Week 42, Day 1: The commandments given
Today’s Reading: Exodus 20:1-26
Some thoughts from the reading…
God speaks to Israel from the Mountain. He gives them the 10 commandments. The people are fearful and ask that God speak to Moses and then they will listen to what Moses tells them. This again is an interesting picture of a terrifying experience. Moses tells the people not to fear, that God is basically instilling the fear of Him in them so that they may not sin. He expects them to remember this day and not want to go against any of His commands. That the people would be careful to observe His commands and to correct any wrongs.
God also tells them about the kind of place they are to sacrifice on. The altar is not to be crafted. They are not to build it with stones that have been cut. His altar is not to be gamorous in appearance. Instead it was to be a simple earthen altar or made from uncut stones. I believe this goes back to knowing man’s nature. If man were allowed to fashion the altar with gold, silver and well crafted stones, the altar might become the focal point of their worship. No, their focus of worship was to be directed towards God and I believe to help the people keep this perspective they were to have a simple altar. An aside note, if you have ever wondered why Catholic cathedrals have so many statues and ornate carvings, etc in them. I have heard that it dates back to the medieval times. If you have a massive group of uneducated people and the priest is drolling along in latin during the whole service, you need to provide something for the people to focus on or to keep their attention. Thus the surroundings provided something to distract the people or to hold their attention. I do not know if this is 100% accurate but it does make sense. The place of worship thus becomes the center of attention and a focal point of your “feeling” of devotion – since it is so beautiful. Simple surroundings for worship are logical when you consider that the focus is not on the place, the structure but on who we have come to give praise to.
Question: Which of the 10 commandments sticks out to you? Is there one that catches your attention more than the others?