Exodus 20 Devotional

Rescued Before Commanded

““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”Exodus 20:2 (BSB)

Before God gives a single commandment, he says who he is and what he has done. He is the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt and out of slavery (20:2). The Ten Commandments are not a ladder Israel must climb to earn rescue. They are the shape of life for people already rescued: no rivals to God and no idols, reverence for his name, rest on his Sabbath, and then honor for parents, life, marriage, property, truth, and contentment (20:3-17). His loving devotion reaches to a thousand generations (20:5-6).

When the people see the lightning and the smoking mountain, they tremble, keep their distance, and beg Moses to speak to them instead of God (20:18-19). So Moses alone approaches the thick darkness where God is (20:21). Israel needed someone to stand between them and God, and so do we. Paul names Christ Jesus as the only go-between for God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5). In him you obey God not to become his, but because you already are.

To think about: Do you tend to treat God's commands as a way to earn his favor, or as the shape of life for someone he has already rescued?