Month: February 2023

43.d. “Wilderness” – 7.k. Sinai – “You shall not steal.”

 

Exodus 20:15  “You shall not steal.

 Leviticus 19:13   “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

 Deuteronomy 24:7    “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

 Deuteronomy 25:15-16   A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.  For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

 Proverbs 11:1    A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.

 Micah 6:10-11    Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed?  Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?

 Matthew 15:19    For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

 1 Corinthians 6:10   nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

 Ephesians 4:28    Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

1Thessalonians 4:7-8  For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Malachi 3:8-9  Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me

This command is another important foundation for human society, establishing the right to personal property. God has clearly entrusted certain possessions to certain individuals, and other people or states are not permitted to take that property without due process of law. (Guzik)

This command forbids us to rob ourselves of what we have, by sinful spending, or of the use and comfort of it, by sinful sparing; and to rob others by invading our neighbour’s rights, taking his goods, or house, or field, forcibly or clandestinely, overreaching in bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or found, withholding just debts, rents, or wages; and, which is worst of all, to rob the public in the coin or revenue, or that which is dedicated to the service of religion. (Benson)

Thou shall not steal. Which is to take away another man’s property by force or fraud, without the knowledge, and against the will of the owner thereof. Thefts are of various kinds; there is private theft, picking of pockets, shoplifting, burglary, or breaking into houses in the night, and carrying off goods; public theft, or robbing upon the highways; domestic theft, as when wives take away their husbands’ money or goods. (Gill)

Hosea 4:1  Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

We never have the right to Steal, taking that which belongs to another and claiming it for ourselves either by theft,  fraud, or utilization of fine print in contracts, obscure laws, or any other means.  Stealing something from another person is wrong. There is no justification for it.  We might say it is due me, they owe me so I am going to steal something back from them, or we might even say they have said or done something to me so I am going to steal from them. There is no justification for it. The heart says I want it, I need it, I will take it or swindle it away from he that owns it. There are many areas in a person’s life where stealing can manifest itself. Easily enough is outright theft or defrauding. How about stealing time from your employer, or underpaying employees for their work, finding a purse or wallet without returning it, falsely claiming something is yours, underreporting taxes, overstating expense reports, etc…. Not only are there many ways the heart and mind can find ways to steal, equally there are many ways the heart and mind justify it. 

Let’s look at this from heaven. God is the Creator and author of each of us. Everything we have is ultimately His, especially our talents for they too are God-given, everything from brains to physical abilities. When we use these talents to honor and glorify God, this is true, right, and good for us to do.  When we use these and claim them as our own talents, boasting publicly or privately as though through our own efforts they are worth our boasting and pride, we rob God of His glory and honor and praise and worship for what He has given to us. This too is stealing and this does not even touch on the tithed giving unto God. 

We do well in our desire to honor and glorify God in all we think, say, and do, to ask for discernment in our hearts to recognize the seeds of whatever may allow us to justify taking that which is not ours. 

43.c. “Wilderness” – 7.j. Sinai – “You shall not commit adultery.”

 

Exodus 20:14  “You shall not commit adultery.

 Leviticus 18:20    And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her.

 Leviticus 20:10    “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

 Proverbs 7:18-27   Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.  For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;  he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”  With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.  All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast  till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.  And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.  Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths,  for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.  Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

 Jeremiah 5:8-9   They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.  Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

 Malachi 3:5   “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

 Matthew 5:27-28  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

 Ephesians 5:3  But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

 Hebrews 13:4  Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

 James 4:4   You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Clearly, the act itself is condemned. God allows no justification for the ways that many often seek to justify extra-marital sex. It is not to be done, and when it is done it is sin and it damages. The New Testament clearly condemns adultery: Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication uncleanness, licentiousness (Galatians 5:19). The act is condemned, but not only the act itself. More than the act itself, Jesus carefully explained the heart of this commandment. It prohibits us from looking at a woman to lust for her, where we commit adultery in our heart or mind, yet may not have the courage or opportunity to do the act (Matthew 5:27-30). We aren’t innocent just because we didn’t have the opportunity to sin the way we really want to. (GUZIK)

