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Exodus 20:1-21 · The Ten Commandments
Chapter I
Exodus 20:1-21
Sermon
by Frank H. Seilhamer
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"I am the Lord your God ..." Exodus 20:2

A few years ago I had the opportunity to return to the homestead where I spent some of the happiest days of my youth. It is a farm situated in the midst of the wheatgrowing country of Pennsylvania, where my grandparents once lived. Shortly after I arrived, I walked out to a little knoll that overlooks the fields and sat down beneath the huge old walnut tree that has stood there for over a hundred years. From there I looked out over the fields. The wheat at the time was about a foot or so high, a beautiful lush green, and beginning to develop its heavy heads of grain. As I watched, the wind began to blow across the fields, sending shivers through the stalks.

Have you ever watched closely as the wind does that? The blades of wheat quivered and whipped and bent, passing their impluse from one to the other. It looked as though spirit fingers were running through the field much like a man runs his fingers through his hair. In a rhythmic pattern one wave after another started and then skittered across the field, making the grain stalks ripple and roll and heave like the waves of an ocean. How right Walt Whitman was when he described a similar scene as being a "sea of grass." It was as beautiful a sight as I had ever seen.

As I sat there, I was struck by the fact that this was the first time I ever had been captivated by the beauty of what was taking place before my eyes. I had looked at that scene before, I had sat on that knoll and walked through those very fields hundreds of times, but I had never seen them before. And I kicked myself mentally for what I had missed for so long.

I also began to think, if I was moved by what I was seeing for the first time, even though I had physical vision, how a person who had been physically blind might be overwhelmed if he suddenly had his eyes opened after years of darkness.

That actually happened to an aunt of mine. Blinded in childhood by an eye inflamation, she grew up groping her way through life hearing, smelling, touching, but never drinking in the sight of the people and things that surrounded her, until one day, when she was seated at the table fininshing her dinner with the family. Since it was my aunt’s birthday my grandmother had baked her a cake, and had gone out into the kitchen to put on the candles. She brought the cake, candles blazing, into the dining room, and pushing the dishes aside set it down in front of my aunt, motioning to the family to begin singing their birthday greeting. But before anyone could move, the thirteen-year-old girl suddenly sat bolt upright. Then she stood, and catching her breath, began to scream, "Dad, I can see! I can see you ... I can see your face!"

As she later told me many times, at that moment it had been as though someone had jerked open the shutters on a window. Where darkness had been now light appeared. Her eyes were cleared and for the first time in years she was able to see ... see the cake, and the dishes on the table, see the specks of dust floating in the sun streaming in through the window, and most important, she could see the faces of the stunned people who sat, gapingly, around the table.

What that day, and the days that followed, were like for her! How ecstatic a moment it was to look at the faces over which she once had to be content to run her fingers. What a thrill it was to drink in with her eyes the loveliness of the lilacs that bloomed by the porch-side, which she had only been able to smell before, and to look at the litter of puppies out in the doghouse, when only a day earlier the most she could do was feel the warmth of the soft little bodies and hear their squeals. "No one," she said, "who has not experienced a moment like that can ever fully appreciate what it really means. No one can know second hand what it is like to replace the monotonous grey of sightlessness with vision. All of a sudden you wake up to a world you cannot imagine existed. There, before you, in brilliant array, is beauty that can be understood fully only by those who experience it as completely as possible."

I think that what she learned about the realm of physical seeing is true in the spiritual realm as well. There, too, is a world that cannot be known fully second hand. The Bible, one of the chief resources for understanding that realm, is a case in point. Until one opens its pages and sees and experiences what is there for himself, he will never have his own spiritual shades raised as high as they can be. And yet the Bible, the Old Testament particularly, is a locked-up, untapped treasure for so many people. Somehow it is imagined by many to be outdated, irrelevant and impossible to understand. Hence, it frequently has been consigned to that "Never-Never-Land" of respected, but ignored, things, people and ideas.

