Read Exodus 21:1-15

It seems like every week there is another news article or clip about someone in Court for stealing, from small goods to multi-million dollar Ponzi schemes. Theft is a common sin of people today, rich or poor. Sadly, little has changed over thousands of years, and will not change either until the Lord returns.

Because theft is a perpetual problem, in addition to laws which punished harm against people and sought to protect their essential dignity, the Law also contained various laws to protect the property of people. These laws covered payments to replace the harm caused by theft, negligent acts, and when borrowing was involved.

The first category of crimes relating to property involved theft (vv.1-4). Stiff penalties were applied for theft when the animal was killed or on-sold. If you stole a sheep, you had to pay back four, if you stole an oxen (a bigger animal requiring plenty of training to pull your plow, so a more harmful theft), then you had to repay five (v.1).

If the animal was in the thief’s possession when caught, the penalty was double repayment (v.4). This recognised that the harm was only temporary, since the Israelite was reunited with his wealth.

But these laws also protected the thief from a guaranteed death sentence. At night, if a thief attempted breaking and entering, the homeowner could think they were actually there to commit murder. In that case, a homeowner was innocent of killing to protect life and property (v.2). But if this happened during the day, then killing was not justified (v.3).

Finally, because considerable debts were owed for theft, sometimes someone could not pay. In that case, it was not reparation at $20 a week, but instead the thief would be sold into servitude to repay the debt (v.3), and treated according to the laws for servants and slaves in chapter 21.

The second category of property crimes were those of loss due to negligence (vv.5-6). For instance, if an owner of animals carelessly let his flock eat someone else’s crops, he had to repay the loss (v.5). If he set a fire to clear land for grazing and through carelessness or accident (eg, wind gust) caused a wildfire and property damage or loss, he had to repay the loss (v.6).

The third category related to borrowed or entrusted property (vv.7-15). In a world without banks, safe deposit boxes, and Hirepool, your neighbours were often entrusted with your prized possessions. In those situations, things could go wrong.

For instance, while in their house, your things could be stolen (v.7). The thief was still liable as before. If the goods were recovered, then a fine of double the value was required.

But what if the thief could not be found? Perhaps it was all a story from the borrower or trustee to “liberate” the goods for themselves. In that case, the trustee was to submit himself to God and the elders to investigate if he was the thief or telling the truth (v.8). If he was defrauding the owner, then he had to pay double for the loss (v.9).

Sometimes, animals disappeared. If the borrower was not to blame, he was to swear before God that he was not to blame, and the owner had to take his word (vv.10-11). But if he knows it was stolen (and by implication, failed to stop it), he was to pay to make it right (v.12). If there was evidence the animal was attacked by a wild animal, he should present that evidence to clear himself of wrongdoing (v.13).

The final example is where an animal was borrowed. If it died without the owner present, the borrower owned the risk and had to make payment (v.14). If the owner was present, the borrower was not liable. And if he had hired the animal, then the owner was being compensated for the risk in his hiring fee (v.15).

These examples show that justice goes beyond punishment to putting things right. A repentant thief got a steep discount – only twenty percent extra repayment (Lev. 6:4-5). Rich or poor, they paid. Repentant or not though, the victim of the crime was put right financially…but the thief still had a right to life. It is my property, yes, but it is only my property.

This principle should extend to how we treat others’ property. If we break it, we should fix or replace it. We should not make the other party suffer the loss for us. Justice in God’s eyes sees things put right for the victim.

When we are reminded of God’s justice, it makes even starker the riches of God’s mercy. We are all thieves, and owe God our lives as the punishment for our sin. But God showers us with his love and mercy, because Christ paid the restitution we could not to satisfy God’s justice. He frees us from the penalty of sin to love God and love each other, respecting what is theirs.

Read Exodus 21:12-36

I think we have this view of ancient justice which suggests it was entirely cruel and unusual. Kill someone? Death. Get into a fight? Death. Steal a pear? Death. No understanding of the context or the relative harm caused, unlike in our supposedly enlightened age.

The truth is rather different. While some societies could be very cruel, God’s laws were not. In this passage, God addresses a variety of crimes of different severity, and the penalties for each.This passage not only helps us understand the way our own legal system is structured, but how we think about the value of life and justice in a world where justice is imperfect at best.

The first group of crimes described involve capital punishment (vv.12-17). The general principle was “whoever strikes a man so that he dies”, violating the Sixth Commandment, should be sentenced to death (v.12). 

But there were circumstances where death was not appropriate. For instance, where the death was unintentional (v.13), what we call manslaughter, then death was not inevitable. The offender could flee to designated cities of refuge, where the case was investigated. 

If guilty of murder (but attempting to escape justice), his sentence was death (v.14). However, if the killing was unintentional, the sentence was effectively commuted to a period of internal exile (cf. Numbers 35).

