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【Bible Study】Exodus Chapter 20 – The Bottom Line for the Army of Jehovah God (Part 1)

2022-01-19 21,113 Exodus Sabbath Army of God Ten Commandments Bottom Line God is a Jealous God No Other Gods Before Me

The Ten Commandments are the Bottom Line for the Army of Jehovah

Greetings to all! To be frank, the Book of Exodus was particularly easy to study before Chapter 20, but it becomes exceedingly difficult thereafter. Whether I can hit the nail on the head depends on God's revelation. The theme of the entire Book of Exodus is the army of Jehovah God coming out of Egypt. So, what does the army of Jehovah God rely on to triumph? First, I want to say that the answer is not complicated.

If you read the Bible over and over without establishing the most basic concepts, you will find it very complex. Among so many words of God, what exactly are they saying? When you read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you may feel that they contain too much, but in summary, it is actually very simple. Does God's army need to develop the most advanced weapons and strategies, tactics, or write a "Moses' Art of War"? No!

Someone once challenged Jesus, asking Him: What exactly does this book of the law tell us? Jesus' answer was simple: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Chapter 19 of Exodus speaks of the army of Jehovah God as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. So, the key to the victory of the army of Jehovah God is really not some high-end weapon, but the need for you to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, it's that simple.

If we build God's church according to God's word, it is actually not difficult. But people are strange, always complicating simple things. Many people find Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with so many chapters daunting, but it's actually very simple, it just requires you to become a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.

The theme of Exodus Chapter 20 is the bottom line for the army of Jehovah God. When people fall below this bottom line, they will be subject to military law. God's military law is the Ten Commandments, which are the bottom line for the army of Jehovah God, not some lofty regulations. Don't think that the Ten Commandments are from the Old Testament and that Christians in the New Testament don't need to observe them. Does that mean that idolatry is allowed in the New Testament? Are we exempt from honoring our parents or keeping the Sabbath? No.

Our church now does not keep the Sabbath, but observes the Sabbath week, resting all seven days of the week! God's word is not difficult, it is in your heart, it is in your mouth. The army of Jehovah God cannot cross this bottom line, this is the minimum standard, and anyone who exceeds it will be cursed.

And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.(Exodus 20:1-2)

Before, we all sought God because we could not survive in this world, and God released us from this world. Just like bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, and into God's army. So, after entering God's army, you must make a choice: continue to live in the rules of the world? Or live in God's army as God's people, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation? In comparison, living in God's army is simpler.

Some people say: I want to start a business! Build a company like Alibaba! Others are extremely envious when they see corrupt officials embezzling a lot of money. How many people are still living in the logic system of this world? Completely forgetting that we could not survive in the world, so God brought us out of the world.

Some people say: I am doing very well in the world, eating meat, grilled fish, and barbecue every day. Then you continue to muddle along until the day you can no longer do so, then come and find God. Otherwise, you have come to God, but you are still thinking about returning to the world all day long. We were originally like the Israelites, in Egypt, in the land of slavery, now God has brought us out and given us some requirements, what is so difficult about that? Now we have to make a choice, which way of living do you think is simpler?

Everyone always thinks that being a Christian, being God's people is difficult, and muddling along in the world is simple. In fact, muddling along in the world is the most difficult, you have to please your boss, superiors, colleagues, worry about getting into a good university, fret about school district housing, etc., it's really tiring. But if you are God's people, wouldn't all this be very simple? With God's blessing, it's okay to have those things in the world, and it's okay not to have them, but I must have God, because God has already released me.

I am no longer a slave in this world, no longer bound by the world, I have received God's blessing. Brothers and sisters, count how much of God's grace you have received. A few days ago, a sister came to me, she had something growing in an embarrassing part of her body that was both painful and itchy, extremely uncomfortable. The doctor suspected it was cancer.

She said: I have experienced a lot of God's grace before, God pulled me back from the brink of death, and now another thing has come upon me. Do you think I should have surgery or pray? I said: It's easy for you to choose either way. Whether you have surgery or not, you may die, and you may live, the odds are about the same! She said: Since I have experienced so much grace, I will choose a simple path, choose to trust God.