And that consignment is tragic because in that treasure chest are some of the most relevant, life-giving and life enriching experiences and perspectives one can encounter. The Commandments are among these. Because they have been so misunderstood, and have been so misapplied, though they have been bowed to in respect frequently enough, their potential for enlightening and enlivening the existence of people like you and I has been diminished. The Commandments for too long have been looked at as restrictions placed on happy living by a blue-nosed, straight-laced God. In fact, they really are yeasty prescriptions for zesty living given by a compassionate Creator to a people he loved so deeply. God did not give the Commandments to squeeze all of the juice out of living. He gave them in an attempt to help us understand the principles by which we have to relate to him, and to each other, in order to wring all of the juice out of it that life, at its best, has in it.

To understand this positive character of them, we have to keep in mind that the Commandments are not based upon a relationship founded on force, but on one built firmly on love. The tablets with the Commandments on them were not slapped into Moses’ hand by a beady-eyed God, holding a big fist over his head, snarling "Do this or else!" They were spoken by a Lord whose heart is as magnificent as he is, who in love gave to humanity these undying fundamentals of peace and harmony.

When you read them in the Hebrew you can see this. Most of the Commandments are written in a linguistic form that can be interpreted as indicative as well as imperative. That is, for the most part they point out a style of life that one should adopt because of his relationship to God. They are not a collection of rock-ribbed demands laid on the backs of his people by an insensitive deity. Only the Commandments dealing with the Sabbath and with parents are clearly written in the imperative. Hence, most of the Commandments, which in the Hebrew text of Exodus 20:1 are called simply "these words," can be translated "You will not" rather than "You shall not." That translation would get hold of the undergirding spirit of these guides for life by the right end.

The relationship between God and the people to whom he gave the Commandments was one in which love was central. The Commandments were revealed by God as part of the covenant he was making with the nation. That covenant, like many others similar to it in the ancient Near East, was a "contract" or "compact" in which two parties, here God and the Hebrews, agreed to deal with each other in a specific way.

The covenant being made at Mount Sinai was not a completely new one. Long before the Exodus, God had singled out the forefather of the people gathered at the foot of the mountain when he had chosen Abraham to enter a bond with him. An incurable lover, God had looked around to find someone sensitive enough to understand his longings for fellowship and to respond positively to them. When he found such a man, the basis or the relationship that was to exist was laid down in a concise and far-reaching formula, "You shall be my people and I shall be your God."

On his part, the Lord would do all that a deity should. He would watch over his people, supply their needs, and show continual concern for the direction of their lives. His covenant partners, in turn, were to respond to him in a way befitting their love for their God. They would love him, respect him, serve him and obey him. In a word, they would be as faithful to God as he would be to them. Hence, the style of life that would be lived between God and his people was to be determined by how much each meant to the other. Their relationship was to bear the marks of the love each had for the partner to whom they were bound.

If God was loved enough to be central in their lives, his people would act in ways that demonstrated that. If he, indeed, were their Lord then it simply would follow as a matter of course that they would have no other gods before him (he would be number one); they would not treat his name as though it were nothing (he would mean too much for them to handle in that way); they would remember the Sabbath day and set it apart for a special purpose (on that day they would try to refocus on what God’s creative work meant for them and their lives).

Moreover, if God held first place in their lives then that love for him would affect the way they related to everyone that he had created. Because he was the father of all men, each of his people would learn to live with one another as brothers. Understanding this, they would not murder each other, or lie about or slander each other, or steal from one another. Other people, not linked to God in the love-pact might do that, but they would not. And this style of life would be lived out not because God threatened to clobber them for failing to do so. His people would so live because they loved God, and out of that love, wanted to shape their lives in a way that would be pleasing to him and good for themselves.