The next example related to offences against parents, the foundation of social order (Fifth Commandment). Attempted murder of parents merited the death penalty (v.15). Likewise, someone who cursed (effectively repudiated) their parents was also liable to death (v.17).

Finally, to kidnap someone and sell them into slavery, or possess a kidnapped person sold into your hands, attracted the death penalty (v.16). This killing of a person’s freedom is an assault on their image-bearing nature.

The second group of crimes discussed are crimes of assault (vv.18-27). The first example is a disagreement which flares into a fight involving fists and weapons, leaving one party injured. This required compensation of lost earnings and costs of healing (vv.18-19).

Sometimes a master would beat a slave as punishment. If the slave died, then the master died too (v.20). However, if the slave died later, there was no compensation, because the slave worked for the master: so he had harmed himself (v.21).

If a pregnant woman is injured in a fight (eg, a bystander), then if serious injury fell to the mother or child, the offender suffered severely in proportion to harm (vv.23-5). But if there was no ultimate harm then a fine was imposed (v.22).

Finally, injury to a slave causing permanent harm resulted in immediate freedom (vv.26-7). A master’s right to punish a slave was not absolute, and if he abused his slaves, then he too suffered immediate economic hurt for his acts.

The final group of crimes are those of negligence, often involving animals (vv.28-36). In the first example, an animal with no history of violence attacks causing death (v.28). The animal would be destroyed and not eaten, since it had taken life and was ritually unclean. No penalty fell on the owner besides loss of property.

But if the animal was a known aggressor, then not only was the animal killed, but the owner (v.29) for negligence. In some circumstances, the owner may have been able to pay a high ransom to avoid death (v.30).

The same principles applied whether it was “a man’s son or daughter” (v.31). The same value applies to people, as bearers of God’s image (Gen 1:26-28). When a slave was the victim, the animal must still be stoned, but the slave’s master is also due restitution for the price of a slave (v.32).

If someone failed to cover a well or pit into which an animal fell to their injury or death, the negligent person had to pay restitution to the owner (vv.33-4).

Finally, if two animals fought and one was killed, each party shared the cost (v.35). However, if one animal was a known aggressor, then the negligent owner suffered the cost alone (v.36).

In all of these situations, the sentence is proportionate to the crime and the loss. This is the true meaning of “an eye for an eye” (v. 24). Lesser crimes carried lesser penalties, crimes involving death carried greater sentences. But many of these punishments were focused on making things right… at least, as much right as possible in a sinful world.

This principle exists in our laws today. We reserve the worst sentences for murderers, while lesser crimes carry lesser sentences. These crimes and punishments remind us that everyone is worthy of dignity and respect, and justice when wronged.

Sadly justice in our world is imperfect, as Jesus himself was killed despite his innocence. But in God’s justice, the world’s injustice against Christ satisfied God’s justice for the sin of his people, and led to mercy for many, including us. 

So instead of demanding vengeance for wrongdoing against us, perhaps we should seek mercy, and leave justice to God.

Read Exodus 21:1-11

After God’s rescue of the Israelites from Egypt, their journey to Sinai, and hearing God proclaiming the Ten Commandments, the next few chapters of Exodus can feel like an anti-climax. Ordinary even. Boring.

While in comparison to earlier chapters that is true, the reality is we all live in the ordinary. We take the grand redemptive story of Scripture and its implications for living, and we work them out in ordinary daily life.

In this section of Exodus, we are seeing practical advice from God on how to live in the ordinary. While some of it is culturally distant and distasteful to us, like this section on servanthood (Exodus 21:1-11), the general principles have relevance to us today.

With the Ten Commandments as the standard for community life, how were God’s people to operate every day? God proclaims to Moses “these are the rules that you shall set before them” (Ex. 21:1), before setting out example situations which could serve as precedents for daily living.

The first example was when an Israelite purchased a “Hebrew slave” (or servant, the Hebrew word refers to both). We understandably gasp at slavery’s mention, especially given the awful examples of history. Slavery in Moses’ day could sometimes take a different form, and the example here is one of voluntary servitude. For instance, because of poverty or to pay off a debt.

This servitude wasn’t forever, it was limited to six years (v.2). In the seventh year, they left free with nothing further required of them (v.2). If they went in single, they left single, if married, their family went free with them (v.3). Moreover, their former master was to liberally set them up for future success from his own possessions (Deut. 15:12-15).

The servanthood envisaged here, while not an appropriate employment model today, was meant to help someone start over. Their debts were repaid, they lived and learnt from someone successful how to manage finances better, and were released with the means to start again; hopefully successfully. They became, in a sense, part of a new family. Exploitation by the master was not on the menu.

