Bible Devotion

Meditative Reflection
Displaying the Ten Commandments

“I am the LORD, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exod. 20:2)

As the Lord is about to pronounce the Ten Commandments which Jesus, in essence, summarizes as the Commandments on which “all the Law and Prophets hang” (Matt. 22:40), He prefaced them with these words, “I am the LORD, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Commentators, in general, see these opening words as of utmost importance with comments like, “indispensably prior to all that is to follow”, “the center and focus of the whole Pentateuch (i.e. the Five Books of Moses)", and “the very heart of the whole Old Testament”. (See Durham, WBC, Exodus, p.284)

The importance of this preface lies in at least two aspects:

(1) Who is the one laying down these commandments? It is none other than God whose name is the LORD—the Great I AM. It is a reminder that He is the only True God whose existence, as indicated by His name, is above all created beings, in heaven above or on earth below. He defines everything that exists and His existence is not defined by or in reference to any other names. Therefore He is answerable to no one, but everyone or everything is answerable to Him.

(2) The LORD is now “your God”: This means there is now a covenantal relationship between the LORD and Israel and it is within that covenantal relationship that these commandments are given. They were formerly slaves with no status (Durham’s translation), but now they are the people of the LORD—a treasured people, a holy nation, and a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:5-6). This new status carries with it a tremendous privilege of being loved (treasured), a very special status quite apart from that of all the nations (they are a people separated for the Lord), and a sacred trust (as priests, middlemen between the LORD and the nations). These commandments are a must to keep in order that they can befit their new status and fulfill their trust.

As important as these Ten Commandments are, (and they also fully reveal not only God’s requirements for His people, but His attributes), the Apostle Paul would explain later that, ultimately they are meant to show them that they, by themselves, are not able to keep the Commandments and to draw them to repentance and faith in the atoning work of God through the shedding of blood in sacrifices which eventually is brought to its completion in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (Rom. 3:20-24).

Since this is the case, I really wonder why we insist on displaying the Ten Commandments before the courts. Shouldn’t the symbol of forgiveness, the cross, be a more appropriate display, because it is not the Law, but the sacrifice of Christ which is the answer to all human sins?

Meditative Reflection
Whose Image is Being Forbidden?

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” (Exod. 20:4)

Allow me to quote the following excerpts from Durham's and Calvin’s commentaries on the 2nd Commandment as follows:

“The question is, whose image is being forbidden to Israel, Yahweh’s, or those of the gods rival to Yahweh…The first commandment states definitively that each individual who would enter the covenant with Yahweh is to have no other gods. Only disobedience of that command would allow the use of images of foreign gods…the worshiper who has made a commitment to worship only Yahweh must not compromise that worship by making it easy, that is, by adopting for his own use shaped images to provide a concrete center for worship, as practice common to all of Israel’s neighbors…A paraphrase of the commandment might even be, 'Not a one of you is to have a shaped image for the worship of Yahweh'.”
(Durham, WBC, Exodus, p. 285/6)

“Now we must remark, that there are two parts in the Commandment—the first forbids the erection of a graven image, or any likeness; the second prohibits the transferring of the worship which God claims for Himself alone, to any of these phantoms or delusive shows. Therefore, to devise any image of God, is in itself impious; because by this corruption His Majesty is adulterated, and He is figured to be other than He is. There is no need of refuting the foolish fancy of some, that all sculptures and pictures are here condemned by Moses, for he had no other object than to rescue God’s glory from all the imaginations which tend to corrupt it. And assuredly it is a most gross indecency to make God like a stock or a stone. Some expound the words…as if it were allowable of God, provided it be not adored; but the expositions…will easily refute their error…And we have already said, that all rites which do not accord with the spiritual worship of God, are here forbidden: and this is enough and more than enough to put to flight all such misty notions…”
(Calvin’ s Commentaries, Vol. II, 108-110)

Meditative Reflection
Taking the name of the Lord in Vain

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Exod. 20:7)

When it comes to the 3rd Commandment, the more wooden translation of the King James Version is preferred. But the word “to take” also carries the meaning of “to use, to lift up, to raise, to carry or even to wear”. So, the key issue here is not only with what purpose we are to make mention of the name of the Lord, but how we are to relate to our God. As Augustine says in his opinion that what is called in Scripture the “name of God” is in fact, “the stamp of the personal character of God” (Augustine, On Prayer 24.2-3).

The key, in my opinion, of this Commandment is to guard against turning this covenantal relationship with the Lord into one of utility.

It appears that with Jesus’ warning against swearing in the name of God in Matthew 5:33-37 and His warning that if we say more than yes or no, it is of the devil, the Israelites, with their external piety, had made use of the Lord’s name to gain the trust of their neighbors to cover what likely was their lie. This behavior was something that they did, taking after their pagan neighbors. Pagan worship is basically one of utility. Those who come from a traditional Chinese background would understand it very well.

I still remember growing up in Hong Kong that there was a temple by the name of “Big Fairy Wong”. It had to be the most popular temple at the time, because its name had been associated with the idiom, “Am I Big Fairy Wong?” which means “am I that powerful to grant you your wish?” The temple was popular presumably because its god always granted the wish of the worshipers.

But with the 3rd Commandment, the Lord makes it clear that His relationship with His covenantal people cannot be turned into one of utility, but one based on love, as the previous Commandment has already highlighted.

With these Ten Commandments, the Lord has distinguished Himself from all other gods and idols of the pagan world that He is seeking a love relationship with the people He created. It was mind-boggling then, it is still today!

Meditative Reflection
A Command to Rest!