Then I prayed with her, it turned out to be a worm from hell, I only needed a few moves to deal with such a demon, and the pain and itching disappeared. Later, this worm from hell brought an even bigger demon, causing her to have a high fever of over 40 degrees Celsius, but it was all healed with one prayer. After listening to what I said, don't think that I am against you going to the hospital, the choice of whether to go to the hospital is up to you. But I am a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and I will definitely choose to fight spiritual battles.

Our church has dozens of testimonies every week, isn't it making very complex things extremely simple? Otherwise, we would have to use this technology and that technology, but technology cannot compare with miracles, and technology is very expensive. How good it is to have God's miracles! In Singapore, some people say this: Going to the hospital and coming out alive is also death. Because although they come out alive, the money is also gone. But we who have God, God will bring us out of this complex rule of the world.

Will having God mean a lack of money? No! Can having God solve medical problems? Yes! But the most fearful thing about having God is curses! So, the theme of this chapter is the bottom line for the army of Jehovah God, this bottom line cannot be crossed, once crossed, you will fail God and be cursed! For example, if I haven't killed anyone, can I be blessed? No, because not killing people is far from being blessed. But killing people will definitely be cursed, this is the bottom line that cannot be touched, touching it will be cursed.

God saves people from the world and brings them into His kingdom, and when people have God, many things are simplified at once. Our brothers and sisters must no longer live in the logic system of the world, that is so tiring and complicated! Many people will read God's word in a very complicated way, but thank God for giving me a great grace, allowing me to speak God's word simply, clearly, and authentically.

First Commandment: You Shall Have No Other Gods Besides Jehovah

“You shall have no other gods besides me.(Exodus 20:3)

This passage speaks very clearly, the first and most basic bottom line for the army of Jehovah God: You shall have no other gods besides me. I don't understand why people must go and get other gods. In my opinion, you have already touched the treasure by coming among us, so there is no need to look around.

When my father was still alive, he told me a story. A friend of my father's had more than a hundred idols on the table in his house, all with names and surnames, including Jesus and the cross, and he worshiped them there every day, feeling that it was okay to worship one more, but not okay to worship one less. My father said to his friend: Just come with me and believe in the Lord properly, believing in the Lord is so good! But he just wouldn't listen.

As a result, one day this friend fell off his bicycle, and the bicycle brake handle pierced his stomach, how terrifying! It took a long time to get better. Later, my father said to his friend: Look, you have so many gods, they are always fighting there, how can they have time to take care of you? What my father said was quite interesting.

It is God who released us from the land of Egypt, so why do we need other gods besides Him? Money, good food, and interpersonal relationships cannot be our gods, wouldn't that simplify things? It's good to have God and God's blessing, but be sure not to have God's curse. We shouldn't just say that there are more than a hundred idols on other people's tables, if God's light shines into our minds, there may be thousands of idols, who knows!

We who are Christians, who are elite soldiers in the army of Jehovah God, the most important thing is that you shall have no other gods besides Jehovah God! There can be no other savior besides Jesus Christ! Think about it, how good it is that God has simplified our needs to this point! Do you still need to be afraid of your boss? No need! But you still have to be able to handle people, don't argue with people, and become a keyboard warrior.

Besides God - the Creator of the universe, you cannot have other gods! Brothers and sisters, think carefully, in the past few years, have any of us worshiped idols? Yes! Have any of us worshiped Jesus as an idol? Yes, many! Isn't that having other gods? In fact, other gods are not effective either! Now we return to the word of God, no longer have other gods, and let the things that our minds rely on for survival be of God.

As long as you simply look to our God, I guarantee that you have gone from yesterday to today, you will definitely go from today to tomorrow, and you will definitely go from tomorrow to the day after tomorrow, isn't this very simple? If you don't see through these things in the world, you really can't rely on God alone. Only when you see through the things of the world will you know how precious God is!