That may explain why, in verse four, a single man who married a woman given by his master did not automatically take her with him. Odd as it seems, this would be a safety net for his wife and kids to protect them from falling into hard times if he had not learnt his lesson. If he had, he could quickly pay to redeem them from his old master.

Sometimes, the new setup was ideal for the servant and he did not want to go back to making his own way in the world. He was welcomed into the family and an affection had grown between them. In this instance, a solemn and public vow was made before God which bound the servant to the master (and family) for the rest of his life (vv.5-6). He became part of their household.

A second, similar example is described in verses seven to eleven. Marriages were often arranged. For some poor families, the daughter was “sold” to a man as a servant, with the chance of becoming a wife to the master or a wife to a son (v.7). For a poor family, this offered the prospect of their daughter (and grandchildren) enjoying a better future than they could provide.

Unfortunately this could lead to exploitation. If for some reason it didn’t work out, God forbade selling the daughter to foreigners (v.8) and if she was viewed as a desirable match for a son, she was to be treated like their own daughter even before the marriage vows (v.9). 

If a “second” wife, she could not be deprived of food or marital rights so she would run away (v.10), and would be free to leave the arrangement if he refused to treat her with the respect due to a wife and fellow human (v.11).

Behind these foreign examples to us today are the principles of respect and decency. People before gain. The first examples given in this part of Exodus relate to people, not possessions.

The voluntary servant relationship may not exist today, but employers treating staff well should. Encourage them to improve themselves in their careers beyond your immediate gain. More broadly: someone owes you money? Give them a chance to pay you back, but also help them manage their finances better.

Likewise in relationships, there should not be exploitation. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5), and part of that sacrificial love is providing for her needs and marital rights.

But there is one more way this passage is relevant to us. Some servants were so taken by the love shown to them that they did not want to leave. God demonstrates his love for us in sending Christ to die for our sins, when we were his enemies. As God’s servants, let’s enjoy God’s love for us so much that we are willing to serve for life in God’s household.

Read Exodus:22-26

Some forms have to be filled in precisely and completely. For instance, when I applied for our marriage license many years ago, the official checked I had filled in all parts of the form accurately. It was important to get it right; the form could not be accepted (and marriage license issued) otherwise.

If that is the case for a government issuing a license, how much more for the worship of God?

After the people appointed Moses as their intermediary, God spoke to the people through Moses to remind them to worship him only. They had seen and heard God directly; in their worship, they were only to do so as he required, not as the surrounding nations worshiped.

God’s People at Sinai were blessed with a direct revelation from God. God instructed Moses to remind the Israelites of this. “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven’” (Exodus 20:22).

The Israelites were privileged to have heard and seen God step down from heaven (figuratively) and speak to them, but even with this revelation they could be tempted to leave aside worship of God.

Therefore, so soon after the words spoken by God from the mountain, God reminds them not to violate the First and Second Commandments. “You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold” (Exodus 20:23).

In their day, the pagan nations created idols resembling people or animals from Creation, which were either cast in solid metal or laminated over a wooden shape. Either way, the idol was a very expensive and visible creation of people, not God. However expensive and well-crafted it was, it would not compare to God.

If the Israelites made idols of gold or silver, whether or not it was meant to represent God, they were violating his commands. They had already experienced God’s direct presence, and recognised in it God’s amazing power. They responded in fear and trembling. They should not be foolish enough to follow the pagan nations by trying to contain God.

The same accuracy was required for the altars on which they offered sacrifices. “An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen” (Exodus 20:24). 

The altars that they constructed for their offerings were to be simple affairs. Instead, the focus was on the sacrifices offered. The burnt offering, which symbolised the forgiveness of sin by God, and the peace offering, which symbolised the reconciliation of God and his people (see Leviticus 1 and 3). Both of these sacrifices pointed forward to Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.

Those altars would not have to be scattered around the base of Mount Sinai, but could be anywhere the Israelites went, because “in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (Exodus 20:24). God is not located in one place but everywhere, and so worship of him can occur anywhere. And wherever people gather to truly worship God, he will come to bless in turn.

Just as the Israelites were banned from making idols, so they were also banned from making altars like the pagans. “If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it” (Exodus 20:25-6).

These instructions seem odd to us, but essentially they ban Israel from practices of the Canaanites. Hewn stones required great skill and precision, and focused the attention on the beauty of the altar and craftsmanship, not on the beauty of God. Steps raised the altar’s importance, and also provided the possibility of the sexually immoral practices of pagan priests being copied.

Instead, what God desired was worship and sacrifice which focused on him. God had rescued them from slavery, revealed his holy Law to them, and was establishing a system of sacrifice and worship to point forward to his dealing with their sin. He wanted them to follow his instructions, not their own (or others’) examples. Their altars were to focus on him.

