Exodus 20:1-11

Then God spoke all these words:¹

"I am the Lord your God,² who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;³ you shall have no other gods before me.⁴

You shall not make for yourself an idol,⁵ whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.⁶

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God,⁷ for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.⁸

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.⁹ For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.¹⁰ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.^11"

1 Very clear about the source of the words if it is to be taken literally in the manner than many people imagine today. The development of the particular words in the law can be an interesting conversation, but one in which even entertainment of any idea other than the official dogma of a particular church domination can lead to shunning or condemnation for the one who openly entertains such thoughts.

2 God first asserts his identity based on who He is.

3 Then declares his identity based on what He has done for the Israelites.

4 Some see the “jealousy” in this law as a bad thing, but it is central to the integrity of the rest of the law. If Israel places other gods before the Lord, then what is to keep them from also placing other commandments before the Lord's commandments?

5 A subset of the 1^st commandment. Violation of the 2^nd commandment would lead to a violation of the 1^st.

6 God portrays His love as hundreds of times more lasting than His rejection.

7 Preserves the integrity and authority of the Lord's name. Shows the deep importance of naming in culture, something that is true in every culture but is particularly explicit in the Bible.

8 Such a strong statement of judgment for what we would usually think would be a minor transgression.

9 Preserves a time to focus on God.

10 Unlike the first three commandments, which are solely focused on the interaction with God, this commandment details how the interaction with God mixes into the interaction with the community, even including animals.

11 There are many good, practical reasons to practice a Sabbath (physical rest for man, animal, and land; opportunity for reflection outside of work; the chance for the community to gather rather than being separated at workplaces), but none of those are made explicit here. Instead, the focus is on the sabbath being for the Lord.

Take-home: Summing up the first four commandments, if our focus is on God alone, if you keep His name holy, and if you regularly set aside a specific time as a time holy for Him, then the object of your worship will remain clear. This groundwork is necessary for the other commandments to have weight beyond “moral suggestions”, but it also points profoundly to the importance of relationship with God at the foundation of life, regardless of the other “do”'s and “don't”'s.