The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS 125 GENESIS 20:8-11) (2) His nation , which brought us the MESSIAH (Deut 5:12-15); and (3) His salvation (Colo 2:14-17 and Heb 4:1-10). After standing back to take in the panoramic view and all that He had created, God rested (He sabbathed ), not to catch His breath, but to savor the moment in the satisfactory completion of a job well done. He wanted man to do the same; therefore, God set aside one day a week wherein men might take the time to rest in the accomplishments of God. The “ seventh day ,” therefore, became the “ Sabbath ,” the name of the day, which later was given to Israel (Exo 16:21-30 & 20:8-11 & 31:12-17 & 35:2-3, Lev 19:3,30 & 26:2 and Num 15:32-36) in order to commemorate the satisfactory completion of a job well done by God when He delivered Israel from Egypt (Deut 5:12-15). Later on, after Christ accomplished salvation for mankind (Colo 2:14-17), and because He is LORD of the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8), Christ changed the day in which men would rest in Him from the last day of the week (Saturday) to the first day of the week (Sunday, called the Lord’s day - Rev 1:10). NOTE - In order to master this fourth law ( Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy ), we are going to have to follow Jesus’ example (Lk 4:16) and make attending some local assembly a habit in our life (Heb 10:25), where we can acknowledge God’s three great accomplishments. Exhorting one another concerning God’s creation, His nation (which brought us the MESSIAH ), and His salvation provides us with an opportunity to rest now in the fact that a future rest is coming. 5. Honor thy father and mother - Gen 28:1-9 (Exo 20:12) Seeing the Law of Moses (Exo 20:12) was not written yet, how did Jacob know to honor the wishes of his father? The answer is simple.The lawwaswrittenonhis heart (Rom2:12-15), andhe hadnot searedhis conscience (I Tim4:2) as Esaudid (Gen28:8-9). According to Matthew 22:34-40, there are two parts to the Law of God: 1) love God , 2) love your neighbor . On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets ( all five parts of the Old Testament Law - GALATIANS “MINI” SERIES). Whereas the first four laws reveal our duty to God, the final six laws reveal our duty to mankind. Ellicott’s Bible Commentary states: Of all our duties to our fellowmen, the first and foremost fundamental is our duty toward our parents, which lies at the root of all our social relations, and is the first of which we naturally become conscious. 2 The reason God placed this commandment, which begins the second part of the law, before the next five is because our relationship to our parents and their rules will become a reflection of our relationship to God and his rules ( Thou shalt not kill , commit adultery , steal , bear false witness , covet , etc .). How we honor our earthly authority today will determine how we will honor our Heavenly authority tomorrow. NOTE - In order to master this fifth law ( Honor thy father and mother ), which is a direct reflection of our relationship with God, we are going to have to learn to submit to “every” authority, not just the ones that are to our liking. According to Hebrews 13:17, besides yielding to parents (Gen 4:1-2 and Lk 2:51) and God (Gen 2:16-17, Jms 4:7 and Heb 12:9), we are to rank and retire ourselves under “other” authorities as well: * Employers (I Pet 2:18) * Governments (Gen 9:6 & I Pet 2:13 and Rom 13:1) Seeing the Law of Moses (Exo 20:13) was not written yet, how did Job (Job 24:14 & 31:39-40) know that murder was wrong? The answer is simple. The law was written on their hearts (Rom 2:12-15), and reinforced through the spoken Word (Gen 4:8-9 & 9:6). According to Matthew 5:21-22, Christ goes beyond the outward command of the law and states that anger is as dangerous as murder itself, for anger is the inner emotion that leads to murder. He locates the root of murder in the heart of an angry person who becomes bitter ( Heb 12;15 b and Deut 32:35 ) and states that God’s judgment will be just as swift on anger as it will upon murder. If we are to avoid anger, which can certainly lead to murder, then we must learn to leave things in God’s hands. Jesus explained to us how we could do this in Luke 6:27-28: But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you . NOTE - In order to master this sixth law ( Thou shalt not kill ), we are going to have to learn to control our anger, for anger is the emotion and inner intention that leads to murder. Identify whom it is that makes us angry and make it our personal goal to do good to them , bless them , and pray for them ; else prepare ourselves for personal vengeance and thus future judgment due to our rage. 7. Do not commit adultery - Gen 12:14-20 & 20:1-10 & 26:6-11 & 35:22/49:3-4 & 39:7-9 and Job 24:15 & 31:1,9-12 (Exo 20:14) Seeing the Law of Moses (Exo 20:14) was not written yet, how did Joseph (Gen 39:7-9) and Job (Job 24:15 & 31:1,9-12) know that adultery was wrong? The answer is simple. The law was written on their heart (Rom 2:12-15), and they had not seared their conscience (I Tim 4:2) as others had done. Of all the laws discussed before the Law, God talks about this law the most. Adultery is strictly forbidden in both the OT (Lev 20:10, Deut 22:22 and Prov 6:32-35) and the NT (Rom 13:9, Gal 5:19 and Jms 2:11). According to Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus, once again, goes beyond the outward command of the law and states that lust is as dangerous as adultery itself, for lust is the inner emotion that leads to adultery. He, therefore, locates the root of adultery in the heart of a lustful person and states that God’s judgment will be just as swift on the lustful as it will upon the adulterer. * Husbands (Gen 3:16, I Pet 3:1 and Colo 3:18) * Pastors (I Cor 16:15-16 and I Thess 5:12 -13) * Older people (I Pet 5:5) 6. Do not murder - Gen 4:8-9 & 9:6 and Job 24:14 & 31:39-40 (Exo 20:13)