We no longer have an altar at the front of our worship service, as Israel did. Instead, we have a pulpit, announcing God’s forgiveness of our sin through Jesus Christ. Like in Moses’ day, our worship should be focused on worshiping God in the way he has instructed us, and focused on God.

We do this because the many altars built pointed forward to the final altar, where Jesus offered himself up as a ransom for many. Through the Cross, which we celebrate weekly and especially at Easter, Jesus took away the wrath for our sins, cleansed us of unrighteousness, and reconciled us to God. 

A simple wooden cross, on a hill hewn by God’s hands. Offered, just as God required.

Read Exodus 20:18-21

I still vividly remember, thirty years on, a holiday to Ohakune when a storm rumbled through. The lightning and thunder in an unfamiliar bed was frightening to a five year old. Even as an adult, I am still awestruck by thunder and lightning, and find it unsettling to hear overhead at night.

When Israel gathered at Sinai to hear God’s Law, they came to God’s presence, demonstrated to them by a booming voice, thunder and lightning, trumpets, and smoke. It was too much to bear. Confronted by God’s holiness and their unworthiness, the people sought refuge in a mediator between them and God. Ultimately, only Jesus can truly mediate between us and God, fulfilling the law on our behalf and freeing us to obey them out of thanks to God.

When God spoke the Ten Commandments, Israel were gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to hear his commands. What they witnessed was not a “still small voice” but something that instilled fear in them. “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off” (Exodus 20:18).

The presence of God brings a terrible din of noise and the dramatic clash of the elements. Hearing God speak was frightening to them, combined with visual demonstration of his power over all things. They were directly and closely interacting with the holy and righteous God.

The holy words spoke fear into their hearts, as they realised the high standard God required. The holy presence of God, searing the earth of Mount Sinai with lightning flashes and smoke as thunder rolled across the sky spoke fear into their hearts of the judgement that would inevitably come from failing to keep those words. 

They trembled. They flinched. They drew back from the mountain, away from the great and terrible presence of God.

Israel could not stand in God’s presence; his greatness was too much to bear. They needed somebody to stand in for them. An advocate; a mediator.

“[They] said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die’” (v.19). The Israelites heard God’s voice, and heard their death coming with it. They could not, sinful as they were, hear God’s voice repeatedly or they would perish. Like Isaiah, they were undone in God’s presence (Is. 6).

So God’s people, who so often grumbled against and questioned Moses’ leadership, ask him to fulfill the role that God appointed him to before. They ask Moses to stand before God and intercede for them, hearing God’s words and relaying them back to Israel.

While this may seem at first glance a sinful attitude, it is actually one deeply rooted in reverence and fear of God. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses makes clear that God approved of their response and agreed to it (Deut. 5:23-31). 

The Law was visually working in its first and second uses. It acted in their hearing as a deterrent to sin, threatening the judgement of fire and doom. It also acted in the second use, revealing to the Israelites their sinfulness and their need for someone to stand between them and God, for fear of death.

But the Law and God’s presence that day would also serve in its third use: bringing obedience. Immediately, Moses instructed the Israelites that everything they had seen and heard had a purpose: “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin” (v.20).

The testing which God visited on Israel was designed to generate the response of reverential fear. Fear that would not lead to anger and the Dark Side, but to obedience. Moses instructs Israel not to tremble in fear, because God had not come that day to bring judgement, but to save them. Instead they should take the visit to heart, trust in the powerful God who is also mighty to save, and obey.

After speaking these words, the people remained far off while Moses went back to God’s presence to intercede for Israel (v.21).

Yet as great a man as Moses was, he too was a sinner in need of intercession. Only Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant, is able to fulfill that role (Hebrews 12:24) for all. Not only is Jesus a better mediator, but he fulfilled the Law on our behalf, succeeding where we fail, so the terrible judgement threatened in thunder and lightning at Sinai does not fall on us.

Coming into God’s presence and hearing his Law should truly reveal to us the depths of our sin and our need for a mediator. And it should drive us to the one mediator between God and man, Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). By resting in Jesus and his perfect intercession for us, we are freed from fear of judgement and freed to worship God as we ought to – by thankfully obeying his holy commandments.

Read Exodus 20:17

An American business magnate was once asked “how much money is enough?” His answer? “Just a little bit more.” That attitude exists all through our society, from young to old, rich to poor. More things, more money, what my neighbour has; the supposed answer to all our ills.

In this spirit of consumerism and desiring what others have that we do not, the Tenth Commandment hits like a hammer. Instead of sinfully desiring in our hearts what God has not given to us, we are called to contentment with the possessions we have, and instead to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness over the passing things of this age.

