Are the Ten Commandments outmoded expectations or divine demands?

Today's Bible Study:

Are the Ten Commandments outmoded expectations or divine demands?

People make a serious error when they speak about “breaking the Ten Commandments.” History amply displays the fact that people persist in breaking themselves on the Ten Commandments. They represent God’s absolute and unchanging standard despite any arguments over their interpretation and application.

The title “Ten Commandments” comes from Moses (Ex. 34:28). The emphasis on God Himself speaking and writing these words makes unacceptable any theories of Israel’s borrowing legal patterns or concepts from surrounding nations.

The Ten Commandments may be grouped into two broad categories: the vertical—humanity’s relationship to God (Ex. 20:2–11); and the horizontal—humanity’s relationship to the community (Ex. 20:12–17). By these Ten Commandments, true theology and true worship, the name of God, family honor, life, marriage, property, truth, and virtue are well protected.

©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE

Reading for Today:

Exodus 19:1–20:26

Psalm 18:37-45

Proverbs 6:20-25

Matthew 22:23-46

Notes:

Exodus 19:4 bore you on eagles’ wings. With a most appropriate metaphor, God described the Exodus and the journey to Sinai. Eagles were known to have carried their young out of the nests on their wings and taught them to fly, catching them when necessary on their outspread wings. Moses, in his final song, employed this metaphor of God’s care for Israel and especially noted that there was only one Lord who did this (Deut. 32:11–12).

Proverbs 6:25 lust. Sexual sin is rooted in lust (imagination of the sinful act), as implied in Exodus 20:17 and addressed by Christ in Matthew 5:28. This initial attraction must be consistently rejected (James 1:14, 15).

Matthew 22:45 David then calls Him ‘Lord.’ David would not have addressed a merely human descendant as “Lord.” Here Jesus was not disputing whether “Son of David” was an appropriate title for the Messiah; after all, the title is based on what is revealed about the Messiah in the Old Testament (Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5) and it is used as a messianic title in 1:1. But Jesus was pointing out that the title “son of David” did not begin to sum up all that is true about the Messiah who is also “Son of God” (Luke 22:70). The inescapable implication is that Jesus was declaring His deity.