Next to the duty of respecting a man’s life is placed that of respecting his domestic peace and honour. Adultery is an invasion of the household, a destruction of the bond which unites the family, a dissolution of that contract which is the main basis of social order. It was forbidden by all civilised communities, and in uncivilised ones frequently punished with death. (Ellicott)

We should be as much afraid of that which defiles the body, as of that which destroys it. Whatever tends to pollute the imagination, or to raise the passions, falls under this law, as impure pictures, books, conversation, or any other like matters. (Henry)

Here is mentioned one kind of uncleanness, as being eminently sinful, and unjust, and pernicious to human society. But under this are comprehended and forbidden all other kinds of filthiness, as bestiality, sodomy, whoredom, fornication, &c., and all means, occasions, and appearances of them. (Poole)

Lust of the flesh will drive a person to sin, if not in body, surely in mind. Take a look at what is condoned in current movies, taught in schools, and easily popping up on social media. In the guise of putting a stamp of approval on movies, books, pictures, etc…. we call it “Adult Entertainment”.  We even go so far as to ok it by stating a rating on public movies, “PG-13”, meaning the movie is acceptable to those 13 and older.  Hollywood markets lust like it was a dessert to be desired and a very normal act that is to be satisfied. I heard someone say that they were training their mind not to lust by counting to 5 when they were looking/lusting after a beautiful girl/woman and then they would discard it from their mind. Have you ever held your hand in a flame for 5 seconds without getting burned severely? It is far better to discern and discard the thought before 1/2 of a second.

Pornography will harm the heart, mind, and soul. It seems as though it is “OK” because it is called “Soft Porn”. We hear men say they are just looking through the window as if to admire the goods but have no intention of a purchase. This too allows lust to take root and fantasies abound. 

We even tolerate the lust of same-sex. We don’t call it out as a sin but rather call it out as an “Alternative Lifestyle”. It is to be tolerated and approved and allowed to go on unchallenged. 

Fleshly lusts can be defeated when your heart and mind are fixed on God’s Word with an unyielding desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all you think, say, and do.

43.b. “Wilderness” – 7.i. Sinai – “You shall not murder.”

 

Exodus 20:13  “You shall not murder.

 Leviticus 24:21   Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.

 Deuteronomy 19:13   Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

 Psalms 10:8-11   He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;  he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.  The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.  He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

 Proverbs 1:11   If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;

 Proverbs 1:18   but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.

 Isaiah 26:21   For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.

 1 Timothy 1:9   understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,

 1 John 3:14-15   We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.  Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Jesus carefully explained the heart of this commandment. He showed that it also prohibits us from hating someone else  because we can wish someone dead in our hearts, yet never have the nerve to commit the deed. Someone may not kill from a lack of courage or initiative, yet his or her heart is filled with hatred. (Guzik)

When God “set a mark upon Cain” (Genesis 4:15), He marked thereby His abhorrence of the murderer. The “seven precepts of Noah” included one which distinctly forbade the taking of human life (Genesis 9:6). In all countries and among all peoples, a natural instinct or an unwritten tradition placed murder among the worst of crimes, and made its penalty death. The Mosaic legislation on the point was differenced from others principally by the care it took to distinguish between actual murder, manslaughter (Exodus 21:13), death by misadventure (Numbers 35:23), and justifiable homicide (Exodus 22:2). Before, however, it made these distinctions, the great principle of the sanctity of human life required to be broadly laid down; and so the law was given in the widest possible terms—“Thou shalt not kill.” Exceptions were reserved till later. (Ellicott)