The first four commandments dealt with our relationship with God, the next five with our external relationships with each other (and the sinful heart issues that affect our external acts). The Tenth Commandment cuts straight to the heart, speaking to heart inclinations and desires which can lead us to break many of the other commandments.

In the Tenth Commandment, recorded in Exodus 20:17, God commands us not to “covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

To covet is to desire something that does not belong to us, at the time appointed for us to have it. It is an inward sinful desire springing from the heart, even if never followed through by the act. Not all desire is wrong, but to desire something which someone else has and lack willingness or contentment to wait for it (or accept the possibility it may not arrive) is covetousness.

The coveting which God forbids in this commandment is extremely broad, not confined to certain types of things. It forbids desiring property, possessions, people, or anything which belongs to someone else; not to you. It goes beyond the aspiration to own a house, or a boat, or to marry; to wanting his house, her boat, or that person’s spouse as your own.

The problem with the sin of covetousness is that it so frequently leads to outward sinful acts which violate the other commandments. For instance, a desire for John’s laptop may lead you to steal his laptop, instead of saving for your own laptop or accepting you cannot afford one right now.

We see this example play out in Scripture repeatedly. Cain jealously desired God’s acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice, and murder resulted (Gen. 4).

King David desired the wife of one of his finest, most loyal soldiers. He desired, and he took, committing adultery. Then he killed Uriah so he could marry Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). The Sixth and Seventh Commandments explicitly violated (and more besides), because of violating the Tenth.

King Ahab wanted his neighbour’s vineyard for a vegetable patch, and so his evil wife had Naboth killed (Sixth Commandment) based on a lie (Ninth Commandment). Sinful evil desire, outward sinful acts (1 Kings 21).

Like the other commandments, covetousness is no more acceptable to God now than before. Jesus explicitly mentions coveting as the fruit of a sinful heart (Mark 7:20-22), defiling a person. The Apostle Paul uses covetousness as an example of how the Tenth Commandment ultimately revealed to himself his own sinfulness (Rom. 7:7-13). In Ephesians, Paul identifies covetousness as one of a number of sins which is inconsistent with membership in the Kingdom of God (Eph 5:5).

So if we must put off covetousness, what should we put on? The answer according to Scripture is contentment “with our lot.” Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6), resting in what God has given us for now rather than desiring what he has not given us… which we cannot take with us anyway. 

As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.” We can pursue what God has not chosen to give us, but ultimately we will only find contentment with what God has given us. Seeking what is not ours only leads to emptiness.

That does not mean it will be easy. Seeking contentment in God means recognising that some of the good things we desire, whether that is a material blessing or the blessing of a loving companion, may not in God’s wisdom ever arrive for us. Contentment with what God has given does not mean a lack of sadness over what sin deprives us of, but joy in God despite seasons or fields of failure.

Instead of seeking what God has not chosen to give us, whether just for now or perhaps not in our lifetime, we should set our hearts on the Kingdom of God and treasures in heaven, which will not rust or fade away (Matt. 6:19-21). God has richly blessed us in the heavenly places through salvation in Jesus Christ. If God is lavish with what we need spiritually, he does not deprive us of the material things we truly need. Jesus is everything we need to find true contentment.

Read Exodus 20:16

“How do you know a [insert profession with bad reputation] is lying? Their lips are moving”. This joke plays on the cultural reputation of certain industries and certain people within them to lie, exaggerate, or make false claims to further their interests. Not like us. Honest as the day is long, right?

Wrong. We all lie, deceive, gossip and slander, and fail to stand up for the truth. The Ninth Commandment condemns us. Deceitful words destroy trust in society, in relationships, and offend God.  Using the capstone of truthfulness in court, the Ninth Commandment commands us not to lie and deceive, and to stand for the truth.

The Ninth Commandment forbids bearing “false witness against your neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). In other words, lying, deceiving, or omitting facts and the truth in a legal setting against any person who was on trial.

In New Zealand, lying in Court is taken seriously. The Crimes Act offers penalties for perjury of up to seven years, or fourteen for certain cases (eg, murder). This is with a legal system where we are “innocent until proven guilty” and with forensic evidence, DNA profiling, and at least in criminal cases, guilt beyond “reasonable doubt”. When justice miscarries, there are safeguards and prison is not always forever (though the stain of conviction usually lingers long after the sentence).

In Moses’ day, the stakes were higher. Many crimes were met with death. You were assumed guilty unless proven otherwise (why else would you be in front of the judge?), and conviction or otherwise relied entirely on witnesses… sometimes only one. A false accusation, and false witness could literally condemn someone to death.

This is why the Ninth Commandment singles out false witness in Court as the example of lying and deceit which is forbidden by God. Deceitful words destroy trust in society and destroy justice. False witness was forbidden; further, more than one witness was required in Israel to convict (Deut. 19:15), and failing to speak the truth was equally as wrong as lying (Lev. 5:1).

