Theophany and Law at Sinai– Chapter 19 contains theophany. God, the holy, awesome, unapproachable Other descends from heaven to the mountain top. Then, here in chapter 20, command emerges from theophany. The juxtaposition of theophany and command suggests that fundamental to Israel is God’s presence ("I am with you;" "I am holy;") out of which the commands shape God’s people according to the radical vision of God. [1]

Overview – Verses 2-6 is given in 1st person speech and underscores Israel’s distinctive requirement: to worship God alone and to detest the use of images in worship. Verse 7 is ambiguous as to meaning, but certainly refers to the improper use of God’s name. Verses 8-11 describes the institution of honoring God through Sabbath-keeping while the remaining verses are terse, relatively unambiguous commands to help Israel maintain order and balance in society. [2]

Origen [fl. 185] – Christians are not to bow down before idols, even to save themselves from martyrdom. Both Christians and Jews prefer death to any king of idolatry . . . God does not want anything alien to come into the souls of those who believe in him. [3]

• What was the #1 rule in your family growing up?
• If you had all judicial power to enact a single law that would be enforced on the nation, what law would you lay down?
• Of all the Ten Commandments, which does our society need most to hear? Which do you need most to hear?

• You might view this lesson in two ways:
• You could simply walk your listeners through the list of Ten Commandments in a way that explores their meaning and application for today; raise questions, illuminate meaning and reclaim their intent.
• Step outside the commandments and look at them in context of chapters 19 and 20: theophany and command. Play with the idea of the God’s Self-Revealing—holyawesomegloriousaloof and the commands that comes from this mysterious Other.

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[1] Oxford Bible Commentary, John Barton/John Muddiman, ed. (NY: Oxford Press, 2001), p. 81.
[2] New Interpreters’ Bible I (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), page 839.
[3] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture III (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2001), page 100.