Don't some people live very well even without money? Someone once said to me: Teacher, I owe people six million, and now the debt is due and I can't pay it back, what should I do? I said: That's good! The person got anxious: Why do you say that? I said: Fortunately, it's not that people owe you six million, otherwise it would be even more upsetting. You owe people six million now, if you can't pay it back, you can't pay it back, it's actually nothing. The one who should be anxious is the creditor.

Isn't that letting me be a deadbeat? It's not letting you be a deadbeat, I know you are a good person, but you can't help it if you don't pay it back now! He thought I would be anxious with him, he thought I would give him my money and rush to help him pay it back. I can't help, if you owe one dollar I can help, but this is a bottomless pit, no matter how much you give, it's like throwing money into the water. If you can't pay it back, you can't pay it back, you still live the same way. What I mean is people should simplify the matter of living.

Some people are even more funny, asking me to quickly pray for someone. I asked what was wrong? He told me that person was going to die and asked me to quickly pray to send that person to heaven! Usually, people are only transcended after they die, could it be that I can transcend him before he dies? If my prayers could send people to heaven, that would be profitable. But God's word doesn't write it that way! I am a person who takes life and death lightly, I think if the time of death has come, then die.

Maybe many people will find what I said harsh, but when you get used to hearing it, you will see through it, and you will be great! So brothers and sisters must know, there cannot be other gods! When people get other gods, they ruin the best things. We have already obtained such a good treasure, if we don't use it well, but put a bunch of garbage with the treasure, isn't that a problem with the brain?

Second Commandment: You Shall Not Make Idols for Yourself

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.(Exodus 20:4-6)

How well this is said! Don't make an idol and say that this is my God, do you understand? Once I was on a train and met a person who was carrying a heavy bag, I asked him why the bag was so heavy, what was inside? He told me that it was his god, and he carried it wherever he went. I found it very incomprehensible, why does your god have to be carried by you every day? How great are you that you can carry your god? My God carries me!

My God carries me on eagles’ wings and brings me to Himself! You are the opposite, carrying your god to yourself? It doesn't sound like a logic! The word for living is--God! God will punish those who hate Him; God will show love to those who love Him. Isn't this a matter that couldn't be simpler! So, is it good to simplify the problem? Some people ask me, what about the curses of their family's three to four generations, their grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandmother who committed sins?

You read this sentence carefully: for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. This is talking about those who hate God! But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. So if you love God, all the good deeds of your ancestors will be attributed to you, and it will be counted down to a thousand generations! All the curses will not be counted! The key is whether you love God or hate God!

All diseases are closely related to these two things: loving God and hating God. You say you love God, but you can't live without money! That's it, you put money and God together, aren't you being cursed? Can't God solve the problem of money? Of course! Some time ago, a brother thought about money every day, and as a result, one day he fell off a stool and broke a bone, this is the result of thinking about money every day! What do you think I think about? I just think about my God!

We must love God, loving God can solve so many problems! God will protect us, keep His covenant and show us love, because there is no other God in heaven and earth like our God, nothing can compare with our God! Our God is great and glorious, worthy of glory and awe! But there is one condition for being His people, which is to be jealous, not to put other things with Him! If you say you love God, but you also love money, that won't work! You must love God alone! Trust God alone!

The Third Commandment: Do Not Take the Name of Jehovah God in Vain

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)

What does it mean to take something in vain? It means to misuse it. The name of Jehovah God must not be misused! For example, if you deceive someone and then tell them: "Don't worry, I have God, I would never deceive you! I guarantee it in God's name!" That is called misuse, taking the name of Jehovah your God in vain! Some say, "I didn't say that, I just said I'm a Christian, how could I deceive you?" That is the same!

Once, I attended a morning prayer meeting with a group of Christians, it was a business fellowship. After the meeting, we went for tea together. One of them saw that I was new and thought it would be easy to deceive me. He asked if I had a million, to give it to him, so that by the end of the year he could give me three million. I thought, this level of deception is too poor! I told him: "Why don't I use your name to borrow a million from the bank, and then you take it and invest for me?"

