Exodus 20

20 Then God spoke all these words:

² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³ you shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ You shall not murder.^[c]

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

¹⁸ When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid^[d] and trembled and stood at a distance, ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” ²¹ Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

The Law concerning the Altar

²² The Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the Israelites: “You have seen for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven. ²³ You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ But if you make for me an altar of stone, do not build it of hewn stones; for if you use a chisel upon it you profane it. ²⁶ You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.”

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     I was not sure how to approach this piece of scripture for a long time.  I know the commandments well, having memorized them since I was very young.  Do I vent about how we have watered them down to suit our desires?  Do I focus on one and the challenges and opportunities it has?  Do I look at themes or the explanations that God provided?  Do I just focus on the alter that has no steps so that the priests are not flashing the congregation?

     If you had one chance to tell a group of people something that you knew they would listen to and remember, what would it be?  This is God's chance.  The people are fresh on the heels of a miraculous few months.  They know that this is God and that He is more powerful than any other.  They have an appropriate amount of devotion, love and fear.  They just affirmed that they wanted to be His people, a nation of priests that bless the world.  And so He gives them the 10 commandments...He lays out this short passage of how to live together in the world under His banner.  It is so simple:

• First and foremost, follow the one true God.  Learn to hear His voice and obey.  There will be other voices, other influences that desire our worship.  Say no.
• Be mindful of remembering who brought you into the world and be intentional about honoring them.
• Do not take what is not yours, whether it be someone else's life, wife, goods or good name

Really that is it in a nutshell.  Trust that your God is big enough to take care of you and cares enough about you to actually do it.