LINE by LINE study of the 10 Commandments - Debunking the 'Angry God' Myth of the Old Testament

Shalom, everyone, and welcome. I am so sorry for the delay. We've had some technical difficulties, but hopefully that's sorted out now. Let me know in the comments if you can hear and see me. But yeah, I'm really excited for tonight. We are having a really good schedule to discuss the Ten Commandments. So, first question. What is the enemy up to? Why does he not want this message to go out? Because it's been such a struggle to get this life. Second question. I'm gonna read a verse to you and I want you to tell me if you think that this is relevant for us in this time that we're living in right now. And we read in 2 Timothy 4. 3. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. And that's exactly what we see today. People just wanting to figure out something except for the truth. Anything but the truth is good enough as long as it suits their desires, their wickedness. We live in a time and an age where people think about the commandments of God as an old thing, a relic, an ancient thing out of date, perh. And they even take our Father who is in heaven, and they put him in that saying he is. He's changed somehow. Jesus came and is different from God the Father. And Jesus came and brought us grace. And God the Father was this angry, judgmental person. And there's this disconnect that people somehow see. And this was an early deception. We saw it starting to come in in the early church, even through Marcion, if you've ever heard of him. But today it's very much alive. And so we're going to be discussing today the Ten Commandments. We are going to be looking at the context of the law as well, and ask questions like, why was it given? Should we keep it? Why did God seem so angry back there? And how is he today? Like, what is God's character like? Okay, guys, so first off, I want to open up in Exodus 19, verse 4, and we're going to be looking at the opening context of just before God starts giving the Ten Commandments, he's preparing Israel to receive it. We see the yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all the people, for all the earth is mine. Okay? So God starts giving us this amazing context of introducing himself as the one who has borne Israel on eagle's wings, splitting the sea for them, delivering them from the Egyptians. And he uses this language which I love. He says, I have brought you to myself. And this, if you remember the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve fell because they ate of the tree and they were sent out of the garden, and God appointed an angel with a flaming sword going to the left and to the right, keeping mankind out of the garden, right? And now we see, God says, I have brought you to myself. I have not forsaken. I have not forgotten you. In fact, I want to submit that from the moment that Adam and Eve was placed outside the garden was the moment that God's plan of bringing them back was put in motion. And we are living in the times where God is really at the end of that plan. We are at the culmination of God's plan of redemption for us to be redeemed and to be with him face to face as Adam and Eve were in the garden. And so all of what he is saying, however, it has got a condition because he says, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant. And that's what this day is all about, that God is about to give Israel something that Adam and Eve struggled with, something that's called an instruction, something that they should or should not do this, do not do that. And now we are sitting here today, and as God is about to give it to us, we have to ask, will we make the same mistake of Adam? Or will we live redeemed like Yeshua, never giving into the temptations of the devil or flesh, the greed and all the desires of this world, okay? And then he goes on and he says in verse 6, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. This is what God wants to make us. Okay? Now, this is God saying, I want to make you different. I want you to be a holy nation. I want. When the world looks at you, they need to see something else. You need to be bearing my name. And so that is our responsibility. Now I want you to think about this, though, because God is the one who is speaking here. Now, when we. I know that we take that for granted. It's like, okay, yeah, pd, what's the big deal? We see this all the time in the Bible. We see, and God said to Moses this, and God said that, and Jesus spoke and said this and we just kind of, okay, cool, right? The Creator of heaven and earth is coming down out of heaven to a people who are so small. In fact, he even told Israel, you're such a small people. It's not that you're many people that I came to you. It's not because you did many wonderful things that I came to you. It's because I have a covenant with your forefathers. I have made a promise that I'm going to redeem you. That's why I'm here. Why does he care so much? Like, this is a question we have to ask. I am like a needle in a haystack. If even that in this universe of things that God could care about. And yet he sees me and then he says, he numbers my hairs. Why? You see, this is the part that gets me. Because the world speaks so wrongly about God. They mock him. They mock the idea of God. But when we read his words, like we've just. We just did, and we will continue, I want us to really stop and think for a moment and just be like, whoa. We are reading the words of God as he descended upon Mount Sinai in great majesty to a people who didn't deserve it, but he did it. And he did it not just for them, but as he said to them, I'm telling you this for you and those who are coming after you. That's you, that's me. All of us who are now of the seed of Abraham because we're grafted into the Israel because of Yeshua. And so now when people talk about his words, they love to talk about how his words have passed away. This mighty God who has come and done this for us, and yet his words are no longer. And even if they do not say that, they do not live that. Because it's not just about me intellectually, theologically saying this or that. It's about, do I live out his words. But what did God say? Yeshua said, for heaven and earth will pass away, but my words, they will never pass away. He also said in Matthew 5, for I said, until heaven and earth passes away, not a jot or a tittle will pass from the law until all has been accomplished. The law that we are going to read right now. Now let's Read further. Exodus 19, verse 9. And the Lord. Now the Lord said to Moses, behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you. I may also believe you forever. When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, okay, so he's telling. He's saying that he is going to come down now and he's going to do it so that the people believe that he is who he says he is and believes that Moses has words of the Lord and this is now how he tells them to prepare. The Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their. Their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. That sounds intense. We're going to talk about that in a sec. Why that, why God had to say that going to go on here in verse 16. And he says, on the morning of the third day, this is now the day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. And the whole mountain trembled greatly. And in verse 19, and as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. When God came down in this manner, even though today the world mocks, today the world questions, today the world says, well, maybe tomorrow I'll pay attention to this idea of a God. And that day no one mocked, and that day no one questioned. And that day no one said, well, tomorrow I'll consider the words of God. In that day, everyone was quiet, and all of nature and creation put all their attention on that mountain. This is who our God is. And let us not forget who he is, because he was he is, and he will forever be. Now, some people, they say, well, he just sounds really angry, right? He's coming down in thick darkness and lightning and thunder, and he's giving all these harsh words, these judgments. It sounds like, what is up with that? And I think that is such a very sad misunderstanding about the character of the Father. You know, when you go on and you read the next few verses, we actually start seeing such incredible love and care and mercy from our God in how he is treating Israel. See what we perceive as him just, you know, telling them, stay away from me. You know, don't come near the mountain. It can sound like he doesn't want to be near, but I want to remind you that him being there is him coming near. Him descending is him drawing near to the people. But why then is he telling them to be careful of coming near at the same time? That sounds like a contradiction. Let's read a few verses further. In verse 20, we read, the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain. And Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord and look, and many of them perish. And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai. For you yourself warned us, saying, set limits around the mountain unconsecrated. And the Lord said to him, no, go down and come up, bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up the mountain to the Lord, lest he break up against them. Break out against them. So Moses went down to the people and told them, now consider this. This is an interesting journey of events because we're seeing God warning. You know, Moses and Israel didn't come near the mountain. And then when Moses, when he descends on the mountain that day and Moses comes up, he says, moses, you go down and you tell them to not come near the mountain, because I do not want to break out against them. It's this incredible care. God does not want this to happen. He does not want anyone to get hurt. And he doesn't want anyone to not understand how dangerous this situation is. But why is this situation dangerous? Because God is appearing in his pure and holy essences, in who he is on that mountain. And that means that any defilement of the flesh cannot be near him and live. Any sin cannot be near him, because he is perfect and holy. And so if we come near him with dirt, that holiness will break out and bring judgment upon any sin immediately in that moment, and we will perish. Because the wages of sin leads to death, remember? So the Bible says. And so now we see the same beckoning back to Genesis, how God, he wanted to be with them close by, and yet they were sent out. And now he's drawing near. And so this is. It's like a father who wants to hug his child, but who knows that if he did that would kill his child. It's like this strange situation where God wants to be near us, but he at the same time needs to protect us because of our sin and him being perfect, there's this incompatibility. And so humanity needs a sacrifice, an atonement to cover their sin, and humanity needs to repent and turn from their sins. And so God establishes the nation of Israel so that a nation can be created wherein the Messiah would be born into. And Yeshua, the Messiah, he came and what did he do? He cleanses the lepers as he walks through Israel. He goes and he heals the sick. He tells people, your sins are forgiven you. He tells the thief on the cross, today, I tell you, you will be with me in the kingdom. He is opening the door and tearing the veil when he is upon the earth doing his work. Because that was the mission from the beginning. And we are now picking up the story, right when he's on the mountain. And that has not taken place yet. Yeshua has not come yet. So all of this is demonstrating to us how severe our sin is and how severe that separation from our Father was in the past. Think about a policeman, right? And you have a child, and the child is about to run across the street, and there's a busy street of cars going across, and a policeman, he shows up and he's like. And he screams and he yells at the child, and he says, stay on that side. Do not come over the street, right? And we can perceive and say, well, why is a policeman shouting? He seems to be rude, but actually he's being very kind and caring to the child because he's trying to save the life of the child. And that is what our Father is doing. He's appearing in a way that can put fear in Israel, right? But he's doing it so that we understand, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, right? And so that means that if we have a right perception of him and we fear him, we begin to walk in righteousness and in wisdom. From on there, people ask, why does God seem to have a different character in the Old and the New Testament? Why does it seem like God is judging in the Old Testament and just gracious in the New? Well, first of all, we think about the Old Testament as this whole collection of books, right, that spans really thousands of years. And so there's a long time period with, you know, the flood that happens. We have God coming, and then we see him with Israel in the wilderness, pouring out certain judgments. And then you compare it to the New Testament, which really spans about 70 years of history. And yet we also actually do see cases in the New Testament of God coming with judgment as well, upon sin, even very strong judgment. We see, for example, with Ananias and Sapphira, how they lied to the Holy Spirit and immediately they were struck down by God. So that is the same as what he had done before. God didn't change. In fact, the fact that we have so much things happen in this world that God does not come and pour judgment upon is a miracle and gracious and of itself, because of the state of this world, God can just come and be like, I'm going to wipe this place out. Because the wickedness is in a place and at a level where that will be completely justified. And so we don't have a finger to point at him at all. And then I'll also remind you of how what 2 Timothy 4:1 tells us, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. Okay, so we now see God appear on the mountain and he gives his law, and he gives. He comes in fire. And in the New Testament, if you will want to call it that, God comes and he puts his law in the hearts and his fire on the heads of the people in Acts chapter two. That is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And so that means that we have but a greater responsibility to walk in his commandments out and to walk in His Holy Spirit. Okay, so guys, as that was our intro, right? That was our. Okay, let's lay some groundwork for these commandments now. We're gonna go right into it. Exodus 20, verse 3. And the Lord spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. So first God comes and he declares who he is and who he will be known by. The One who has brought us out of the house of slavery. He was known for that by Israel, and He is today known for that amongst us all. And he starts with saying, you shall have no other gods before me. Okay, now let's ask a question of what does this mean really? Because today and back then, you know, we can argue. Well, back then they had all these false gods, you know, these pagan gods, these statues that they made. It sounds so far away from us. Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 19. Why do I imply then that food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. So when we think about idols, we shouldn't just think about wood and stone and golden idols as the pagans have made. We should truly also think of it in terms of the demonic today. Because demons today are still very much alive. They weren't just in the ancient world, I can assure you. They are still among us, working in people. And so how do they work in people? How do they tempt people? They offer things to people. They offer greed, they offer the world, they offer lust, the pride of life, your desires, they offer. When we are faced with all of the temptations in this world, it's important for us to say no to demons and yes to God. Because when you go and you fall into deep sin, when you start falling into the sin of pornography, when you start falling into the sin of greed, are these not idolatries? Is that not a sin against God? Have you not set up another God in your life? See, it's easy for us to think of it simply in terms of wooden idols, but it's so much more. Okay, let's go back to Exodus 20. Next is verse four. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 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 fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. How amazing how he says, if you keep my commandments, I will bless you. I will bless your offspring. And he said to the thousands he compares the. He says, look, if there's disobedience, there will be judgment, but if there is obedience, there is blessing a thousand times more. Like the grace of our God is everywhere, if you are able to open your eyes and see it for yourself. Okay, he goes on, then in verse 7. 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. So what does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? A few things. It can simply mean to curse God. It can mean to sin with the awareness that he has placed his name upon us. If we are a believer, if we are a Christian, if you, whatever you want to call yourself, you follow Yeshua, and yet you misrepresent his name through your sin, then you bring his name to nothing, because others will look at your life and curse God. They will say, this is who God has sent to be his representative, this one who is a sinner. And they themselves will be hindered to follow God. And so we as people need to be careful about our witness and how we carry our witness forth. Next one is how we can bring his name to nothing is through false oaths. We see in Leviticus 19:12, you shall not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of, of your God. I am the Lord. So in other words, if we say, well, I swear on his name that this and this, and this is the case, and yet we lie, then we have taken his name in vain. And then also lastly, false prophecies like Jeremiah 23:31, where it's written, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, declares