Exodus: March 12

March 12, 2023
Nate Milnik, Sunday Teacher

Click here to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu_sxYwTY8g

Do you or have you ever struggled as a Believer to know what to do, or why you should do it?

Good Afternoon, Church! We hope you were able to catch service yesterday, amidst the wild weather. Philosophy professor and long-time Sierra Bible Church member, Nate Milnik taught on Christians ethics, specifically through Exodus 20, highlighting three of the ten commandments. Though Nate Milnik did not cover all 10, here are some interesting facts he began with:
 

• The first two are first person
• The latter eight are third person
• There's only 1 that adds a stern admonition and that's number 3
• There's only 1 that has a promise attached and that's number 5
• There's only 1 that makes a type of thought wrong and that's number 10
• There's only 1 that offers a ritual law and that's number 4
• There's only 1 that cannot deny the emphasis on family or mono-theism in the commandments 
• 4 relate to God specifically
• 6 relate to our relationship with others

The 3 commandments that Nate Milnik highlighted were:

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

• Likewise to how Nate Milnik was raised, I had always been told that taking the Lord's name in vain was using His name in violation with my speech. Though that's not wrong, but he encouraged us to consider that it is how we carry God's name and where we carry it into. Are we wanting to use His name to justify our choices? What are we attaching His name to? Let's be very, very careful with what we carry His name into. 

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

•  What if we started viewing the Sabbath as a set apart time that has little to no emphasis on productivity or gearing up to then be productive? Is it hard to be unproductive for a day? Why is that? What does the world tell us about busyness? 

3. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's (Exodus 20:17). 

• If we get this right, it helps us not to violate the other five relational commandments. What is it that makes you happy? What causes the unhappiness in your life? Do you see the ties connected to what you have or what others have that you want? If we can get this one right, our posture towards other people changes dramatically. What can God do with that? 

What is our posture of obedience and how are we willing to share the covenant that you have made with God? Though Nate Milnik teaches on ethics and philosophy that are rooted in logic, he leaves us with this- it is the narrative of how God delivered us that will live on through generations, just like what we have continued to study through Exodus. For our good, always, God preserves us.