Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 20:22
And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
22. Thus thou shalt say ] Cf. Exo 19:3.
from heaven ] As their position in the Heb. shews, these are the emphatic words in the sentence: their intention is to shew that the Israelites’ God is exalted far above the earth, and that consequently ( v. 23) no material gods are to be venerated by them. Cf. Deu 4:36.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
22 26. The collection opens with directions respecting the manner which God is to be worshipped (other directions about religious observances follow in Exo 22:20; Exo 22:29-31, Exo 23:10-19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Chapters Exo 20:22 to Exo 23:33
The Book of the Covenant
The ‘Book of the Covenant’ (see Exo 24:7 in explanation of the name) is the oldest piece of Hebrew legislation that we possess. The laws contained in it are spoken of in Exo 24:3 as consisting of two elements, the words (or commands) and the judgements: the judgements (see on Exo 21:1) are the provisions relating to civil and criminal law, prescribing what is to be done when particular cases arise, and comprised in Exo 21:2 to Exo 22:17; the words are positive injunctions of moral, religious, and ceremonial law, introduced mostly by Thou shalt or shalt not, and comprised in Exo 20:23-26, Exo 22:18 to Exo 23:19: Exo 23:20-33 is a hortatory epilogue, consisting chiefly of promises intended to suggest motives for the observance of the preceding laws. The laws themselves were doubtless taken by E from some already existing source: the ‘judgements’ in Exo 21:2 to Exo 22:17 seem to have undergone no alteration of form: but the ‘words’ which follow can hardly be in their original order; moral, religious, and ceremonial injunctions being intermingled sometimes singly, sometimes in groups (see the following summary), without any apparent system (notice also Exo 23:4 f., evidently interrupting the connexion between vv. 1 3 and 6 8); and in parts (as Exo 22:21-22;Exo 22:24, Exo 23:9 b, Exo 23:23-25 a, Exo 23:31-33: see the notes) slight parenetic additions have probably been made by the compiler of J E.
The laws themselves may be grouped as follows:
i. Enactments relating to civil and criminal law:
1. Rights of Hebrew slaves (male and female), Exo 21:2-11.
2. Capital offences, viz. murder (in distinction from manslaughter), striking or cursing a parent, and man-stealing, Exo 21:12-17.
3. Penalties for bodily injuries, caused ( a) by human beings, Exo 21:18-27, ( b) by animals (a vicious ox, for instance), or neglect of reason able precautions (as leaving a pit open), Exo 21:28-36.
4. Theft of ox or sheep, and burglary, Exo 22:1-4.
5. Compensation for damage done by straying cattle [but see note], or fire spreading accidentally to another man’s field, Exo 22:5-6.
6. Compensation for loss or injury in various cases of deposit or loan, Exo 22:7-15.
7. Compensation for seduction, Exo 22:16-17.
ii ( a). Regulations relating to worship and religious observances:
1. Prohibition of images, and regulations for the construction of altars, Exo 20:23-26.
2. Sacrifice to ‘other gods’ to be punished with the ‘ban,’ Exo 22:20.
3. God not to be reviled, nor a ruler cursed, Exo 22:28.
4. Firstfruits, and firstborn males (of men, oxen, and sheep), to be given to Jehovah, Exo 22:29-30.
5. Flesh torn of beasts not to be eaten, Exo 22:31.
6 & 7. The seventh year to be a fallow year, and the seventh day a day of rest (in each case, for a humanitarian motive), Exo 23:10-12.
8. God’s commands to be honoured, and ‘other gods’ not to be invoked, Exo 23:13.
9. The three annual Pilgrimages to be observed (all males to appear before Jehovah at each), Exo Exo 23:14-17.
10. A festal sacrifice not to be offered with leavened bread, nor its fat to remain unburnt till the following morning, Exo 23:18.
11. Firstfruits to be brought to the house of Jehovah, Exo 23:19 a.
12. A kid not to be boiled in its mother’s milk, Exo 23:19 b.
ii ( b). Injunctions of a moral, and, especially, of a humanitarian character:
1. Sorcery and bestiality to be punished with death, Exo 22:18-19.
2. The ‘sojourner,’ the widow, and the orphan, not to be oppressed, Exo 22:21-24.
3. Interest not to be taken from the poor, Exo 22:25.
4. A garment taken in pledge to be returned before sun-down, Exo 22:26-27.
5. Veracity and impartiality, the duties of a witness, Exo 23:1-3.
6. An enemy’s beast to be preserved from harm, Exo 23:4-5.
7. Justice to be administered impartially, and no bribe to be taken, Exo 23:6-9.
These three groups of laws may have been taken originally from distinct collections. The terse form in which many of the laws in ii ( a) and ii ( b) are cast resembles that which prevails in Leviticus 19 (H). The regulations respecting worship contained in Exo 23:10-19, together with the allied ones embedded in Exo 13:3-7; Exo 13:11-13, are repeated in Exo 34:18-26, in the section (Exo 34:10-26) sometimes called the ‘Little Book of the Covenant,’ with slight verbal differences, and with the addition in Exo 34:11-17 of more specific injunctions against idolatry (see the synoptic table, pp. 370 2).
The laws contained in the ‘Book of the Covenant’ are, as has been already said, no doubt older than the narrative (E) in which they are incorporated: they represent, to use Cornill’s expression, the ‘consuetudinary law of the early monarchy,’ and include (cf. the notes on trh, p. 162, and mishp, Exo 22:1) the formulated decisions which, after having been begun by Moses (Exo 18:16; cf. p. 161), had gradually accumulated up to that age. The stage of society for which the Code was designed, and the characteristics of the Code itself, are well indicated by W. R. Smith ( OTJC. 2 [180] p. 340 ff). ‘The society contemplated in it is of very simple structure. The basis of life is agricultural. Cattle and agricultural produce are the main elements wealth; and the laws of property deal almost exclusively with them (see Exo 21:28 to Exo 22:10). The principles of criminal and civil justice are those still current among the Arabs of the desert, viz. retaliation and pecuniary compensation. Murder is dealt with by the law of blood-revenge; but the innocent man-slayer may seek asylum at God’s altar (cf. 1Ki 1:50; 1Ki 2:18; 1Ki 2:29).’ Man-stealing, offences against parents, and witchcraft are also punishable by death. Personal injuries fall mostly, like murder, under the law of retaliation (Exo Exo 21:24 f.). These are the only cases in which a punishment affecting the person is prescribed: in other cases the punishment takes as a rule the form of compensation. ‘Degrading punishments, as imprisonment or the bastinado, are unknown; and loss of liberty is inflicted only on a thief who cannot pay a fine (Exo 22:3 b). The slave retains definite rights. He recovers his freedom after 7 years, unless he prefers to remain a bondman, and to seal his determination by a solemn symbolical act (Exo 21:6).’ He cannot appeal to the lex talionis against his master: to beat one’s own slave to death is not a capital crime; but for minor injuries he can claim his liberty (Exo 21:20 f., 26 f.). ‘Women do not enjoy full social equality with men. The daughter was her father’s property, who received a price for surrendering her to her husband (Exo 21:7); and so a daughter’s dishonour is compensated by law as a pecuniary loss to her father (Exo 22:16 f.).’ A woman slave was a slave for life, except when she had been bought to be her master’s concubine, and he withheld the recognized rights which she thus acquired (Exo 21:11). Concubine-slaves had also other rights (Exo 21:8-10). Various cases of injury to property are specified: the penalty is usually simple compensation, though naturally it is greater, if deliberate purpose (as in the case of theft, Exo 22:1), or culpable negligence, can be proved. Cases of misappropriation of property are settled by a decision given at a sanctuary (Exo 22:9).
[180] W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.
