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9-18-15. Exodus 20:12-17. Love Your Neighbor As Yourself-my devotional

9-18-15. Exodus 20:12-17. Love Your Neighbor As Yourself-my devotional

Exodus 20:12-17                                                                                          Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 20:17                                                                                         9-18-15

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”(NIV)

 love-your-neighbor-as-yourself

In our study of the first eleven verses of chapter 20, we learned about four commandments that dealt with God. The last six commandments concern our relationships with people. They are, with the exception of the 5th commandment, stated in the negative–“You shall not…” They limit our freedom by requiring us to respect the lives and property of others. Jesus summed up these ten commandments in a positive light. Matthew 22:36-40 reads, “’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)

 

We tend to think that we have freedom to do whatever we want. We do have a lot of freedom, but our freedom ends, when the expression of our freedom impinges on others’ rights. In this passage we will find several ways that we can be mindful of others and nurture godly relationships with others around us, so that our society can become strengthen and Christ may be glorified and we can live blessed lives.

 

We will also discover the ultimate reason for these commands. They are not given to us to just produce a strong and prosperous society. They are given to us to see our sinfulness and our great need for a Savior. Let’s see.

 

Part 1: Honor Your Parents, Even If They Don’t Deserve It (12)

 

This commandment has to do with the strengthening of the family unit. Verse 12 reads, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Parents have a special place in God’s sight. This command tells people to respect their parents.  In any society there must be respect within the basic building block of society, the family. Believers must honor their parents. We respect parents because they are parents, not because they are perfect.  Even those who find it difficult to get along with their parents are still commanded to honor them.

 

Some people think that they can never respect their parents because they don’t deserve our respect. They are correct in the fact that some parents don’t deserve to be respected. Some have sinned greatly against Jesus and against their family. But this command tells us that we must respect them anyways. Did we deserve God respect when he honored us one sidedly and granted us salvation? No.  We must extend the same grace to our parents. They may have sinned against us in the past and made many, many mistakes. But they are not always the same people. People change. God could have made them into new creations.

 

To honor one’s parents involves speaking well of them and politely to them. It means showing them courtesy and respect. It means following their teaching and their example as they put God first and foremost in their lives. But remember there is a limit to the honoring, for a Christian is not called to obey them if they are trying to get us to disobey God.

 

This command has a promise connected to it. “Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” To live in the land for generations and in peace, the Israelites would have to respect authority in the home and build strong families, laying a rock solid foundation. If a nation wants enjoy a long, and blessed existence, then they need to foster respect in the home.

 

The Soviet Union did not last long, nor did it prosper. One reason was that it did not foster respect for the parents. The children were taught in school about a young boy who turned his parents into authorities for disloyalty to the state. The boy was praised and the parents sent to the Gulag. There were bronze statues of this boy made. North Korea is in a sad state of affairs partly because parents are afraid that their kids will turn them into the authorities. In America, whole neighborhoods and communities are like disaster zones, partly because of the disrespect at home. One part of the solution is to get things together at home and obey this fifth command, “Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

 

Part 2: Respect And Uphold Your Neighbor (13-16)

 

God demands a basic respect for persons and property. Verses 13-16 read, “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

 

These four commandments are the foundation stones of an orderly society. There must be an orderly society in order for things like an economy to flourish. There must be safe neighborhoods for our young people to grow as human beings. There must be safe places for people to put their faith into practice. But this cannot happen when other people are violating other peoples’ rights.

 

These laws are a blessing from God. They define the limits of human freedom. Murder, adultery, stealing and lying to defame another person are expressly forbidden. Killing babies is wrong. Killing out of anger or violent crime is wrong too. Sex outside of marriage is wrong. Taking what belongs to another is wrong. Lying to destroy another’s character is wrong. Jesus makes these laws even stronger in his sermon on the mount. (Mt 5:17-48). Being careful that your own freedoms don’t impinge on another is right.

 

We can break these commands down a little and take a closer look.

 

The 6th commandment says, “You shall not murder.” Life is precious. Taking the life of another is serious issue. But Jesus made this commandment even tougher. He said that to harbor hatred for another person was also murder. (Mt 5:21,22) We must ask God to take hatred from our hearts and fill it with Christ’s love.

 

The 7th commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Basically, adultery is breaking one’s own marriage vows. This commandment shows God’s concern for the family. The family is the cornerstone of any society. God himself created it before The Fall. Marriage makes the husband and wife one flesh. Genesis 2:24. To break this scared union is a sin against mankind and the holy God. Human effort cannot preserve the family. Every family needs God’s help. But the goods news is that when we obey God’s commands, God will help us.

 

Jesus takes the 7th commandment to a higher level.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt 5:27,28) Who is innocent if you take obedience to this command to this level?

 

The 8th commandment says: “You shall not steal.”(15) This commandment tells us to recognize and respect the property of others. People feel violated if they have their personal property stolen. They can not have peace. My kids used to think that everyone was honest, until they started having expensive slip on athletic slippers and phone chargers and money stolen in school. They discovered a cold reality…people steal things. In some places in Africa, I have heard that a person needs to wear all of their clothes, because there is no where to store it and it will be stole if left alone. And so some people must wear two pairs of pants and two shirts. In Mexico I have heard how people build homes in sea crates because they can be locked and their personal belongings protected. They can have a certain measure of peace. In America we call robbery, “home invasion”. The owner can shoot a burglar and the full force of the law comes down on thieves and home invaders. God specifically warns against theft.

 

The 9th commandment says: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Giving false testimony means lying in court. Israel could not stand as a nation unless they had a strong judicial system. A lie or even a half truth that destroys the reputation of another person is a great sin. We need to be honest in our private and public statements. We give false testimony when they leave something out of a story, sprinkle in half truths, or twist the facts. God warns his people against deception. Though deception may be a way of life among the people around us, God’s people must never be tainted by it. They must rid their hearts of all lies and never spread them. Rather, they must be dedicate to speaking the truth.

 

Part 3: Be Happy With What God Gives You (17)

 

The 10th commandment is different from the others. The others deal with our human actions. This command deals with the motivations of the heart. Verse 17 reads, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 

This commandment has to do with one’s inner life, his motives and thoughts. Coveting is idolatry. To covet is wishing you had the property of others. It goes beyond simply admiring things. It goes to the point where you desire to have what others have and you don’t have. One’s actions spring from his inner life. And God sees the heart. Paul found that, although he could discipline himself to keep the other commandments, he could not control his inner thought world. He could not stop coveting. (Ro 7:7-8) He was so distressed about the extent of his covetous desires, that he cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death.” (Ro 7:24) Then he found the solution, “Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Ro 7:25a)

 

God knows that possessions can never make us happy for very long. God alone can supply our needs. True contentment is found only in him. Paul found this contentment. He states in Philippians 4:11-13, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Try to find out the core reason why you covet. Allow God to deal with the core issue and heal you of that.

 

This is actually a great commandment. It convicts even the most religiously pious person. A person can argue about the fact that he is sinner, saying, I never killed anyone. I never stole anything. I never committed adultery. They can argue that they love God because they go to church regularly. But no one can say that they have not coveted. Everyone has broken this command, millions of times over.

 

We can see the purpose of these commands. It is not to produce perfectly obedient citizens. It is not just to build a strong and prosperous society. It is to convict us of our sins and show us our deep need for a Savior. It was effective in convicting the super disciplined Apostle Paul so that he cried out to his Savior, Jesus.

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the great gift to mankind, the Ten Commandments. Build solid foundations in our society and show us our need for a Savior.

 

One Word: Respect the rights of others around us. Love your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

 

 




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