4TH BROKEN COMMANDMENT

(Message by Tanny Keng)

0. Introduction

a) The 10 Commandments were God's standard for right living. To obey them was to obey God. Yet throughout the Old Testament, we can see how each commandment was broken.

b) As you read the stories, notice the tragic consequences that occurred as a result of violating God's law.

1. 4th Commandment

a) The 10 Commandments said ...

i) ⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8 NKJV)

b) Notable Violations

i) The fall of Jerusalem
(Text: 2 Chronicles 36:15-21)

@1. ¹⁵ And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. ¹⁷ Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸ And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. ²⁰ And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. (2 Chronicles 36:15-21 NKJV)

2. What is the text all about?

a) God warned Judah about its sin and continually restored the people to his favor, only ot have them turn away. Eventually the situation was beyond remedy. Beware of harboring sin in your heart. The day will come when remedy is no longer possible and God's judgment replaces his mercy. Sin often repeated, but never repented of, invites disaster.

b) Leviticus 26:27-45 strikingly predicts the captivity, telling how God's people would be torn from their land for disobeying him.

c) One of the laws they had ignored stated that one year in every seven the land should lie fallow, resting from producing crops (see Exodus 23:10-11).

@1. ¹⁰ “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, ¹¹ but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. (Exodus 23:10-11 NKJV)

d) The 70-year captivity allowed the land to rest, making up for all the years the Israelites had not observed this law. We know that God keeps all his promises - not only his promises of blessing, but also his promises of judgment.

The End ...