Deuteronomy 5 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Ch.4 – 7   Calls to Holiness – frequent exhortations to follow the laws given by God, to enable them to be God’s people in the Land

Passage: Deut 5:6-22

And he said:

6 ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 ‘You shall have no other gods before me.

8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 ‘You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 ‘Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 ‘You shall not murder.

18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.

19 ‘You shall not steal.

20 ‘You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbour’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.’

22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord identify himself? v.6
2. What are the 1st three commands about? v.7-11
3. What is the 4th command all about? v.12-15
4. How does the 5th command differ from what’s gone before? v.16
5. What are the 6th to 10th commands about? v.17-21
6. How had these commands come to Israel? v.22

B. Think:

1. Into what two groups do the 10 commands fall?
2. Why are Israel reminded or their origins, do you think?
3. How, do you think, these commands apply today?

C. Comment:

      The Ten Commandments are rooted in Israel ‘s experience with God. It is because it is GOD who had given them that Israel are to keep these laws. Without the existence of God, people actually have NO basis for moral laws, anything goes.

      The first 4 commands are about relationship to the Lord, and the other 6 are about relationships with people. In a world that knew many ‘gods’ the 1st command was a challenge to let no ‘god’ be seen as more important than the Lord. The 2nd command challenged the pagan tendency to put a ‘god’ into a visual form, an idol. The 3rd command ensured that God’s name was not demeaned. The 4th command was an instruction to remember on a weekly basis, by a day of rest, all the wonder of who God was and what He had done. In each of these ways Israel were to maintain the supremacy of the Lord in their eyes and lives.

       The remaining commands were to establish and maintain an orderly, just and civilized society. Each command is about keeping a good attitude and good behavior in respect of everyone else. When such laws are upheld, then a peaceful and secure society prevails. When they are rejected, as happens in much of the West today, chaos ensues. These are the building blocks for civilisation and we neglect them at our peril and our very society is at dire risk.

D. Application:

1. God’s way or self’s way? That is the question for today.
2. Peace and order, or anarchy and chaos, those are the options.

Passage: Deut 5:23-33

23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said, ‘The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. 26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.’

28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children for ever!

30 ‘Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws that you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.’

32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

A. Find Out:

1. What had they heard and what had they seen? v.23
2. What had they feared? v.24-26
3. What had they told Moses to do? v.27
4. What had the Lord felt about that? v.28
5. What had He desired and then said to happen? v.29-31
6. So what should they do now, and with what result? v.32,33

B. Think:

1. How had Israel ‘s response to the Lord been good?
2. What had been the Lord’s heart for them?
3. Why do you think Moses was reminding them of this time?

C. Comment:

       Having just reminded Israel about the Ten Commandments, Moses goes on to remind them of the circumstances of the giving of them. He has just reminded them (v.22) that God gave them to them at Mount Sinai on two stone tablets. Now he expands the detail of what had actually happened.

      He reminds them that they actually heard the audible voice of God speaking, so loudly that they could all hear it. On the mountain there had been darkness and fire (perhaps speaking of the separation and holiness of the Lord?) and this had almost been too much for Israel to cope with. They realised the awesome presence of the Lord and reckoned that if they stayed there any longer, they could be destroyed. Yet they trusted that Moses had such a relationship with the Lord (perhaps because they had witnessed all that had happened with the plagues in Egypt ?) that he would not be destroyed. Thus they had asked him to hear from the Lord and then tell them, and they would obey anything the Lord said.

      This response (perhaps aware of His holiness and willingness to obey Him) pleased the Lord. He wished they would always respond like this, but there seems a hint that He knows it won’t always be like that. Thus it was that Moses received the Law that he is now passing on to them. With their origins in mind, Israel are called to obedience.

D. Application:

1. When God draws near, we become aware of His holiness, and fear!
2. When God speaks we would do well to obey. That brings blessing!