Read Exodus 20 -- 22
In Today's Reading:
You shall be holy men unto me (Exodus 22:31) -- Can you imagine hearing the voice of the Creator speaking -- there was thunder, lightning, noise of trumpets and the mountain smoking! High atop Mt. Sinai, God revealed the moral, civil, and ceremonial laws.
Verses for Today:
I am the Lord. . . . You shall have no other gods before Me . . . And showing mercy to . . . them that love Me, and keep My Commandments (Exodus 20:2-3).
Highlights:
Ten Commandments and other laws and regulations given.
The Ten Commandments reveal all the potential sins of mankind, as well as the absolute perfection of God.
If God had commanded less than what is perfect, He would have been compromising, which He cannot do. However, it is impossible, humanly speaking, for a person to keep the Law perfectly, whereby the mind, body, and spirit will be in total obedience to the Law, because the carnal (natural) mind is enmity against (the enemy of) God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8:7). No one, except Christ Himself, has ever lived a lifetime without sinning.
Mankind fell from God's created perfection when Adam sinned. How true the Scripture is that says: All have sinned, and come short (far shorter than we can understand) of the glory of God (His perfect will for us) (3:23).
Everyone has the characteristics of the fallen nature passed down from Adam: There is none that seek after God and His will (3:11). By accepting Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives, we receive His nature, for then the Spirit of God indwells every believer (8:9). Only then will our spirit agree with the Lord that His Word is good, right, holy, and just. Then our inward desire will be to do what He has commanded (1 John 4:5-6).
For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak (unable to respond) through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (humanity), and (as an offering) for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness (requirement) of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after (according to) the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
A Thought from Proverbs: The Commandment is a lamp; and the Law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids (6:23-25).
Christ Revealed:
The perfection of Christ is revealed through the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). He was perfect and without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He also gave us a New Commandment -- That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34).
Word Studies:
20:5 visiting = punishing; 20:13 kill = murder; 21:14 come presumptuously upon = willfully attacks; 21:16 stealeth = kidnaps; 21:19 be quit = go unpunished; 21:22 fruit depart = miscarry; 21:28 quit = guiltless; 21:29 were wont = has tried before; 22:2 breaking up = breaking in; 22:14 ought = anything; 22:24 wax hot = flare up; 22:25 usurer = money lender.
Prayer Needs:
Government Officials: Rep. Bart Gordon (TN) and Rep. Mike Thompson (CA) · Pray for the missionary ministries · Country: Philippines (79 million) in Southeast Asia · Major languages: Filipino and English · Religious persecution in some areas · 64% Roman Catholic; 11% Protestant; 8% indigenous Catholic; 8% Muslim; 7% cults · Prayer Suggestion: Declare the wondrous works of God with thanksgiving (Psalms 26:6-7).
Optional Reading: Matthew 24
Memory Verse for the Week: Matthew 5:5