Thou shalt not do any thing hurtful to the health or life of thy own body, or any other’s. This doth not forbid our necessary defence, or the magistrates putting offenders to death; but it forbids all malice and hatred to any, for he that hateth his brother is a murderer, and all revenge arising therefrom; likewise anger, and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done, in a passion; of this our Saviour expounds this commandment, Matthew 5:22. (Benson)

The sixth commandment requires that we regard the life and the safety of others as we do our own. Magistrates and their officers, and witnesses testifying the truth, do not break this command. Self-defence is lawful; but much which is not deemed murder by the laws of man, is such before God. Furious passions, stirred up by anger or by drunkenness, are no excuse: more guilty is murder in duels, which is a horrible effect of a haughty, revengeful spirit. All fighting, whether for wages, for renown, or out of anger and malice, breaks this command, and the bloodshed therein is murder. To tempt men to vice and crimes which shorten life, may be included. Misconduct, such as may break the heart, or shorten the lives of parents, wives, or other relatives, is a breach of this command. This command forbids all envy, malice, hatred, or anger, all provoking or insulting language. The destruction of our own lives is here forbidden. This commandment requires a spirit of kindness, longsuffering, and forgiveness. (Henry)

Thou shalt not kill. Not meaning any sort of creatures, for there are some to be killed for the food and nourishment of men, and others for their safety and preservation; but rational creatures, men, women, and children, any of the human species, of every age, sex, condition, or nation; no man has a right to take away his own life, or the life of another; by this law is forbidden suicide, or self-murder, parricide or murder of parents, homicide or the murder of man; yet killing of men in lawful war, or in defence of a man’s self, when his own life is in danger, or the execution of malefactors by the hands or order of the civil magistrate, and killing a man at unawares, without any design, are not to be reckoned breaches of this law; but taking away the life of another through private malice and revenge, and even stabbing of a man’s character, and so all things tending to or designed for the taking away of life, and all plots, conspiracies, and contrivances for that purpose, even all sinful anger, undue wrath and envy, rancour of all mind, all malice in thought, word, or deed, are contrary to this precept, see Matthew 5:21 and which, on the other hand, requires that men should do all they can for the ease, peace, and preservation of the lives of men. (Gill)

You know the sings of the times when looting, destruction of property, violent demonstrations, killing, wounding, etc are not only tolerated but condoned, and when peaceful protests and public prayer for the unborn are deemed unacceptable, breaking the law, and deserving punishment. Abortion is murder. There is no love, mercy, kindness, or preservation of innocent life. 

The professionals at Planned Parenthood will work to get you the services you need, whether or not you have insurance. Our staff can also let you know if there is financial assistance available for your abortion and other related costs, like transportation. If there’s no Planned Parenthood health center near you, AbortionFinder.org can help you find a trustworthy abortion provider.

Abortion funds may be available to help you pay for your abortion. Abortion funds may also offer help with transportation, lodging, childcare, and other resources you may need to access abortion. The National Network of Abortion Funds connects people with organizations that can provide financial and logistical support for people getting abortions in the U.S.

Just because the culture makes murder of the unborn legal does not mean it is in the eyes of God. We think it very wrong to kill born babies in ritual sacrifice. This is recognized by everyone of sound mind, and yet, the unborn are legally sacrificed day after day. Globally, over 70 million are killed each year, and over 500,000 in the US. In the US there are ~198 abortions per 1,000 live births. Changing the name from murder of the unborn to “Women’s Choice” or “Rights” to make it legal does not make it right in God’s eyes. It is murder of the innocent unborn baby.