In many ways the relationship between God and his people is like the relationship cemented by a man and woman in marriage. The same basic attitudes are involved in both cases. When two persons come together to pledge themselves to each other, the bond they are forming is being fashioned out of love, not out of fear. As they stand there looking at each other, holding the hand of each other, they pledge to keep each other first in the realm of human relationships, "Forsaking all others I will keep myself only for you so long as we both shall live." That will mean that through thick and thin, "for better or worse," through bad times as well as good, "in sickness and in health," they will "hang in there" and strive to make their relationship work. No amount of force can make those promises hold. Love is the only glue that can cement them so that they will last through a lifetime. If that love is not present then unhappiness and splits in the relationship are inevitable. If love is there then even trouble will serve to drive the partners of that bond closer together, rather than farther apart.

Within that love-pact both of the partners have responsibilities to each other. The loyalty of each toward the other is needed to make the marriage work. The same thing is true of the covenantal relationship between God and his people. Each of us, God and man, are to be loving and loyal toward each other. The Commandments point out what that love relationship looks like as it is lived out.

A second thing that we should remember as we look at the commandments is that essentially they were given to us by God for our good, not for his. Even if we do not live them out that does not affect God’s position. He is God whether we acknowledge and live our lives in light of the fact or not.

The Commandments were revealed to keep us from destroying ourselves and our fellows. That may have been one of the reasons why the majority of them deal with man’s relations with man. In his love and wisdom God well knew that we needed some specific directions for living if we were to do that healthily. To that end, he set down these basic guidelines about how we are to respect each other in order for the race to flourish rather than devour itself.

How each Commandment affects us, and why it was given, we shall see as we deal with them individually. Here it is important to understand that the basis for them all is two-fold.

First, the Commandments rest upon a high view of the worth of a person. Behind them is the conviction that man is the highest form of God’s creation. Because he is this, each person is to be treated with the reverence he or she deserves by virtue of his humanity. There is a basic equality of all men assumed by the Commandments. There are no double standards written into them, so that one value is placed on this life and a lower one on that one. Each man, king or pauper, priest or layman, is of equal dignity. We have this worth not because of what we own, or can do, or the connections we have, but because of what we are. Because we are men, whether black or white, genius or mentally retarded, ten-talented or one-talented, we are to be treated and regarded as the sacred people we are. No one, but no one, is to trample a man under foot as though he is worthless. Each of us, by virtue of being a person, must be handled lovingly. The Commandments are based on that principle.

Second, the Commandments assume that man was made for communal living. That is, that you and I were fashioned by God not to live alone or in isolation from each other. An animal, if cut off from its own, can grow up to be a reasonable facsimile of its kind. That is not so with a man. To reach our full personhood we must live with other men, and, in the living, learn from one another some of the basic lessons of what it means to be human.

To live together demands that we must observe certain guidelines so that we do not trample one another. We must exercise self-restraint in order for each of us to be enabled to develop as a person. No violation of other people, or ourselves, can long be tolerated without disaster coming for us all eventually. If the integrity and freedom of others is cut off so that we may do as we please the repercussions of that style of life soon will be felt by humanity as a whole.

The Commandments set down the handful of pointers that are geared to prevent us from doing that. The individual statements have as their focal points those areas of life that must be safe guarded for our existence to be as rich as possible.

One of those areas singled out for concern is the family. The Commandments "Give weight to your father and mother" and "You will not commit adultery," hone in on this issue. The family is the basic school for the formation of human character. It is the nursery of personality. If the solidarity of that unit is undercut, and its deep-running ties are ripped loose, the results of its distruction will create shock waves that will make all of society shudder, as we are now learning.

The individual is front and center, too. Those assaults upon him that belittle or warp him are prohibited as well. The strictures "You will not commit adultery," "You will not murder," "You will not steal," "You will not lie about your neighbor," and "You will not want what is your neighbor’s for yourself," are all positive in their intentions for your life and mine. They have been posted as warnings by God that if we do the things he declares to be out-of-bounds to one another we are going to destroy them, and ourselves. Because we are too precious for that to happen, we need to be on guard against those actions that devalue the worth as person’s God gave us when he brought us into being.

