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
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The first commandment on the second tablet (fifth commandment) deals with our
relationship in the family. We are to "honour" the parents who gave us life
and/or the parents who accepted us as their children to love, protect and raise.
This honor includes obedience until we are of age, then respect, adoration,
and care all the rest of their lives.
((My son had gotten married and left our home. He had a wife, and a home of
his own. But he did something that was wrong. When I found out about it, I let
him know. He said, "Dad, I'm married now, you don't need to tell me how to run
my life." But I told him, "Son, I am your father. I will be your father until
the day I die or Jesus comes. It will ALWAYS be my responsibility to tell you
where you are wrong, and I will NEVER shirk it. I'm not trying to run your life.
I'm trying to tell you how God wants you to run your life."))
This commandment comes with a promise. (See Eph. 6:2) The promise is a
life that is long. That doesn't necessarily mean that a person who is a good
child will have a life that's over a hundred years or so. What it DOES
mean is that the parents won't TAKE the life of the child.
The parent had the right to take the life of the disobedient child (Deut. 21:18-21).
13 Thou shalt not kill.
The sixth commandment deals with the value of human life. Life is created by God.
All life is sacred. The word "kill" here refers to premeditated murder. The penalty
for murder is "..life for life..." (Gen. 9:6)
Let me put in a contemporary word here. The REASON we have laws which deal with
premeditated murder is because ALL life is SACRED before God, our Creator.
Therefore WE should value life as much as God does.
The Bible tells us that a soul is born at conception (Ps. 22:10, 77:6, 127:3,
Ps. 139:13, Prov. 31:2, Ecc. 11:5).
And God, Himself, exacts the penalty of DEATH upon a person who destroys a child in the
womb (Ex. 21:22-25).
ABORTION IS MURDER! And those who practice it should be prosecuted!
Let me also add this word. God is STILL IN THE FORGIVING BUSINESS!
Any person who has HAD an abortion, or COMMITTED one, CAN BE forgiven!
Through genuine repentance and simply asking God, one can be forgiven of even this
most gross sin.
YES! I advocate the legislation of morality. So does our constitution and all
other laws. We have laws against murder, theft, libel, slander, etc., etc. That's
legislating MORALITY.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
The seventh commandment deals witht he sanctity of marriage.
What would television and movie writers do without this? Adultery RUINS
families! You will notice that the inevitable result of adultery is destruction of
a family.
The family is the first of only two institutions that God formed in this earth.
The family is SACRED.
When a man and a woman marry, they should commit to FIDELITY!
(See Gen. 2:24 and Eph. 5:31)
And let me just add this note: ANY sex outside of marriage is against God's law.
Young people should commit to NO SEX until marriage.
Married people should commit to no sex OUTSIDE of marriage.
It is interesting to see Jesus' comment on this in Matt. 5:28, as well as James'
comment in James 1:14-15.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
The eighth commandment is the physical outcome of the tenth commmandment.
Stealing robs others of their riches while it also robs the thief of his joy and
peace. Our neighbor's wealth, health, and merchandise ought to be important to us.
It should be so important that we would be committed to safeguard it.
Thievery takes place in many ways, from shoplifting to grand larceny. And,
how many employees steal TIME from their employers?
Most imporantly, we steal GOD'S time. Each of us has 168 hours in a week.
And, if we really apply God's law of tithing honestly, we owe God 17 hours each week!!
How do you spend the time YOU owe God?
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
The ninth commandment deals with what God calls "tale-bearing." (see Lev. 19:16 and
Prov. 11:13, 18:8, 26:20).
To "bear false witness" means to tell an untruth. It includes lying, back-biting,
slandering, and tale-bearing. Gossip is character murder! To repeat a
story about someone when you aren't positive of the facts is gossip. That
is "bearing false witness."
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
This tenth commandment deals with thoughts, while all the others basically
deal with physical actions.
Proverbs 23:7 says, "...as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." People really
THINK in their HEART! That's where we make our decisions. The thought process of our
brains only records information and then rationalizes and filters through that information.
But a person DECIDES in his heart (spirit).
The point I'm making is that people DO what they DECIDE. And we usually
DECIDE what we DESIRE in our hearts.
So God saved the STRONGEST for the last!
If we pay particular attention to this commandment, we will tend to quash those
first inclinations of sin within us.
THINK ABOUT THAT!!
Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.