This is that fiftieth day, and God is going to give us the ten commandments. At the completion of the commandments, we will start receiving the General Laws to govern the nation of Israel. They were given on mount Sinai to Moses on the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day following the Passover. The number in the parenthesis ( # ) indicates the order of the ten commandments.

Exodus 20:1 "And God spake all these words, saying,"

(1) Exodus 20:2 "I am the Lord thy God, Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage." 

Exodus 20:3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

This is the first of the ten commandments, and our God is a jealous God. He will not allow any man to worship any part of His creation. God created all things on the earth, in the universe and under the sea. He will not allow His creation to be worshipped. Only an idiot would worship a stick or a system created by man.

(2) Exodus 20:4 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath the earth:"

This doesn't stop us for doing a work of art for the simple pleasure of man. An image is something that doesn't exist, but it's form is worshipped from the mind. If you wear a cross, do you worship it, or is it a symbol of your faith in the True Christ? A picture of Jesus is really a man taking the place of Christ in the picture. You don't bow to the picture, but it becomes a reminder of the Lord's faithfulness to you as one of His Own. Nothing is an idol until you worship it. Don't mess around with the unknown when God speaks very clearly to us as to what we are, and are not to do with respect to our placing God first in our lives.

Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and forth generation of them that hate me;"

We are not to worship any graven image, or the likeness of anything that has been created by God or man. A Christian simply does not serve any form of gods, nor systems created by any man. Our God is a jealous God, and He will not stand for idolatry. When we come to the part; "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and forth generation of them that hate me;" Why would God take out his anger on the kids of those fathers that fell into idolatry? Friend, that is not what this says says in the manuscripts; Pay attention to the condition that exists for this to happen. God will visit the iniquity of the fathers to the hundredth generation if those children continue in the idolatry of their fathers. The point is that once the father sets the standard for worship into idolatry, and the children of future generation follow in those footsteps, each generation there-after will receive the same condemnation as the forefather that started that wicked sinful tradition.

God is saying I will visit the sin of the fathers upon the children to the third and forth generation if they continue in father bad habits of idolatry. If their father hates God, and they hate God just like their father does, then they are no different than their father before the Lord. However if that son learns to love God, then he is no longer God enemy, but a son of the living God. God will not visit them for their iniquity of sin, because their sins is gone, washed under the blood of Christ through their repentance in Jesus name. We serve a Living loving God.

Exodus 20:6 "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments."

God will show "mercy and His love to thousands of them that show their love to Me", and practice by following My commandments. It's entirely up to you whether you will be loved or hated by God, and that depends entirely on your attitude and obedience to His Word and His Ways. Even if your father hated God, if you love and revere Him, God will show his love and mercy to you. God will not punish a child for the sins of his or her father; it just won't happen. You get punished for your sins and only your sins.

Genesis 6:9 "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

The Bible tells us it will take 10 generation from a child's generation to where the blood line will be pure to whatever race that child decides to follow from that first generation. That is just nature taking its course, and has nothing to do with sins, nor God's love or hatred to that child. Its called breed or pedigree. In the case of Noah, that is what caused God to do away with all flesh except Noah and his family, and to of a kind. God found Noah and his family pure in the case of pedigree.

Remember the fallen angels, the Nephilim, came to earth and married the daughters of men, and "children" [What ever the breed was] were born to that supernatural mixture. They mixed the blood line that Christ would be born through, to spoil the perfect plan of God. Noah and his family did not take part in that inbreeding of flesh with the supernatural and God favored Noah and his family. "Perfect" as given in the Hebrew text is "Tamin", which means "without blemish as to breed or pedigree". Where as "Generations" in the Hebrew text is "Toledoth" which is "family history".

