Exodus 20:1

[JesusYeshuaisLord]

"And God spoke all these words, saying,"

I have looked up the interlinear version of this verse and looked up the words 'spoke', 'words' and 'saying'.

'Spoke' seems to relate to our normal use of speaking to someone.
'Words' relate to 'things' being said.

The most interesting is in the word 'saying'. A lot of the verses that use 'saying' seem to be used when God pronouces an everlasting promise. You can find those verses here: Hebrew Concordance: lê·mōr -- 936 Occurrences
'Saying' was used when God blessed Adam and Eve so they would be fruitful and multiply. It was used when God told them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was used when God told Abram that his descendance would be great.

So this got me asking: What if we've interpreted the goal of the 10 commandments wrongly?

We tend to see them as laws and things we should do or not do in order to be right with God. But that word 'saying' tells me that in the case of the commandments, God might actually be speaking his promises on his people. In the sense that if God speaks something into being, it will happen. So instead of seeing the 10 commandments as laws we should abide by, we should indtead see them as a promise that God powerfully make happen in the believers' lives! It is not something to attain but it is something that is freely given by God to the ones he calls his children. In this way, it is easier to see Jesus' work, life and death and resurrection through the giving of the 10 commandments. This is how you can see that God always operated on faith and not on works even at mount Sinai.

The common principle I find in the creation (covenant with mankind), covenant with Abram, 10 commandments (covenant with the Israelites) and Jesus' sacrifice (covenant with the believers) is this: Action of God, Word/Promise of God which leads to action of the Holy Spirit (able to obey the law despite the sinful nature).

Thoughts?

 

[Ken Rank]

"And God spoke all these words, saying,"

I have looked up the interlinear version of this verse and looked up the words 'spoke', 'words' and 'saying'.

'Spoke' seems to relate to our normal use of speaking to someone.
'Words' relate to 'things' being said.

The most interesting is in the word 'saying'. A lot of the verses that use 'saying' seem to be used when God pronouces an everlasting promise. You can find those verses here: Hebrew Concordance: lê·mōr -- 936 Occurrences
'Saying' was used when God blessed Adam and Eve so they would be fruitful and multiply. It was used when God told them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was used when God told Abram that his descendance would be great.

So this got me asking: What if we've interpreted the goal of the 10 commandments wrongly?

We tend to see them as laws and things we should do or not do in order to be right with God. But that word 'saying' tells me that in the case of the commandments, God might actually be speaking his promises on his people. In the sense that if God speaks something into being, it will happen. So instead of seeing the 10 commandments as laws we should abide by, we should indtead see them as a promise that God powerfully make happen in the believers' lives! It is not something to attain but it is something that is freely given by God to the ones he calls his children. In this way, it is easier to see Jesus' work, life and death and resurrection through the giving of the 10 commandments. This is how you can see that God always operated on faith and not on works even at mount Sinai.

The common principle I find in the creation (covenant with mankind), covenant with Abram, 10 commandments (covenant with the Israelites) and Jesus' sacrifice (covenant with the believers) is this: Action of God, Word/Promise of God which leads to action of the Holy Spirit (able to obey the law despite the sinful nature).

Thoughts?

Interesting thought about it also being a blessing, and speaking it into existence. I will look into that later when home in front of my computer. But what you might not know is that they really aren't commandments, they are statements of fact. The Jewish people call them the "10 Words" and that is closer to the intent. Like I said, statements of fact, more like God saying, "you won't steal." Not that He was laying down a law as much as saying, "If you are my people, you won't steal." When we come in faith there should be a transformation and the things we once loved we hate and the things we might have hated we now love.... and hence, "we don't steal" because it stands against the character of the one we serve.