My Summary
God gives Moses the commandments which will distinguish Israel as His chosen people. The first four commandments are verticle and govern our relationship with God. The final six are horizontal and govern our relationship with each other. Finally God gives instruction on how He is to be worshipped.
Random Historical Things
1. The way many ancient law codes were formulated was different from modern times. In modern times laws are created and codified for every possible offense leaving us with thousands of pages of laws. Many ancient law codes simply set down general laws which covered the general sense of justice. Thus one of the law is "do not kill." God does not specify which type of death is wrong, and this makes the law timeless.
2. Exodus 20:22 starts a separate section called "The Book of the Covenant." This section runs through Exodus 23:23. These are separate from the Ten Commandments and are written on parchment not stone. These are more specific economic and community laws while the Ten Commandments were more universal natural laws.
And So What We Have Learned Applies to Our Lives Today...
1. Instead of discussing each individual commandment I would like to just talk about some general thoughts about the commandments. The first question a lot of people have is whether or not the Ten Commandments apply today since they are part of the Law. It is important to understand the difference in content and purposes between the Ten Commandments and the legal and cultic law given to Israel. The many community laws were given by God to Israel to distinguish them from the other countries, as a symbol of Israel's priesthood and election by God, as a method of cleansing and circumcision to distance sin and as a religious ritual to remind them of God and what He meant to them. The Ten Commandments are separate from that legal code and are composed of natural laws that reflect the very nature of God and are universal in nature. Many of the commandments (murder, adultery, Sabbath, idolatry and others) are mentioned earlier in the Old Testament before the Law and in the New Testament after Christ. These are laws which represent God's nature and apply to all people of all nations where the Law applied only to Israel in the context of their relationship with God. So yes, the Ten Commandments are for today.
2. I fear that since many of the commandments are phrased in the negative sense that we will miss the positive side of the command. For example, the negative commandment "Do not kill" also has the positive side which is "value life." Or the commandment 'Do not make any images" has the positive side of "Focus your attention on Me not images of me." One more example would be the commandment to "not take the Lord's name in vain" would encourage us to cherish and revere the Lord's name. The commandments do not just teach us what not to do, but they teach us what to do.
3. Finally I would like to encourage you as you study these commandments to think about how they apply to our current lives. For example, you may not covet your neighbor's oxen, but what about his television? How does the command not to kill apply to the issue of abortion? How does the command not to committ adultery apply to pornography? Especially since Jesus said if you lust you have already committed adultery. The point is that while the principles are the same through all ages, the application is going to change. That requires thinking, prayer and active participation on our part to study the commandments and try to shape our lives in accordance with God's never changing nature
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