43.a. “Wilderness” – 7.h. Sinai – “Honor your father and your mother”

 

Exodus 20:12  “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

 Leviticus 19:3  Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

 Proverbs 15:5   A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

 Proverbs 23:22-25   Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.  Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.  The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.  Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

 Colossians 3:20    Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

 Ephesians 6:1-3  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),  “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

 Proverbs 30:17   The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

 Malachi 1:6   “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you

Of all our duties to our fellow-men, the first and most fundamental is our duty towards our parents, which lies at the root of all our social relations, and is the first of which we naturally become conscious. Honour, reverence, and obedience are due to parents from the position in which they stand to their children :—(1) As, in a certain sense, the authors of their being; (2) as their shelterers and nourishers; (3) as their protectors and educators, from whom they derive the foundation of their moral training and the first elements of their knowledge. (Ellicott)

Honour thy father and thy mother, includes esteem of them, shown in our conduct; obedience to their lawful commands; come when they call you, go where they send you, do what they bid you, refrain from what they forbid you; and this, as children, cheerfully, and from a principle of love. Also submission to their counsels and corrections. Endeavouring, in every thing, to comfort parents, and to make their old age easy; maintaining them if they need support, which our Saviour makes to be particularly intended in this commandment. (Henry)

How many sons and daughters, including us as sons and daughters, have done that which does not honor their fathers and mothers? It is my life and I will live it as I deem best for me. Your ways are old fashion and meaningless today. It is clear that when God’s Word and things of God are minimized in a person’s life, any attention given to that which will honor their parents will be as well, not to mention, more importantly, honoring and glorifying God. There is a promise that comes with obedience to this commandment. How many other promises of God are forfeited in our lives because of the lack of desire for honoring, glorifying, serving, worshiping, praising, and trusting Him? Honor and glory to God will honor and glorify parents.  Whereas God will always deserve and is worthy of honor and glory, parents may not seem worthy and may do things that their adult children do not agree with. (rightly or wrongly) Our parents and us as parents will have times in our lives when we make wrong choices, say and do wrong things, and hurt our testimony before God and others. Children are not blind and will see this. Adult children will see this. 

We can be Christian adult children with parents who are not. These parents can be full of vile words and do things very contrary to the things of God.  How is a person to honor their parents who reject God and things of God? In love. We do not support sinful behavior, ie giving money so they can buy alcohol or do more gambling. Though we might buy them food, mow their yard, fix their car, repair their home, visit them, etc…. and show them loving concern. I am not saying this will be easy. How do you respond to a parent who always ask for money and lies to you continually and belittles your love and support for them? This has to be one of the hardest tests of displayed love for an adult child. Ground rules and be expressed and established, in love, to your parents. If you are drunk when we come over with our children we will leave. If you talk evil of God and things of God in front of our children we will leave. There are many things we can establish to protect our children but there are also many things we can do to show love in the absence of the children present. 

Love will allow me to see the drunkenness and still show love. Love will allow me to see hate for God and things of God and still show love. Love will allow me to see wasted resources and still show love. Love will allow me to see a pity party and still show love. Love will allow me to hear belittling comments and still show love. This is an honor given to fathers and mothers who it would seem do not deserve it. Does that sound familiar? While we were yet sinners, God displayed His love for us by giving His only Son to redeem us. This is unconditional love, undeserved and freely given. 

Honor thy father and mother.

43. “Wilderness” – 7.g. Sinai – “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”

 

Exodus 20:8  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 Leviticus 23:3   “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.

Isaiah 56:6  “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—

 Exodus 34:21   “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

 Exodus 31:13   “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.

Exodus 16:33 He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

Probably there were always some whom natural piety taught that, in the absence of their ordinary employments, it was intended they should devote themselves to prayer and communion with God—to meditation on “high and holy themes,” such as His mercies in past time, His character, attributes, revelations of Himself, government of the world, dealings with men and nations. Thus only could the day be really “kept holy,” with a positive holiness. (Ellicott)

