THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Lesson One

INTRODUCTION TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Burden to Impart:

God reveals Himself and His character to His people through His law, the Ten Commandments. The Jews got to know God's tremendous power through the miracles He performed in order to save them from slavery and deliver them out of Egypt. But they got to know His Person through the Ten Commandments that He gave to them. Each commandment is a revelation of His character, personality, and being. By looking closely at the Ten Commandments we can see an ancient "photograph" of God and can know Him. This will then let us know how we should be and how we should behave in order to be His people and please Him.

Memory Verse:

 		"Blessed arc those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart" (Psalm 119:2).

Facts to Teach:

  1. God's chosen people, the children of Israel, the Jews, lived for hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt. Finally, when their suffering was so bad that they could no longer bear it, they remembered the God of their fathers and cried out to Him to save them and deliver them from the slavery of the Egyptians.
  2. God answered their prayer and with His mighty power He delivered the whole nation of two million Jews out of Egypt, brought them through the great Red Sea on dry ground, and led them to a special place, Mount Sinai, where He would reveal Himself to them in a very special and intimate way.
  3. At Mount Sinai God gave His people His law. They had already seen many miracles which showed them His great power, but now He gave them something that would reveal His person and character to them. His law, and especially the Ten Commandments, is like an ancient "photograph" which God used to show His people what He is like. God wanted His people to know Him, to know His character, and to know His personality and heart. He loved them so He spoke to them and revealed I Iimself to them through His law.
  4. Every law is made by someone, and every law reveals what kind of person it is that made it. If a person makes a law that allows no one to take a bath or brush their teeth, what kind of person is he? If a bank robber became the president, what kind of laws do you think he would make? By studying the Ten Commandments we can see what kind of God, we have what He likes and what He hates, what He approves of and what He disapproves of. [Messages #51 and #53 from the Life-study of Exodus by Witness Lee, published by the Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California, give more clear help on each of the Ten Commandments.