King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 6 notes
1And God spake all these words, saying,
2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4Thou 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:
5Thou 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;
6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7Thou 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.
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10But 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:
11For 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.
12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13Thou shalt not kill.
14Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15Thou shalt not steal.
16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17Thou 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.
18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Moses, Moses...
He was in such an intimate relationship with God that he feared not the Lord.
He understood that he was not to dishonor or disregard God because he was familiar with him.
Familiarity was not to set in, but then he also knew he was God and needed to be accorded honour..
There is a proverb in Ghana that if someone is known to you in the day, you do not light a lamp to identify him at night 🌃.
Moses knew God so well that the thunderings and lightning 🌩, the darkness and smoke did not change 💱 his knowledge of God.. He knew it was all a matter of power display, but God was his Lord, father and friend.
He did not disregard the symbols, but he also did not misinterpret them, despite the fear 😱 it caused.
Fear not.
21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Such contrast.
22And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
Interesting.
God tells them that, as they can see, he spoke to them from heaven, so obviously he is the God of heaven.
If not, how could he have dominated the heavens to speak from there to them?
How can a man take another's house except he first binds the strong man?
So for God to speak from heaven, that is where he stays and rules.
In that light no one should make other gods beside him... not of silver or gold.
Because, as he himself said and as observed by the children of Israel, he is from heaven and is of heaven; therefore you cannot make things of the earth to represent him.
23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
24An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
So where he hasn't recorded his name, he will not be there to come and bless.
And he shows where his name is recorded.
In the altars of stone. Thatsoor...
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
vs 24: “In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”
By implication, it's not all places that God has recorded his name.
25And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.