ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHRIST
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST
EXODUS 20 Study Guide & Breakdown
The Ten Commandments
20 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
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, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
The People Afraid of God’s Presence
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
The Law of the Altar
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen. In every place where I [d]record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’
Notes Exodus 20 – (vv. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 23, 5, 12, 13-14, 17, 19, 21, 24-26)
20:1: ALL THESE WORDS is referring to the TEN COMMANDMENTS … But what need was there for these to be written??? For the Lord God implanted His Laws in man’s nature when He created us … It was necessary due to mankind’s free will and mankind’s corruption through sin – (JohnCas; see also Romans 2:14-15) … The written law is a lower standard than the law of nature – (JohnChr), for these commandments in the OT condescended to man’s weakness and so refer only to keeping the body pure … But in the NT, the law of Christ elevates man to be pure in both body and in the soul …
Romans 2:14-15: for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
-The Law was written on our heart by God when He created all of mankind …
20:2: It is not enough to be brought out of EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE into freedom … Far greater than this, Christ gave Himself for us to be free us from our sins and lead us into the true freedom of the children of God – (Romans 8:21; AmbM) …
Romans 8:21: because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [a]corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
20:4, 23: An idol, or image, depicts some god as having a form or shape, but true God has no form or shape … Why therefore, did Israel use images in their worship??? Because all these foreshadowed the Incarnation of the Son of God, whom we worship both as God and Man … Also, icons used in Church worship do not depict divine nature … They draw attention to the Incarnation …
20:5: God is without passion, but He condescends to call Himself a jealous God to show the intensity of His love for all of mankind … Therefore, let us love Him with intensity, for this is very pleasing to Him – (JohnChr) …
20:12: The Lord God offers no rewards in the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments … God’s promise of reward is offered to those who keep the positive ones … For example, to honor one’s father and mother is the first commandment in the Ten to promise a reward, namely, a long and spiritually prosperous life here on earth … - (Ephesians 6:1-2; JohnChr) …
Ephesians 6:1-2: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise:
20:13-14: All sinful passions are evil, but murder is listed before adultery because it is worse than lust – (JohnChr) …
20:17: Evil desire is an ancient vice, especially the love of money, and this commandment was given to check it … - (AmbM) …
20:19: Moses was a mediator between God and the people, and they believed him … In the sense, he was a type of Christ, the Mediator between God and man – (1Timothy 2:5; & BasilG) …
1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
20:21: The Son of God humbled Himself to allow Moses to see and talk with Him – (GrgTheo), and He humbled Himself to the extreme by becoming Man to be crucified for us … He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit dwell in THE THICK DARKNESS, that is, They cannot be comprehended in Their nature or essence … We cannot know God in His essence; we only know Him through the revelation of the Son …
20:24-26: Man is not to worship before idols … Israel worshipped the true God at an altar … The Church also worships the true God at an altar – (Hebrews 13:10) …
Hebrews 13:10: We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
PSALM 79 (80) Study Guide & Breakdown
PSALM 79 (80) Is a prophecy of the Incarnation and the changes – (things that shall be changed, v. 1) that it would bring about … For Christ – (The End, v. 1), who sits upon the Cherubim – (v. 2), will reveal Himself – (vv. 2, 3, 4, 8, 20) in the incarnation for our salvation – (v. 3), and establish His vineyard, the Church – (vv. 9-17) … This vineyard would consist of those who are changed through conversion to Him – (vv. 4, 8, 15, 20) and who are saved from the Assyrian – (v. 1), who is a wild swine and a solitary wild beast – (v. 14)- that is, the devil …