This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.

Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.

Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:

Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418

Bro. Bruce's commentary for the book of Genesis is
now available for $7.50.

EXODUS
CHAPTER 20
1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

AFTER:
God had secured a unanimous decision to obey Him (19:8);
He had given visibile display of His awesome Presence (19:16);
He had warned the people a second time (19:22);
He had called them to sanctify themselves (19:22);
THEN, God spoke these TEN Words.

These ten words were on two stone tablets (see Ex. 31:18), and were written by
"the finger of God."
The first four commandments deal with our relationship to God. The
next 6 commandments deal with our relationship to our fellow man.

Remember, the law is not give to SAVE people; it is given
to a SAVED people. Salvation is not RECEIVED by
obedience to the law; salvation is SHOWN by obedience.
The way Christians demonstrate their love for God is by
the study of, and obedience to God's WORD.

COMMANDMENT 1
"..have no other gods before me."
We must see the remainder of the statement (vs 2) in order to get the
fullness of what God is saying. The whole BASIS of the law
is God's existence. He IS, and He alone is God.
If you are to be God's child, there must be no one or nothing
alongside or above Him in your adoration.
If He is truly to be SAVIOR, then NOTHING can come between
us and Him.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

COMMANDMENT 2
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,..." Again, let me stress that there is more to understanding this
commandment than just the SHORT version.
This prohibition is BECAUSE we have never seen God, nor heaven; and
we are not to MAKE GOD IN OUR IMAGE or assume Him to be as we desire.
All things on, in and around earth are created by God. Therefore,
no matter how awesome something (or someone) might be, we are
not to worship anything but God. We must worship the Creator
not the creation.
God is "jealous." He wants all our worship for Himself.
He is JUST in that jealousy, because God is the ONLY true God.

In verse 5 there is an interesting statement, "..visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children...."
Would God bring the punishment of YOUR sins upon your children
and grandchildren? NO! It is WE who do that ourselves!
There are certain laws set in motion in this earth. There is the law of
matter. One can move matter, but one cannot change it.
There is the law of gravity. What goes UP must come DOWN.
These are unchangeable laws. There are also unchangeable spiritual
laws. God is warning people in verse 5 that sin brings
consequences. The greates consequence of sin is this:
that the more we adore the things of our imagination, the less
we will adore God. And the less we adore God, the more the future
generations will adore things of the world and their own imaginations.

There is also a promise accompanying this commandment (verse 6). God
will show mercy to those who love and obey Him.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

COMMANDMENT 3
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain..."
Taking the name of God in vain includes swearing and cursing, but is not limited
to that only. This is a difficult passage for Christians, because it means to
live an ungodly life is to profane the name of God.
Oh! How Christians need to understand that to SAY we are CHRISTians and
then NOT do as God says is taking His name in VAIN!
Is it Christian to NOT pray? Is it Christian to NOT
study the Bible? Is it Christian to NOT be in church on Sunday?

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

COMMANDMENT 4
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."
God does not NEED us to come to Him. It is WE who need to come
to God. This commandment is to put our relationship to God in perspective.
We have six days to get all our own things together in life. The seventh day
we NEED to "rest" with God. We need time to reflect on God. We need time
to praise God. This commandment teaches us to "budget our time." Put God
FIRST and everything else second.
After all, if God could create the universe in six days, surely we can do all our
work in six days.

Tomorrow we will cover the other six commandments which deal with our
relationships with our fellow man.

Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.