From the point of view of ethics and religion, the regard paid in the Code to the claims of humanity and justice is observable. An emphatic voice is raised against those crying vices of Oriental Government, the maladministration of justice, and the oppression of the poor. Even an enemy, in his need, is to receive consideration and help (Exo 23:4-5). ‘The gr, or foreigner living in Israel under the protection of a family or the community, though he has no legal status (cf. on Exo 22:21), is not to be oppressed. The Sabbath is enforced as an ordinance of humanity; and to the same end the produce of every field or vineyard must be left to the poor one year in seven. The precepts of religious worship are simple. He who sacrifices to any god but Jehovah falls under the ‘ban’ (Exo 22:20). The only ordinance of ceremonial sanctity is to abstain from the flesh of animals torn by wild beasts (Exo 22:31). Altar are to be of the simplest possible construction. The sacred dues are the firstlings and firstfruits; and the former must be presented at a sanctuary on the eighth day. This regulation presupposes a plurality of sanctuaries, which also agrees with the terms of Exo 20:24.’ The only sacrifices mentioned are burnt- and peace-offerings. The three pilgrimages, at which every male is to appear before Jehovah with a gift, celebrate three periods of the agricultural year, the beginning and close of harvest, and the end of the vintage. The only points of sacrificial ritual insisted on are the two rules that the blood of a festal sacrifice is not to be offered with leavened bread, and that the fat must be burnt before the next morning. The simplicity of the ceremonial regulations in this Code stands in striking contrast to the detailed and systematic development which they receive in the later legislation of P.
Some of the laws strike us as severe (Exo 21:15-16; Exo 21:21, Exo 22:18; Exo 22:20); but we must remember the stage of civilization for which they were designed: they were adapted, not for people in every stage of society, but for people living as the Israelites were circumstanced at the time when they were drawn up. They also, it is to be observed, are in many cases clearly intended to impose restrictions upon abuse of authority, or arbitrary violence. We may remember also that far severer punishments, such as mutilation and torture, were common not only in many other ancient nations, but even, till comparatively recent times, in Christian Europe; and in England, till 1835, death was the penalty for many trivial forms of theft. Of course some of the laws notably the one about witches have been terribly misapplied in times when the progressive character of revelation and the provisional character of Israel’s laws were not realized. But they were adapted on the whole to make Israel a just, humane, and God-fearing people, and to prepare the way, when the time was ripe, for something better.
The laws of J and E (except the section dealing with the compensations to be paid for various injuries, Exo 21:18 to Exo 22:15), expanded, and, in some cases, modified to suit the requirements of a later age, form a substantial element in the Deuteronomic legislation (Deuteronomy 5-28; see the synoptic table in LOT. p. 73 ff.): to some of the moral and religious injunctions there are also parallels (referred to in the notes) in the ‘Law of Holiness’ (Leviticus 17-26). The ceremonial laws appear in a partially developed form in Dt., and in a more fully developed form, with many minutely defined regulations, in the Priests’ Code (for an example in Exodus itself, contrast Exo 23:15 with Exo 12:14-20). A discussion of the differences between the laws of JE and the later codes belongs more to the commentaries on Lev., Numb., and Dt., than to one on Exodus; and they have been noticed here only in special cases. A detailed comparison of the different regulations will be found in McNeile, pp. xxxix xlvi, li lvi.
The promulgation of a new code of laws was often among ancient nations ascribed to the command of the national deity. Thus among he Cretans, Minos, the ‘companion of great Zeus’ ( , Od.19:179), was said to have held converse with Zeus, and to have received his laws from him in a cave of the Dictaean mountain (cf. [Plato], Minos, 319 b 320 b); his laws and those of Lycurgus are called ‘the laws of Zeus’ and ‘Apollo’ respectively (Plato, Legg. i. 632 D); and Numa’s laws were ascribed to the goddess Egeria (Dion. Hal. ii. 60 f.). The closest parallel is however afforded, on Semitic ground, by Hmmurabi, who expressly speaks of his code as consisting of ‘righteous laws’ delivered to him by Shamash, the sun-god (see below, p. 418 ff.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Nothing could be more appropriate as the commencement of the book of the covenant than these regulations for public worship. The rules for the building of altars must have been old and accepted, and are not inconsistent with the directions for the construction of the altar of the court of the tabernacle, Exo 27:1-8 (compare Jos 22:26-28).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 20:22-23
Ye shall not make Me gods of silver.
Gods voice, but not a form
Gods voice. Indicative of the Divine personality.
II. Gods abhorrence of idolatry. Our loftiest conceptions, embodied in the most costly and precious material forms, must fall short of Infinite perfectness.
III. Gods love of simplicity. Altars of earth, and altars of unhewn stone. The simplest is often the purest and the divinest. Mans superb altars lead to degrading conceptions of the Infinite.
IV. Gods respect to appearances. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Let all things be done decently and in order, is the injunction of two economies.
V. Gods superiority to splendid structures. In all places where Gods name is recorded there He will come, and there He will bless. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Public worship
1. The end for which God reveals Himself is, that we should worship Him.
2. Gods revelation of Himself should be kept in perpetual memory by acts of public worship.
3. God, having made a spiritual revelation of Himself, should not be worshipped under any symbolic form.
I. Public worship involves cost.
II. Public worship can dispense with elaborate ritual.
III. Public worship carefully excludes all idea of merit on the part of the worshipper.
IV. Public worship is not confined to set places.
V. Public worship does not depend on the material or intellectual qualifications of the worshipper.
VI. Public worship must be conducted with proper decency.
VII. Public worship, when properly conducted, is uniformly attended with a blessing.
1. The Divine presence.
2. The Divine benediction. (J. W. Burn.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. I have talked with you from heaven.] Though God manifested himself by the fire, the lightning, the earthquake, the thick darkness, c., yet the ten words, or commandments were probably uttered from the higher regions of the air, which would be an additional proof to the people that there was no imposture in this case for though strange appearances and voices might be counterfeited on earth, as was often, no doubt, done by the magicians of Egypt; yet it would be utterly impossible to represent a voice, in a long continued series of instruction, as proceeding from heaven itself, or the higher regions of the atmosphere. This, with the earthquake and repeated thunders, (see on Ex 20:18), would put the reality of this whole procedure beyond all doubt; and this enabled Moses, De 5:26, to make such an appeal to the people on a fact incontrovertible and of infinite importance, that God had indeed talked with them face to face.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye have seen, i.e. heard, as Exo 20:18. He may use the word seen here, to intimate that this was all they could see of God, to wit, his voice and speech, and that they saw no image of him, as is expressed in a parallel place, and therefore should make no resemblances of him, as it here follows.
From heaven, i.e. from the lower heaven, to wit, the air, or the clouds, which were over the top of mount Sinai, Deu 4:36; Neh 9:13; and so the word heaven is oft understood, as Gen 1:20; Job 35:11; Psa 79:2. And so this place may be reconciled with Heb 12:25, where this is said to be spoken upon earth.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22, 23. the Lord said unto MosesItappears from De 4:14-16,that this injunction was a conclusion drawn from the scene onSinaithat as no similitude of God was displayed then, they shouldnot attempt to make any visible figure or form of Him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. When Moses was come near the thick darkness where God was:
thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel; at his return unto them, and which he was to deliver in the name of God, and as his words:
ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven; descending from heaven on Mount Sinai in a cloud and fire, he talked with them out of the cloud and fire, and delivered to them with an audible voice the above ten commands; the cloud and fire they saw with their eyes, and the words expressed from thence they heard with their ears; or heaven may mean the air on the top of Sinai, from whence Jehovah spoke.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The General Form of Divine Worship in Israel. – As Jehovah had spoken to the Israelites from heaven, they were not to make gods of earthly materials, such as silver and gold, by the side of Him, but simply to construct an altar of earth or unhewn stones without steps, for the offering up of His sacrifices at the place where He would reveal Himself. “ From heaven ” Jehovah came down upon Sinai enveloped in the darkness of a cloud; and thereby He made known to the people that His nature was heavenly, and could not be imitated in any earthly material. “ Ye shall not make with Me, ” place by the side of, or on a par with Me,” “ gods of silver and gold, ” – that is to say, idols primarily intended to represent the nature of God, and therefore meant as symbols of Jehovah, but which became false gods from the very fact that they were intended as representations of the purely spiritual God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Law Concerning Altars. | B. C. 1491. |
22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Moses having gone into the thick darkness, where God was, God there spoke in his hearing only, privately and without terror, all that follows hence to the end of ch. xxiii, which is mostly an exposition of the ten commandments; and he was to transmit it by word of mouth first, and afterwards in writing, to the people. The laws in these verses related to God’s worship.
I. They are here forbidden to make images for worship (Exo 20:22; Exo 20:23): You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven (such was his wonderful condescension, much more than for some mighty prince to talk familiarly with a company of poor beggars); now you shall not make gods of silver.
