Exodus 20 -- Receiving the second half of the Ten Commandments

Exodus 20 -- Receiving the second half of The Ten Commandments

Last time, we studied:

The first half of Exodus 20:

Receiving The Ten Commandments

Our study this evening:

Receiving the second half of

The Ten Commandments

Last time, we studied the first four commandments—sometimes referred to as the first “half” of the Ten Commandments. Tonight, we plan to continue our study of Exodus 20. The Fifth Commandment:

(Exo 20:12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

Paul repeats this one in (Eph 6:1-3 NKJV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. {2} "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: {3} "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

The Sixth Commandment:

(Ex 20:13) “You shall not murder.”

The word is “murder,” not kill

רצח

râtsach

BDB Definition:

1) to murder, slay, kill

1a) (Qal) to murder, slay

1a1) premeditated

1a2) accidental

1a3) as avenger

1a4) slayer (intentional) (participle)

1b) (Niphal) to be slain

1c) (Piel)

1c1) to murder, assassinate

1c2) murderer, assassin (participle) (substantive)

1d) (Pual) to be killed

The death penalty is very clear in the Old Testament.

(Num 35:30-31 NKJV) 'Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. {31} 'Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.

This commandment was in effect before the Ten Commandments.

(Gen 9:5-6 NKJV) “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. {6} "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.”

It has been passed on to the civil government of our day

The following is God’s outline for what civil government should be. It is what God intended as the purpose of civil government:

(Rom 13:1-5 NKJV) Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. {2} Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. {4} For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. {5} Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

Jesus takes this commandment one step further:

(Mat 5:21-22 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'

(Matt 5:22) "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.

Now back to Exodus:

The Seventh Commandment:

(Ex 20:14) "You shall not commit adultery.

adultery

· n. voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse.

Again, Jesus goes even further in renouncing adultery.

(Mat 5:27-28 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Back to Exodus:

The Eighth Commandment:

(Ex 20:15) "You shall not steal.

How many applications are there to this?

Someone gives you back too much change?

Someone gives you a check for more than you owe?

What about the false weights and scales?

What about cheating on your income taxes?

In general doesn’t it include all forms of dishonest business deals?

What about not doing a day’s work for a day’s pay?

(Eph 6:5-6 NKJV) Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; {6} not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, {7} with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

The Ninth Commandment:

(Ex 20:16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exo 20:16 NCV) "You must not tell lies about your neighbor.

- Not only false oaths, to deprive a man of his life or of his right, are here prohibited, but all whispering, tale-bearing, slander, and calumny; in a word, whatever is deposed as a truth, which is false in fact, and tends to injure another in his goods, person, or character, is against the spirit and letter of this law. Suppressing the truth when known, by which a person may be defrauded of his property or his good name, or lie under injuries or disabilities which a discovery of the truth would have prevented, is also a crime against this law. He who bears a false testimony against or belies even the devil himself, comes under the curse of this law, because his testimony is false. By the term neighbor any human being is intended, whether he rank among our enemies or friends. A Clarke

One of our competitors said to a prospective buyer, “Have you checked the Better Business Bureau about them?” Well, when the checking is done, there was one dispute in three years over a contract (earnest money refund) and it was resolved to the buyer’s satisfaction. The one who made the statement had far more complaints than that, but unless checked, the effect is that of a lie -- that we have done something wrong.

People find many ways to lie about people without telling what we call an “outright lie.”

The Ninth Commandment:

(Ex 20:17) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

We looked at several verses in our study last week concerning covetousness, so we will only mention these:

(1 Cor 5:11 NKJV) But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; not even to eat with such a person.

(1 Cor 6:9-10 NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, {10} nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

This concludes the Ten Commandments! It does not conclude our study of Exodus 20, but we will end our study here for this lesson.

(Rev 21:7-8 NKJV) "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. {8} "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

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