Famous Bible Quotes and Verses: The Ten Commandments
For this section of Famous Bible Quotes, See text below for an simple explanation of this classic passage.
Then God spoke all these words, saying,
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:1-13
Then God spoke all these words, saying,
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Both the fact that He is the Lord God and that He has delivered the Israelites gives Him the rights to rulership over their lives. The same is true for believers in Jesus Christ. You can see why these are indeed "famous bible quotes!"
You shall have no other gods before Me.
Logically then, only One can be God. If someone/thing else is, then God is no longer enthroned on the hearts of the people as God.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
God is essentially Spirit and His eternality and infinite nature means that any drawing or sculpture would fall short of His magnificent character.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
This literally means to "attach emptiness" to the name of God. In other words, to use it commonly, as if God Himself were as ordinary as an everyday object.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Made in God's image, man reflects that image when he rests on the seventh day. This was a distinguishing characteristic that God called out for His people to be known among the nations as God's people. This makes me wonder what we have done to our day of rest.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
"The first commandment with a promise" as the Scripture itself puts it. This commandment means we ought to give the respect due to those who are our parents.
You shall not murder.
For to do so literally removes and image bearer from creation. The Hebrew does distinguish between "murder" and "kill."
You shall not commit adultery.
If the created order is one man/one woman, and foundational to society as God has structured it, you can logically see why this is one of the "ten words" from God.
You shall not steal.
Perhaps this breaks the fundamental truth that God provides.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
A broader sense of proper community is protected
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
An internal command. Greed, lust, pride of life lifts us against the very first command in these ten.
For this section of famous Bible quotes, this is a simple explanation of this passage and is not meant to be a technical commentary. For a fuller sense of the Ten Commandments mean to us today I highly recommend Alistair Begg's Pathway to Freedom
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