If this is true of the legal system, how also of everyday life. Lying and deceit ruin friendships, hurt relationships, destroy careers and livelihoods. Spreading gossip and rumours, either false or true (but to ears who do not need to hear), starts a forest fire of destruction (James 3). 

Taking words out of context is just as destructive; it bears false witness about what someone believes, and thinks the worst of them rather than the best. Omitting all the facts misleads and leads people astray. It causes hurt and harm, affecting reputations and relationships, destroying trust in and amongst society. 

Sadly in our society, fighting back against slander and libel takes deep pockets for lawyers expenses and time. False statements in the media can be challenged, but the retraction and apology gets buried far deeper than the original harmful statement. Offensive and demeaning comments flow easily onto social media feeds to reach millions, but the retractions and apologies struggle to reach hundreds.

While the world as a whole might treat the truth casually and relative to the individual (unless they are affected), God does not treat it casually. The Ninth Commandment forbids lies and deceptions that harm others. 

God condemned those who lied and cheated (eg, Hosea 4:2). He demonstrated how seriously he takes lying to him by killing Ananias and Sapphira for attempting to deceive the Church and the Holy Spirit (God himself) of their degree of generosity (Acts 5).

The Apostles single out lying, gossip, and slander as examples of conduct which Christians should not engage in (eg, Romans 3, James 3, 2 Cor. 12, Eph. 4). They did so not just for practical reasons, but because it violates God’s Law and offends his standard of holiness to which we should strive.

In a world which treats the truth as an internal matter, we are called to a harder task. To mirror the author of truth, and speak the truth… in love (Eph. 4:15). Not using the truth as a blunt weapon which can sometimes wound just like a lie, but lovingly and in a manner which seeks to draw people to Christ.

When others seek to gossip, we should close the conversation down; chances are, we do not need to hear it. When others seek to cut people down, we should seek to lift their reputations up. When others hide the truth to condemn, we should reveal it lovingly to condemn the guilty and free the innocent. When the temptation comes to lash out with untruthful words, we should hold our tongue.

Most of all, we should be truthful when we come in prayer to God, acknowledging our sins and shortcomings, our iniquities and transgressions. Not hiding or sliding, but trustingly confiding.

It was false witnesses, whose testimony did not even agree, that condemned the righteous Jesus to the Cross. There he suffered the ultimate penalty, so that our lies and deceit which just as surely sent him there might be forgiven by God. And then in knowing that truth, we are set free.

Read Exodus 20:15

Last year I saw a picture which stated “cattle on 1001st hill, owner unknown.” This joke refers to God describing how the cattle of a thousand hills belong to him (Psalm 50). Ultimately, everything belongs to God because he created it (Psalm 24:1) but he has granted to us the right to possess and enjoy it.

Since ultimately everything belongs to God and he dishes it out as he wills, God requires us to respect his division of material goods. The Eighth Commandment, which forbids stealing, demands that we respect what others have been given. 

While we tend to think about this purely in relation to people taking our stuff, theft goes beyond “liberating” goods and money to the way in which we interact with each other and God, both as individuals and society. 

Exodus 20:15 provides a straightforward statement commandment – “You shall not steal.” The simplest, and to us the most obvious prohibition here, is to take something that does not belong to us, whether it is money or possessions. 

It is fundamentally wrong for me to walk onto your property and steal your car or your laptop, or to steal your wallet from your pocket. Euphemising it as a “five finger discount” might be humorous in abstract, but when it happens to you, it hurts. Most people know it is wrong by “nature;” that’s why we have laws against it. It disrupts the bonds of trust in a community.

However, the Commandment against stealing goes further than actively taking property. The word for steal also refers to taking through a breach of trust, or taking by deceit. The spam caller who deceives a vulnerable person into handing over their credit card details to fix a “Windows problem” is stealing. So too the person who takes a payment to provide a good or service, and then does not deliver. Or the person who receives a service, then refuses to pay.

Fraud is a form of theft. If I use my privileged position with my employer to divert cash to my bank account, I have defrauded my employer. It’s theft, and I can expect serious consequences from the Law, let alone from God. The employer who does not pay his staff’s wages, or pays them far less than agreed, is equally a thief. 

Deliberately not paying your taxes is theft, as is deceiving the government by suggesting you have earnt less than you did. While I can’t agree with the political position that “taxation is theft”, it is certainly true that a government could use the state’s power to unjustly take property for themselves, or for a privileged group. In some times and places this has been and is the case.

Using positions of relative economic strength to steal from others also violates the spirit of the Eighth Commandment. Scripture encourages liberal giving and (interest free) lending to the poor, particularly amongst God’s people (Lev. 25:35-38). When we, or businesses, entrap the poor and vulnerable with lending which they cannot afford, or we take from them the necessities of life, we violate this commandment. 

