You shall not steal (Exod 20:15)
Exod 20:15 Stealing in the ancient Near East was a capital offence, but in Israel it only required restitution (reimbursement and additional compensation – Exod 22:1, 7, 9), hence it was of a different order from murder or adultery. On…
You shall not commit adultery (Exod 20:14)
Exod 20:14 The prohibition about adultery is the command that has lost the most weight in Western societies. Not only does marital unfaithfulness loom large on our TV screens but sexual promiscuity has become so commonplace that no one raises…
You shall not murder (Exod 20:13)
Exod 20:13 Perhaps the most fundamental command in any society is the prohibition of murder. In keeping with the rest of the Ten Commandments that focuses on larger principles, the word here, which is not the usual one for murder,…
Honouring parents (Exod 20:12)
Exod 20:12 Given the prominence of discussions relating to child abuse in our world, the command to honour parents may have become more controversial than it needs to be. Obviously, such a command should never be used to enforce obedience…
Sabbath rest II – cultivating restfulness (Matt 11:28-30)
Matt 11:28-30 In my last post, I reflected on the background to the Sabbath command within the OT, today I consider what we do with such a command. Should Christians keep a rest-day? Should it be on Saturday or Sunday?…
Sabbath rest I (Exod 20:8-11)
Exod 20:8-11 Symbolic actions can be hugely significant. They can transform our attitudes, as in the case of my friend who had a difficult relationship with her mother. She wrote her a letter and put into it all her anger…
Jealous God, intergenerational punishment (Exod 20:5)
Exod 20:5 In my last post on the second commandment I had no space to engage with two particular issues that causes concern for readers and I address them here. Jealous God The motivation clause in Exod 20:5 describes God…
Idols and not taking God’s name in vain (Exod 20:4-7)
Exod 20:4-7 We might wonder what meaningful application might be drawn from these two commandments for today. After all, making images of either God or other gods is hardly a temptation among evangelical Christians. In a similar way, not taking…
No other gods (Exod 20:1-3)
Exod 20:1-3 Most of us have met people who do not wish to be associated with the Church yet maintain that they are trying to be good and keep the Ten Commandments as a baseline. What they have in mind,…
Approaching God with reverence (Exod 19:16-25)
Exod 19:16-25 Christians often contrast our open approach to God (Heb 10:19-20) with the distance kept by Israel at Sinai (Exod 19:12-13). However, we should not drive too great a wedge between the OT people of God and ourselves and…