but we did not create God, so we cannot conform God to an image we know.  He has chosen not to reveal that to us at this present time, so we should not attempt to create an image of Him.  He also says we should not worship the sun, moon and stars.  God placed them on earth for all to enjoy.  They are His creation.  We should not worship something that was created, but worship the one that did the creating.

Time after time though out scripture, we see where Israel turns from God and becomes an adulterous nation by putting other gods in place of the one true God.

Exodus 32:7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”9 The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

This is probably one of the most recognized stories of idolatry among the Israelites.  Moses did not return when the people expected.  The wanted something to worship and Aaron make them a golden calf.  Aaron... Moses's brother.  The one who stood beside Moses and saw how all the plagues happened, crated the golden calf for the people to worship.  God wanted to completely destroy the people for doing this.  Moses interceded and God chose not to completely destroy them.

2 Kings 21:10 The Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these detestable things—greater evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done—and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin, 12 this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason’s level used on the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in My sight and have provoked Me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.’”

The punishment here was quit severe.  Jerusalem was wiped clean.  All the was detestable and dirty was taken away.  Manasseh's son was just like his father and he was killed in his own home.  The above are just a few examples of Israel's disobedience.

God takes his place in our lives seriously.  He wants it all.  He does not want us to follow after anyone or anything but Him. That was true for the Israelites and that is true for us today.  God's punishment for not obeying and following him completely are always severe.  Complete destruction.  The Israelites who followed after idols gained God's wrath and vengeance and were ultimately destroyed, while today, if we do not obey God fully, while we may not suffer now on earth, we will suffer for eternity.

1 Corinthians 6:8 Instead, you act unjustly and cheat—and you do this to believers! 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.

Exodus 20:1-17 -- The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
3 Do not have other gods besides Me.
4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.
7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 Do not murder.
14 Do not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

These are the ten commandments given to Moses by God while he was up on the mountain.  Every Jew was to follow these laws, all of these laws, with no exception.  Over the next few posts, I will explore the commandments on by one, but for this post, we will focus on the law and what that means for us today.

We today, are not held under these laws.  We are not under the law of the Old Testament.  We are under Christ.

Matthew 22:34 When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together.35 And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Christ commands us to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  If we do these things, we will follow the commands from the 10 commandments.  If we love God with all we are, we will keep him first in our lives and not create idols to take his place.  We will observe His holy days and keep them holy.  We will not misuse the name of God if we love him with all we are.  If we love our neighbor, we will not steal from him, commit adultery with the spouse we coveted against the spouse we may have, we will not lie to or about our neighbor, we will not kill him in our thoughts or deeds.  We will keep the commandments.

Our hope and salvation is not placed on keeping the law.  If it were, we would all be damned to hell.  There is no person alive today, or ever, apart from Christ who ever kept the law perfectly.

Romans 4:14 If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise is canceled.15 For the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.

Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners” 16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Galatians 5:1 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

Scripture is clear in so many more places than this that the law is not what saves us, Christ is.  In the last set of scriptures, Paul says that if you argue that one part of the law must be kept, then you must keep it all.  By doing this, you are alienated from Christ.  Christ came and freed us from the law.

James goes on to say:

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all. 11 For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you are a lawbreaker.

If we even break one part of the law, we are guilty of breaking them all.  God made all of the laws, from the simple to the difficult, from the not so bad to the really bad (in human eyes of course).  Killing is just as bad as adultery, which is just as bad as lying.

Our law under Christ is to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  If we do these two things, we can obey all that God would want from us.  Christ came to crush the law.  He came to offer salvation apart from following the law.  Christ's salvation is a gift from God to us.  We receive this gift so we can live as Christ, outside the Old Testament laws and in a life that is rich and overflowing with Christ's love.

Exodus 19 -- Moses Speaks with God

Exodus 19:1 In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. 2 After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
3 Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. 5 Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, 6 and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites that if they keep the Lord's covenant, he will be their God and they will be His holy nation.  A people set apart for him from among all the people of the earth.

