Old Testament - Exodus 20:1-12 - April 21, 2022

 4/21/2022 – Exodus 20:1-12

Honor is a good word to look into today: It means to do what you promised or agreed to do; to have high respect and great esteem; to fulfill an obligation or keep an agreement; It is the idea of a bond between individuals.

The Ten Commandments were given over 3000 years ago, but they are timeless. In a commencement address at BYU on May 31 1957, Cecil B DeMille stated: “We cannot break the Ten Commandments. WE can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fulness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice.”

Moses repeated the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Abinadi quoted them to the wicked priests of King Noah in Mosiah 13:12-24. They are also referred to in the New Testament (Matthew 5:17-37) and in the Doctrine and Covenants 42:18-29; 59:5-9.

Mark E Peterson said: “They are fundamental to our relationships with God. They are an integral part of the restored gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and are essential to our becoming perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.” 

They cover what should be the priorities of life: The first four show us our proper relationship to God. The 5th commandment covers the importance of the family and proper family relationships. The last five regulate our relationships with others.  Basically, they can get us well on our way to perfecting our relationships with God, with our family, and with others—which is also the path to becoming perfect in all things.

#1 Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. “…I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant even unto death, that you may be found worthy. For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me. “ D&C 98”14-15

#2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. President Spencer Kimball: “Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood. What difference does it make that the item concerned is not shaped like an idol?”

#3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. “Since God loves His children and wishes only their best eternal welfare, He is jealous (that is, feels very strongly) about any vain or false worship they perform.” “This precept not only forbids all false oaths, but all common swearing where the name of God is used, or where he is appealed to as a witness of the truth. It also necessarily forbids all light and irreverent mention of God, or any of his attributes.” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:404.) In an age when profanity dominates so much of the world’s conversation, it is well to remember the Lord’s warning that He will not hold such people guiltless

#4 Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. The Lord indicates that keeping the Sabbath was a “sign . . . that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13; emphasis added). The Lord teaches a similar concept of holiness or spiritual cleanliness in modern revelation: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day” (D&C 59:9. “Once each week man is commanded to cease his own labors and allow God to perform His work of sanctification on him. Resting on the Sabbath, then, implies far more than taking a nap or stopping normal activities. Mankind must enter into the Lord’s work on that day. This work involves making themselves and others more godlike, another way to speak of sanctification. Doing the work of the Lord (sanctification) often involves great activity on the Sabbath day, and the day may not be restful in the usual sense.”

 “The Sabbath is a day on which to take inventory— to analyze our weaknesses, to confess our sins to our associates and our Lord. It is a day on which to fast in ‘sackcloth and ashes.’ It is a day on which to read good books, a day to contemplate and ponder, a day to study lessons for priesthood and auxiliary organizations, a day to study the scriptures and to prepare sermons, a day to nap and rest and relax, a day to visit the sick, a day to preach the gospel, a day to proselyte, a day to visit quietly with the family and get acquainted with our children, a day for proper courting, a day to do good, a day to drink at the fountain of knowledge and of instruction, a day to seek forgiveness of our sins, a day for the enrichment of our spirit and our soul, a day to restore us to our spiritual stature, a day to partake of the emblems of his sacrifice and atonement, a day to contemplate the glories of the gospel and of the eternal realms, a day to climb high on the upward path toward our Heavenly Father.” (In “The Fourth Commandment, Part 2, The Ten Commandments Today, p 66-68.

#5 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. “Proper family relationships constitute one of the ten fundamental principles of law, both in this world and in the world to come. In obedience to this law the family unit and all other parts of society remain stable and healthy. In this day, which was prophesied to be an age when people are “disobedient to parents” and “without natural affection” (2 Timothy 3:2–3). Moses commanded the parents of Israel to diligently teach their children the laws of God so that “it may be well with thee . . . in the land that floweth with milk and honey”.  (Deuteronomy 6:3) There is also a personal aspect of the commandment as well. The Lord promised that those who walk “in obedience to the commandments” will enjoy health, vigor, endurance, and shall be passed over by the “destroying angel” (D&C 89:18, 21)