The point I am trying to bring out here is that God did not like the mixed breeding because of the first and second influx of fallen angels, and remember that the coming Messiah would be coming from this band of the tribes of Israel, through the Levi and Judah tribes, and God did not want that lineage polluted, as it was in the days of Noah. This set of ten commandments are given to Israel for a reason, they are the chosen ones that the Christ child would be born into, and salvation to all mankind would come through the sacrificial death of God's only begotten Son on the cross at Calvary's hill. There is a purpose for each and every part of our Lord's plan for this earth age of flesh man.

(3) Exodus 20:7 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."

There are not to many people that can do this, for there are not many people that know the true name of God, YHVH, or "I AM THAT I AM". To take His name in vain, is to really curse God. Within all mankind is that nature to be against anyone that curses God and takes His name in vain. When you raise a child in the ways of the Lord, he will not soon depart from those ways. It is a very serious thing for one that has full knowledge of the sacred name of God to take that name lightly and in vain.

(4) Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill all of the blood statutes and ordinances, but the rest of the law still stands, including each of these ten commandments. In the case of this fourth commandment, Jesus did not destroy this commandment, but He became our Sabbath. He became our Sabbath just as He became our Passover. Jesus is the highest day of Christianity. I Corinthians 5:6, 7 "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" [6] "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." [7]

Therefore we keep the feast day of Passover not as they did before, but through truth and sincerity. Christ is our Passover. God told us to remember the Sabbath or rest day to keep it holy. That rest day was made for man in his flesh body, as Jesus taught us from the New Testament.

Exodus 20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:"

Exodus 20:10 "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:"

Sabbath was made for a rest day for man, and his animals. However it also states in Hebrew 4 that just as Jesus was became our Passover, He also became our Sabbath or rest, and we enter into that rest in Jesus Christ by our faith in Him. So each day becomes our sabbath to where we cease from our own works, and enter into the works of God. In verse eleven: "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." There is no other rest than to be in Christ.

To the priest the Sabbath becomes a work day, for all priest work on the Sabbath. However, in that each member of the body of Christ is a priest unto God, it becomes a workday to us also. Historically the first day of the new year was at the spring Vernal Equinox, and that marked the first day of the new year. So we can see the way that the days that are marked today by our modern day calendars are not true markings of God's Sabbath days. Today's calendar is man's device to regulate time for his own well being. Saturday is not the true Sabbath, but it is accepted by man as being so. Saturday was named by man after Satan's planet, Saturn. The Sabbath day falls on the true Sabbath on God's solar calendar, and in that Christ became our Sabbath, we must be in Christ each and every day of the year. If you have come to respect the day as sacred, rather than focusing on Christ continually, it would be good to do a study on Colossians chapter two and read what Paul had to say about the Sabbath.

If you think that the priests have keep this date sacred down through the years to the time of Christ, go read Ezra 8:15. There wasn't one Levitical priest that returned out of captivity with Ezra to rebuild the temple and worship practice in Jerusalem. We read in the I Chronicles 2:55 exactly who it was that returned to set up the practice, for it was the Kenites that set the standards along with their traditions. The Kenites, those sons of Satan through Cain from the Garden of Eden were in charge; and their traditions were what they set up to be the standard for the religious order in Jerusalem. They sat in Moses seat, yet played their own games at the temple. They sold their mite infested birds, and collected God's tithes in their coffers. though they presented themselves as being of God, Jesus saw right through them, and told them so in John 8:44.

John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

In the Hebrew, the term "Kenite" mean offspring or sons of Cain. We know from Genesis 4 that Cain was the first murderer when he murdered his brother Abel. Satan the Devil was the first liar from the garden of Eden, that cause the sexual union between Eve and himself, and from that union came Cain. Cain is not of Adam but Satan. If you are still believing that the sin of the Garden of Eden was eating an apple, then sleep on, for the rest of the Scripture is out of your understanding. If you do not know who the Kenites are or what their mission is, then there is no way for you to understand much of the Scriptures, for the Kenites are the negative part of God's plan for this earth age of flesh man that is almost over.