Exodus 19:7 After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you.” Then Moses reported the people’s words to the Lord. 10 And the Lord told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes 11 and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

The Lord has asked all the people to be consecrated and made clean before they can see the Lord.  The Lord is holy and pure, so it would be right for us to make ourselves and clean and pure as we can before coming to the Lord.

Exodus 19:12 Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death. 13 No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows. No animal or man will live. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”

The people could only come so close to God.  God made a barrier for the people not to cross.  The must not touch the base of the mountain, let alone go up the mountain until the horn blast.

Exodus 19:14 Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 He said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.”

Why were they told to not have sexual relations with women?  Well, one reason is that the people needed to be focused on God.  They needed to keep their minds free from distractions and concentrate solely on Him.  It was also customary for Israelites to not have sexual relation with their wives during times of war, so they could stay focused on battle and not thing about what they can do when they get home.

Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered.17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

What an awesome site to behold.  God descended on a mountain in a cloud of smoke and fire, speaking to the people in a voice of thunder.  

Exodus 19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21 The Lord directed Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die.22 Even the priests who come near the Lord must purify themselves or the Lord will break out in anger against them.”
23 But Moses responded to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since You warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consider it holy.” 24 And the Lord replied to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out in anger against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Moses was instructed to bring Aaron back with him, but that the people must stay back or see the wrath of God for their disobedience.

After seeing this display of God, it is a wonder to me that the Israelites ever doubted their God.  It causes me to pause and wonder why they ever build the golden calf, or whined about this or that.  They saw their God in smoke and fire, but still, somehow managed to forget him.

Exodus 18 -- Jethro's Visit

Exodus 18:1 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken in Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (because Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land”) 4 and the other Eliezer (because he had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword”).

So Moses had sent his wife and two sons back to her father's home, probably to protect them from any harm from the Egyptians and Israelites.  The Egyptians being angry about the plagues and the Israelites angry about their increased work.

Exodus 18:5 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God. 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been and went into the tent. 8 Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
9 Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when He rescued them from the power of the Egyptians. 10 “Praise the Lord,” Jethro exclaimed, “who rescued you from Pharaoh and the power of the Egyptians and snatched the people from the power of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods, because He did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”

Jethro heard the story of how God delivered the people from Egypt and he believed.  He said that he knew Yahweh was greater than all other Gods and that he was a just god by punishing the Egyptians who acted arrogantly against the Israelites.

Exodus 18:12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in God’s presence.

After hearing all that the Lord had done for Israel, after hearing of the wonderful and magnificent acts of God on Israel's behalf, Jethro felt the need to sacrifice to the Lord.  He felt the need to acknowledge the power and worthiness of God.  He felt the need to worship.  Isn't that how we should react when we hear of the awesome work and power of our Lord?  We should feel a need to acknowledge his power and worthiness.  We should feel a need to worship Him.

Exodus 18:13 The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this thing you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”
15 Moses replied to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.16 Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws.”

Moses sat as a judge for all the people.  The people see him has knowledgeable in the laws of God and want him to settle disputes according to God's law.  Moses is doing this all on his own.  There was no one there helping him.

Exodus 18:17 “What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’ father-in-law said to him. 18 “You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone. 19 Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to Him.20 Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. 21 But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating bribes. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 22 They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every important case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. 23 If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”

Jethro gave Moses some great advise.  Divide the work among able and God-fearing men.  Let them judge small groups and let them handle to easy cases and you take the hard ones.  Everyone can have their case heard quickly and not have to wait and Moses could have a rest.  Moses, being the one who God gave the law to can instruct the people the laws and statutes of God so that they know what is to be done, but he should not do the whole task of teaching and judging on his own.  

Exodus 18:24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.

Moses did as Jethro recommended.  Moses was no longer doing it all on his own.  He had help.  He had those he could trust around him to help judge the disputes of the people.