On the flip side, those taking well-intended gifts of money or possessions by deceit or borrowing without intending to pay back is also theft.

We can even steal from God. God complained in Malachi that his people withheld tithes they owed him, and encouraged them to give to him and experience the resulting blessings (whether spiritual or physical, Mal. 3:6-12). Achan (in Joshua 7) stole from God and paid the price. 

Ultimately everything belongs to God, and we as believers ought to give cheerfully and sacrificially for his work and the poor (2 Cor. 9:7), not just of our possessions, but by devoting our lives as living sacrifices to God (Rom. 12:1).

When we deprive God of his due, or we take from others what belongs to them, we are declaring that we, not God, are better placed to determine what is owed to us. That we know better than God how his possessions should be distributed; primarily to us, not others! 

The truth is, we are all in our own individual ways, thieves. We do not have to have a white striped suit on to be a thief, it is the actions and the intent of the heart that betray us. We may not have stolen a million dollars or a television, but we deprive each other of what we could give, in time, gifts, and out of the richness of possessions we have. We have all deceived for our gain and others’ loss. We all hold back from God what we should give to him.

Thankfully, while we all violate this commandment in our own way, Jesus was numbered with the transgressors, dying next to thieves (Matt. 27:38), so that we may be forgiven by God. Instead of bearing the punishment for our theft, we are freed to enjoy and be good stewards of the things God has given us; to help each other, to share generously with those in need, and to bring glory to God.

Read Exodus 20:14

Unfaithfulness to the husband-wife union appears everywhere on our screens and in books today. From its portrayal in fiction to its glorification by elites and their media in real life, faithful marriage between men and women is less important than expressing “love,” or something.

While the world may not care about marital faithfulness, God does. The Seventh Commandment forbids all types of marital unfaithfulness, pointing to the ideal of the one man-one woman union of marriage, and its expression of God’s relationship to his people. This unfaithfulness goes beyond physical unfaithfulness to unfaithfulness of the heart, and calls us to loving devotion to God, to our spouses, and to marriage in a world which neglects all three.

In the second portion of the Ten Commandments, offences against other people have taken a special focus. The Fifth Commandment protects the relationships of superiors and inferiors (eg, parents and children, and more broadly government and citizens), while the Sixth Commandment protects the sanctity of life.

The Seventh Commandment protects the sanctity of the marriage relationship, which is the cornerstone of a functioning family and by extension, society. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).

Relationships are built on trust. When one party is unfaithful, then trust is broken and affected, sometimes irreparably. This is true in business relationships and friendships; how much more in marriage. When a husband or wife is unfaithful, a bond of trust is broken. This truth was acknowledged by the nations surrounding Israel that they described adultery as “the great sin” and often imposed the death sentence for violators.

The commandment not to commit adultery forbids all forms of unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant. It forbids married couples engaging in relations outside of the relationship between husband and wife. It forbids those who are single from entering into such relations with someone who is married.

Adultery violates the Creation-order standard of marriage, ordained by God as a one-flesh union between a man and a woman (Gen. 2:24). Adultery is like a knife which cuts open this union; it destroys the physical and psychological trust which a man and woman must have to be “one flesh.” When that union is cut open, infections which hurt and destroy families and societies more easily slip in.

There are a number of other sexual sins which God forbids elsewhere (cf Ex. 22, Leviticus 18:6-30, 20:10-21, Deuteronomy). These sins all detract from the order of marriage and expression of love within the man-woman union created by marriage, but none is quite as damaging to marriage as adultery, which serves as the typical example of these sins within the Ten Commandments.

Marriage serves in Scripture as a picture of God’s relationship with his people (eg, Eph. 5:22-33, Rev. 20:6-9, Jer. 3:1-10, Mal. 2:10-16, Hosea 2). An attack on the sanctity of marriage is an attack on an institution which “speaks” to us about God’s love for his Church. Just as we ought to be faithful to our spouses, so too we must be faithful to God. It should not surprise us that unfaithfulness in one area can lead to unfaithfulness in the other.

Jesus goes beyond condemning adulterous acts, but reminds us that the intent of the Seventh Commandment goes to desires as well. Looking with lustful intent is committing adultery in the heart, even if the desire is never followed through (Matt. 5:27-30). 

The standard Jesus reminded us that the Seventh Commandment sets is a standard which we all, if we honestly reflect, cannot meet. Even David explicitly violated this commandment (2 Sam. 11-12). Whether before or during marriage, we all have been unfaithful in our hearts to the standard of purity set and proclaimed by example in this commandment.

Thankfully for us, God is both forgiving and faithful. While we are unfaithful, God is still faithful and forgiving, and promises to “betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD” (Hos. 4:19-20). 