Jesus came some five hundred years later, after Ezra had returned to Jerusalem, and when He preached the true Gospel of Christ, the Kenites sought to murder him. Every time Jesus turned around, there was a Kenite with murder on his mind. The Nethinims took over the priesthood, and these foreigners given to service tried to carry on the duties of the priest, yet their traditions interfered with the duties of the Levitical priesthood. Yet even today in their ignorance, people sware by the traditions that they have accepted by those Kenites to be fact.

Any church that swears that the priest keeps the exact day, simply doesn't know what calendar they are going by, Satan's lunar or God's solar calendar. Friend, the point to this forth commandment is that Christ became our Sabbath when He became our Passover Lamb, and rose from the dead. You and I can now rest continually every day of the week in Christ. If you love the Lord you can worship any day of the week, and each time becomes a very special day to you.

Exodus 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

That seventh day is a hallowed day, for Christ is our Sabbath.

(5) Exodus 20:12 "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

This is the first law that gives us a promise; that if we keep it, God will bless and extend our life. By honoring your mother and father, God will give you a good long life here in the flesh. When something comes up where it looks impossible to give honor to a parent for something that they have done in the past. The point here then is to simply honor that individual for bringing you into this world, whereby you have the opportunity to serve God and be blessed. This is not telling you to approve or disapprove of what that parent did or does, but only that you recognize that person that God placed over you at at conception and at birth.

The first five commandments have a connection directly to our heavenly Father, as being Divine. They are spiritual in nature. While the next five commandments, six through ten all deal with civil commands, relationships between you and your neighbor. When we respect our neighbor, his family, and wealth with respect; then there will be peace between you and that neighbor. The fifth verse does not deal with your neighbor, but your family, and family ties are binding not just in this earth age, but in the age to follow. Family will stand by you when the rest of the world would turn against you.

(6) Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill."

This is the first of the civil commandments. "Kill" as used here in the Hebrew text is "murder". It is # 7523 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary; "ratsach, raw-taskh'; a prime root, prop. to dash to pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder, to put to death, to murder." Jesus talked about this commandment in Matthew 5:21; "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, "Thou shalt not kill"; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment:" Then He went on to say:

Matthew 5:22 "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, `Raca,' shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, `Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

In the text there is a difference between the English and the Greek for the word, "brother". This word "brother" is "an Israelite by nation and blood"; while a "neighbor" was "an Israelite by religion and worship practice", which was also called a "Proselyte". Both are of God, and not heathen, for they are attached as God's people through blood by birth, and/or drawn into the congregation in their religion and worship practice.

The word "Raca" in the English, is "an expression of showing discuss with a person, when it isn't merited". Jesus then was telling us that it could get you in trouble with those around you, for it is a form of slander that w as used in Jesus day. The council was the Sanhedrin, or the courts of the land.

The word "fool" as used here is not as we use it today, but in the Greek tongue "moros", and was always considered a wicked reprobate, lacking all spiritual and divine knowledge and values. So you would be saying that this person was void of all spiritual values, and given over totally to the devil. Today the term fool is one that lacks good judgment in his decision making, which has nothing to do with the "Moros" of this verse.

However as we go beyond Exodus 21 we will be discussing the term "murder" in greater detail, so that we can better understand what murder is and what God thinks of it. In the Greek "to kill" is murder; #5406 "phoneus; fon-yooce'; murderer, always of criminal [intentional] homicide." The Bible applies capital punishment to criminal homicide, and that soul of the murderer is sent back to the Father for judgment. God is the only One that truly judges that soul. Every murderer will stand in God's heavenly court to be judged for that act with the victim at hand. There are no unsolved cases in that court, no trials that go bad, and no crooked judges in God's court. It's your soul that is judged in that court, and there is no salvation for your soul until you clear that heavenly court and God gives you the okay.

I John 3:15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiden in him."

