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Saturday, October 31, 2026

Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Versions of the Ten Commandments [2]

Bible Verse :Exodus 34: 1, 10-21

"One day the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two flat stones like the first ones I made, and I will write on them the same commandments that were on the two you broke. . . . I promise to perform miracles for you that have never been seen anywhere on earth. Neighboring nations will stand in fear and know that I was the one who did these marvelous things. I will force out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, but you must do what I command you today. Don’t make treaties with any of those people. If you do, it will be like falling into a trap. Instead, you must destroy their altars and tear down the sacred poles they use in the worship of the goddess Asherah. Asherah Asherah I demand your complete loyalty — you must not worship any other god! Don’t make treaties with the people there, or you will soon find yourselves worshiping their gods and taking part in their sacrificial meals. Your men will even marry their women and be influenced to worship their gods."

Message: The Exodus 34 Commandments We saw previously that there are different versions of the ten commandments, and that the Deuteronomy version is nearly identical to Exodus 20. But what are we to make of Exodus 34? The commandments given in the text are substantially different from the “ten commandments” we see elsewhere, It is entirely possible to read today’s Scripture as identifying a different “ten commandments,” and they are identified as the commandments written by God on the famous stone tablets. (See also Exodus 34:27-28.) The laws given in the Exodus 34 version are more difficult to understand and apply to modern life than those in Exodus 20, which is likely the reason that we never see them. We prefer the Exodus 20 commandments because they are easier to understand. We do not live under the old covenant and our relationship to the laws of the Old Testament is different than it was for the Hebrews; so perhaps the laws we find difficult to comprehend were easier to understand for the ancient Hebrews. Although no easier to follow! Well, we do not have time to solve all the issues this raises, and really, it may be insoluble. I suspect confirmation bias will lead almost any modern commentator to decide that ten commandments given in Exodus 20, as numbered by whatever church they grew up in, is correct. But realize that, even today, different churches or commentators have different “ten,” and although the wording of Exodus 34 states or strongly implies that the commandments stated there are included on the stone tablets, Exodus 34 is largely ignored. Almost certainly, what is called “the Ten Commandments” in modern Christianity is incomplete, and probably misnumbered. The Bible repeatedly tells us that there are ten of them. If we take today’s Scripture into account, the ones we commonly hear are too short, because there are specific commands that are not included in the Exodus 20 account. The First Commandment The first commandment as expressed in Exodus 34 represents a considerable expansion of the “no other gods before me” rule. It is filled with practical and detailed rules of ways in which the Hebrews must ensure that they are not tempted into worshipping the fake gods of the tribes who inhabited Canaan at the time. We can see immediately why this version is suppressed in favor of Exodus 20, for it is the antithesis of the modern notion of religious tolerance. It commands the Hebrews to destroy all physical signs of any false god. Yahweh intends that Canaan be exclusively Hebrew. Signs of other gods, persons who worshipped other gods, and all temptations to idol worship are prohibited. Joshua slaughters Jericho Joshua slaughtering the inhabitants of Jericho Specifically, the first commandment forbids treaties with tribes who are engaged in idol worship, forbids eating meals with them, and prohibits Hebrew men from taking wives from among them. God does not want treaties, because having such idol worshippers living alongside the Jews would present a constant source of temptation. The two greatest of these temptations are — you guessed it — food and sex. Sacrificial meals were huge banquets, where one might eat his fill of the best food available. If you have ever smelled the air when the neighbors were having a cook-out, you will appreciate how tempting it is, especially if you are hungry. God does not want His people to be tempted by food, when the temptation is a gateway to idol worship. Even worse was the possibility of bringing heathen women into the heart of the Hebrew nation as wives. As experience has taught time and time again, a man seeing a beautiful and available woman every day creates a nearly irresistible temptation. The Hebrews had no racial barriers in marriage, but the religious barrier is here made absolute. An unconverted woman raised in the worship of Baal or Asherah might bring her idols and beliefs into a Hebrew household. The original Hebrew version of this verse actually uses the term “prostitution” to describe the idol worship that might result from such a union. Prostitution in this sense: In order to have a woman, a Hebrew man might be tempted to sell out his religious beliefs. As husband and wife, there would be pressure to compromise on religious observance. And this turns out to be the case. As we will see, it might well be Solomon’s Egyptian wife who destroys the united kingdom of Israel and Judah, by tempting Solomon into idol worship.