tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94854538787698833.post-14217888148490330252008-01-12T05:51:00.000-08:002008-01-12T06:08:31.548-08:00<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_9w215Mqxx60/R4jJkKiRcHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-sEWm7hmr5I/s1600-h/creation+of+adam.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154591396666110066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_9w215Mqxx60/R4jJkKiRcHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-sEWm7hmr5I/s400/creation+of+adam.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Question 15: What is the summary of commandments 1--3 (First Table)?</span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The first three commandments are known as the first "table" or tablet of the law because they focus on a person's relationship to God. Although there are only three commandments here, they actually take up much more space in the biblical text than the other six commandments do. They represent about two-thirds of the words in Exodus 20:1--17, with God adding explanations about His role as:</div><br /><div></div><br /><ul><br /><li>Redeemer/Savior---I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (20:2)</li><br /><li>Judge---You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (20:5--6)</li><br /><li>Creator---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. (20:9--11)</li></ul><br /><div></div><br /><div>Notice how intensely personal the wording is. God ("I") speaks personally to the people ("you") throughout. He would be their God and show them steadfast love; He covets their love, too. How fitting then that Jesus and other rabbis taught that this first table of the Law was about love for God (Mt 22:37; Dt 6:5).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Also notice that the three roles God defines here (Creator, Redeemer, Judge) correspond to the roles of God that the early Christians included in the Apostles Creed: The Lord created the heavens and the earth, redeemed us through the blood of His Son Jesus, and He will return again for the Last Judgment to pronounce us guilty or not guilty.</div>EEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17460954301323813380noreply@blogger.com