I John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

A murderer cannot have salvation in his soul, because he is not suppose to be living. He is to be executed and sent to the Father for judgment. This is done so others will see it, and these things will cease to exist among you: Deuteronomy 19:1-13. However, to kill is honorable when it protects family and nation. But to murder, to lie in wait and premeditate is to commit a criminal homicide. This should carry the death sentence, and is unforgivable while you are in the flesh body.

(7) Exodus 20:14 "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

(8) Exodus 20:15 "Thou shalt not steal."

Just like the seventh command, stealing has it bases in lust. If someone stole something from you, and made restitution, then I'm sure you would forgive them. Stealing is against the law of our land, and the laws of God. The laws of our land in America happens to be framed from the laws of God. Our Constitution was written by God fearing men, and the Scriptures were their teacher.

(9) Exodus 20:16 "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

This goes much deeper than just "don't lie"; for it even gets into the realm of gossip. God is telling you that what ever you do against your neighbor falsely, God will pour that on you also double. Those that bear false witness, and have the wagging tongue are on God's hit list. Next time you get the temptation to wag your tongue about that neighbor, even if it is true, you let God be the judge, and not you. God will double the load on your wagon if you defame your neighbor. You may think that you are right, but you do not know the thoughts of that man or woman's mind, or the full intent of what took place, but God does. So let God be the judge of that neighbor. Know this, that God will take care of what ever the problem is, and it will be taken care of, for God has His ways of correcting people.

(10) Exodus 20:17 "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 an thing that is thy neighbour's"

This commandment has to be divided up in parts to deal with each aspect of the commandment. This deals with your family and your neighbor's family. In the word "covet" we can go from desirable to lust. Our position here is not to look on any part of your neighbor's wealth or family with desire to obtain; other then to wish him well with what he has. In this case looking upon the neighbor's wife, is in the form a fornication, not adultery. The offspring as the result of fornication is not a "mamzer", for there is a difference between the violations of the two commandments. Again, the offspring of fornication is not a mamzer. 

However there is sin that does fall on the adults that fall into fornication. Sin is sin, and it falls on the one knowingly doing the sin, not on the innocent child that was the result of that sin. If the Word goes against your traditional though, then get in line with the Word of God. Don't find your neighbor's wife delightful to yourself. This goes for anything that your neighbor has; his servants, and his property. When you love your neighbor as yourself, then you will be happy following the last five commandments.

We have seen that God gave these ten commandments to Moses on that very special day that we call Pentecost. The fiftieth day following Passover, the day that the children of Israel started their trip back to the promise land. This also is special for the other reason that God introduced himself to the Children of Israel personally. The earth shook, the storm brought the thunder and lightning, and in the dark clouds God spoke to the People. How did they receive the Father. They ran far off scared out of their minds, for it was an awesome thing.

Exodus 20:18 "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."

As God is giving them these instruction, the People saw the storm striking all around them, the lightning's and thunder, with the mountain blowing before them, and they ran. God blew his trumpet, and the people shook. God did this to the show the People that it was Him standing before them. Moses was not making up a story here and lying to them.

Exodus 20:19 "And they said unto Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us lest we die."

God scared these People right out of their boots, and they wanted no more dealings directly with God. They became satisfied to have Moses do the meeting with God and relaying God's message back to them. From this time on the majority will have given up their right to go directly to God, by the words that they have just spoken. That is why God picked certain people to deal with down through the years, that will listen and obey His Words.

Exodus 20:20 "And Moses said unto the People, "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that He fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not."

Moses is telling the People that they have nothing to worry about, for God is only here to test you and show you His power and control of all forces. God wants your reverence, and obedience to do and follow the commands that He has just given you. God has the power and authority to correct you when you need it.

Exodus 20:21 "And the People stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was."

As the People stood watching from a far, Moses headed back into the thick darkness where God was. Moses had love and respect for God, and the instructions that He would be giving to him.

Exodus 20:22 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, `Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven."

God is telling Moses to remind the Children of Israel that they now have seen God talking to them, from His throne in heaven.