1. This repetition of the second commandment comes in here, either (1.) As pointing to that which God had chiefly in view in giving them this law in this manner, that is, their peculiar addictedness to idolatry, and the peculiar sinfulness of that crime. Ten commandments God had given them, but Moses is ordered to inculcate upon them especially the first two. They must not forget any of them, but they must be sure to remember those. Or, (2.) As pointing to that which might properly be inferred from God’s speaking to them as he had done. He had given them sufficient demonstration of his presence among them; they needed not to make images of him, as if he were absent. Besides, they had only seen that he talked with them; they had seen no manner of similitude, so that they could not make any image of God; and his manifesting himself to them only by a voice plainly showed them that they must not make any such image, but keep up their communion with God by his word, and not otherwise.
2. Two arguments are here hinted against image-worship:– (1.) That thereby they would affront God, intimated in that, You shall not make with me gods. Though they pretended to worship them but as representations of God, yet really they made them rivals with God, which he would not endure. (2.) That thereby they would abuse themselves, intimated in that, “You shall not make unto you gods; while you think by them to assist your devotion, you will really corrupt it, and put a cheat upon yourselves.” At first, it should seem, they made their images for worship of gold and silver, pretending, by the richness of those metals, to honour God, and, by the brightness of them, to affect themselves with his glory; but, even in these, they changed the truth of God into a lie, and so, by degrees, were justly given up to such strong delusions as to worship images of wood or stone.
II. They are here directed in making altars for worship: it is meant of occasional altars, such as they reared now in the wilderness, before the tabernacle was erected, and afterwards upon special emergencies, for present use, such as Gideon built (Judg. vi. 24), Manoah (Judg. xiii. 19), Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 17), and many others. We may suppose, now that the people of Israel were, with this glorious discovery which God had made of himself to them, that many of them would incline, in this pang of devotion, to offer sacrifice to God; and, it being necessary to a sacrifice that there be an alter, they are here appointed,
1. To make their altars very plain, either of earth or of unhewn stone,Exo 20:24; Exo 20:25. That they might not be tempted to think of a graven image, they must not so much as hew into shape the stones that they made their altars of, but pile them up as they were, in the rough. This rule being prescribed before the establishment of the ceremonial law, which appointed altars much more costly, intimates that, after the period of that law, plainness should be accepted as the best ornament of the external services of religion, and that gospel-worship should not be performed with external pomp and gaiety. The beauty of holiness needs no paint, nor do those do any service to the spouse of Christ that dress her in the attire of a harlot, as the church of Rome does: an altar of earth does best.
2. To make their altars very low (v. 26), so that they might not go up by steps to them. That the higher the altar was, and the nearer heaven, the more acceptable the sacrifice was, was a foolish fancy of the heathen, who therefore chose high places; in opposition to this, and to show that it is the elevation of the heart, not of the sacrifice, that God looks at, they were here ordered to make their altars low. We may suppose that the altars they reared in the wilderness, and other occasional altars, were designed only for the sacrifice of one beast at a time; but the altar in Solomon’s temple, which was to be made much longer and broader, that it might contain many sacrifices at once, was made ten cubits high, that the height might bear a decent proportion to the length and breadth; and to that it was requisite they should go up by steps, which yet, no doubt, were so contrived as to prevent the inconvenience here spoken of, the discovering of their nakedness thereon.
III. They are here assured of God’s gracious acceptance of their devotions, wherever they were paid according to his will (v. 24): In all places where I record my name, or where my name is recorded (that is, where I am worshipped in sincerity), I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. Afterwards, God chose one particular place wherein to record his name: but that being taken away now under the gospel, when men are encouraged to pray every where, this promise revives in its full extent, that, wherever God’s people meet in his name to worship him, he will be in the midst of them, he will honour them with his presence, and reward them with the gifts of his grace; there he will come unto them, and will bless them, and more than this we need not desire for the beautifying of our solemn assemblies.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 22, 23:
Here God re-affirms that He is the Author of the “Words” or Law, and that the people are to obey Him. This is in part a repetition of the second “Word” forbidding the making of any kind of image by which to worship God.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 20:23. Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither, &c.] We prefer the Massoretic punctuation of this verse, which reveals a delicate appreciation of the meaning, although it entails on us an ellipsis which makes the text appear stiff, and tasks the reader a little to supply the unexpressed idea. Ye shall not make with Me: gods of silver and gods of gold ye shall not make for your selves. With Me: i.e., to associate with Me. Supply anythingwhich in fact has not unfrequently to be understood. Then read: Ye shall not make [anything] to associate with Me: as much as to say to put in My place, to represent Me. Without the vowel points, itti = with me, and othi = ME are indistinguishable: Ye shall not make ME, i.e., anything to stand for Me, be called by My name; which brings us to the same thing again. The division of the verse made in the authorised version is unhappy. It leaves an utterly unintelligible antithesis between with Me and unto you; as though the gods of silver were the more likely to be associated with God, and those of gold to be appropriated to man. Understood as above suggested, there is something majestic and impressive in the very vagueness of the earlier half of the verse. Not merely are the Israelites forbidden to make IMAGES of God: they are told not to make anything to be in any way put in the place of God, as even remotely representing HIM.
MAIN HOMILETICS ON THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 20:22-26
GODS VOICE BUT NOT A FORM
Moses went into the thick darkness, and held converse with God, and then came forth to declare the Divine regulations unto the people. And thus he was unto the people as a mediator. The ministration of the Gospel is more glorious than the ministration of the law. Moses was the laws mediator; but Christ Jesus is the mediator in the Gospel covenant. The one the servant; the other the Son in the Divine house, which house is constituted by believing people.
I. Gods voice. How wonderful that God should speak with men! We know not what manner of a voice it was. We cannot tell how the people were made to understand that God talked from heaven. But this we are told that He did speak from heaven. The voice of God is indicative of the Divine personality. Some mens ears are too dull to hear the Divine voice, so they give themselves up to Pantheism in some cases, and in others to Polytheism. Gods voice may truly be heard in the myriad voices of earth; but there is still a separate voice. He talks from heaven. The Infinite speaks, but reveals no form.
II. Gods abhorrence of idolatry. The command is again repeated, and after a very short interval; and thus the people must have been impressed with the sinfulness of idolatry. We can suppose that the Infinite even might have come forth from the thick darkness and revealed Himself in some wonderful form; but the fact that God refrains makes impressive the lessonYe shall not make unto you gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. Our loftiest conceptions, embodied in the most costly and precious material forms, must fall short of Infinite perfectness.
III. Gods love of simplicity. Altars of earth, and altars of unhewn stone. The simplest is often the purest and the divinest. If we are to have our altars, let them be of such a character that they shall be helps and not hindrances to a true comprehension of the spirituality of the Divine nature. Mans superb altars lead to degrading conceptions of the Infinite.
IV. Gods respect to appearances. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Let all things be done decently and in order, is the injunction of two economies. There is a reverence for places and for structures which is idolatrous superstition; and there is an irreverence which betokens a low state of the emotional nature, and which even God does not approve. There may be excessive and soul-destroying ritualism; and there may be excessive and God-dishonouring baldness
V. Gods superiority to splendid structures. In all places where Gods name is recorded there He will come, and there He will bless. It was by Divine appointment that the Temple was built; and yet, before the erection of that superb structure, God teaches that wherever He is devoutly and sincerely worshipped there will His Divine blessing descend. And better than curiously wrought marble, or precious stones; better than telling and striking architectural designs; better than golden adornments, is the Divine blessing. God is not confined to any particular buildings. Wherever His people meet, there they behold His mercy seat.W. Burrows, B.A.
PUBLIC WORSHIP.Exo. 20:22-26
The Book of the Covenant (cf. Chron. Exo. 24:4; Exo. 24:7), extending from Exo. 20:22 to Exo. 23:33, appropriately follows Gods revelation of Himself, and appropriately opens with regulations for public worship. Upon which, by way of introduction, we remark
1. That the end for which God reveals Himself is, that we should worship Him. Ye have seen (Exo. 20:22-24, cf. Chron. Exo. 20:1-4).
2. That Gods revelation of Himself should be kept in perpetual memory by acts of public worship (Exo. 20:24-25). So the revelation of Jesus Christ (Luk. 22:19; 1Co. 11:24).
