Verse for the Day, 21 August 2014.

Exodus 20:12, “Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

On first reading it may seem rather strange that such a commandment should not only appear as one of the Ten Commandments, and that is should also be stated before commandments such as do not murder, or do not commit adultery. The fifth commandment may appear strange, and outdated in the opinion of some, but it is of central importance to our relationship with God, our relationship within the home and it is for our national good.

Why did God give this commandment?

We shall look at three reasons.

The first reason as to why God gives this command, and why we should regard it as important, is because it is a part of the created order. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them charge of the earth, they were to be the custodians of creation. Furthermore God gave the specific role of headship to Adam. Adam was to be the head and leader of his family, he should lead them to God, lead them to obedience and lead them in gracious, humble love. Eve was given the specific role of being a help-meet to Adam, she was to support him as the head of the home and help him in his role, under his gracious direction. Such roles would require Adam to lead and instruct his children in the way they should go and would require Eve to uphold, support and further enforce Adam’s leading and instruction. Together as husband and wife, they would lead their family in the manner that God required of them. The role of the children would be to honour and respect their parents by follow the instruction, guidance and authority of their parents, remembering that their parents were discharging their God-given responsibilities and were doing so under the authority and direction of God. Where this took place it would bring harmony and unity to the family and glory to God. The blessings would be immense, family relationships that were characterised by submission, obedience, godliness, grace and peace, which would in turn lead to joy.

This commandment is of importance because it leads to both a healthy family life and a healthy national life. There can be no denying that the family is the building block of society and of a nation. Healthy families will lead to a healthier society and a stronger nation, but the opposite is also true, weak, ungodly families will lead to a break-down in society and the nation. At the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments, Israel was a nation in the making. They finally have their freedom, Moses is in the process of receiving the Law and the manner in which they are to worship God, and in the time to come they will come to the Promised Land. The family unit will form a vital part of how the nation of Israel is built and will also determine its future. If the parents follow their God-given roles and responsibilities obediently, with grace and love, then they will lead their families well, they will lead their children to God. The challenge for the children is to submit to their parents, knowing that it is for their personal good, the good of their family and the good of their nation, as the second half of this commandment makes clear: “that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

This commandment is a commandment of love and life. God has given it to us so that our family life and national life might be enriched. Children should be encourage not to see obedience and submission to their parents as burdensome, restrictive or negative. This is a part of God’s created order and when parents are discharging their roles and responsibilities in a God-honouring, loving and gracious manner, and the children are following in willing obedience, it leads to the increase of love for one another and for God. It will also lead to greater joy within the family, for it will not be a family filled with selfishness and pride, which will only lead to conflict, rather it will be a family filled with love, submission to one another and to collective obedience to God. It will lead to a deeper, richer and more joyful life and increase our love for God and for each other. This is a commandment of love and life.

Our Father we thank You for the created purposes that You have set in place in Your infinite wisdom. Forgive us for so often questioning them, or rebelling against them, for Your Word teaches us that in Your wisdom, in Your ways, in Your Word, we will find life. Grant us wisdom as parents to carry out our responsibilities to the glory of Your name, may we lead our children in love, humility and grace, always pointing them to You. We pray that our children may understand the importance, benefit and joy of obedience and thus we pray that our families may grow in joy, love, unity and godliness, all for Your glory. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 20 August 2014.

Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  (9)  Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, (10) 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, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  (11)  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

The fourth commandment in some respects has a special place amongst the Ten Commandments, as it is the only commandment that is implicitly stated prior to the fall of man into sin. (Of course the previous three commandments, along with the last six commandments would have been perfectly upheld as sin had not yet entered the world.) Not only is this commandment stated when the world is in perfection, but it appears that it was already being observed by many of the Jews.

Why did God give this commandment?

We shall look at five reasons.

It is a part of the created order. When this commandment is given the Israelites are reminded that the Sabbath day is not a new invention, nor is it to be unique to them. The Sabbath was instituted during the creation of the world and was set in place as a pattern for all mankind.

This commandment points to God’s desire for all mankind. If we read the Genesis account of creation, we will notice that the seventh day is different to the previous six, in that there is no stated end to the seventh day, there is no evening! This teaches us that it was God’s desire and intention for mankind to live permanently in a state of Sabbath. This doesn’t mean that all God wanted us to do it rest, rather it means that God wanted us to live in that kind of world, under that blessing. Everything was good and pleasing, everything was fulfilling its created purpose, God and man were in a personal, loving harmonious relationship, Adam and Eve were perfectly, happily married, and creation was in complete unison. Man was living in obedience to God, God was pouring out His blessing upon man and upon the whole earth, therefore everything was at perfect rest and peace, living for the glory and enjoyment of God, in the presence of God, under the blessing of God. This was and still is God’s desire for mankind, and the fourth commandment points us back to this desire.