Exodus 20:23 "Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold."

So now God is going back and giving a double witness to the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me". He is combining this with the second commandment; "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:" When you start setting up images to bow down to, or things people have made with their hands or mind to put before God, you are asking for trouble. Be careful how you take on doctrines and traditions that go against God holy Word. When you are worshipping a false doctrine, you are breaking this commandment of God, and committing idolatry.

If you are in a church that is following a tradition that goes against God's Word, then you are in violation of this commandment, and putting something before God. God's Word should always be our final authority.

Exodus 20:24 "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thy oxen: in all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."

The "Altar of earth", is an altar made of clay. Notice that each of these animals are clean animals, animals of sacrifice. God is swearing that He will bless you and come to you, in all the places where I record My name. So where are those places? The first was in Shiloh, then Bethel, and where ever God's name is placed and recorded, God is promising that He will be there also. If two or three are together calling on the name of the Lord, there God will be with you, for it is a promise from God to you personally. We don't make blood offerings of animals on clay altars anymore, for Christ was our sacrifice for one and all times. Where we meet in the name of Jesus Christ, the Begotten of the Father, the very Son of the Living God, there He will be also. When you pray, God will hear your prayers and He will answer them. Even so, we may not like the answer that He gives us, but He will answer us. This is why it become important to pray within the will of the Father. His Will is His Word. When you bless His name, You will get the blessing. When the Virgin Mary conceived, God said; You will call His name "Immanuel"; "God with us". That is God's name recorded for us. It is important that we know the sacred Name of God.

Exodus 20:25 "And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."

When you build an earthen altar and bring the first of the flock to me, I will bless you. That was the practice before the coming of Jesus Christ. However Jesus came in the volume of the full book, and He made the Sacrifice for one and all times. God was telling Moses that when you make me an alter of stone, man can do nothing to form that altar of stone, if man touches a tool to that altar, it is polluted, and worthless. Man can do nothing by himself to build the alter to God. Use natural rock. Only God can make the perfect sacrifice for sin and Jesus is our Rock that we build our foundation upon. Jesus came to take away the need for blood sacrifices for one and all times.

Hebrews 10:7 "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God."

When our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He made the all time sacrifice to fulfill all the prophecies and promises in the entire Scriptures. From that moment when Jesus Christ gave up the Spirit, there was no more need that any sacrificial blood should be shed for the price had been paid.

Hebrews 10:8 "Above when He said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein;" which are offered by the law;"

God no longer wants your burnt animals in sacrifice, I want your love. Today you sacrifice your love to God. God loved you enough that He did not save His Son off that cross, but allowed Jesus to die so that you could be drawn back to Him in love. God put His son in your place, so He could have you with Him throughout all eternity. That is how precious you are to Him. Don't ever downgrade yourself, for you are precious in God's sight.

Hebrews 10:9 "Then said He, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God," He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second."

When Christ died, it was sufficient to take away all sin for those that by faith would believe.

Hebrews 10:10 "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

We have the list of the commandments here in Exodus 21, and some of these commandments Christ would become. He would be the Sacrifice for one and all times. When Jesus died, the first sacrifice of lambs and goats was taken away, so that the second sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ could be established for one and all times. When Jesus died, all the blood sacrifices and blood ordinances were nailed to the cross. You don't pay attention to the old any more, for the New sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient for one and all times. Let the Holy Spirit touch you and take control of your life. He is with us and our Sabbath or rest every moment of our lives, so learn to rest in Him and lean on Him for protection from the fiery darts of Satan realm.

Exodus 20:26 "Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon."

Today men worry about women wearing men's clothing, well then men wore skirts. When the men folk started climbing steps, it became a problem so god is telling Moses that when you build an altar to Me, Don't make any steps to the altar, to show off your nakedness. So the approach to all altars of God had smooth gradual approaches. God is just telling Moses to use common sense when you set up your altars to worship Me.