3. That God having made a spiritual revelation of Himself, He should not be worshipped under any symbolic form. This text further teaches us
I. That public worship involves cost. Exo. 20:24. Let the Christian who complains of the expense of his religion, the collections, the pew rents, &c., remember
(1) what it cost the Jew to be religious;
(2) what it cost God to make him a Christian (Joh. 3:16; Rom. 8:32).
II. That public worship can dispense with elaborate ritual. The altars were to be of earth or of unhewn stone, the simplest and plainest possible.
III. That public worship carefully excludes all idea of merit on the part of the worshipper. Here all art and ability of man was to be carefully dispensed with, lest the worshipper should arrogate any virtue to himself. In after years, when the Israelites were indoctrinated into this spirit, this literal command was repealed.
IV. That public worship is not confined to set places. Altars of this description could be set up anywhere and everywhere. Public worship should be celebrated in every place that God appoints for the purpose. God now guides His Church by His providence. That providence points to our neglected populations. What an argument for Home and Foreign Missions! In every place where I record My name.
V. That public worship does not depend on the material or intellectual qualification of the worshipper. If altars required wealth to erect them or art to adorn them, then only the wealthy or the intelligent could worship. What a plea for common worship! Not the minister alone, or the choir, but all should engage in the worship of Gods house.
VI. That public worship must be conducted with proper decency. Exo. 20:26.
1. It is a sin to serve God with less attention and decorum than man.
2. It is a folly to encourage it in others. To invite men to come in their working clothes is an affront to the intelligent artizan.
VII. That public worship, when properly conducted, is uniformly attended with a blessing.
1. The Divine presence;
2. The Divine benediction (Exo. 20:24). In conclusion, Joh. 4:20-24; Mat. 18:20.J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Moral Restraints! Exo. 20:22-26. No doubt, says Guthrie, the Law restrains us. But all chains are not fetters, nor are all walls the gloomy precincts of a prison. It is a blessed chain by which the ship, now buried in the trough, and now rising on the top of the sea, rides at anchor and outlives the storm. The condemned criminal in Newgate would give worlds to break his chain, but the sailor trembles lest his should snap. And when the grey morning breaks on the wild lee-shore, all strewn with wrecks and corpses, he blesses God for the good iron that stood the strain.
Laws do not put the least restraint
Upon our freedom, but maintain it;
Or, if it does, tis for our good,
To give us freer latitude.
Butler.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
LAWS CONCERNING RELIGION.
(22) Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.It was important to identify the giver of the Book of the Covenant with the deliverer of the Ten Commandments, and accordingly this was done in the opening words of the Book.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.
(22-26) In the remainder of Exodus 20, and in the three chapters which follow, we have a series of laws delivered by God to Moses, immediately after the delivery of the Decalogue, which constituted the second stage of the revelation, and stood midway between the first great enunciation of abstract principles in the Ten Commandments and the ultimate minute and complicated elaboration of rules to meet all cases which fills the three Books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This intermediate revelation appears to have been at once committed to writing, and in its written shape was known as the Book of the Covenant (Exo. 24:7), and regarded with special veneration.
The Book of the Covenant is wanting in system and arrangement, but is not wholly unsystematic. It commences with some laws concerning the worship of God (Exo. 20:22-26), proceeds from the Divine to the human, and treats in its second section (Exo. 21:1-32) of the rights of persons, then concerns itself with the rights of property (Exo. 21:33 to Exo. 22:15), and, finally, winds up with miscellaneous laws (Exo. 22:16 to Exo. 23:19), partly on things Divine, partly on things humanthe things Divine being reserved to the last, so that the end of the legislation is in close harmony with the beginning. Altogether, the enactments contained in the short space of three chapters are some seventy; and the Book of the Covenant is thus no mere tentative sketch; but a very wonderful condensation of the essence of all the more important matters which Moses afterwards put forth by Divine inspiration in the long space of nearly forty years.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. The Lord said unto Moses In what manner God communicated these statutes to Moses the reader is not informed . From Num 12:6-8, it appears that Moses was honoured with a distinctness of spiritual access to God as was no other prophet. It was not a seeing of God’s face, (Exo 30:20,) but often came through visible symbols, like the burning bush, (Exo 3:2,) and a passing form of glory, (Exo 33:21-23; Exo 34:6,) which made his face to shine with supernatural light, (Exo 34:29-30. ) These special theophanies did not exclude the ministration of angels, and the excellency of the Mosaic legislation, when viewed as a whole, exhibits so many marks of divine origin that we hesitate not to accept the literal truth of the statements of this verse.
I have talked with you from heaven Reference to the supernatural promulgation of the ten commandments. That speaking from heaven shook the earth. Comp. Heb 12:26. It was the entering in of a higher Power into the history of men, marking a distinctive crisis in the progress of heavenly mediation, and utilizing the elements of nature to deepen the impressions of the words that were spoken.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, Exo 20:22 to Exo 23:33.
Here follows a collection of sundry laws which were compiled by Moses, and doubtless represent the oldest written legislation of the Pentateuch. This compilation probably constituted “the book of the covenant” which is mentioned in Exo 24:7. Kalisch classifies the laws under three heads: (1 . ) Those touching the rights of persons, Exo 21:1-32; (2 . ) Those touching the rights of property, Exo 21:33 to Exo 23:14; and (3 . ) General moral laws . Exo 22:15 to Exo 23:19. These are followed by sundry exhortations. Exo 23:20-33. The various precepts, however, are scarcely susceptible of such a classification, or of any systematic arrangement . They take a wide range, and deal with some twenty-eight distinct subjects . Beginning with a prohibition of idolatrous images, (23,) we have laws touching the construction of altars, (24-26,) the relations of servants and masters, (Exo 21:1-11,) personal assaults and injuries, (12-27,) goring oxen, (28-32,) losses of cattle, (33-36,) cattle-stealing, (Exo 22:1-4,) cattle feeding in others’ fields, (5,) kindling destructive fires, (6,) stolen or damaged trusts, (7-15,) seduction, (16-17,) witchcraft, (18,) lying with beasts, (19,) idolatrous sacrifices, (20,) treatment of foreigners, (21,) treatment of widows and the fatherless, (22-24,) loaning money, (25,) pledges, (26-27,) reviling God and rulers, (28,) devotion of firstlings, (29, 30,) abstinence from torn flesh, (31,) perversions of honour and justice, (Exo 23:1-3,) favour toward enemies, (4-5,) judgment of the poor, (6,) maintaining justice, (7, 8,) oppression of strangers, (9,) sabbath laws, (10-12,) other gods, (13,) three annual feasts, (14-17,) sacrifice and offerings, (18, 19 . ) This body of legislation is followed in Exo 23:20-33, by a number of prophetic promises, designed to encourage and strengthen the hearts of the people . Many of the laws and precepts here collected together were doubtless older than the time of Moses, but as Israel was now becoming a body politic, and about to occupy a prominent place among the nations, such a body of laws as was contained in this book of the covenant required formal codification .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Yahweh’s Instruction Concerning Future Worship ( Exo 20:22-26 ).
In view of their fears, and the commands that He has given in Exo 20:3-5, Yahweh now makes provision for their worship. They are to recognise what they have seen of His heavenly nature (Exo 20:23) and, avoiding earthly non-gods, realise that they must not try to climb to heaven by having steps to their altars and thus expose themselves for what they are (Exo 20:26). Rather they are to use basic natural materials through which to worship Him, whether of earth or unhewn stone. But they are only to do this in the places where He records His name, and there He will come and bless them.
These promises are basic to their future welfare and their special distinction comes out in that Exo 21:1 makes a slight separation of this ‘law’ from the ones that follow. The others deal with behaviour towards men until we come to the Sabbath and the feasts. This deals with behaviour towards God and covers the first two commandments.
We may analyse this as follows:
a Yahweh declares His heavenly nature. They are therefore not to make ‘with Him’ (that is in comparison to Him) gods of silver and gods of gold. Such might seem impressive but they would in fact be degrading. They are not compatible with what He is (Exo 20:23).
b Rather they are to make an altar of earth on which to offer their offerings and sacrifices (Exo 20:24 a).
c And that only in all the places where He records His name. Then He will come and bless them (Exo 20:24 b).
b While if they build their altar of stone it must be of unhewn stone, for any tool of theirs could only pollute it (Exo 20:25).
a They are not to go up steps to His altar lest their nakedness be discovered on them (Exo 20:26).