Since Jesus suffered the penalty for adulterers, we are freed from its guilt and power, to “go, and… sin no more” (John 8:11). We must only confess our sin, as David did, and if we do that then we know that God is faithful and just to forgive us of these sins, and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

We can fulfill the Seventh Commandment positively as well. In forbidding unfaithfulness, it reminds us of the importance of faithfulness to our spouses. In a world which glamourises changing partners like changing shirts, loving and faithful devotion to our spouse stands out. By honouring and cherishing our spouses and the various marriages among our friends and family, we demonstrate our commitment to the Seventh Commandment.

And since marriage is a picture of God’s love for his people, it also reminds us all to honour and cherish our relationship with God. Loving devotion to God shows faithfulness to him, just as he has expressed his faithfulness to us, even when we were unfaithful.

Read Exodus 20:13

If you could pick one of the Ten Commandments which is least likely to annoy people, the Sixth Commandment is probably it. With the exception of psychopathic killers, people think murder is a bad thing. If only we thought through the implications of this commandment more.

The Sixth Commandment does not just forbid murder, but all forms of unlawful killing. More than that, it forbids the attitude of hate which is a type of murder in the heart. Sadly today in our country, too many unlawful forms of killing have been given the tick of approval, and we are all prone to hating someone enough to wish them dead. Thankfully, even murderers find forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

The Sixth Commandment is relatively short and simple to remember: “you shall not murder” (v.13). If you grew up memorising the commandments from the KJV, you probably learnt it as “thou shalt not kill.”

The word translated murder by most modern translations covers a broad range of killings, which is why it is sometimes translated as “kill”. More than murder is meant by the passage; the word translated murder in Hebrew includes also accidental manslaughter, manslaughter where you are partly at fault due to some foolish or deliberate act, and crimes of passion.

Not all forms of killing are forbidden though. Self-defence is not a violation of this commandment, nor is capital punishment by the Government for murder (given approval by God in Genesis 9, cf. Romans 13:4). Likewise, killing in war is not forbidden by this commandment, or God’s command to the Israelites to put the inhabitants of Canaan to death for their sins would have been sinful! And no, you do not need to give up bacon and steak because the killing of animals does not fall under this commandment.

More than just forbidding murder, but less than forbidding all killing, this commandment forbids all forms of unlawful killing of innocent people.

The basis for this Commandment is two-fold. Firstly, we are made in God’s Image (Genesis 1:26-7; 9:6). When we unlawfully kill someone, we are depriving them of their fellow image-bearing nature, which is an offense against the God who made us all.

Secondly, only God has the right to determine who lives and dies (or who may exercise that right under delegated authority from him), because he is the author of life and sovereign of everything (Job 14:5). If we take to ourselves the right to determine the end of someone’s days, we are seizing a privilege which belongs to God and putting himself in our place.

But the command not to unlawfully kill covers more than just committing the act, but the inner thoughts that motivate them. Jesus teaches us that murder comes from the heart (Matt. 15:19), and that anyone who is angry is liable to judgement (Matt. 5:21-26). The Apostle John tells us that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).

Outward acts reflect inward nature. The anger in Cain’s heart led him to murder his brother (Gen. 4:8), and even more so Lamech (Gen. 4:19-24). So too, murder springs from anger in our hearts. To be angry enough to effectively wish someone’s death is just as wrong as following through.

Sadly we live in a culture where unlawful killings occur freely, and are even sanctioned by the State. Unwanted children are killed and disposed of as if this is the height of civilised freedom instead of evil barbarism. In recent times, so-called euthenasia and assisted suicide has been approved, throwing the elderly and infirm with their inconvenient cost on family and society on the scrapheap under the guise of “mercy”.

As believers we must do more than decline to exercise the legally-sanctioned options given to us, but actively seek its end. This could take political form, whether through petitions or marches, but also through “small rebellions” against the culture which enables it. Every time we step into someone’s life and help them value a life (theirs or another’s), whether very young or very old, healthy or sick, we take a stand against the culture of death.

We must also put to death hatred and envy in our own hearts. Instead of hating those who mean us harm, we should bless them. Murder in our hearts is just as bad, just as deserving of punishment, as putting our thoughts into action. In a world around where the main restraint on more death is the threat of the sword (Rom. 13:4), how amazing would be the example of people who are motivated by love rather than fear of retribution?

That we have to seek to put the anger of our hearts to death shows that we cannot, and have not, kept the Sixth Commandment. We are all, in our own ways, guilty of murder, if not by deed then by our thoughts. Thankfully, Christ never murdered, in his heart or otherwise. Instead, Jesus offered himself as an innocent sacrifice together with thieves and murderers, so that our murderous sin can be forgiven.