Businessmen make money, priests serve God and earn blessings. If someone uses their identity as a Christian or pastor as a guarantee, they can't guarantee anything, they are mostly a liar, don't believe them! I often tell brothers and sisters that there are many scammers online, don't believe me either, observe for a while longer. Now we are studying the Bible, remember this commandment in the Ten Commandments, do not take the name of Jehovah God in vain, don't mess around, or you will be cursed.

You don't need anything else, Covid or cancer can take your life, a few worms from hell can bite you to death, they are very powerful! I dare not take God's name in vain! Because I have a deep understanding of spiritual matters. Once a person has other gods besides Jehovah God, the spirit of death will definitely come looking for you. When people carve idols for themselves, even if the demons don't come, God will send some to find you. Demons are under God's jurisdiction, this has biblical basis, it's not nonsense!

The Fourth Commandment: Keep the Sabbath Day

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11)

Would you go to work on time in a place that doesn't pay you? Of course not. Why do you work? To make money, to make a living. What do we live by now? Do we live by God or by work? There is a big difference! Many people live by work, but I suggest you live by God!

If you live by God, will you die if you rest for a day or two? If you want to work every day, always wanting to finish it, you will never finish it. Why? Because if you finish all the work, will people still support you for nothing? Wouldn't they fire you? There is a Chinese saying called "the rabbit is dead, the dog is cooked," meaning that someone raises a hunting dog specifically to catch rabbits. If it catches all the rabbits, will the owner continue to raise the hunting dog, having to give it meat every day? So in the end, they will definitely kill the dog.

So, never finish the work, leave some, it doesn't matter, be a smart person. Including service, it's the same, don't rush, because God is there. In any case, we must develop a habit of rest. Now our rest is not the rest of the Sabbath, but rest seven days a week. The Sabbath is the holy day. What is the holy day? Is sleeping in and scrolling through TikTok called rest? No! That's a bad habit! The holy day is when we put down everything, set aside time to draw near to God, study God's word, and know God. God's requirements are not high, He only asks us to take one day a week to know Him and worship Him.

If we live by God, haven't you worked enough for six days a week? You have to work seven days, and if you can't finish it in 10 hours, you work 12 hours. Many people love to throw time into work like this, isn't it very foolish? So, keeping the Sabbath day holy is not scrolling through TikTok, but keeping the Sabbath to the Lord your God! It is not a day for working, but a day for drawing near to God, worshiping God, and studying to know God.

God is really too gracious, don't you want to make money? He has already given you six days to make money, isn't that good? Foolish people take seven days a week to make money! In the end, they live under a curse! In fact, taking one day a week as the Sabbath is God's most basic requirement. Can we take two days a week? Of course! Three days? Of course! The Sabbath is kept to God, don't turn it into the Sabbath of the Pharisees, it must be according to God's will.

Brothers and sisters should have a deeper understanding of things, try choosing to rely on God and see what happens. In the early years, if a Christian attended Bible study on Friday, attended Sunday service, and also attended a prayer meeting, they were considered a very good Christian. Some Western churches even turned the Sabbath into a Sabbath hour. My breath is longer, I can preach for more than an hour at a time. Their breath is shorter, they preach for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

In this way, the Sabbath day became a Sabbath hour, the Sabbath hour became a Sabbath minute, and finally it became a Sabbath second. Can this be blessed? The meeting lasts for an hour and a half, and when the time is up, the departure is as orderly as dancing in the square; or they pick up their phones and look at the time, and if the pastor goes overtime, he has to apologize to everyone. Can this be called loving God?

Our church added a Bible study for leaders on Wednesday, who knew that everyone came one after another, and it formed today's Wednesday Bible study time. Then on Tuesday I started a prayer meeting. At that time, my faith was very small, and I was always worried about delaying the brothers' and sisters' studies and work. Later, I found that not only did it not delay, but many problems disappeared because of it, so it continued. Until now, it has become a real Sabbath week, drawing near to God every day!

The brothers and sisters who enter the church now are very blessed! We didn't even care whether you could accept it or not, we just asked you to follow the church. In fact, it didn't delay anything for you. Studying to know God and drawing near to God every day, being at rest every day, what did it delay? It only delayed one thing, which is delaying people from being cursed! But the blessings are increasing!

