Weekly Bible Study - Exodus 20:1-17

8 March 2015
3rd Sunday of Lent  

The Ten Commandments. We’ve heard them, learned them and recited them. We’ve broken them and ignored them. We might even consider ourselves lucky that we are not bound by the six hundred plus mandates contained in the Torah! (Torah is Hebrew for teaching and refers to the first five books of the Bible.) Can we sift through this all-too-familiar list and somehow discover a merciful and loving God? Today’s first reading offers us an opportunity to view the commandments in a wider context.

God prefaces his list by telling us first and foremost that he is a God of liberation, having brought his chosen people out of slavery. Indeed, God has rescued all of us from the bondage of our moral frailty. His voice may be authoritative, but as our loving Father he extends mercy to the “thousandth generation” (that is, for all time and for everyone). As the psalmist tells us, God is slow to anger and abounding in kindness.

We hear in today's first reading that God is a jealous God, protective of his wayward sons and daughters as a mother defends her children. He desires that we embrace his law of love rather than the empty allurements and false values of idols. As we examine that familiar list, we see a generous God. He invites his people to take pleasure in his holy day, to enjoy the gifts and restfulness of the Sabbath, and for one day put aside their worldly concerns. Our God values life, its procreation and protection by honoring and blessing parents, his primary life-givers. He knows human nature so well that he offers us ways to free us from our slavery to sinfulness, to safeguard our behaviors and make the best of our relationships.

This is not an image of a God who is eager to exact punishment. It is, rather, about our Lord who created a people he could lovingly guide along their journey to salvation, make of them a great and holy nation, call them his own and ask only for their reverence and faithfulness.

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, Class of 2001, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.