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Israel is camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, only weeks out of Egypt, and God speaks to the whole people. The chapter opens with the ten words, usually called the Ten Commandments, then turns to the people's fear at the thunder and smoke, and ends with simple instructions for an altar of earth. Christian traditions number the commandments in slightly different ways, yet all receive them as one gift. Watch the order: before a single command is given, God names himself as the one who set them free. The law is spoken to people already rescued.
1God 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 bondage.
3“You shall have no other gods before me.
4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
11for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
13“You shall not murder.
14“You shall not commit adultery.
15“You shall not steal.
16“You shall not give false testimony 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.”
18All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
19They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
20Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.”
21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
22The LORD said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me.
24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.
26You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’
Meditate
The Ten Commandments begin with who God is and what he has done in bringing his people out of slavery. Which commandment is he gently pressing on your heart today?
Read it slowly, then sit with the prompt. Free: stillingwaves.com/bible/exodus/20/
Scripture: World English Bible (public domain).Scripture: King James Version (1769 text), public domain outside the United Kingdom; in the United Kingdom under Crown patent.
Read verse 2 slowly and let it stand on its own for a moment. Everything after it rests on a rescue already finished. These words are not a ladder for earning God's favor; they are the shape of life for people he has carried out of bondage. Then notice verse 21. The crowd keeps its distance, afraid, while Moses walks toward the thick darkness where God is. Fear and nearness sit side by side in this chapter, as they often do in us. Where are you standing today, back at the edge of the camp or a step closer to the cloud? Is there a slavery you have been freed from that you tend to forget? Which of these words feels less like a weight and more like a fence around something precious? Tell God plainly what you find.
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