Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
It is very difficult to live around people who refuse to be truthful. I am thankful that God cannot lie and He does not lie. Jesus exposed the devil as the father of lies. We know that after the fall of man, both Adam and Eve knew how to lie. They did not need to be taught that. Cain lied in chapter 4. Lying is part of our fallen nature.
God began the commandments with the phrase: “thou shalt not”. That is God’s righteous standard. No human being can meet God’s holy standard. It is foolish for anyone to think they will get to heaven by trying to keep the Ten Commandments. James tells us:
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Trying to live by the Ten Commandments is not good enough. God demands perfection from us. He knows we are incapable of meeting that standard. The Ten Commandments teach us what God requires of man. They also teach us that it is impossible to meet God’s righteous standard on our own. That is why we need a Saviour. Those who are truly saved, do not look to Jesus Christ as a scapegoat that we call upon after we intentionally go against God’s will. Those who are truly born again, have been given a new heart with a desire to please God. Every born again Christian has the love of God in them. When a saved person sins, he or she seeks God’s forgiveness. Certainly the “old man” who is still there, wants the saved person to just ignore the sin and carry on as if it does not really matter. However, the “new man” cannot live with that and the Holy Spirit works in the heart of the saved person to help him to deal with the sin by confessing it to God and seeking His forgiveness.
The last commandment God gave Moses at this time was regarding the matter of covetousness. In the context, the word covet means an inordinate desire for something. God is not against people improving themselves or their surroundings. God blessed Solomon with riches and Solomon made Jerusalem something that was the envy of the world. The Temple was a magnificent building to look at during his reign.
What is wrong is when we desire things or even people in an unnatural manner. A man’s wife is his wife. No one has the right to desire that woman. A man’s house is his house and we do not need to keep up with the Joneses. The list goes on here. If you want a house and can afford it, build one. You do not need to compete with the neighbour or try to outdo him in your project. Just do a good job and make it presentable and functional. If you need an ox, work to purchase one. Don’t try to figure out how you can take away your neighbour’s ox.
Contentment is important for the child of God. When the love of God has Its proper place in a person’s life, then all the rest will find its place as well.
In our text, God impressed the importance of these words upon the people. Moses was in the mount with the Lord. The people were down below and they were to keep some distance from that mount.
We read in verse 18 that the people saw the thunderings, and the lightings and they heard the noise of the trumpet and they saw the mountain smoking. All of this caused the people to back off and stand back in awe of what they witnessed. That is a good thing. They had a very shallow attitude toward God up to this point. Their first response to a challenge was to complain. They needed to change their attitudes. They needed a change of heart. They needed to see God for Who He truly was.
The same is true today. We need to be in awe of God. He is the only One Who is “awesome”. There is nothing that man does that is awesome. We need a holy reverence for the Lord God.
In verse 19 we read that the people knew they were not fit to come near to God. They could be brought to that place, just as Moses could, but they were not in any position to be there in their present state.
God was revealing Himself to them as He truly is. Today, we must understand that we have no right to enter into the presence of the Lord on our own. We need to understand that we need the righteousness of Christ in us. He is the Mediator between God and man.
Jesus taught the disciples how they could approach this holy God. His name is to be hallowed. If we want to come into His presence we need to come in Jesus’ name. He provides the only way for sinful man to be acceptable before a holy God.
There needs to be an honest recognition of Who God Is. We can approach Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can find grace to help in time of need. It is important to know the true God personally through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not need a corrupt priest to pretend he has access to God. He has access to a god, but not the true God. We also need to understand we do not just try our best to please God. We need to submit to His will and trust Him to guide and direct us. When we, those who are saved, sin against Him, we need to confess that sin to Him and seek His forgiveness.
The Ten Commandments are a constant reminder of God’s righteous standard. They are not a check list to try to achieve on our own. Any honest person knows he cannot meet that holy standard. In Christ we can please God. Know Him and serve the Lord with humility and truth.
Pastor Bartel
