August 16, 2020
The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let’s seek this ancient way together as a church!
In beginning his recitation of the covenant law, Moses first recounts the giving of the ten commandments to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai. These commandments serve as a foundation for all the more specific commandments that are to come, and they reveal the moral character of God to us!
The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God: we are to worship Him and Him alone as God, avoid all idolatry, honor and reverence His name and keep the Sabbath day holy. The order of these commandments is intentional, and the latter three flow out from the first. The idea is that, first and foremost, we are to love, honor, and worship God with our lives! When we do so, the other commandments are obeyed by default.
The last six commandments have to deal with our relationships with each other: we are to honor our parents, and we are not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet what is not our own. Jesus reveals to us in Matthew chapter 5 that these commandments, which deal with outward behavior, are really aimed at orienting our hearts toward God and exposing the deeper heart-level issues that produce this kind of sin.
As followers of Jesus we are no longer obligated to obey the full extent of the Old Covenant law, but we are still required to obey the spirit of the law, which Christ Himself fulfilled on our behalf! God never changes, and the way He reveals Himself to us through the law still has massive implications for the way that we live!
As you read today, allow the Spirit to uncover the idolatry and deeper sin issues of your heart which lead to your outwardly sinful behavior. Give yourself over to the agenda of His redeeming grace and allow Him to transform you to be more like Jesus!
Deuteronomy 5
The Ten Commandments
5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 “‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 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 fourth generation of those who hate me,10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lordwill not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 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 or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “‘You shall not murder.
18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 “‘And you shall not steal.
20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lordour God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lordour God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lordsaid to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- How do we take the principles which lay beneath the surface of the Old Testament law and apply them to our lives as believers today? What are some principles from the Ten Commandments that you need to apply in your own life?
amen and thank you!
Thank You Heavenly Father for providing us with clear guidelines for godliness! We love You, Lord!
“…….32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”
Lord God, please help me never to take your mercy and grace for granted. Help me to carefully read your Word, and let it transform my mind and life so others see and are drawn to Jesus. Amen
Dear Heavenly Father,
We sin every day and many don’t even realize it. I know I am guilty of wanting a home of my own again as now I live with my daughter. I find myself coveting other’s beautiful homes. Please forgive me for this. I know I need to be thankful for what I have and look at all of my other blessings. I want to please You, Lord and I know I have failed. Help me to have more faith and trust and to change my mindset and get my priorities straight. I need to be building up riches in heaven not on earth. Thank You for all You have provided for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I love my quiet time each morning and so thankful for Champion Forest Baptist Church and Mark Lanier’s “Thought For The Day”. Thank you for making this devotional available while we prepare to return to our physical church facility soon during this pandemic.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”
Psalm 95:6 ESV
I will walk in all the way which my Lord has commanded me, that I may live, and that it may be well with me, and that I may prolong my days.
AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! I know I need to be more respectful to my mom. That I need help to be more civil to my mom. I work on that every day. With the Lord’s help I will be more respectful to her. At times I do take the Lords name in vain but I do catch myself and ask forgiveness. I try very hard to stay away within the Ten Commandments. I want to live a good life. I want to follow in my Lord’s footsteps. In Jesus name I pray Amen ????
Father,
Who am I to question your commands? Who am I to pick and choose my own path? Who am I to call on you as if you are a genie in a bottle just waiting for my commands?
I am nothing apart from you. Thank you for your grace and mercy.
Bless me today, Father. Enlarge my sphere of influence. Fill me anew and afresh with the Holy Spirit. May my eyes see evil so I can run from it, so as not to cause you and others pain.
The harvest is white and the laborers are so few. As Jesus concluded his prayer time in the garden, He stated to his trusted disciples: Let’s be going… Now Father, may I go forth in word and deed proclaiming the Good News…let’s find one more for Jesus today! Amen
Thank you father for giving us guidance, a map on how to live life in your word, helping us experience intimacy with you, others and helping us know your heart and perfection. Thank you that even though I have no hope in following your law perfectly, that Jesus already has, and my hope now lies in his perfection, not my own.
The Ten Commandments define the boundaries of life. When we know our parameters, we are free to LIVE❤