Reading for Today:
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Exodus 19:1
Chapter 19 1 In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
–20:26
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Psalms 18:37-45
37 I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; Neither will I turn again till they are consumed. 38 I will smite them through, so that they shall not be able to rise: They shall fall under my feet. 39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40 Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, That I might cut off them that hate me. 41 They cried, but there was none to save; Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not. 42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets. 43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; Thou hast made me the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me. 44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me; The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me. 45 The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.
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Proverbs 6:20-25
20 My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: 21 Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck. 22 When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; And reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
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Matthew 22:23-46
23 On that day there came to him Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection: and they asked him, 24 saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first married and deceased, and having no seed left his wife unto his brother; 26 in like manner the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. 27 And after them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 But Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven. 31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not `the God' of the dead, but of the living. 33 And when the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. 34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like `unto it' is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, What think ye of the Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, `The son' of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I put thine enemies underneath thy feet? 45 If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Notes:
Exodus 19:4 bore you on eagles’ wings. With a most appropriate metaphor, God described the Exodus and the journey to Sinai. Eagles were known to have carried their young out of the nests on their wings and taught them to fly, catching them when necessary on their outspread wings. Moses, in his final song, employed this metaphor of God’s care for Israel and especially noted that there was only one Lord who did this (Deut. 32:11–12).
Proverbs 6:25 lust. Sexual sin is rooted in lust (imagination of the sinful act), as implied in
Exodus 20:17
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
and addressed by Christ in
Matthew 5:28
28 but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
. This initial attraction must be consistently rejected (
James 1:14
14 but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
, 15).
Matthew 22:45 David then calls Him ‘Lord.’ David would not have addressed a merely human descendant as “Lord.” Here Jesus was not disputing whether “Son of David” was an appropriate title for the Messiah; after all, the title is based on what is revealed about the Messiah in the Old Testament (Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5) and it is used as a messianic title in 1:1. But Jesus was pointing out that the title “son of David” did not begin to sum up all that is true about the Messiah who is also “Son of God” (
Luke 22:70
70 And they all said, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
). The inescapable implication is that Jesus was declaring His deity.
DAY 4: Are the Ten Commandments outmoded expectations or divine demands?
People make a serious error when they speak about “breaking the Ten Commandments.” History amply displays the fact that people persist in breaking themselves on the Ten Commandments. They represent God’s absolute and unchanging standard despite any arguments over their interpretation and application.
The title “Ten Commandments” comes from Moses (Ex. 34:28). The emphasis on God Himself speaking and writing these words makes unacceptable any theories of Israel’s borrowing legal patterns or concepts from surrounding nations.
The Ten Commandments may be grouped into two broad categories: the vertical—humanity’s relationship to God (Ex. 20:2–11); and the horizontal—humanity’s relationship to the community (Ex. 20:12–17). By these Ten Commandments, true theology and true worship, the name of God, family honor, life, marriage, property, truth, and virtue are well protected.
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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