Bg: (NET) So when Israel entered into covenant with God, they entered into a theocracy by expressing their willingness to submit to his authority. The Law was the binding constitution for the nation of Israel under Yahweh their God...In the process of legislating their conduct and their ritual for worship, the Law revealed God. It revealed the holiness of Yahweh as the standard for all worship and service, and in revealing that it revealed or uncovered sin...But it also teaches that Christ was the end (goal) of the Law, that it ultimately led to him. It was a pedagogue, Paul said, to bring people to Christ. And when the fulfillment of the promise came in him, believers were not to go back under the Law. What this means for Christians is that what the Law of Israel revealed about God and his will is timeless and still authoritative over faith and conduct, but what the Law regulated for Israel in their existence as the people of God has been done away with in Christ.
The Ten Commandments reveal the essence of the Law; the ten for the most part are reiterated in the NT because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God. The NT often raises them to a higher standard, to guard the spirit of the Law as well as the letter.
Ob and In:
(1) The covenant, or exclusive relationship were repeated:
v.2 I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
(NET) By this announcement Yahweh declared what he had done for Israel by freeing them from slavery. Now they are free to serve him. He has a claim on them for gratitude and obedience. But this will not be a covenant of cruel slavery and oppression; it is a covenant of love, as God is saying “I am yours, and you are mine.” This was the sovereign Lord of creation and of history speaking, declaring that he was their savior.
v.3 You shall have no other gods before me.
(NET) "there will not be to you” The negative with the imperfect expresses the emphatic prohibition; it is best reflected with “you will not” and has the strongest expectation of obedience.... Jacob (Exodus, 546) illustrates it with marriage: the wife could belong to only one man while every other man was “another man.”
v.5b for I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God
(NET) The word describes a passionate intensity to protect or defend something that is jeopardized. The word can also have the sense of “envy,” but in that case the object is out of bounds. God’s zeal or jealousy is to protect his people or his institutions or his honor. Yahweh’s honor is bound up with the life of his people.
6 and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(NET) The noun refers to God’s covenant loyalty, his faithful love to those who belong to him. These are members of the covenant, recipients of grace, the people of God, whom God will preserve and protect from evil and its effects.
Reflection: What is involved in a covenantal relationship with God? 1. we belong to Him. We owe Him our lives. 2. God expected strongly that we will have no other relationship with any other god. 3. God is is emotionally involved if we are disloyal to Him. 4. we are the recipients of grace, the ones God preserve and protect from evil.
God is full of passion towards His people. Am I passionate towards Him?
(2) Take the LORD's name in vain x2 v.7
(BDB) to no good purpose (NET) “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.
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