Note that in ‘a’ it is the false gods who are laid bare for what they are, they are simply an attempt to bring God down from heaven, in the parallel it is the false worshippers who are laid bare and a ban is put on their attempt to go up to the gods. In ‘b’ we have the requirement that the true altar be of earth, or in the parallel of unhewn stone, in other words of natural material not shaped by man. Central in ‘c’ is that all worship is only to be in the place where He records His name, for it is there that God will bless them. God chooses where men will worship Him, not man. This anticipates the requirements of Deuteronomy 12.
Exo 20:22-23
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, or nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.’ ” ’
Yahweh wants to remind the people through Moses that, although they had not understood His words, He had spoken to them from heaven. Whether Moses has yet told them of the content of His words we do not know. But Yahweh now gives further instruction to back up the covenant and warns them to take heed to the lesson of Who and What He is. He has spoken to them from heaven. Gods of silver and gods of gold might seem impressive but they must recognise them for what they are, earthly and ineffective. They are made to put on a show but are worthless underneath. Thus they are incompatible with Him. It is quite possible that He knows that what they have seen at the mount has interrupted ideas for false future worship which have been lingering in their minds. So He confirms the position immediately. He is dealing with one of the major problems that would continually face them, and that was rooted in many of their hearts. Many would never feel quite at home without idols to lean on. Idols required no effort, were morally undemanding and helped to satisfy their need to worship without interfering in their lives.
“You shall not make gods of silver to be with me.” Consonant with the words of the covenant about graven images in Exo 20:4 He commands them not to make gods of silver nor gods of gold to stand alongside Him in the cult (‘to be with me’). Perhaps He saw festering in their mind thoughts which showed they were already planning to do so. They certainly will do so soon (Exo 32:1-4). But He wants them to be reminded that He brooks no rivals and will not stand for graven images. This repetition was the double confirmation that revealed the seriousness of the ban.
Some think that many Canaanite images at this time were coated with silver or gold, and such images would have been known to them in Egypt for Canaanite worship was conducted there. Thus the special warning against gold and silver idols.
Exo 20:24-25
“You will make for me an altar of earth, and will sacrifice on it your whole burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and I will bless you. And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you lift your tool on it you have polluted it.”
If they have in mind to worship Him, rather than making silver and gold images they must build an altar made of either earth or unhewn stones, natural materials just as they are, without embellishment or pretence. What they worship through is not to be something made by man’s artifice or which man’s tools have touched. Nothing that they make can be worthy of Him or rightly depict Him. It must be made of materials in their raw state as God made them. And there they may offer their whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
We must take our warning from this that the more ornate the means by which we approach God, the less likely they are to result in genuine worship. We begin to be more aware of our surroundings than we are of God, and to limit God to physical things.
But this making of an altar must only be done under His instruction at each place (maqom, compare its use in Deuteronomy 12) where He causes His name to be remembered. Then He will come to them and bless them. This follows the principle established by the patriarchs and followed by Moses (Gen 12:7-8; Gen 13:18; Gen 22:9; Gen 26:25; Gen 33:20; Gen 35:1-7; Exo 17:15). At this stage they are on the move. There is no central sanctuary apart from the camp sanctuary. But note that they may not publicly worship just anywhere, only in ‘the places’ that He chooses.
“Whole burnt offerings and peace offerings.” The former were wholly burnt up as a sacrifice to Yahweh (the word means ‘that which goes up’), the latter could be partaken of at a feast after they have offered the blood.
“If you lift your tool on it you have polluted it.” Anything man made or fashioned cannot reflect the ‘wholly other’. He is not of this world and therefore anything used in His worship must be in its raw state as God made it. Compare Jos 8:31-32 where this is strictly applied.
Thus does He bring home the lesson against idolatry and any man made aid to worship.
Exo 20:26
“Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not discovered on it.”
Canaanite and other altars were often built on raised platforms (‘high places’) and had to be approached via steps. They may well have seen these as representing the mountains of the gods and seen themselves as entering there. But this is not to be so with them. A simple earthen or stone altar on the level ground is all that is required. For they cannot enter into heaven itself to worship God, and therefore such an attempt would be futile. Thus they must not build altars with steps, and ‘go up by steps to My altar’.
“That your nakedness be not discovered on it.” Any such attempt would be the utmost foolishness. It would result in their total nakedness being uncovered. This probably refers back to Adam and Eve who ‘knew that they were naked’ before God. In other words in their rebellion their whole lives were revealed to God. The same may happen to the children of Israel if they seek to climb into heaven or enter into the world of man-made images, of false religion and of idolatry. They will become naked before Him.
But the thought includes the fact that climbing the steps to the high place will literally reveal their nakedness before God. It would not be showing respect to God. Thus in Exo 28:42 the priests are to wear linen breeches to hide their nakedness. But even in this the idea of nakedness before God would include the thought of man’s sinfulness being uncovered. That was why man’s nakedness was now a shameful thing. The two ideas went together.
Note for Christians.
It is often asked in what relationship the Christian stands to the covenant made at Sinai. The answer lies in considering what kind of covenant this was. For the covenant at Sinai was not a covenant of Law, it was one of grace. God did not approach His people on condition that they would agree to follow Him. He carried out His saving act through love and mercy, and then called them into His covenant as an act of love (Deu 7:6-8), in the same way as today, having carried out His saving work in Jesus Christ, He calls us into the new covenant through His blood (Mar 14:24). And just as they responded, so must we respond, and will respond if we have been chosen by Him.
The ten words revealed what God was like and what God required. They are just as binding today as they ever were, and Jesus made clear in Matthew 5 that His disciples were expected to fulfil them. But the point that God stresses, and that was equally true for Israel then, is that neither they nor we can be saved by obeying them. Rather we receive them, just as they did, because we have been saved. In their case their salvation was expressed through offerings and sacrifices, and the ministry of their priests, and by a mighty physical deliverance. In ours because we have a better sacrifice and a better High Priest Who has made for us a way back to God, our salvation is revealed by that. But once we are His we are as much bound to do His will as Israel was. What Paul was arguing against in Galatians 3 was not the covenants as God had given them, but the covenants as they had come to be seen by men. So from a heavenly point of view we are bound by all God’s covenants, made with man because of His love for His own, but from an earthly point of view we are not bound by man’s interpretation of them. Indeed Paul countered them by quoting the words of the covenant (Gal 3:13).
So yes, we are responsible to keep all God’s covenant, except in so far as any of it has been superseded, and then it is not that we do not keep it, but that we keep it in its better fulfilment. We do not see ourselves as requiring to be circumcised, because we have been circumcised in Christ. We do not see ourselves as bound to offer the sacrifices because our great High Priest has offered the greater sacrifice on our behalf. We do not look to earthly priests because we have one great High Priest Who fulfils all necessary priestly functions on our behalf, apart from the functions of prayer and praise which He calls on all who are His to perform (Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:15; 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9). We do not carry out the harshest prescriptions of the Law because they have been tempered with mercy and we have new ways of punishment which were not available then. But we still recognise the guilt of them and that they must be punished at the last.
We do not intend therefore to comment separately on the regulations that follow for the principles that lie behind them, and their applicability to all men, is clear.
End of note.
Exo 20:24 Scripture References – See:
1Ki 8:33-34, “When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.”
2Ch 20:9, “If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.”
Exo 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Exo 20:25 Exo 20:26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
The Precept Concerning the Altar
v. 22. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. v. 23. Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. v. 24. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen. v. 25. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, v. 26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon, EXPOSITION
THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, (Exo 20:1-26. Exo 20:22, to Exo 22:1-31. Exo 22:23). The Decalogue is followed by a series of laws, civil, social, and religious, which occupy the remainder of Exo 20:1-26. and the whole of the three following chapters (Exo 21:1-36; Exo 22:1-31. and 23.). It appears from Exo 24:1-18. that these laws, received by Moses on Sinai, immediately after the delivery of the ten commandments, were at once committed to writing and collected into a book, which was known as “the Book of the Covenant” (Exo 24:7), and was regarded as a specially sacred volume. The document, as it has come down to us, “cannot be regarded as a strictly systematic whole” (Canon Cook): yet still, it is not wholly unsystematic,but aims in some degree at an orderly arrangement. First and foremost are placed the laws which concern the worship of God, which are two in number:
1. Against idols;
2. Concerning altars (Exo 20:23-26).
Then follow the laws respecting what our legal writers call “the rights of persons”which occupy thirty-two verses of Exo 21:1-36. and fall under some twenty different heads, beginning with the rights of slaves, and terminating with the compensation to be made for injuries to the person caused by cattle. The third section is upon “the rights of property,” and extends from Exo 21:33, to Exo 22:15, including some ten or twelve enactments. After this we can only say that the laws are mixed, some being concerned with Divine things (as Exo 22:20, Exo 22:29, Exo 22:30; and Exo 23:10-19): others with human, and these last being of various kinds, all, however, more or less “connected with the civil organization of the state” (Kalisch). In the fourth section the enactments seem to fall under about twenty-five heads. The result is that the “Book of the Covenant” contains, in little more than three chapters, about seventy distinct laws.
