The Ten Commandments-Part 2

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 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…..Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…..Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy…..”  Exodus 20:4-11

Lots of folks say they don’t read the Bible because they find it too difficult to understand.  There is nothing difficult or mysterious about the Ten Commandments.  The passage in Exodus 20 that gives us God’s commandments is probably one of the clearest and most straight-forward passage that is recorded in scripture.  Yesterday’s blog covered the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”.  To obey this first commandment would cause a committed Christian to obey all of them, not becoming sinless, but striving for excellence in his or her walk with Christ.

God said that no one should make any sort of image that represents Him.  God is Spirit which cannot be represented by a man-made idol.  We have all heard stories of folks who have said that they saw an image of Jesus in a tree trunk, a pizza, or some other object.  Some have even set up shrines around that supposed image.  In doing so, that image that they claim to see becomes an idol.  I think that folks do this because they want something tangible or some sort of visual proof of Christ.  I don’t know where these folks who do this stand in their relationship with Christ, but if He is within someone’s heart, a tangible or visual proof is not necessary.  It is actually a hindrance to faith.  Many of us wear crosses around our necks as an identifying mark that we are Christians, but I have often wondered if that would be considered an image.  We don’t worship them nor bow down to them.  However, I have seen folks wear crosses as nothing more than a piece of jewelry.  In other words, their lifestyle would suggest that they do not know Christ as Lord and Savior.  When God said not to make a graven image, He also said that He was a jealous God who visits the sin of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate Him.  If a parent ignores God, there is a greater chance that his children and grandchildren will also ignore God.

God said that those who take His name in vain will not be held guiltless.  Taking God’s name in vain is using His sacred and holy name in an empty, meaningless way.  We hear folks use God’s name that way often, in conversation with another, on television and in movies.  People say, “Oh my God” and “Jesus Christ” at the most trivial things.  The most offensive to me is to hear someone give God a last name, you know the one that I mean.  The FCC used to forbid that ungodly phrase to be used on television and radio, but rules have become so lax that anything goes now.  Besides using God’s name as an “expletive”, I think that to claim to be a believer in God and in Christ but have never repented and actually placed faith in Christ is to also use His name in vain.  In other words, to name His name yet not be committed to Him is nothing more than a pretense of salvation.  Rest assured; God is not deceived.  He knows who belongs to Him and who doesn’t.  God’s name expresses His divine, holy, and sovereign nature.  Jesus’ name expresses the life-giving and saving power of Christ.  To truly name the name of Christ is to acknowledge His Lordship and walk with Him.

The fourth commandment concerns the Sabbath Day.  When God made the world, He rested on the seventh day, Saturday, blessing and sanctifying it, setting it aside for His chosen nation, who had not yet come into existence, to also rest and do no work therein (Genesis 2:2-3).  The Jewish Sabbath began at sunset of Friday night and continued until sunset on Saturday.  Several times, the people broke this commandment causing God to punish them for their violation of His law.  After Jesus was crucified and arose after three days on the first day of the week, Sunday, Christians have worshiped on Sunday rather than Saturday.  The Sabbath did not change.  Sunday is not the Sabbath, but in Acts 20:7, we find that the disciples came together to break bread, and Paul preached to them on the first day of the week.  In I Corinthians 16:2, Paul urged believers to take up an offering also on the first day of the week.  Christians worship on Sunday because it was the day that Christ’s resurrection took place.  Nowhere in scripture does it say that we must worship on Sunday.  Rather, everyday should be a day of individual worship, and Sunday is the day that we come together in corporate worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  There are some believers who absolutely believe that Christians must worship on Saturday, the Sabbath, but most Christians believe that Christ’s fulfillment of the law perfectly, His sacrifice, and His resurrection indicate that believers are no longer under the Old Testament law.

Next time:  The commandments which cover the lifestyles of men and women.