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exod. 20:8)

Allow me to share with you the insight of a 5th/6th Century church father by the name of Caesarius of Aries on the 4th Commandment (which the early fathers counted as the 3rd):

“The third precept is ‘Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.’ In this third commandment is suggested a certain idea of freedom, a repose of the heart or tranquility of the mind which a good conscience effects. Indeed, sanctification is there because the Spirit of God dwells there. Now look at the freedom or repose; our Lord says, 'Upon whom shall I rest but upon the man who is humble and peaceable, and who trembles at my words?' (Isaiah 66:2). Therefore restless souls turn away from the Holy Ghost. Lovers of strife, authors of calumnies, devotees of quarrels rather than charity, by their uneasiness they do not admit to themselves the repose of a spiritual Sabbath. Men do not observe a spiritual Sabbath unless they devote themselves to earthly occupations so moderately that they still engage in reading and prayer, at least frequently, if not always. As that apostle says, ‘Be diligent in reading and in teaching’ (1 Tim. 4:13); and again, ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17). Men of this kind honor the Sabbath in a spiritual manner.”
(ACMS, OT. III, 105)

May I add that the basis of this command to rest is the fact the Lord rested after His six days of creation, not that He needed to rest, but that His work of creation had been completed. And thus, irrespective of whether we think we have completed what we need (or sometimes want) to complete within our work-week, we need to learn to rest in the complete work of the Lord and observe our Sabbath just the same.

Meditative Reflection
Honoring our Parents

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exod. 20:12)

Indeed, as the 1st Commandment forms the basis of the following three Commandments in living out the covenantal relationship with the Lord who has chosen them, the 5th Commandment also serves as the foundation of the following five Commandments in living out the relationships within the covenantal community and beyond.

Some commentators might have gone too far in saying that the reason why the Lord sets our relationship with our parents as foundational to all our human relationships is because parents are representatives of the Lord on earth. However, it is true that the Giver of Life has chosen our parents as the human source in giving us our lives. As such, they are the ones to whom we owe our existence. If we do not even honor and respect the human source of our life, how then can we extend honor and respect to any human being on earth. This is the curse of the modern era in that because of the collapse of the traditional family and the advancement of genetic engineering, more and more people are disassociating with our biological parents in forming the basic family unit. No wonder the world is going down the destructive path as foretold by the Apostle Paul:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lover of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power...” (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

I know this is a sign of our time—the last days, but this is exactly why we, Christians, have to behave so unlike the world, starting with the foundational truth of loving, honoring and respecting our parents. Some might question if we should extend this to parents whom we consider unworthy of our honor. I believe the words of our Lord in Matthew 5:46 have already answered this objection.

Meditative Reflection
Thou Shall not Kill

“You shall not murder.” (Exod. 20:13)

You might be interested to know that in the Old Testament, different terms are used to denote different kinds of killing, and some scholars opine that the word used in the 6th Commandment is strictly confined to murder. However, Durham has shown that this word is also used for manslaughter (i.e. unintentional killing, in Deut. 19:3, 4, 6 and Jos. 20:3) and for legal execution of a convicted killer (as in Num. 35:30). Therefore, to understand this commandment purely based on word study is not the most helpful.

However, since there are separate provisions governing manslaughter and  the legal execution of convicted killers, this Commandment appears to be addressing murder in the main, and would exclude killing in battle as the Lord is the one who ordered the killing of the Israelites’ enemies like the Amalekites (in fact numerous times, including ordering their extermination in 1 Sam. 15:3). God does not contradict Himself.

However, this does not mean that God does not regard life as sacred. On the contrary, this commandment fully reveals life as so sacred that those who take away the life of another person purposely has to be held accountable, and the death penalty is meant to signify the gravity of such a crime (Num. 35:16).

But as heinous as the crime of murder is, it is not unforgivable, by this I mean forgiveness in terms of reconciliation with God, not necessarily the sparing of one’s physical life. The criminal on the cross who was received into paradise the very night of his death is a case in point. For him to be condemned, to be punished by death on the cross, this criminal would have murdered, perhaps, quite a few people in his life. And yet, as he repented of his sins right before his death, he was forgiven, although he still had to face the death penalty he deserved under the Roman laws.

I do not wish to get into the debate about the validity of the death penalty in today’s society, but the original intent of this Commandment is clear in that, apart from imposing a penalty which is commensurate with the severity of the crime committed, it also serves as a deterrence and perhaps even an awakening of the hardened soul of a criminal. In this respect, Ted Bundy comes to mind (of course, assuming that his death-role repentance was genuine, which only the Lord would know).

Meditative Reflection
Keeping of Commandments begins with the Heart

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exod. 20:17)

Of the last six commandments that deal with how the Israelites should treat their neighbors within the covenant community, the last one makes it clear that it begins with the heart.

While one might argue that to honor one’s father and mother is already a matter of the heart, it is easily measurable by observing if one would provide for their parents in their old age. Whether one has committed murder or adultery or has stolen, these are crimes that must be proven by evidence of the action. But the last commandment is really a matter of the heart. If interpreted literally, one’s desire or lust, though hard to judge by the covenant community, will be judged by the Lord.

This last commandment actually shows that all the rest of the commandments are to be held by the same standard. To God, it is always the motive that counts. As a result, when Jesus points out that anger or hatred is the root sin of murder, and the engagement of adulterous thought in the mind is already a violation of the 7th Commandment, He is not really saying anything new.

No wonder when Jesus quotes directly from the Commandments in Matthew 5, He uses the “You have heard” formula (5:21, 27, 33 etc.) to show that they have been hearing but have never understood the Commandments all along (13:13-14).

I continue to hear Christians who pride themselves in using the Ten Commandments as their golden rules of life, but I hope they understand that, even as Christians, these Commandments continue to function as a mirror to show them their inability to keep them, and draw them back to repentance and to see forgiveness in Christ (1 Jn. 1:8-9).