This study continues the questions we began exploring in God’s Image: receiving the Spirit, living in relationship with YHWH (יהוה), and how that relationship is expressed through love, faithfulness, and obedience. As we turn to the Ten Commandments, I want to carry those questions with us and examine the words in order.
Some passages become so familiar that we can recognize them without stopping to examine them.
The Ten Commandments can be like that. We remember their place on stone tablets. We recognize many of the instructions. But familiarity can leave questions unnoticed: Who is speaking? What has already happened? What relationships do these words describe? And where do those same words lead when we encounter them elsewhere in Scripture?
In this study, I want to return to the passage and follow it carefully, in order.
Where the Words Begin
Before the commandments unfold, YHWH (יהוה) identifies Himself and reminds Israel of their deliverance:
“I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
— Exodus 20:2, ASV
That opening matters to me.
The people being addressed have already been brought out of bondage. The instructions that follow belong within that relationship with the One who delivered them.
I want to keep that beginning beside us throughout the study. As we read each command, we will return to the identity of the speaker, the people being addressed, and what His words ask of them.
Following the Order
Our starting passage will be Exodus 20:1–17.
We will move through the commandments in the order they appear, allowing room to examine the wording and the connections that emerge. Some may require more time than others.
As I read, I notice how the passage reaches into worship, the Name, rest, family, life, faithfulness, possessions, testimony, and desire. These concern the way a person lives in relationship with God and with others.
I want to understand what each instruction protects, what it requires, and what it reveals about the heart.
A Command We Will Take Time With
One part of this study will need particular care: the command to honor father and mother.
This has become an important thread in my own study because of the questions it raises when placed beside other passages. Scripture uses family language in different settings, and I want to pay attention to the relationships and roles described in each.
When we reach this command, we will take time to follow the wording, the promise attached to it, and the passages that have shaped my understanding. We will examine the connections step by step so readers can see how I arrived at them.
For now, I want to leave that thread open. We will reach it in its place.
Reading and Comparing Carefully
Throughout these studies, I share what I notice and how I understand the connections.
I want readers to be able to distinguish the words of a passage from the observations I make about them. When I bring passages together, I will show the details that led me to compare them. Where a question remains open, there should be room to keep examining it.
Roles will also matter. Father, mother, son, and child describe relationships. As we encounter those words, we will consider who is being described, in what setting, and in relation to whom.
My hope is that you will open the passages alongside me. Read what comes before and after. Notice the wording. Follow the questions, and give the text time to speak.
Beginning Here
This introduction opens the study. In the next post, we will return to the opening words of Exodus 20 and begin with the first command.
We will move forward from there, keeping the beginning in view: the One who speaks has already identified Himself as their deliverer.
Threads to Follow
The opening declaration: Who speaks, and what has already been done.
The order of the commandments: Following the passage as it unfolds.
Relationship and conduct: How the instructions reach into everyday life.
Father and Mother: Giving the wording and its wider connections careful attention when we reach them.
Words, roles, and context: Following each comparison without losing the passage where it begins.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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