JANUARY 18TH, 2004
DEUTERONOMY 5:1-11
Introduction: Moses talks about the Ten Commandments, and explains what they are, before he gives them to the new generation.
A. All Israel is called to hear the commandments (1).
1. They are impartial.
2. They are to be taught impartially.
3. They are to be obeyed impartially.
B. The Ten Commandments are an ethical covenant between God and Israel (2).
1. If they live accordingly, God will bless them (Exodus 19:5)
2. The commandments apply to the present, not just the past (3).
3. Don’t ever think that the Bible is old fashion and out of date.
C. The Ten Commandments came “out of the midst of the fire.” (4)
1. The voice of God brought fear upon the people (5).
2. Moses stood between God and the people.
I. The Ten Commandments begin with God identifying Himself: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
A. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME (7).
1. The worship of any pagan deity is strictly forbidden.
2. The New Testament reiterates this command in Matthew 22:37.
3. God alone is to be worshipped.
B. THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE…..(8-10)
1. It is assumed that the second commandment is being addressed to people who are obeying the first one.
2. This forbids worship of gods beside of God rather than above Him.
3. This is not a forbidding of pictures on the wall, photographs or art.
4. So man is not forbidden to make a representation of anything; he is forbidden to worship that representation, or to allow that representation to act as a secondary god to him.
C. THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN…..(11)
1. To take the name of the Lord in vain is to use God’s name in a way that God did not intend.
2. God name is to always be used with truth and righteousness (Isaiah 48:1)
3. God’s name is taken in vain when a person bears His name but is not true to His Word (Matthew 7:22-23).
4. Swearing is taking God’s name in vain.
5. To use God’s name in a joking manner in such a way that you view God, or sacred things, in a frivolous way is vain.
6. Any use of God’s name that brings dishonor, or any action by a person who bears His name, is taking God’s name in vain.
Next Sunday: The Ten Commandments continued