Prepare: God condemns killing, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and covetousness.
Read: Exodus 20:12-17
Second part of Ten Commandments starts from verse 12, and it deals with man's relationship with man. It begins in the home. Home is the first institution God has created on this earth. A father and a mother should be worthy of the honour of their children. It was a command that held the entire nation together. It is noticeable that national prosperity was promised to the nation if the law as a whole was obeyed. It implies that parents would be respected. Their wishes would be valued. Their authority would be accepted. Leviticus 19:3 demands that they should be 'feared', that is, 'held in awe'. Although women were subordinate in authority in many ways, and the husband was the leader of the couple, yet in matters concerning the family, she had co-authority with the husband.
Abraham Lincoln was the first man to buy a machine gun to protect himself. It did not help him. He was shot. It is God's Word: "Thou shalt not kill." God does not forbid you to get killed, but to kill. While in the world an arms race is going on, we have to run in another race set before us, the race toward Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:1, 2).
We are living today in the middle of a 'sex revolution'. Sex is certainly not a sin, but it is adultery when it is committed outside of wedlock. Covetousness is one of the great sins of the present hour. Jesus raises the Ten Commandments to a higher level of spirituality in His sermon on the mount.
Respond: Lord, help me to please You always.
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