Today’s Devotion
Topic: The Ten Commandments
(Self Assessment 176)
Background:
After the covenant between the Lord and Israel at mount Sinai, the Lord descended to give them what is now referred to as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Kindly call the family together; let’s try to understand each command and see how it applies in our contemporary world today.
Text: Exodus 20: 1- 17
And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “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. 5 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, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 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 animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.” Amen
Questions:
1. Kindly read verse 2 and 3 again. In what ways have we made other gods than Jehovah?
2. According to verses 4 and 5, we should not make any images of anything in heaven or on the earth and worship it? In our world today, and even in the Christian faith, what are some of the images being worshipped now?
3. What does it mean to not misuse the name of the Lord?
4. What does ‘remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy’ imply?
5. How does one honour his/her father and mother?
6. In what ways are we murdering ourselves other than with the sword or gun?
7. Why is adultery by men rather a widely accepted fact while the Lord did not specify an exemption for any gender when He said in verse 14 that “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”?
8. In what ways are we busily stealing, yet not feeling the guilt of it because we didn’t move at night to rob another person’s home?
9. What does it mean to give false testimony against your neighbour? Does this happen only in the court room?
10. What does it mean to covet your neighbour’s house? How do we prevent that?
11. What have you learnt from today’s Bible study?
Kindly reply through this same social media platform (WhatsApp/ Facebook). We learn a great deal from the answers you share.
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