Exo 20:22
Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. The book opened with this reminder, which at once recalled its author and declared its authority. “I, who give these laws, am the same who spake the ten commandments amid the thunders of Sinai. Reverence the laws accordingly.”
Exo 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, etc. This is a repetition, in part, of the second commandment, and can only be accounted for by the prohibition being specially needed. The first idea of the Israelites, when they considered that Moses had deserted them, was to make a golden calf for a god.
Exo 20:24
An altar of earth. Among the nations of antiquity altars were indispensable to Divine worship, which everywhere included sacrifice. They were often provided on the spur of the occasion, and were then “constructed of earth, sods, or stones, collected upon the spot.” The patriarchal altars bad probably been of this character, and it was now provided that the same usage should continue: at any rate, elaborate structures of hewn and highly ornamented stone should not be allowed, lest thus idolatry should creep in, the images engraved upon the altars becoming the objects of worship. Thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings. The mode in which these are introduced implies that sacrifice was already a long-standing practice. The patriarchal sacrifices are well known (Gen 8:20; Gen 12:7; Gen 22:9; Gen 35:1). Jethro had recently offered sacrifice in the camp of Israel (Exo 18:12). If the Israelites had not sacrificed to God during the sojourn in Egypt, at any rate they had kept up the idea of sacrifice; and it was for the purpose of offering sacrifices that Moses had demanded permission to go with all his nation into the wilderness. I will come unto thee and I will bless thee. The promise is conditional on the observance of the command. If the altars are rightly constructed, and proper victims offered, then, in all places where he allows the erection of an altar, God will accept the sacrifices offered upon it and bless the worshippers.
Exo 20:25
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stonei.e; if, notwithstanding my preference expressed for an altar of earth, thou wilt insist on making me one of stone, as more permanent, and so more honourable, then I require that the stones shall be rough stones shaped by nature, not stones chiselled into shape by the art of man. For if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it. It is conjectured with reason that we have here an old traditional idea, which God thought fit under the existing circumstances to sanction. The real object was that altars should not be elaborately carved with objects that might superinduce idolatry. The widely prevalent notion, that nature is sacred, and that all man’s interference with nature is a defilement, was made use of economically, to produce the desired result. No tool being allowed to be used, no forms of living creatures could be engraved, and so no idolatry of them could grow up.
Exo 20:26
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar. Here the reason of decency, added in the text, is obvious; and the law would necessarily continue until sacerdotal vestments of a very different character from the clothes commonly worn by Orientals were introduced (Exo 38:3 -43). After their introduction, the reason for the law, and with it the law itself, would drop The supposed “slope of earth” by which the priests are thought to have ascended to the “ledge” on the altar of burnt offerings, and the “inclined plane,” said by Josephus to have given access to the great altar of Solomon, rest on no sufficient authority, and are probably pure fictions. As soon as an ascent was needed, owing to the height of the altar, it was probably an ascent by steps (See Eze 43:17.)
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 20:20-22
The law of the altar.
I. THE OBJECT Or WORSHIP. The true God, not gods of silver, or gods of gold (Exo 20:23). The God who had talked with them from heaven had appeared in no visible form. “Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice” (Deu 4:12). Let the sole object of our worship be the invisible, spiritual, infinite, yet revealed God. God’s revelations of himself lay the basis of right worship. God has spoken. How reverently should we hear!
II. THE PLACE Or WORSHIP. “In all places where I record my name” (Exo 20:24). God records his name by making a revelation of himself, as at Bethel, Peniel, etc. Whatever places he chose for the building of his altar, till the time came for the erection of a permanent sanctuary, there would he meet with them. Religion is now set free from places (Joh 4:23). Wherever two or three are met in Christ’s name, there will he be in the midst of them (Mat 18:20).
III. THE ALTAR OF WORSHIP. To be built of unhewn stonei.e; of natural materials (Exo 20:25). It was the altar of propitiation. Man is viewed as one whose sins are yet unexpiated. His art, in that state, would have polluted the altar. Art came in afterwards (Exo 25:1-40. etc.). Nothing of man’s own avails for propitiation.
IV. THE MATERIALS OF WORSHIP. Animal sacrifices (Exo 20:24). For purposes of atonementas symbols of personal consecration (burnt offerings)as pledges of peace and renewed fellowship (peace offerings). Not in the first, but in the other meanings of sacrifice, we are still summoned to bring them in our worship”spiritual sacrifices” of self-surrender (Rom 12:1), of the broken spirit (Psa 51:17), of praise and thanksgiving (1Pe 1:5).
V. THE MANNER WORSHIP (Exo 20:26). Reverence and decency.J.O.
HOMILIES BY G. A. GOODHART
Exo 20:22-26
I will go unto the altar of God.
The directions given shadow forth the essentials of genuine worship. Amongst the heathen the idol is the central figure, the human symbol of the unseen God. The true God will admit no such symbol; it is a barrier against, not a step towards, the worship he desires. In true worship there must be utter self-suppression. “Obedience is better than sacrifice;” it is only through obedience that the sacrifice becomes acceptable. In this light consider
I. THE ALTAR. To be made of earth or unhewn stones. The simple unadorned material as provided by God himself. Anything beyond this, any touch of human handicraft, pollutes it. The principle which underlies this fact:sacrifices offered in the appointed way are acceptable; if we try to better the appointed wayto put something of our own into the sacrifice as a ground for acceptancewe spoil all. Self-obtrusion, however well-intended, is pollution. The altar is the expression of God’s will: try to improve it, and it becomes instead an expression of the will of the would-be improver. “I give thee this, O God; it is not worth much, but I give it thee in this self-chosen manner, and surely that adds to its value.” Not a bit: it deprives it of all value. The altar of self is not the altar of God; sacrifices offered upon it may perhaps soothe the worshipper, they cannot propitiate the Deity. The pillar, e.g; of a St. Simeon Stylites does not add to the value of his prayers; they have a better chance of reaching heaven from the contrite heart at the foot of the pillar. (Cf. Col 2:22, Col 2:23.)
II. THE APPROACHES. If the offering be made with a pure motive, it must also be offered in a pure and reverent manner. The special direction, no doubt, aimed against the enthusiastic indecencies associated with idolatry. Still, it illustrates a principle: “All things,” in the worship of God, should be done “decently and in order.” God looks first at character, but he requires also that character be matched by conduct. The Corinthian Christians (1Co 11:1-34; 1Co 14:1-40.) infringed the principle, if not the precept. Many amongst modern worshippers infringe it also, e.g; by indecencies of dress, behavior, etc; in a place of worship or when engaged in prayer.
Conclusion.Two things required of us, humility and reverence; inward and outward self-suppression. Do we want a motive? “Mine altar” (Exo 20:26). Remember who it is whom we worship. What place left for self when the heart is fixed on God?G.