The fourth commandment not only reminds us of God’s desire for mankind, it also directs our attention to the day when that desire shall once again be made possible through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer to the Hebrews makes this clear in his letter, stating that it is God’s desire for us to enter into the rest. Hebrews 4:9-11, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,  (10)  for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  (11)  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” The purpose of the Sabbath command to point us to Christ and salvation is not just made clear in the New Testament, it is also made clear in the Old Testament; in fact it is made clear when Moses’ repeats the Ten Commandments to the second, faithful, generation in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 5:12&15, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you….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.” As we have already learnt, the Exodus is the great salvation event on the Old Testament, and its primary purpose is to point to and prepare us for the greater, ultimate salvation work to be done by Christ. Thus the Sabbath command reminds the Israelites of their salvation from Egypt, and then points them to the coming salvation from sin through Jesus Christ.

This commandment is given for our physical benefit. As the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 103, the Lord knows our frame and that we are but dust. God may be inexhaustible, and never have to sleep or slumber, but we are not like Him in that regard. We have to take care of our bodies and have time to rest and allow our bodies the time they need to recover and be refreshed. More importantly, this commandment is given for our spiritual benefit. God knows how quick we are to forget Him and how little time we give to Him during the course of the week. In His grace He has called on us to set aside one day in the week so that we might be refocused on Him, that we might remember that life is ultimately about God and not ourselves, that we might learn, practice and be reminded to worship Him and to live for Him.

In light of all these reasons, we can clearly see that this fourth commandment is one of love and life. God wants us to live in a state of Sabbath rest, because He knows that is the life He created us to have and know. It is in the state of Sabbath rest that we shall know this life and know the immense love of God and it will be in this state that we will love God best, as we should love Him. The Sabbath command seeks to remind us of this all, point us to Jesus and cause us to love, worship, enjoy, glorify and serve God all the more. For all these reasons, and more could be given, it is important that we do not disregard the Sabbath command for it is of great benefit and given to us in love, so that we might know and have life.

God of the Sabbath, we thank You for the Sabbath and we thank You that it is Your created design and desire for us to live in Your Sabbath rest. We worship You today for You have made that possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to understand the Sabbath more, and help us to continue to obey this command, for Your glory and for our good. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 18 August 2014.

Exodus 20:7, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

The third commandment is one that suffers daily abuse as God’s name is repeatedly blasphemed by people throughout the world. Few of us can ever make it through the day without hearing God’s name being taken in vain.

But why did God give this commandment?

We will look at just four reasons:

This commandment is given so that we might understand who God is and offer to Him the respect and reverence due to Him. God’s name is more than just a name, it is descriptive of who He is and is as unique as He is. No one else can rightly take His name. Thus the manner in which we use God’s name reveals how we think of and regard God. If we have a high view of God, then we will hold His name in high regard, if we have a low view of God then we will not respect or revere His name. The Israelite people had seen God display many of His attributes in the plagues and thus far in the exodus journey. Therefore they of all people should not just best understand who God is, but they should also highly regard, respect and revere Him.

Because God’s name is descriptive of who He is, it means that His name is holy. God is holy, He is the definition and epitome of holiness, everything that God is, is holy, His name included. Thus to blaspheme, to take His name in vain, is to defile and dishonour that which is holy. We need to remember the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ taught to His disciples, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The world hallowed means to regard something as sacred and special, to revere it, to as it were treat it as though it were holy, to hold it in high regard. God is holy, everything about God, everything that God is, is holy, therefore His name is holy.

The command is given because God wants us to understand who He is, to hold Him in high regard, to respect, revere and uphold His holiness, to have a high view of Him, and so that we might also be truthful. God’s name was often used when taking and making oaths and promises, or when testifying in a court. We think of the words of the High Priest to Jesus in Matthew 26:63, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” The High Priest is ordering Jesus in the name of God to tell the truth, so that if Jesus is found to be lying, he would then be guilty of blasphemy as well. God wants us to be people who are characterised by their truthfulness, who do not need to take oaths and promises in God’s name so as to convince people to trust our words. We should be people who love and honour God and therefore people who can be trusted to be truthful, because our God is holiness and truth.

This is a commandment of love and life. God wants us to honour, respect and revere Him as we should, for God is not only worthy of it all, but there is also blessing to be found in this for us. God also knows the pain that comes when we lie to one another and He also knows the blessing that comes when we prize and uphold the truth. God desires for us to live loving, respecting, revering and honouring Him and His name, and then being truthful towards one another in that which we promise to do. Thus the third commandment is designed to cause us to love God, to love one another and to lead us into a life of blessing, where God is honoured and revered and truthfulness is prized.

Holy Father, there is no other name higher or greater than Your name, we bow in worship of who You are. We pray that You would help us to grow in our understanding of who You are, so that we might revere You and Your name all the more. We also pray that through our witness, reverence and love for You and Your name and through our truthfulness, that the world may come to see the truth of who You are and realise the sinfulness of blasphemy. It is the sincere pray of our hearts that Your name would be hallowed throughout the world. Amen.