Exodus 18:27 Then Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law, and he journeyed to his own land.

It says that Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law and he went back home.  I am guessing that his wife and sons stayed with him since he did not say goodbye to them.

Exodus 17:8-17:16 -- Staying Focused on God

Exodus 17:8 At Rephidim, Amalek came and fought against Israel. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand.”
10 Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.

This was the first battle the Israelites had to fight after they left Egypt.  Joshua was told by Moses to choose men and go and fight.  Joshua obeyed.  Moses went to the hilltop and held up the staff of God, and as long as the staff remained in the air, the Israelites could push back the other army.  If Moses put the staff down, the other side began to win.  Aaron and Hur went with Moses and supported his arm when it became tired to the staff could stay in the air at all times, so the Israelites would be victorious.

Exodus 17:14 The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.”
15 And Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord Is My Banner.” 16 He said, “Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Moses built an alter to the Lord there.  He had to keep his hand lifted towards heaven for the Israelites to be successful in battle.  He had to keep his focus on God.  When he needed help, his brothers helped him.  This is what we need in our lives today.  We need to stay focused on God.  When it seems too difficult to keep our hands lifted to him, we need someone to come along side us and hold our arms up to God, so we do not loose our battle.   We need to keep our focus on Him.  We will sometimes need help, and we should be humble and accept the help from our fellow believers.  Together, we can all help each other keep our focus on Christ so that we too can win the battle.  If Moses had not been humble enough to let Aaron and Hur help him keep his arm lifted, the Israelites would have surely lost or the battle could have taken much longer.  Moses could not keep his arms up long enough alone.  He became tired.  By allowing the others to help, he could keep his arm up for the victory to be won.

I seem a theme in my last couple of post of keeping focused on God.  It has been in the book I've read, the sermons I've heard, my daily devotions...  It has been everywhere the last couple of days.  I know God is telling me to be more focused on Him.  I need to keep my focus on Him and not all the everyday distractions I can so easily follow after.  Please pray for that for me.  Our church family is entering (or has already entered) a time of deep prayer, in which we are specifically praying for God to move in our midst and do great things within our church and community.  In order for us to do this successfully, the whole church must be focused on God.  We must hold each other's arms towards God and encourage one another to keep focused so we can do the things God would have us to do.  I have been attending all the meetings and while at church, Bible study, and in my devotions, I am very focused.  It is when those things are over that I tend to wander.  I need to stay focused all the time, not just when I'm participating in a "church" activity.

Exodus 17:1-7 -- More Provision

Exodus 17:1 The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”
“Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”

So, this is the second time the Bible mentions that the people did not have water to drink.  What happened the first time?  God gave them drinkable water by turning the bad water to good.  This time there was no water at all that could be seen.  The people then complained to Moses about having no water.

Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Now they are complaining that they will die of thirst because they left the land of Egypt.  Oh, why Moses?  Why did you bring us here to die?!  We could die just as well in Egypt!  Do they not realize it was God who told Moses to bring them out of Egypt?  There grumblings against Moses, God's servant, is really against God, though they direct it towards someone else.  The people of Israel did not have their focus on God.  It was their physical needs they were focused on.  Even after being shown several times that God was going to provide their physical needs, so God could keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the people still grumbled and complained.  They did not see their provision as being from the Lord.  When we take our focus off of God, we fail to see how he will provide (or has provided) for our every need.  We need to stay focused on His and know that all we have and receive is from Him.  Our grumbling and complaining about needing this or that are us grumbling and complaining against God thinking he hasn't given us what we needed, or better yet, what we THINK we need.

Exodus 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”

The people became so upset at Moses that he felt his life was threatened.

Exodus 17:5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. 6 I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

God sent Moses and the elders of Israel to a rock.  Moses hit the rock and water poured out.  The people drank, thanked God and went on their way.  Soon, they would grumble again, as if forgetting all that has happened here!