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Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 150

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7

Text: Exodus 20 : 1-2

 TREMENDOUS REVELATION

God had revealed many great truths about Himself! Sometimes He revealed attributes of Himself through His deeds. What awesome powers He must have possessed to be able to cause ten plagues to occur one after the other in quick succession! Even Pharaoh had to admit the might and majesty of the Lord God of Israel!

This time round, God had chosen to reveal Himself in a different way! He would reveal Himself through giving “Ten Commandments” to the children of Israel! How awesome and profound these words were!

THE PREAMBLE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

A preamble was inserted before the proclamation of the Ten Commandments.

“And 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 bondage.'”
EXODUS 20:1-2

“I am the LORD your God”

What was the basis of God giving His commandments to the children of Israel? Surely, if He was the LORD their God, He had every right to give them these laws!

“Who brought you out of the land of Egypt”

The Lord now speaks as the Redeemer! The children of Israel owed their lives to the Lord! If He had not delivered them, they would still be in the land of Egypt! Surely, He could give them these laws as their Redeemer! The redeemed must feel truly indebted to the Lord for all that He had done for His people!

“Out of the house of bondage”

The children of Israel had not merely resided in Egypt as free men! They had subsisted there as slaves! They were in “a house of bondage” indeed! They were no more than slaves in the land of Egypt, doing the bidding of the Pharaoh. They were forced to slave away their days, on pain of death. For hundreds of years, they suffered great hardship till they cried out to the Lord in great anguish and despair!

The children of Israel should never forget that they had been wonderfully redeemed from the house of bondage! They were now well on the way to a land where the Lord would settle them in and bless them abundantly! Could the Lord give them laws by right of being the Deliverer? Most assuredly!

A GREAT SPIRIT OF APPRECIATION OF THE LORD

A correct understanding and appreciation of the Lord and all that He had done would be key to a full and proper comprehension of the Decalogue! These laws were not meant to be chains shackling the children of Israel! These Divine laws, if properly understood and applied, were designed to enable people to live uprightly!