God commanded Israel – and all humanity – to make sure that there was sacred time in their life, separated time of rest, to warm the hearts of the people towards the observance of the Sabbath, and to render the Sabbath rest dear to the people, since it served to keep the Israelites constantly in mind of the rest which Jehovah had procured for them from the slave labour of Egypt. For resting from every work is the basis of the observance of the Sabbath. law, it belonged to the “shadow of (good) things to come” (Colossians 2:17, cf. Hebrews 10:1), which was to be done away when the “body” in Christ had come. Christ is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), and after the completion of His work, He also rested on the Sabbath. But He rose again on the Sunday; and through His resurrection, which is the pledge to the world of the fruits of His redeeming work, He has made this day the κυριακὴ ἡμέρα (Lord’s day) for His Church, to be observed by it till the Captain of its salvation shall return, and having finished the judgment upon all His foes to the very last shall lead it to the rest of that eternal Sabbath, which God prepared for the whole creation through His own resting after the completion of the heaven and the earth. (Brown)

Diluting this day of rest with worldly ideas of rest is not what is intended nor is it God-honoring. Just because the busyness of life fills every allowed minute of our days does not allow us to just allot this day to our whims and pass it by to get done that which we have determined to be more important than God, as so many days during our normal life are lived. 

Try to practice giving this day a time of reflection, prayer, and family time with God. It is set aside by God for us to rest in Him from all of the worldly things that consume us. Try to incorporate reflecting on God-moments you have experienced this past week. Reflect and think about all of the things God is worthy of praise, worship, honor, and glory. (Not that this should be different than any other moment of any other day), but it is chosen by you to set it apart intentionally for these reasons.  

Opening our minds to things of God in humble awareness of His power, love, grace, mercy, and endless blessings will put the things of this world into their proper place, and though this should be a continual way of living, let it be at least for one day of honoring, glorifying, praising, and worshiping – God our rock, refuge, and salvation.

42.z. Turning Point devotional (Dr. Jeremiah)

 

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Colossians 4:6

“You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). These familiar words of Jesus suggest that our life is to accomplish the two benefits of salt: seasoning (attractiveness) and preservation. Paul applied the salt metaphor to speech when it came to relating to nonbelievers: Our speech should be graceful (kind, compassionate, encouraging, understanding)—seasoned with salt.

How might the two uses of salt—seasoning and preservation—apply to our speech when relating to those who might be opposed to our beliefs or actions? Seasoning suggests speech that adds an attractive flavor to the conversation or dialogue. And preservation suggests doing whatever we can, not just to preserve a relationship but to strengthen it. As Paul wrote in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” “All men” includes everyone we encounter—even those who may have done us wrong. Let us speak only “what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

Look for an opportunity to encourage someone today with gracious words that are “flavorful” and that strengthen the relationship.

It is bad to think ill, but it is worse to speak it. (Henry)

42.y. “Wilderness” – 7.f. Sinai – “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain”

 

Exodus 20:7  “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Leviticus 24:11-16    and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.  And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.  And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.  Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

 James 5:12    But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

There are at least three ways this command is commonly disobeyed.

· Profanity: Using the name of God in blasphemy and cursing.

· Frivolity: Using the name of God in a superficial, stupid way.

· Hypocrisy: Claiming the name of God but acting in a way that disgraces Him

Jesus communicated the idea of this command in the disciples’ prayer when He taught us to have a regard for the holiness of God’s name (Hallowed be Your name, Matthew 6:9). (Guzik)

 You shall not use the name of God, either in oaths or in common discourse, lightly, rashly, irreverently, or unnecessarily, or without weighty or sufficient cause. (Poole)

Thou shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain,…. Make use of the name Lord or God, or any other name and epithet of the divine Being, in a light and trifling way, without any show of reverence of him, and affection to him; whereas the name of God ought never to be mentioned but in a grave and serious manner, and with an awe of the greatness of his majesty upon the mind. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name is vain; will not look upon him as an innocent person, and treat him as such; will not acquit and discharge him as just and righteous; but on the contrary will consider him as a guilty person, a profaner of his name, and a transgressor of his law, and will condemn and punish him, if not in this world, yet in the world to come. (Gill)

