Exodus 20
God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai, where He gave him the 10 Commandments, written on two tablets of stone.
Then God gave the people of Israel these Ten Commandments:
1. “You must not have any other God but me”
This means that we must love God more than anyone or anything else; for anything we love more than God becomes our God instead of Him.
2. “You must not make any idol, nor bow down to one, nor worship it”
Many people in the world make statues, or idols, and believe that they are gods which can help them. But in this commandment God forbids making such statues or bowing down to them or worshipping them. God is the only One who can save men, and we are to worship Him alone. This commandment also means that we are not to worship money or clothes or anything else but God.
3. “You must not take the name of the Lord your God in Vain”
This means that whenever we speak God’s name, we must do it reverently, remembering how great and holy a name it is. If we speak it carelessly or thoughtlessly, we offend Him. This commandment teaches us not to swear.
4. “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy”
In this commandment God instructed His people not to work on the Sabbath. This was because God rested on the seventh day after His six days of work when He created the Heavens and the earth.
5. “Honor your father and mother”
Next to obeying God, we should obey our parents. We must not delay doing what they tell us to, and shouldn’t even wait to be told. This is God’s commandment.
6. “You must not kill”
We break this commandment by murdering, but we also break it when we are angry with someone and wish he were dead. For then we have the wish for his death in our hearts, and God see’s murder in our heart.
7. “You must not commit adultery”
When a man lives with a woman as his wife when he is already married to somebody else, it is adultery. {When a woman lives with a man as her husband. When she is already married to someone else, it is adultery.} God says we must never do this, and it is a sin when a man and woman sleep together when they are not married. He commands us to be pure in all our thoughts, words, and actions.
8. “You must not steal”
You must not take anything for your own that belongs to someone else. If you have ever done this, whether by mistake or on purpose, God commands you to give it back or pay for it.
9. “You must not tell lies”
This means that you must never say anything about another person that isn’t true. And when you are saying what is true, you must be very careful how you say it. Don’t leave out a little or add a little to make it different from the real truth.
10. “You must not covet anything that is your neighbor’s”
To cove a thing is to wish it were yours. We must not do this. God, who knows best, gives to each of us just what He wants us to have.
When all the people heard the terrible thunder and the blast of the trumpet and saw the lightening and the smoke and heard God’s voice, they were terrified. They said to Moses,
“You tell us what God wants, and we will do it: but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses told them God hadn’t come down to kill them, but to make them afraid to sin against Him.
The people stood a long way off from the mountain while Moses climbed up to the dark cloud where God was. There God talked with him and gave him many more laws for the Israelis to obey.
When the people heard these laws, they promised to obey them.
Questions:
See how many of the Ten Commandments you can remember?
Tell what any two of the Ten Commandments mean?
What did the people promise God?
What does this mean: “You must not covet anything that is your neighbor’s”?
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