More Lessons from Deuteronomy

1. There are two stone tablets on which the ten command(ment)s are written.

"These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me." - Deuteronomy 5:22 (NIV)

The significance of having two tablets is not that the first tablet lists the "vertical" commands (1 to 4, pertaining to the relationship between God and man) while the second tablet lists the "horizontal" commands (5 to 10, pertaining to the relationship among men). Rather, both tablets list all 10 commands. The first tablet is God's copy of Israel's commitment to the covenant while the second tablet is Israel's copy of God's commitment to the covenant (not that it is in doubt), in keeping with the ancient Near Eastern practice of parties holding a copy of each other's commitment to an agreement.

2. Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are addressed to the head of the house, the only one who would have children/servants/livestock (cf. Exodus 20:8-10, Deuteronomy 5:12-14). Again, the head of the house is responsible for everyone and everything in the house.

Interestingly, Exodus 20:8-10 is grounded in creation (cf. Exodus 20:11) while Deuteronomy 5:12-14 is grounded in the exodus (cf. Deuteronomy 5:15).

3. Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11 (You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God) are not so much about swearing as they are about misrepresenting God as His body here on earth. In other words, saying we belong to God while living like we belong to Baal.