March 3, 2021
Exodus 20:1-17
The Ten Commandments
20 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 house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before[a] me.
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, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 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.
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.
13 You shall not murder.[c]
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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.
The Ten Commandments are another kind of covenant between God and God’s people that we are reminded of this Lent. While most of the covenants we have been rediscovering this Lent have between God and a specific family, this one is a game changer.
The commandments have different groupings, some have to do with our relationship with God and how we show the world that we believe and honor our God. Like this one: “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. ” This directly has to do with the ways that God’s people have broken their relationship with God before, by worshipping a golden calf statue. When we worship and value something over and above God, it harms our relationship.
Another group of commandments has to do with the way we live in relationships with one another as God’s people. For example, Not stealing means that we don’t harm our relationship with God and our neighbors by respecting another person’s things.
As Lutheran Christians, we know a lot about the ten commandments and what they mean for our lives together as God’s people. In confirmation we go over Luther’s explanation of the ten commandments, but for some of us it may have been a while and we will need a refresher! Take some time and dwell in the ten commandments this week, if you don’t have a copy of the small catechism at home, you can read it here: https://catechism.cph.org/en/10-commandments.html
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