I want to ask everyone a harsh question: What did you do in the past when you didn't spend time drawing near to God? Did you go bullshit or go to the doctor? Didn't you waste a lot of time? How good it is to rest now! We turned the Sabbath day into a Sabbath week, then into a Sabbath month, and finally into a Sabbath year. I think it's great!

Thank God, I have been working hard to implement the Ten Commandments! May God bless everyone!

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Isabelle
Dear Teacher, may I ask, the brief explanation of the noun after Sabbath in the Chinese Bible indicates that it is from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Shouldn't we tell believers to rest and draw near to God on the right day? Didn't Jesus also preach and heal on the Sabbath? The English word for Sabbath is Sabbath, not rest. Shouldn't we learn to stop working and draw near to God on the Sabbath, learn in church, and serve?
命定小助手
Wow, this is a challenging question. In fact, the Pharisees all kept the Sabbath, but Jesus said they were a brood of vipers. So following Jesus is not just following the Sabbath, it should be to set the captives free and let the oppressed go free!
@Isabelle: 老師您好,請教一下,安息日在中文聖經後面的名詞淺註說明了是週五晚上到週六晚上,咱們不得告訴信徒休息與上帝親近在對的日子嗎,耶穌不也是在安息日講道,醫治嗎?安息日的英文是Sabbath,不是rest,咱得學像耶穌安息日停止工作,親近上帝,在教會學習,服事對不?
Isabelle
The teacher said that we must imitate Jesus. Jesus healed and cast out demons on the Sabbath, and criticized the scribes and Pharisees for keeping the Sabbath without doing good, but adhering to dogmas and adding laws to the law. But it does not negate the Sabbath. Because the Ten Commandments were written by God himself on stone tablets for Moses. We cannot lose the root benchmark. Returning to Sabbath is returning to the correct Sabbath. Although today the Jewish believers and the entire nation have not abandoned the Sabbath, few are saved, but it does not mean that the Sabbath is useless. Sticking to dogmas and keeping the truth is useless, but it is not a reason for us to abolish one of God's Ten Commandments. In recent years, One for Israel has risen to lead the Jewish people to know Jesus. The sheep inside and outside the circle must be united. This is God's own great power. Glory to God.
@Isabelle: 老師您好,請教一下,安息日在中文聖經後面的名詞淺註說明了是週五晚上到週六晚上,咱們不得告訴信徒休息與上帝親近在對的日子嗎,耶穌不也是在安息日講道,醫治嗎?安息日的英文是Sabbath,不是rest,咱得學像耶穌安息日停止工作,親近上帝,在教會學習,服事對不?
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@命定小助手: 哇,这是个挑战的问题。其实法利赛人都守安息日,但耶稣却说他们是毒蛇的种类。所以效法耶稣,不是效法安息日而已,应该是让被掳的得释放,被压制的得自由!
Isabelle
Thank God, thank you teacher. I am a person who has broken the Ten Commandments, and the most hateful thing is that, as I said before, I am still a third-generation believer. I thank God for letting me know Christianity through my grandmother, and I thank God for letting me know the Ten Commandments, laws, and regulations through my mother. I also thank God for his care and protection along the way, not because I am good, not because I am kind. Just because God knows that I am a foolish and ignorant person, knows that I am full of sins, and without God's redemption, there is only a dead end. I'm sorry. I really thank God. I am not worthy to live, I have broken the bottom line of being a human being, what face do I have to ask for. I'm sorry. I only ask God to let me not leave God every moment, and follow honestly and cautiously, that's enough. I don't dare to say let God be happy, it's good not to provoke God to be angry. I am really afraid, really because of the past spiritual pride and various sins, in the end, evil people and evil things have been done. I am not even as good as the world. Greatly smeared God. I don't know what the curse on me will be, and I dare not mess with the name of Jesus anymore. What you sow, you reap, I deserve everything, I made it myself, living one day is God's grace, it is a day of atonement. I really hope I will always remember, although I don't know my age, I will live one day and ask for one day, until I can return to my heavenly home in peace, even if I guard the gate of my heavenly home, because I know I am not worthy.