Exo 20:22. Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven “Ye have had sufficient and convincing proofs, from the awful manifestations before you, that I, the JEHOVAH, have spoken to you myself from the heavens or firmament;” i.e. the superior regions of the air, commonly called the heavens. See notes on Gen 1:6-7. The Hebrew runs literally, ye have seen that I, from the heavens, have spoken unto you: may we not, therefore, understand the passage as expressing HIS condescension, who inhabiteth the highest heavens; but who, coming down from them in awful majesty on Mount Sinai, thence delivered his dread commandments to the Jews? And, in this view, the prohibition in the following verse will come with greater force; in which this GREAT GOD from heaven (the ensigns of whose terrible majesty, and whose voice only, they saw and heard, without any visible similitude of him) forbids them to form any representative images of him, though of the most costly metals, which false zeal might lead them to offer to GOD. We may plainly discern, from this repetition in part of the second commandment, how abominable idolatry was to the Lord. Some have supposed, that the precept has an eye to the Egyptians, who worshipped Osiris in the form of a golden ox.
b.The first compendious law of sacrifice
Exo 20:22-26
22And Jehovah said unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23Ye shall not make with 24me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.4 Ah altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25And if thou wilt make [thou make] me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Exo 20:23. If we follow the Masoretic punctuation, the literal translation would be: Ye shall not make with me; gods of silver and gods of gold ye shall not make unto you. With this division of the verse, an object must be supplied in the first clause, e.g., Ye shall not make anything, i.e., any gods, with me, i.e., to be objects of worship together with me. In favor of this construction also is the consideration that in the rendering of the A. V. an unwarranted distinction seems to be made between gods of silver and gods of gold. On the other hand, however, the parallelism of the clauses favors the rendering of the A. V. The latter is adopted by LXX. (where, however, we find instead of ) and Vulg. (where is left entirely untranslated). But the majority of scholars prefer the other division.Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
We have to do here with an altogether peculiar section, the germ of all Leviticus, or even of the whole ritual law. This is too little recognized when Keil gives as one division: chaps. Exo 20:22 to Exo 24:2, under the title, Leading Features in the Covenant Constitution, and then makes the subdivision: (1) The general form of Israels worship of God; (2) The laws of Israel. Knobel has observed the turning-point in one respect at all events: The frightful phenomena amidst which Jehovah announces the fundamental law of the theocracy, fill the people with terror; hence another mode of revelation is employed for the further divine disclosures. They beg that Moses rather than God should speak with them, inasmuch as they are filled with mortal dread, and fear for their lives. In this way the author explains why Jehovah revealed the other laws to Moses, and through him brought them to the people, whereas He had addressed the ten commandments immediately to the people. How little more was needed in order to discern the genesis of the hierarchical mediatorship.
Exo 20:22-23. Have talked with you from heaven.This is the basis for the negative part of the theocratic ritual, and at the same time the explanation of the worship of images and idols. This rests on the fancy that Jehovah cannot approach men from heaven, and that man cannot hear the word of Jehovah from heaven; that therefore images of gods and heavenly objects are necessary as media between the Deity and mankind. It is to be inferred from the foregoing that this prohibition does not exclude the mediatorship of Moses, still less the mediatorship of Christ in the New Covenant, for it is through this real mediation that heaven is to be brought to earth, and humanity united in the Holy Ghost. Furthermore, it is to be noticed that this prohibition is given here as a law respecting worship, whereas in the decalogue it has a fundamental ethical significance. Hence we read here: Ye shall not make , with me, by which is designated the adoration of images in religious services, as involving the germ of idolatry. It is here incidentally suggested that images are prohibited because Jehovah was veiled in a cloud, and, as a heavenly being, can be pictured by no earthly material. (Keil.)
Exo 20:24. The positive law of worship. Regarding it as certain that there had been already a traditional service of God, connected with sacrificial rites, we cannot fail to discern here a design to counteract extravagances, and to present in the simplest possible form this ritual devoted to theocratic worship. It may be taken as significant for the service of the Church also, that this fundamental, simple regulation did not exclude further developments, or even modifications. Of course the modifications of this outward manifestation of piety must have an inward ground. How then did the altar of the tabernacle grow out of the low altar of earth or of unhewn stones? First, it is to be considered that the altar of the tabernacle was threefold: the altar of burnt-offering in the court (Exo 27:1); the altar of incense in the sanctuary (Exo 30:1); and the mercy-seat in the Holy of holies (Exo 26:34; Exo 25:21). The altar of burnt-offering was of acacia wood, overlaid with copper, and three cubits high. The altar of incense, also of acacia wood, was overlaid with gold; finally, the mercy-seat was of pure gold. This gradation points back from the gold through the gilding and the copper to the starting-point, the altar of earth or of stone. This primitive form continued to be the normal type for the altars which, notwithstanding the fixed centre in the exclusive place of worship, were always prescribed for extraordinary places of revelation (Deu 27:5; Jos 8:30; Jdg 6:26). Not only the right, but also the duty, of marking by altars real places of revelations, was therefore reserved; the worship in high places easily followed as an abuse. Only in opposition to this abuse was the central sanctuary the exclusive place of worship; but it was to be expected that a permanent altar in the sanctuary could not continue to be so much like a natural growth, but had to be symbolically conformed to its surroundings in the sanctuary.
An altar of earth.The altar, as an elevation built of earth or unhewn stones, symbolizes the elevation of man to the God who is enthroned on high, in heaven (Keil). Most especially it is a monument of the place where God is revealed; then a symbol of the response of a human soul yielding to the divine call, Gen 12:7; Gen 22:9; Gen 28:18; Exo 3:12, etc. Hence it is said: In all places where I cause my name to be remembered. Generally, says Knobel, the passage is referred to the altar of the tabernacle, which subsequently was to stand now hers, now there. But this will not do. For (1) The author in no way points to this single, particular altar, but speaks quite generally of any sacrificial worship of Jehovah, and gives no occasion to bring in the tabernacle here contrary to the connection. (2) The altar of burnt-offering in the tabernacle was not made of earth, but consisted of boards overlaid with copper (Exo 27:1 sq). (3) Jehovah could not say that He would come to Israel at every place where the tabernacle stood, because He dwelt in the tabernacle, and in it went with Israel (Exo 13:21 sq., etc.). But though the tabernacle denotes the legal and symbolical residence of Jehovah, yet that does not mean that Jehovah in a human way and perpetually dwells in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was only the place where He was generally to be found, more than elsewhere, and for the whole people; but Jehovah was not confined to the tabernacle. The designation of the altar of burnt-offering as one of copper shows that a rising scale was formed: from the earth to stone, and from stone to copper, and from this still higher to gold plate and to solid gold. So in the way of self-surrender, of offerings under the fire of Gods self-revelation, out of the man of earth is formed the second man, the child of golden light. On the original form of altars, earth enclosed with turf, vid. Knobel, p. 211. As simple as the original form of the altar are the original forms of offerings: burnt-offerings and thank-offerings. Both constitute the first ramification of the Passover, which in the Levitical ritual branches out still further.
Exo 20:25. An altar of stone.The aspiration of religious men after more imposing forms of worship is not prohibited by Jehovah, but it is restricted. The stone altar was to be no splendid structure. By any sharp iron (, generally sword) the stone is desecratedi.e., under these circumstances; for how can the worshipper, when receiving a new revelation from God, be thinking of decking the altar? The precept occurs again in Deu 27:5 sq.; and altars of unhewn stone are mentioned in Jos 8:31; 1Ki 18:32; 1Ma 4:47. They were found also elsewhere, e.g., in Trebizond. (Knobel.) The opinion that hewn stone was looked on as spurious can hardly be maintained, considering the recognition of culture and art in other relations. But vid. Knobel, p. 212.5 Connected with the first restriction in regard to the splendor of the stone altar is the second: Neither by steps.The more steps, the more imposing the altar; therefore no steps! The reason is: that thy nakedness be not uncovered before it. Before it, as being the symbol of Gods presence. [But the Hebrew says: on it.Tr.] As the sacrifice symbolically covers the sin of man before God, so the nakedness of the offerer should remain covered, as a reminder of his sinfulness before God and before His altar. The ethical side of the thought is this: that a knowledge of this exposure might disturb the reverence of the offerer. But inasmuch as the later altar of the ritual service in the tabernacle was three cubits high, and therefore probably needed steps (Lev 9:22), the priests had to put on trowsers (Exo 28:42).
Footnotes:
[4][Exo 20:23. If we follow the Masoretic punctuation, the literal translation would be: Ye shall not make with me; gods of silver and gods of gold ye shall not make unto you. With this division of the verse, an object must be supplied in the first clause, e.g., Ye shall not make anything, i.e., any gods, with me, i.e., to be objects of worship together with me. In favor of this construction also is the consideration that in the rendering of the A. V. an unwarranted distinction seems to be made between gods of silver and gods of gold. On the other hand, however, the parallelism of the clauses favors the rendering of the A. V. The latter is adopted by LXX. (where, however, we find instead of ) and Vulg. (where is left entirely untranslated). But the majority of scholars prefer the other division.Tr.]
