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Welcome to this new Bible lesson! Let us pray together:
Our Father in heaven,
In a previous lesson, You have shown us in Your Word that there is a judgment in which our thoughts, words and actions will be examined.
We have also learned that Your Law will be the standard for this judgment. This is why we now wish to deepen our knowledge of Your Law.
Please grant us Your presence, so that our spirit and our heart may be opened to the truth You want to show us today.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Genesis 2:16,17
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
«Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.»
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From the very beginning, man received from God precise instructions about the things to do and not to do.
The aim of these laws was not to oppress man, but rather to show him the only way to happiness.
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Romans 5:12
By one man sin entered into the world.
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1 John 3:4
Sin is the transgression of the law.
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Romans 4:15
For where no law is, there is no transgression.
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Choosing to disobey God’s law, Adam became a sinner, thus separating himself from God.
If there had been no law in Adam’s time, he could not have been judged as a sinner, in other words, a transgressor of God’s law.
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Genesis 26:5
[The Lord said,]
«Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.»
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Kept by Adam and Eve, the commandments of God were thereafter taught from generation to generation.
We can see that, centuries later, Abraham knew these commandments well, and obeyed them.
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Exodus 1:13,14
And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor.
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.
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Exodus 12:40
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
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Thereafter, the Israelites were reduced to slavery for the better part of four centuries.
After their liberation from bondage to the Egyptians, God considered it advisable to give them His law once again, solemnly...
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Exodus 19:16,18
There were thunders and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. (...)
And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.
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Hebrews 12:21
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said,
«I exceedingly fear and quake.»
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The proclamation of the law was an unforgettable demonstration of power.
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Exodus 34:28
[The Lord] wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
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Deuteronomy 4:13
[The Lord] declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tables of stone.
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The text of the law, that is, the Ten Commandments, was written on two tablets of stone.
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Exodus 31:18
And [the Lord] gave to Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him on Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
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Exodus 32:16
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven on the tables.
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The Ten Commandments were of such a great importance in the eyes of God that He decided to write them Himself, with His own finger!
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Exodus 20:1,2
And God spoke all these words, saying,
«I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.»
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Thus begins the text of the law.
Let’s see what each one of God’s Ten Commandments consists of.
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First Commandment: Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before Me.
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Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
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The first Commandment asserts that there is only one God: the Lord, Author of the Law.
Any worship given to another than the Lord is given to Satan, «the god of this world» (2 Corinthians 4:4), the only other spiritual power working here below.
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Second Commandment (Part I): Exodus 20:4
You shall not make to you 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.
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1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
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The second Commandment strictly forbids any and all forms of idolatry, even the worship of God in the form of images or statues.
God wants to lift up our thoughts directly to Him, without the intermediary of any image.
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Second Commandment (Part II): Exodus 20:5,6
You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them.
For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.
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Let’s note that anything taking priority over God in our life is also an idol: it may be our work, our money, our family, our friends, our hobbies, etc.
God must come first, before and above all things.
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Third Commandment: Exodus 20:7
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
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Romans 2:23,24
You that make your boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonor you God?
For «the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,» as it is written.
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The Christian, when setting a bad example around him, also commits a form of blasphemy by taking the name of the Lord his God in vain.
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Fourth Commandment (Part I): Exodus 20:8-10
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates.
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The first four commandments summarize our duty towards God.
In the fourth commandment, God asks us to remember the seventh day, the Sabbath, to keep it holy by doing no secular work on that day.
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Fourth Commandment (Part II): 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.
Why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
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Genesis 2:3
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.
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The institution of the seventh day as the day of rest goes back to Creation.
We will return to this subject in a future lesson.
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Fifth Commandment: Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
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Ephesians 6:1-3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
«Honor your father and mother,» which is the first commandment with promise; «that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.»
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The last six commandments summarize our duty towards our neighbor.
First, respect of parental authority, leading the child to trust the Lord.
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Sixth Commandment: Exodus 20:13
You shall not kill.
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1 John 3:15
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
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The sixth commandment goes farther than murder: it also implies the respect of life, the negation of war, crime and suicide.
All demonstrations of hatred, all obstacles to the liberty of one’s neighbor, all underminings of others’ integrity, are condemned.
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Seventh Commandment: Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.
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Matthew 5:28
But I say to you, that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
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Here again, the commandment goes farther than it seems at first glance: indeed, simple lust of the eyes is a transgression of God’s law.
God therefore asks us to learn to control not only our deeds, but also our thoughts, through His power working within us.
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Eighth Commandment: Exodus 20:15
You shall not steal.
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Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.
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Any breach of others’ property goes against the eighth commandment.
We must earn what we need through conscientious and honest work.
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Ninth Commandment: Exodus 20:16
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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Zechariah 8:16,17
«These are the things that you shall do; Speak you every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,» said the Lord.
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Lies and gossip cannot serve God’s cause.
The word must be a tool for edification; and the Christian, a servant of the truth.
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Tenth Commandment: Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbor’s.
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1 John 2:17
And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God stays for ever.
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Covetousness, the root of all kinds of evil, led Adam and Eve to disobey God.
Today, it still leads millions of people into perdition.
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Romans 13:8-10
He that loves another has fulfilled the law.
For this, «You shall not commit adultery,» «You shall not kill,» «You shall not steal,» «You shall not bear false witness,» «You shall not covet,» and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
«You shall love your neighbor as yourself.»
Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
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Let’s remember: the first four commandments summarize our duty towards God, and the last six, our duty towards our neighbor.
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Matthew 22:36-40
«Master, which is the great commandment in the law?»
Jesus said to him,
«“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like to it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.»
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Obedience to the first four commandments demonstrates our love for God.
Obedience to the last six commandments demonstrates our love for our neighbor.
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John 14:15
[Jesus said,] «If you love Me, keep My commandments.»
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1 John 5:3,4
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not grievous.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
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God wants to give us the power we need to keep His commandments.
If we love Him, we will let Him work within us: and soon, keeping His commandments will be for us a delight, and no longer a burden.
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Psalm 119 teaches us that following God’s law brings happiness:
«Open You my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.» (Psalm 119:18)
«Make me to go in the path of Your commandments; for therein do I delight.» (Psalm 119:35)
«I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I have loved.» (Psalm 119:47)
«O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.» (Psalm 119:97)
«Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet Your commandments are my delights.» (Psalm 119:143)
«Great peace have they which love Your law.» (Psalm 119:165)
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Deuteronomy 4:2
You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
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Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
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As we will see in a future lesson, men have often tried to modify the text of the Ten Commandments, a move strictly forbidden by God.
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Matthew 5:18,19
For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
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Jesus has made it clear: no one has the right to change a single commandment in order to adapt the text of God’s law to the customs of society!
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Deuteronomy 5:29
O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
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Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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God’s law shows us the only way to happiness.
The choice to obey is ours, knowing that, one day, we will all reap the consequences of our choices.
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Let’s give thanks to God for His guidance:
Our Father,
There are so many people claiming to love You. However, You declared that those who truly love You will keep Your commandments.
We know that Your Ten Commandments are as beacons You have placed on our road, not to bother us, but to show us the way to happiness.
This is why we humbly ask You to grant us Your Holy Spirit, so that we may receive the power we need to obey You, to follow Your commandments, for without You we can do nothing.
In Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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