The point of all of these Commandments, you see, is not to make life confining, uninteresting or a bore. It is just the opposite. The Commandments were given to set us free to live life in a way that is enriching and sane. They guide us into a pattern of life that makes it possible for us to live with the people next door, on the next block, and in the next city, as well as with the person who sleeps in the same house, and maybe in the same bed with us, without being at each others throats. If they were understood that way, and kept in that spirit, there would be peace among men instead of the hell that so often exists.

A third preliminary to keep in mind in dealing with the Commandments is that the principles for living they line out are as valid today as they were at the time when they were given by God. Moreover, they are just as central for the lives of Christians as they ever were for the Hebrews who camped at Sinai. In the years since the Commandments had their inception the basic issues of life have not changed, nor has man himself. While our technology has changed the crucial, gut-level principles that govern our lives together, as well as our relationship to God, have not changed.

Some people, somewhere, somehow, have gotten the faulty idea that Jesus set aside these basic rules for living. There are those who believe that Jesus declared them "null and void" for his followers. Never! What he did say was, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19). Rather than wipe out these guides for life recorded in the Old Testament, Jesus stressed the need for the same sort of relationship to exist between man and man, and man and God, that God had in mind when he revealed the Commandments. The relationship based on love and loyalty, mutual concern and regard, the idea of a covenant of fidelity binding two partners together, was to continue for the Christian.

Jesus had numerous opportunities to cancel the Commandments. One day, in particular, while he was teaching, a group of Pharisees gathered around him to question him about his understanding of man’s relationship to God. They had been hearing all sorts of conflicting and disturbing stories about this young rabbi from Nazareth, and they wanted to test him on a crucial point. They got right to the heart of the matter with their first question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22:36). That query gave Jesus all the chance he needed to deny any need for the commandments at all. At that moment he could have declared that men were free from any of these standards for living. But he didn’t do that! His answer reinforced the value of the Commandments for his people, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind (See Deuteronomy 6:4-5). This is the great and first Commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (See Leviticus 19:18.) On these two Commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).

In this exchange Jesus served notice that none of these provisions for living was being cut off. Later, he would add to them (John 15:12), and, in some cases, give them broader applications. Time and again he simply reiterated what had been known by God’s people for ages ... that love for God and for our brothers ought to provide the direction for our lives.

Saint Augustine said the same thing centuries later. His statement, "Love God and do as you please" sounds almost libertine until you remember the first part of the line, "Love God ..." If you love God you will strive to develop a life style in which you will do what is best for all men as well as by doing that which will honor God himself.

If you love God you will strive to keep the first three Commandments. You will try to keep him first, treat his name with honor, and keep his day with reverence. No one will have to drive you to do those things. You will attempt them as a natural course.

If you love God you will endeavor to so shape your life as to live lovingly with what God has created. You will try to enrich people’s existance with affirmation and assistance and concern, not make it a shambles by using them in a way that destroys their sense of worth and dignity. The aim of the final seven Commandments is to help us set ourselves and others free so we may become the vibrant and whole persons God intended us to be.

In every case, love, not force, is at the heart of the Commandments. They are directives for living that we are to follow because we love God and one another, not because we live in dread of either. If fear is the only prod we have for obeying what they teach, then, inevitably, these rules for life will become dead weights hung around our necks that sooner or later will rub us raw.

So are the Commandments a bunch of blue-nosed laws laid upon our backs to make our lives bland and tasteless? Were they given by God as a penalty by which he tried to squeeze all of the juice out of living for us?

Heavens, no. They are the key to life as it should be lived so that we might wring out of every day all of the zest and tang and holiness and health that it has in it.

To understand this is to have our eyes opened to see these Commandments in the light in which our loving God gave them.

CSS Publishing Co., Inc., And God Spoke ..., by Frank H. Seilhamer