[5][It would seem that the stone which was unhewn, therefore uninjured and unfashioned, found in the condition in which the Creator left it, was regarded as unadulterated and pure, and was therefore required to be used. Similar are the reasons for the commands not to offer castrated animals (Lev 22:24), to receive into the congregation a mutilated man (Deu 23:1), to propagate mongrel beasts and grain (Lev 19:19), nor to put on the clothes of the opposite sex (Deu 22:5). Knobel, l.c.Tr.]
Reader! observe how earnest the Lord is to guard the people from every species of idolatry. Deu 4:15-16 .
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“I have talked with you from heaven.” Exo 20:22 .
There is no mistaking heavenly music. Other voices may seem to rival it, but at points here and there it separates itself from all rivalry, and with an energy all its own appeals to human imagination. A beautiful expression is this word, “I have talked”; it is full of simplicity and condescension; God is quite close to our car and is conducting communication upon an almost equal level. God sometimes thunders from heaven or causes the shining of his glory to dazzle the firmament so that no human eyes can gaze upon it. With these dispensations we cannot interfere; it is when God “talks” with us that we may draw near and listen and ask questions and make replies. We like to be talked to from heaven when we are in a right condition of mind; though the language is sublime it seems to appeal to something that is born within us. When we hear the heavenly speech, all earthly appeals become low and narrow and unworthy of us. It is the same with the Book of God. Once get into its spirit and enjoy the fellowship of its very heart, and all other books seem to be unworthy of the nature that is to be excited and hallowed by Divine communications. God talks with us from heaven that he may lure us to heaven. His purpose is never that we should be lower and meaner, but always that we should be higher and richer. He stands up in the heavenly light to show us to what altitude we may rise. It is not great superiority that is here indicated, it is a lesson to us of stimulus and encouragement If God has spoken to us what has he said? Where is his word recorded? Not a syllable of the Divine message should be lost. Let us be misers in gathering up every tone and speech of God.
Exo 20:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
Ver. 22. From heaven. ] For wheresoever God is, heaven is: as where the king is, there is the court.
the LORD. [Hebrew. Jehovah] said. See note on Exo 3:7, and compare note on Exo 6:10.
I have talked: Deu 4:36, Neh 9:13, Heb 12:25, Heb 12:26
Reciprocal: Gen 17:22 – General Deu 4:12 – only ye heard a voice Heb 3:9 – and Heb 12:19 – and the voice
Exo 20:22-26 E. Laws of Worship.This begins the Book of the Covenant, a small collection of religious and moral laws. The reference to God as talking with the people from heaven (Exo 20:22 b) was probably added after the insertion of the Decalogue. In Exo 20:23 the pl. ye shows that this was not part of the Horeb book, in which thou is used. The RV seems to be right (against LXX) in making Exo 20:23 a a doublet of Exo 20:3. Perhaps it ran, Ye shall not serve (make) along with me other (silver) gods. In any case, it is over-costly images only that are forbidden. The rules for the rude altar of earth or stone (Exo 20:24-26) reflect primitive usage (cf. 1Sa 14:32-35*), imply the right of laymen to sacrifice (cf. 2Sa 6:13; 2Sa 6:17), and refer only to the two oldest and commonest kinds of sacrifice (cf. Exo 24:5, and pp. 98f., 197f.). Moreover, such an altar may be set up wherever Yahweh may cause His Name to be remembered (24 mg.), i.e. by a vision, a victory, or other gracious act (p. 130). Stones were to be unhewn (Exo 20:25), from old custom (cf. Exo 4:25*. Jos 8:31*) or from the survival of a prejudice against risking driving away the deity by altering the shape of the natural rock. Steps were (Exo 20:26) not allowed, in the interests of decency (cf. a different provision in Exo 28:42).
4. The stipulations of the Book of the Covenant 20:22-23:33
"It is worth noting that the stipulations are enfolded within matching frames that stress the exclusivity of Yahweh (Exo 20:22-23; cf. Exo 23:24-25; cf. Exo 23:32-33), His presence in specified places (Exo 20:24; cf. Exo 23:14-17; Exo 23:20; Exo 23:28-31), and a proper protocol and ritual by which He may be approached by His servant people (Exo 20:24-26; cf. Exo 23:18-19). It is within the context of a vertical covenant relationship, then, that the horizontal, societal, and interpersonal relationships of the Book of the Covenant take on their ultimate meaning." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 41.]
"The section before us has something to say about each of the ten commandments, even if only incidentally." [Note: Youngblood, p. 101.]
The basic principles of worship in Israel 20:22-26
God did not just condemn forms of worship that were inappropriate, but He instructed the Israelites positively how they were to worship Him.
"The point of the section is this: those who worship this holy God must preserve holiness in the way they worship-they worship where he permits, in the manner he prescribes, and with the blessings he promises." [Note: The NET Bible note on 20:22.]
This pericope serves as an introduction to 42 judgments in Exo 21:1 to Exo 23:12. A similar section repeats the emphases of the introduction and forms a conclusion to the judgments (Exo 23:13-19). [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 289.]
Prohibition of idolatry Proper forms of worship 42 judgments Prohibition of idolatry Proper forms of worship Exo 20:22 is a preamble and historical background for what follows. On the basis of God’s revelation on the mountain, the Israelites were to obey Him as follows.
The Israelites were not to make idols representing gods other than Yahweh nor were they to represent Yahweh by making idols to help them worship Him (Exo 20:23).
PART I.–THE LAW OF WORSHIP.
Exo 20:22-26.
It is no vain repetition that this code begins by reasserting the supremacy of the one God. That principle underlies all the law, and must be carried into every part of it. And it is now enforced by a new sanction,–“Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven: ye shall not make other gods with Me; gods of silver or gods of gold ye shall not make unto you” (Exo 20:22-23). The costliest material of this low world should be utterly contemned in rivalry with that spiritual Presence revealing Himself out of a wholly different sphere; and in so far as they remembered Him, and the Voice which had thrilled their nature to its core, in so far would they be free from the desire for any carnal and materialised divinity to go before them.
Impressed with such views of God, their service of Him would be moulded accordingly (Exo 20:24-25). It is true that nothing could be too splendid for His sanctuary, and Bezaleel was presently to be inspired, that the work of the tabernacle might be worthy of its destination. Spirituality is not meanness, nor is art without a consecration of its own. But it must not intrude too closely upon the solemn act wherein the soul seeks the pardon of the Creator. The altar should not be a proud structure, richly sculptured and adorned, and offering in itself, if not an object of adoration, yet a satisfying centre of attention for the worshipper. It should be simply a heap of sods. And if they must needs go further, and erect a more durable pile, it must still be of materials crude, inartistic, such as the earth itself affords, of unhewn stone. A golden casket is fit to convey the freedom of some historic city to a prince, but the noblest offering of man to God is too humble to deserve an ostentatious altar.
“If thou lift up a tool upon it thou hast polluted it:” it has lost its virginal simplicity; it no longer suits a spontaneous offering of the heart, it has become artificial, sophisticated, self-conscious, polluted.
It is vehemently urged that these verses sanction a plurality of altars (so that one might be of earth and another of stone), and recognise the lawfulness of worship in other places than at a central appointed shrine. And it is concluded that early Judaism knew nothing of the exclusive sanctity of the tabernacle and the temple.
This argument forgets the circumstances. The Jews had been led to Horeb, the mount of God. They were soon to wander away thence through the wilderness. Altars had to be set up in many places, and might be of different materials. It was an important announcement that in every place where God would record His name He would come unto them and bless them. But certainly the inference leans rather toward than against the belief that it was for Him to select every place which should be sacred.
The last direction given with regard to worship is a homely one. It commands that the altar must not be approached with steps, lest the clothes of the priest should be disturbed and his limbs uncovered. Already we feel that we have to reckon with the temper as well as the letter of the precept. It is divinely unlike the frantic indecencies of many pagan rituals. It protests against all infractions of propriety, even the slightest, such as even now discredit many a zealous movement, and bear fruit in many a scandal. It rebukes all misdemeanour, all forgetfulness in look and gesture of the Sacred Presence, in every worshipper, at every shrine.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
(Exo 20:22-23)
(Exo 20:24-26)
(Exo 21:1 to Exo 23:12)
(Exo 23:13)
(Exo 23:14-19)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary