UNROLL
Mount Sinai at first light, a massive bare granite peak under a thick, still cloud, the tiny black tents of a camp along the plain below behind a line of piled stones.

The Book of

Exodus 20

The God who brought Israel out of Egypt speaks from the mountain. First He says who He is, then how His people are to live.

26 verses≈ 4 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–6Slaves in EgyptOppression and a deliverer
  2. 7–13The plaguesThe LORD against Pharaoh
  3. 14–18Through the seaRescued and led
  4. 19–24At SinaiThe covenant and the lawChapter 20
  5. 25–31A place to dwellThe tabernacle planned
  6. 32–40Broken and renewedThe calf, mercy, the glory

The Ten Commandments

An empty wooden brick mold and a scatter of chopped straw left on wilderness sand at dawn, a line of footprints leading away toward a far mountain under cloud.

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

0:07

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Seen from behind and above, a great crowd of Israelites stands still at the foot of the mountain behind a low line of piled stones, looking up at a summit lost in thick cloud.

The law

The Ten Commandments

  1. Love God

    No other gods

    You shall have no other gods before Me.

  2. No idols

    You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

    You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

    but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

  3. Do not misuse the LORD’s name

    You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

  4. Keep the Sabbath holy

    Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

    Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

    but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.

    For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

  5. Love neighbor

    Honor your father and mother

    Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  6. Do not murder

    You shall not murder.

  7. Do not commit adultery

    You shall not commit adultery.

  8. Do not steal

    You shall not steal.

  9. Do not give false testimony

    You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

  10. Do not covet

    You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

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.

Exodus 20:2–3

showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments

Exodus 20:6

Evening outside a black goat-hair tent: a hand mill, a spindle and a shepherd’s staff laid down, three generations of a family sitting together on mats, a donkey resting nearby.
Two small hill-country farmsteads side by side at morning, a low stone wall between their fields, an ox grazing on one side and a man at the other’s gate looking across.

Two tables

I am the LORDyour Godwho brought you out(20:2)Love Godcommandments 1–4(20:3–11)Love yourneighborcommandments 5–10(20:12–17)Jesus’ summarythe two greatest(Matthew 22)Love fulfillsthe lawRomans 13:10

Whiteboard

Before a single command, God said who He was: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” The first four commandments are about loving Him; the last six are about loving the people around you. Jesus summed up the whole law the same way: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40). Paul adds that love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).

Reflect

Rescued first

God did not say, ‘Keep these and I will rescue you.’ He said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out,” and only then, “You shall…” Obedience is the answer to grace, not the price of it. Which of the ten is hardest for you right now? Write it down, and write beside it what God has already done for you in Christ.

Moses Comforts the People

A desert mountain wrapped in black storm cloud at night, fire glowing on its summit, a vast camp of tents far below at its foot.

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.

The Israelites

“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

Moses

“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Pray

Brought near

The people “trembled and stood at a distance,” and only Moses went near. In Jesus, the one mediator, God brings us near without fear of being turned away. Thank Him that you may come to Him through Christ. Ask Him for the right kind of fear: not the fear that runs from Him, but the reverence that keeps you from sin.

Idolatry Forbidden

Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.

God

In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

Exodus 20:24

Question

Quick question

Before God gave a single command at Sinai, He told His people something first.

What did God say before the first commandment?

You’ve experienced

Exodus 20

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A verse to carry with you

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.

Exodus 20:2–3

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