Exodus 20 English Standard Version

The Ten Commandments

1 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 slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 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 the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

First things first. God spoke, so therefore someone had to have heard Him.

Secondly God identifies Himself as the One with the Power to set mankind free from bondage.

Third, there are little g gods but only one capital G God.

Fourthly He defines what man does to create those little g gods.

Fifth and this is important, God is a jealous God. He created us and considers us His and His alone.

Sixth, sadly, he holds it against us if we worship any other god, which could be anything.

Seven, ah and here it is, He invokes the love word.

Seven is the number of completion, an idea brought forth by man in trying to understand the God of Abraham’s creative process. On the seventh day He rested from all His works.

Is there any need to make a big deal out of seven issues brought forth in His first commandment?

Well that is up to you. We are all stuck with the first issue, if God spoke to Moses, why won’t He speak to me?

Who says He doesn’t?

Logic says you cannot prove a negative. Faith says God can do anything He wants.

Here is a thought to ponder, what does Exodus 20:5 mean?

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

These were the first words penned by Moses at God’s direction. Up until this time God had communicated directly with mankind.

There has been much dispute among the nations about these writings and their validity. For thousands of years there have been proclaimers and a fair share of disclaimers.

Now in this day and age, so far removed from the origins of creation, what is to be believed?

Science leaves evidence but man still has to collect, analyze and report their conclusions. This is all done with both exacting methods and a good deal of theoretical postulations. The reason for that can be discovered in one of the attributes of man’s nature, the search for meaning.

It is my contention, and mine alone, I speak for no one else, that God created in us a need to search and discover in the hopes that we would find God. Biblical writings support that view but then we are back to the conundrum as to the validity of what is written by men who have said they were inspired by God.

Now it is up to each and every one of us to answer the most important question that any of us could ever ask.

Has God, the creator, revealed Himself to you in a real and very personal way?

The issue more than anything else comes out of a heart that seeks the truth and is not willing to buy into the lies that are out there.

Forget understanding, forget the search for knowledge, science and theory.

Has God made Himself known to you?

The only reason any record that is left behind is to come to a proper understanding that this God, a creator, wants a personal relationship with His creation. Then ask this question of yourselves. Do you want that relationship for yourself?