5:7A god is whatever people use as a driving force in their lives, Some people literally worship other gods by joining cults or strange religions. In a more subtle way, many of us worship other gods by building our lives around something other than the one true God. {f your greatest desire is for popularity, power, or money, you are devoting yourself to something other than God. To put God first, (1) recognize what is taking his place in your life; (2) renounce this substitute god as unworthy of your devotion; (3) ask God for forgiveness; (4) restructure your priorities so that love for God is the motive for everything you do; (5) examine yourself daily to be sure you are giving God first place.
Life Application Study BibleDeuteronomyChapter 5
Deuteronomy 5
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 271, 272, 273
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
5Deuteronomy 5
1. The Ten Commandments
1Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, “Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them! 2“The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai.* 3The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today. 4At the mountain the LORD spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire. 5I stood as an intermediary between you and the LORD, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said: 6“T am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 7“You must not have any other god but me. 8“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 9You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 10But J lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those* who love me and obey my commands. 11”You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go Bt ast: 10:20 unpunished if you misuse his name. Matt 5:33 12"Qbserve the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded O12 ett ou. 13You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ‘but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your 5:15 household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male EXO ao le: 16:12 and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners 5416 living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. 15Remember Exod ao We OS. 7 that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his tMark 7:10 strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you TONS to rest on the Sabbath day. Col 3:20 16“Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will B17 oo.43 live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you. *Matt 5:21 17“You must not murder. 5:18 18": Exod 20:14 You must not commit adultery. #Mark 10:19 19“You must not steal. Thuke; 8:20 20“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. tJas 2:11 21”You must not covet your neighbor's wife. You must not covet your neighbor's house $19 or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your Exod soto neighbor. Rom 13:9 5:20 22"The Lor spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. Matt 116 He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep tLuke 18:20 darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and 5:21 gave them to me. "Rom 7:7; 13:9 23“But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was 222 19:16-19 blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. 24They said, ‘Look, the LORD Deut4:13 our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of 2cy 20-18-19 the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! 25But now, why Deut 18:16 should we risk death again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and oe reg be consumed by this awesome fire. 26Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God) Exod 24:2 from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? 27Go yourself and listen towhat the LORD 5:28 our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’ Deut 18:17 28The LORD heard the request you made to me. And he said, ‘I have heard what the peo- 720 5:16, 33 ple said to you, and they are right. 29Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that Ps 8it3
in our hearts. Even if we are legally innocent, we are all morallyguilty of murder and need to ask God’s forgiveness. We needto commit ourselves to the opposite of hatred and anger—love and reconciliation.
they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. 2°Go and tell them, “Return to your tents.” 31But you stand here with me sol can give you all my commands, decrees, and regulations. You must teach them to the people so they can obey them in the land 1 am giving them as their possession.’” 32So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail. 33Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 2. Love the LORD your God
Textual footnotes
- of the Jordan as far as the sea of the Arabah.
- rE
- perity. We are not to set our desires on anything that belongs
- to someone else. Not only can such cravings make us miserable,
- they can also lead us to other sins such as adultery and Stealing.
- Envying others is a useless exercise because God is able to
- provide everything we really need, even if he does not always
- give us everything we want. To stop caveting, we need to practice
- being content with what we have. The apostle Paul emphasizes
- the significance of contentment in Philippians 4:11, 12. It's a
- matter of perspective. Instead of thinking about what we don't
- have, we should thank God for what he has given and strive to
- be content. After ail, our most important possession is free and
- available to everyone—eternal life through Christ.
- hearts to fear him—to want to respect and obey him. There is a
- difference between doing something because it is required and
- doing something because we want to. God is not interested in
- forced religious exercises and rule keeping. He wants our hearts
- and lives completely dedicated to him. If we love him, obedience
- will follow.
- 5:2 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
- 5:10 Hebrew for thousands of those.
- 5:21 To covet means to ardently desire another person’s pros-
- 5:29 God told Moses that he wanted the people to incline their
Life Application Notes 5 notes
5:8,9How would you feel if someone took a picture of you, framed it, stared at it a lot, showed it to others, but completely ignored the real you? God does not want to be treated this way either. He wants a genuine relationship with us, not mere ritual. He wants us to know him. God knows that if we put anything other than him at the center of our lives, we will not reach our potential and become all that he wants us to be.
5:11We are familar with the sin to be avoided in this commandment, that we should not misuse the name of the LORD by saying it in an empty or worthless way. But there is also a good work that is commanded: to use God’s name to praise him and ascribe to him glory. This is the opposite of misusing his name. While you might be able to keep yourself from swearing, how have you done at finding time to praise God and honor his name?
5:16Obeying our parents is our main task when we are young, but honoring them should continue even beyond their death. One way to honor parents is to provide for them in times of financial need or when they are ill and unable to care for themselves. Perhaps the best way to honor them is to pass on their Christ-honoring values to our children. Honoring involves all that sons and daughters do with their lives—the way they work and talk, the values they hold, and the morals they practice. What are you doing to show respect to your parents? Are you living in a way that brings honor to them?
5:17“But I don’t murder people,” you may say. Good. That fulfills the letter of the law. But Jesus explained that hateful anger breaks this commandment (Matthew 5:21, 22). Have you ever been so angry with someone who mistreated you that for a moment you wished that person were dead? Have you ever fantasized that you could get rid of someone? Jesus’ teaching concerning this {aw demonstrates that we are capable of murder
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 273
Notable Violations Solomon (1 Kings 11) The gold calf-idol incident (Exodus 32); generations after Joshua (Judges 2:10-14; 2 Kings 21:1-15; Jeremiah 1:16) Zedekiah (Ezekiel 17:15-21) Judah (2 Chronicles 36:21) Eli’s sons—Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:12, 23-25) Hazael (2 Kings 8:15) David (2 Samuel 11:2-5) Ahab (1 Kings 21:1-19) Saul (1 Samuel 15:13-25) Achan (Joshua 7:19-26)
BROKEN COMMAND- MENTS The Ten Gommandments were God’s standard for right living. To obey them was to ohey God (5:6-21). Yet throughout the Old Testament, we can see how each commandment was broken. As you read the stories, notice the tragic consequences that occurred as a result of violating God’s law.
Ten Commandments “You must not have any other god but me.”
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind.... You must not bow down to them or worship them.”
“You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God.” “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” “Honor your father and mother.”
“You must not murder.”
“You must not commit adultery.”
“You must not steal.”
“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.”
“You must not covet your neighbor's wife. You must
not covet your neighbor's house or land,... or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
§:4-9 This passage provides the central theme of Deuteronomy. tt sets a pattern that helps us relate the Word of God to our daily tives. We are to love God, think constantly about his commandments, teach his commandments to our children, and live each day by the guidelines in his Word. God emphasized the importance of parents teaching the Bible to their children. The church and Christian schools cannot be used to escape from this responsibility. The Bible provides so many opportunities for object lessons and practical teaching that it would be a shame to study it only one day a week. Eternal truths are most effectively learned in the loving environment of a God-fearing home. 6:5 Jesus said that loving God with all of ourselves is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-39). This command, combined with the command to love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), encompasses all the other Old Testament laws.