The word prohibits all employment of the name of God for vain and unworthy objects, and includes not only false swearing, which is condemned in Leviticus 19:12 as a profanation of the name of Jehovah, but trivial swearing in the ordinary intercourse of life, and every use of the name of God in the service of untruth and lying, for imprecation, witchcraft, or conjuring; whereas the true employment of the name of God is confined to “invocation, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving,” which proceeds from a pure, believing heart. (Brown)

It is important for each of us to have a proper reverence for God. There are so many ways to get this wrong in our lives. Proper reverence will seek and desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do. When our lives are consumed with worldly stuff and the busyness of life we will become neglectful and complacent in the Word of God and Things of God will become less and less important. What do we suppose will influence our lives, one hour on a Sunday listening to a sermon, or careful and desire-full daily reading of His Word with the intentional choice to be led in both thought, speech, and acts that honor and glorify Him? How much time a day do we not even give a thought to or about God? How many times is God’s name profaned by minimizing it with “omg” in response to something on social media? How many times is God’s name used in jokes about heaven and hell? How many times is His name used cursing? Far too many! The shallowness of commitment to the Word of God and the Things of God will leave a person void of reverence for God. In this shallow commitment, there is no concern for Honor and Glory to God. “this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain” (Mark 7:6-7)

The ease with which people are neglecting God’s Word and the Things of God is surely a sign of the times and the return of Jesus Christ. 

42.x. Wake Up

 

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11)

It’s amazing what we can sleep through. God can do an awe-inspiring work among many, but others can sleep right through it, spiritually speaking. In Romans 13:11, we find out what it takes to keep us awake or to awaken us from our spiritual slumber.

First, Paul wrote about knowing the time. Often, when we oversleep it is because we didn’t know the time. We wake up late, and in a panic look for the time, and get a sick feeling – “I’m late! I overslept!” Spiritually speaking, if we know the time we won’t sleep when we shouldn’t. And when we look around at the world today with open eyes and an open Bible, we see that the time is short. If we really believe Jesus is coming soon, if we know the time – then we will wake up.

Second, Paul wrote about what would happen at the right time: now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The coming of Jesus, and the completion of our salvation, are closer than ever. Every day since God worked in your life and you first decided to follow Jesus, the time has become closer and closer, and the finishing of your salvation comes nearer and nearer. When we remember how wonderful it will be to have our salvation finished – no more sin, no more death, no more of the weakness of this flesh – that will keep us awake.

Right now, are you taking a spiritual nap? Perhaps there is some spiritual activity in your life, but you might as well be sleepwalking through it. So, the right prayer for you today is, “Lord, wake me up. Help me to know it is time to awaken. Get me excited about the completion of my salvation.” God loves to answer that kind of prayer. (Guzik)

42.w. “Wilderness” – 7.e. Sinai – You Shall not bow down

 

Exodus 20:5  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Joshua 23:7   that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them

 Joshua 23:16    if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

 Judges 2:19   But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

 2 Kings 17:35    The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,

 Numbers 14:18    ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

 Job 21:19    You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

 Isaiah 65:6-7    Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap  both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”

 Jeremiah 2:9   “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children’s children I will contend.

 Jeremiah 32:18     You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts,

 Romans 8:7     For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

 James 4:4    You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

 John 15:23-24    Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

Thou shall not bow down thyself to them,…. Perform any worship to them, show any reverence of them by any gesture of the body; one being mentioned, bowing the body, and put for all others, as prostration of it to the earth, bending the knee, kissing the hand, lifting up of hands or eyes to them, or by any outward action expressing a religious esteem of them, as if there was divinity in them: nor serve them; in a religious manner, internally or externally, by offering sacrifice and burning incense to them; by praying to, or praising of them; by expressing love to them, faith and trust in them, hope and expectation of good things from them, and the like. The reason of this second command, relating to the making and worshipping of images, next follows:

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God; jealous of his own honour and glory, and will not give it to another; even to graven images, nor suffer it to be given to them without resenting it; and jealousy is fierce and cruel, and breaks forth into great wrath, and issues in dreadful scenes oftentimes among men. (Gill)

If God is first in our lives there should be no room for other things to which we serve, honor, and give reverence. No room should be given to make something more reverent than God. We should not allow something to take place of God or the honor and glory due Him alone. We may not make images of gold, silver, or wood and place them in our homes and take time to worship the form or bow down to it, but in essence, we do allow things to become an idol of sorts. Take a look at where your TV is placed and how much time it is given. It may not be an idol, but certainly, it is given more time and reverence than God. How would your lives be different if there was no TV being watched, no internet to surf, and no iPhone available?  I would like to think there would be more time for God’s Word, more time for reverence to Him, more time to communicate face to face, and much less being told what to think, how to act, and what to say by the narratives being spewed out day by day, minute by minute. Do we not discern that these narratives proclaim what is contrary to God and things of God? Do we not understand that what we take in will have an effect on our hearts and minds? 

What would our lives be like if we studied God’s Word in equal amounts of time that we spend on social media, yet alone watching TV?  How much time would we have to meditate on God’s Word and the things of God? Would we live differently, think differently, and speak differently?  

Obviously, we all know the answer to this, but are we/you willing to intentionally choose to live life differently than how the world indicates you should?  Try it for a week – no TV, social media time reading, or posts on computers or phones or iPads, in the home or away from home.  Try using this time for reading, communicating, and discerning things of God. I think there may be a big change in your thought pattern, speech, and actions.  

Do not bow down to what this world has to offer. Give God the reverence, honor, and glory through how you spend your time.

42.v. “Wilderness” – 7.d. Sinai – “You shall not make for yourself a carved image”

 

Exodus 20:4  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 Leviticus 19:4    Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

 Leviticus 26:1    “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.

 Deuteronomy 4:15  “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully.

 Deuteronomy 4:23  Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you

 Deuteronomy 27:15   “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’

 Psalms 97:7    All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols;

 Isaiah 42:8   I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

 Isaiah 44:9   All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.

 Isaiah 45:16    All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.

 Jeremiah 10:3  for the customs of the peoples are vanity. 

 Jeremiah 10:8-9    They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!

 Romans 1:23   and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 Revelation 9:20    The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,

God would have no likeness made of Him, no representation that might cloud the conception of His entire separation from matter, His purely spiritual essence. (Ellicott)

As the first commandment forbids the worship of any false god, seen or unseen, it is here forbidden to worship an image of any sort, whether the figure of a false deity or one in any way symbolic of Yahweh. (Barnes)

“After declaring in the first commandment who was the true God, He commanded that He alone should be worshipped; and now He defines what is His lawful worship” (Calvin). “Thou shalt not make to thyself a likeness and any form of that which is in heaven above,” etc. עשׂה is construed with a double accusative, so that the literal rendering would be “make, as a likeness and any form, that which is in heaven,” (Brown)

There is no God but Me. Don’t worship or place in worship anything but Me. Also, don’t make an image of Me or anything else, and indeed don’t worship it. We may find this type of worship foolish and even a bit old fashion. No one in the western world would do anything like this.  Maybe some satan worshipers or others hope to find peace of mind through some eastern religion. For the most part, we think this is foolish to fashion an idol and place it in our home or church to worship it. The western world is far above this, but I might say, much further away from knowing God. The western world, for the most part, denies God, things of God, and the Word of God. They say there is no God and then live a life that is void of Him and any worship of Him.  The idolaters at least try to have a god to serve – howbeit ever so wrong and God-defying.  No, the western world is a place of self-reliant enlightenment.  In this, they find what the world has to offer pleasing and though it never seems to satisfy an inner hunger, they keep chasing after it. Their idol is things of this world and what it has to offer. Though they may not make it an animate object of worship, it is an inanimate object of worship.  

Note the verses above to those who deny and reject God and His commandments.