NL 105: Covenant and Commandments

image: Ten Commandments, illustrative wood relief carving, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Original source: Flickr - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Exodus 19:3-7, 20:1-17

Initial Thoughts

  • Memorize the ten commandments - Here is a demonstration - with pictures!

  • Read the whole passage - including the explanations (vv. 5-6 and 10-11)

  • The story everyone “knows”

  • Challenge: make it new and make it relevant

    • Interesting article about a wire that surrounds Manhattan and other cities marking them as a place Jews can do work on the Sabbath, by marking it as a ‘home.’ https://getpocket.com/explore/item/there-s-a-wire-above-manhattan-that-you-ve-probably-never-noticed?utm_source=pocket-newtab 

    • “It's called an eruv (plural eruvin), and its existence is thanks to the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sabbath, which is viewed as a day of rest, observant Jewish people aren't allowed to carry anything—books, groceries, even children—in public places (doing so is considered "work"). The eruv encircles much of Manhattan, acting as a symbolic boundary that turns the very public streets of the city into a private space, much like one's own home. This allows people to freely communicate and socialize on the Sabbath—and carry whatever they please—without having to worry about breaking Jewish law.”

Bible Study

  • Priestly Kingdom - intercessors for the King - who is God

  • Holy Nation - a people who are set apart

  • Order of Commandments:

    • Augustine of Hippo changes the traditional order of the commandments by combining the first two and separating the 10th into 2 commandments (separating coveting property from coveting a spouse)

    • Discrepancies based on a comparison of Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20

    • See here for a comparison of the

    • There is a more thorough explanation and table here: http://www.bible-researcher.com/decalogue.html

  • Introduction

    • “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;”

    • Salvation comes first not second- God’s grace is the foundation upon which the Commandments are based

    • Women in the Commandments - “Women are woven in and out of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.” Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash

      • Even though the commandments are addressed to men, they surely apply to women as well.

  • Relationship with God:

    • 1.) v. 3 You shall have no other gods before me.

      • The relationship between God and God’s people form the foundation for all the other commandments. Living in a way consistent with these commandments are evidence of the integrity of this relationship.

      • You are not God - the color of your skin, the amount of your wealth, your gender identification- none of these make you God, none of these make anyone else God either

    • 2.) v. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

      • Judgement - 3-4 generations, Grace - thousandth generation: Grace > Judgement.

      • This is the God of history - “who brought you out of Egypt” and eternal Cosmos “heaven above, earth beneath, water under the earth” Robert Altar, The Hebrew Bible

        • Other cultures ascribed different gods to each of these realms - Baal over land, Yamm over sea, Mot over the underworld. YHWH is the God of all

      • “The prohibition of images...prevents Israel from prescribing limits to how God works.” Judy Fentress-Williams, The Africana Bible

    • 3.) v. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

      • God will not “forgive” anyone...WHAT?! What do we do about this very disturbing passage?

      • Is this “causing the little ones to stumble” so the mill stone is cast around the neck and we take a swim?

      • TL;DR - This is a serious issue, not to be ignored!

      • There are so many instances where people use God’s name for their own purposes or to justify their own sins rather than proclaiming the good news

        • Be careful claiming that something is done in God’s name

    • 4.) 8 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

      • Different from the decalogue in Deuteronomy 5:15 which the reason for observing the Sabbath is in remembrance of being brought out of slavery in Egypt, “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That's why the LORD your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.”

      • However, v. 2 puts the entire decalogue in the context of the Exodus

      • Acts as a bridge connecting out relationship with God into our relationship with one another

  • Relationship with Others- our relationship with God transforms our relationship with others

    • 5.) 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

    • 6.) 13 You shall not murder

      • Not thou shall not kill- “the Hebrew verb, ratsah clearly means “murder,” not “kill,” and so that ban is specifically on criminal acts of taking of life.” Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible

    • 7.) 14 You shall not commit adultery.

    • 8.) 15 You shall not steal.

    • 9.) 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

    • 10.)17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 

      • Brings everything back to the first commandment - “to have nothing and no one before God.” Judy Fentress-Williams, The Africana Bible

  • Equal commandments

    • We do not treat them equally- Keeping the Sabbath is not equal to murde

    • What would happen is we kept the commandments equally

  • Exodus 20:18 - “All the people of Israel, woman and man, child and adult, enslaved and free, citizen and alien, behold the living God veiled in smoke, attended by lightning and thunder; no amount of androcentric, gender-exclusive language can change that.” Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash

    • Check our Wilda Gafney’s beautiful reimagining of this text on p. 105 of Womanist Midrash

  • You can focus on simply one commandment or do a sermon series. Examples:

    • 3 - wrongful use of the Lord’s name: how often is the name of God used to justify power, empire, domestic abuse, political gain, liberal or conservative agendas?

    • 4 - Sabbath: Perhaps the most overlooked- people are tired, yet what example to their pastors show them? Do we as churches hold up the Sabbath? You do as the pastor keep the “Sabbath”? Why not? Why is it less important?

    • 10 - Coveting: TV, radio, media all teach us to covet - the latest iphone, body image. “The only time you should worry about your neighbor’s bowl is if there isn’t enough in it.” postChristian

  • How do we balance out the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ greatest commandments?

  • Love is the foundation: the Ten Commandments are included in Jesus’ commandments not in opposition

Thoughts and Questions

  • Choose to preach on them as a whole or a couple?

  • Why do we chose that some commandments are more important than others when Jesus and God don’t seem to? What would happen if we took each commandment as equally as “Thou Shall Not Kill”

Year 1Eric FistlerExodusComment