the Lord, when God has not spoken. So when a false prophecy goes out, saying God has said something which he has not said, that misrepresents what God is saying, that misrepresents God's will, that misrepresents his holiness and set apartness, and that is bringing his name to nothing. And then Leviticus 18:21, last one I'll bring, and this is, you shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. When you profane God's name by offering your children into the fire, that is simply, you know, back then people did child sacrifices, they offered their children, terrible thing. But today people still offer their children. They offer their children up to be prostitutes. They offer their children up to be aborted. They offer their children up to be trafficked. People offer their children up to get something in exchange for their children. There's even people, may I dare say, who offer their children up for a grant from the government. They take a grant from the government which is supposed to feed the child, and they spend it on lusts. That's a way that we're also offering up a child. We're exchanging our child for something that we think we're going to gain from it. Okay, next, let's go on to the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8. This is now the commandment which is the very one which has been forgotten. And it begins with remember it, remember, remember. The Sabbath, 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, your son, your daughter, your male servant, 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's in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy. I love this. So God comes and he says, you don't work. You don't let anyone work on this day. And he actually says that. Remember that this day was made with the rest of creation, with heaven and earth. Genesis 2, verse 3. God created the day, set it apart, and rested upon it. So if God. Just think about this logically. God makes the heavens, the earth, all that's in it. He makes mankind like these are material things, right? Real things that he made that you can touch and feel and smell. And yet he says, just like those things have been made, I make the Sabbath day. I create it as a day to be set apart to me. That you would rest, that you would not make anyone labor, and that you would spend it with the Father, that you would be with him on it sounds like a huge blessing, but some call it a burden and some have forgotten it. When God has said to remember it, guys, if you can still clap your hands and touch the table, then this material world is still around you and the Sabbath exists. And so we ought to keep it. And by the way, Shabbat Shalom, because right now, the Sabbath has begun. Hallelujah. Next, let's go to honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And so this instruction is to honor, that is, to love, to show respect, to obey your parents, to listen to them, to consider their words. Of course, as of anything, in any situation, whenever it's between God's obeying God and a person, we always choose obeying God, right? If someone is asking you to do something that breaks the law of God, we're always going to go with obeying God. Yeshua said as well, that whoever, that you have to hate your mother, brother, sister, and so forth. Compared to your love for the Father, just, of course, using a figure of speech there to explain how seriously we must love God and compare to people, we must love people greatly. But our love and commitment to him is always firstly. And so when it comes to difficult situations where a parent is Asking you to do something that goes against the will of God, then you will always obey God instead. But you can still honor your parents, because honor is not equal to obedience to every word that they are saying. Necessarily. Honor represents honoring them. It represents saying, mom, dad, I'm going to treat you with kindness. Yes, we might have a disagreement here, we may have a disagreement there. We're going to have disagreements with our parents. We might even have parents that are really difficult to work with. But yet God has called us to honor them, show them kindness, show them love. Because they have brought you into the world, they have raised you, they have made sacrifices for you, and that is worthy of honor. They are ultimately the ones to whom God entrusted your life with. Next, you shall not murder. Short and sweet, of course. Do not murder physically. Do not pick up a sword and hurt and murder. Do not hurt or murder someone emotionally. That can include not permitting them to prosper because of evil intents and evil deeds. Do not murder someone through your words with gossip. That includes murdering them in the minds of others, which basically is what your words that are evil do when you come to others and you spread evil speech among other people. And then also do not hate. Remember what you what is written in 1 John 3:15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. So if there's anyone that you hate, really search out your heart for that. Because you will not inherit the kingdom of God if you continue in hatred. If you don't believe me, let's just look at that again. If you hate your brother, you're a murderer. And no murderer has eternal life. Very, very serious business to hate someone. So let's not be people who hate. Let's love even our enemies. Next we're going to go back and see in verse 14, you shall not commit adultery. Now Yeshua came and he said to the people, if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out, throw it away, for it's better then you lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thr into hell. In other words, if you have something in your life that's causing you to stumble, if there's something that's causing you to fall into adulteries of the heart. Because of course, that's what Yeshua is speaking about. When you look at a woman with lust, you have committed adultery in your heart. And why would you give up eternal life to look at a woman with lust who's not your wife? Why would you do it Give up your salvation for a strange woman. Is it really worth it? And you say, oh, Peter, it's really hard. Yeah, Yeshua says it can be hard, but then cut off whatever it is that is causing you to stumble. Do not think that it is worth it. So you may be listening to this and struggle, and still you've got a smartphone. And yeah, I'm serious. If. If it comes to a place where you are falling into adultery of the heart, in other words, this is a sin in your life. This is a thing. You're busy watching pornography or you're doing whatever, all this stuff. I don't have to go into details. Then get rid of whatever you. You. You recognize the pattern of. What is it that causes you to go down that road? What is the trigger? And get rid of it. And if it comes to the point where you need to get rid of your smartphone and get a dumb phone, then go even there. Whatever it takes, get rid of it. Because remember what was done by Joseph. He ran, he fled when he was being tempted. You have to flee. You can't stand there and be like, okay, I'm gonna, like, just stand here and try and make it through. Now you flee. You remove yourself from the presence of that temptation. May the father deliver all men and women from adulteries of the heart. For he is coming back for a clean bride, and he desires you to be clean. And he loves you so much. He doesn't want you to be in bondage. He has come to set you free. And the key is that he is your deliverer. You are not your deliverer. You have to remember that you cannot by your own behavior modifications. Even though we should do stuff like, we should stop doing this, we should stop. We should remove things from our life. But that alone is not going to be enough. You will have to grab a hold of the hem of his garment. You are to grab a hold of him and say, God, I will not be able to be set free unless you are my deliverer. You are my savior. You are the one who removes this yoke from me. I cannot do it on my own. So through this prayer and through fastings, God will deliver you. But you have to rely on him. Next we read, you shall not steal. Okay, Stealing is. Everyone knows what that means. We learned what that is when we were little kids. And today, people are still stealing en masse. In fact, you know, I want to submit to you something about stealing. We have this idea that stealing is, like I just said, physically taking something with someone else. But it's not just that, it is. Remember, stealing is taking the property of someone else. In other words, if someone has property, they have a right over that property. Like if you have a farm, you have a right over that ground. That's why you have a deed. It says, this is mine and I can do if this what I want to do with it. That's what it means to have property. And so whenever someone has ownership over anything and you use it in a way that they have not given you rights to use it, you are stealing. If I go into your farm and I start taking my animals and I start placing them to eat there and graze, it's like you're stealing off of my land. That's what you would tell me. Now, in the same thing, the same thing is really true in the digital world of today. We live in no longer in an agricultural society, but a digital society. And in a digital society, that means that property is also digital. If someone makes something, they write a book on their computer, even though it's on a hard drive somewhere, or they write code to software, it's on a hard drive somewhere, but it's. Or they write a song and they upload it to the Internet and it's on a hard drive somewhere. It's not a tangible thing, but it is their property. They made it, they have the rights to it, and they have the right to say what can be done with it and what cannot be done with it. So when we come and we download things that have copyright on it, and we are supposed to pay, but we do not. We're stealing because we're using. We're taking that without having the right to use it, even if it's for your own enjoyment and pleasure. It doesn't matter if you took dirt bikes for your own enjoyment and your own pleasure. And you go ride those dirt bikes on someone's property and they chase you off, call the police after you, they would be in their right to get you off that property and say you are trespassing. And in the same way, if it's just for your entertainment, it doesn't matter. You can still steal if you are doing it breaking the law instead of paying the way that the property owner said you should. Now you say, well, that price is too high. You say, oh, well, you know, it's not available to me the way it should be. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. They have. They set the conditions. You don't like the conditions and you don't get to use it. That's just how Things work. So, guys, just basically piracy does fall into stealing as well. And we as a people struggle. We're tempted by this. But just on that note, by the way, our videos are. You can just download our videos and spread our videos and spread our content just as you wish. We have. We love for the word of God to go forth. So, you know, just putting that out there. You're welcome to share our stuff. All right, next we're going to go into verse 16. We're getting to the end here. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Okay? Bearing false witness means to lie about something that you have witnessed. If I go to someone else, I say, hey, this guy, he did this, he did that. When they have not done this or that, it often goes along with gossip, but it doesn't necessarily have to go along with gossip. Bearing false witness is also something that often can happen in court situations, but it can also happen casually on social media. People say, this person said this, but this person said that. When it has not been said, or even if you misunderstand someone, which happens often, we misunderstand each other, and then we run to other people and we say, did you hear? They said this. They said that. Even if they didn't actually mean that because you misunderstood them. But see, you're still in sin because you should have gone to the person and asked, whoa, this is crazy. Did you actually mean what I think you meant? Did you actually say this? And then they can bring clarification to you instead of you going to everyone else instead of to the person that you have an issue with, which that would have solved a lot of things quickly. And so you're still guilty of bearing false witness before God. And you will see God's judgment come upon you, even if you do not know you're bearing false witness because you're still doing it, because you didn't do due diligence in finding out whether what you're bearing witness of is actually true. So make sure that. If we bear witness, let's make sure that it is a true witness, because we are the witnesses of God. And if they cannot trust us in everyday things, how will they trust us in the gospel that we must deliver to them? All right? And then lastly, you shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. Okay? So what does covet mean? If you look at the word in the Hebrew, it's the word chamad. And it means to delight in, to consider it very beautiful, greatly beloved. To consider it a great delight. To lust to consider it a pleasant thing, a precious thing. So when we are looking at our neighbor's wife, servant, female servant, anything, anything of anyone else, you're like, whoa, that's a beautiful thing. I really want that. That's what God is speaking of. Guys, this isn't the Ten Commandments. And it's so common in this world. And it fuels envies where people, they start hating others because they have something that they don't have. And. And then they start spreading rumors about them or they just start getting greedy for gain in their own life because they want to climb this ladder of the world. That's really what this world is built of, is the next best thing. Everything is bigger in America, as they say. What is that about? That's all of you shall not covet. We all want the better, bigger thing. But God says, be satisfied with what you have. Even the little that I have given you. Seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be added to you. God will always look after you. He looks after the little birds in the trees. He looks after every. How much more will he clothe you if he clothes lilies? He will provide for your needs. Does it mean that everything you want, you're gonna get? No. And that's probably a really good thing because you don't want everything that you want. Because if you've got everything that you want, you'll probably forget about God first of all, and some of your wants are probably bad for you second of all, and you probably just don't need everything you want and it's not good for your soul. Just ask the richest people in the world. They have everything and yet they feel like they have nothing. They feel like, whoa, if I just get the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, maybe then I'll be satisfied. But they never are. And it ends in their own destruction as they start stepping on the shoulders of others in pursuit of this rainbow. And there's nothing at the end of the rainbow. Forget about what's at the end of the rainbow and see God. He has all that is good for you. He fulfills, he satisfies and he provides and he is lovely. And so he is now given us these commandments which we have walked through briefly. And while there's so much more to say about them, I want you to walk away from this auditing and asking God, is there any of these that I have not done in my Life. Is there any of these that's really lacking in my life? Am I coveting? Am I bearing false witness? Stealing, committing adultery, murdering in my heart by hating, not honoring my father and mother, not keeping the Sabbath the way I should be? Am I. I'm still making those purchases and making people work. And I'm still. Or maybe I'm putting taking God's name in vain in my actions. Or maybe I have an idol in my life that I have set up, even unknowingly. I pray, Father, that you would come to us all and help us, strengthen us. You turn away from all of our lawless deeds, that we would no longer be held captive by sin. Father, you have come to deliver us. You have come to set us free. And we glorify you that your power is sufficient, your grace is sufficient, and that you are the deliverer. We're not our own deliverer. Oh, Father, you are our deliverer. And so we repent what we have tried to deliver ourselves. And we thank you that you deliver us. Yeshua, I thank you that you die for our sins and you cleanse us. And when we come to you with our sins, that you are quick to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, that we can be white as snow even if we have felt dirty, even if we have felt like we have sinned and fallen short of your glory. You promise with an open door and a torn veil that we can come into your presence. If only we would go and make things right with our brother and sister whom we have wronged or who have wronged us, and that we would make things right with you by repenting of our sins and coming with a new heart and saying, lord, make us new, and brothers and sisters, I end with this. Consider baptism. If you have not been baptized, if you have not had a baptism of repentance, repenting of your sins, going into the water, calling on his name, please get baptized. For baptism allows us to die with Yeshua and to be resurrected with him anew, so that all of our sins might be buried and so that they may never come and keep us in bondage as they did in our old life anymore. Yes, we will still have to resist temptations. We will still have struggles. We may even stumble at times, but God picks us up. He strengthens us and he sanctifies us. But as for the old life and the way we used to live, how the pagans lived, who are still busy with their wild parties, who are still busy with their stealing and killing and all the things they do, we will be different. So thank you for joining me. May the Father bless you and keep you. Shine his face upon you, lift up his countenance upon you and have an amazing Sabbath shal.