Lesson 54

Exodus 20 (Part 1)

Prepare to Learn

Prepare your mind and heart to learn. Be ready to take notes and mark scriptures to help you preserve personal insights and lessons that you learn.

Begin your study with prayer.

How do you feel when you think about the Lord’s commandments?

We have reason to rejoice when we consider the commandments the Lord has provided. Watch this video and consider why the Lord’s commandments are a gift to us.

The Ten Commandments

How would you respond to someone who says that the Ten Commandments were only meant for people in the Bible and do not apply to us today?

Consider the following statement by President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018):

“Although the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed; they will not change. The Ten Commandments are just that—commandments. They are not suggestions. They are every bit as requisite today as they were when God gave them to the children of Israel” (Thomas S. Monson, “Stand in Holy Places,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 83).

As you study Exodus 20:1–12, look for truths about the Ten Commandments that are just as important to us today as they were to the Israelites in Moses’s day.

The First Three Commandments

Exodus 20:1–17 records that the Israelites had gathered at the base of Mount Sinai. While there, they heard the voice of God give the Ten Commandments to them from a cloud at the top of the mountain (see Exodus 19:9, 16–17; 20:18–19; Deuteronomy 4:10–13). Exodus 20:3–17 is a doctrinal mastery passage. You may want to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you will be able to locate them more easily.

Read Exodus 20:2–7, looking for the first three commandments. You may want to mark what you find.

What do these commandments suggest ought to be our highest priority?

Our Highest Priority

The commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3) means that our worship of God should be our highest priority and we should devote ourselves exclusively to Him.

Notice in verse 5 that the Lord is described as “a jealous God.” President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency explained what this means:

“The meaning of jealous is revealing. Its Hebrew origin means ‘possessing sensitive and deep feelings’ (Exodus 20:5, footnote b). Thus we offend God when we ‘serve’ other gods—when we have other first priorities” (Dallin H. Oaks, “No Other Gods,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 72).

Why do you think it may be displeasing to the Lord when He sees us placing other priorities above our worship of Him?

The Lord’s Promise

Look again at Exodus 20:6. What does the Lord promise those who love Him and keep His commandments?

What principle can we identify from verse 6?

His Mercy

From Exodus 20:6 we can identify the principle that when we love God and keep His commandments, He will show us mercy. The word mercy in verse 6 does not mean only forgiveness of sin. It includes all of the ways the Lord reaches out to bless us, such as giving us strength, assurance, support, protection, and guidance.

1. When have you felt the Lord’s mercy as you have shown your love for Him and kept His commandments?

Honoring the Lord’s Name

Exodus 20:7 states that we should not take the name of God in vain. This means that we should never use the names of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, including titles such as God and Lord, lightly, irreverently, or disrespectfully. This also means that we should avoid breaking covenants that we make in Their names.

How does obeying the commandment to not take the name of God in vain show our love for Him?

A Special Day

What was a special day in your life that you will always want to remember? Why is this day important to you?

Read Exodus 20:8–11, looking for a special day the Lord wants us to remember.

A Holy Day

According to Exodus 20:10–11, we read that the Sabbath day belongs to the Lord and that He made it a holy day as part of the Creation. Because the Sabbath day is already holy, our responsibility is to keep it holy.

Based on verses 9–10, what can we do to keep the Sabbath a holy day?

Keeping the Sabbath Holy

From Exodus 20:9–10 we can identify the truth that resting from our labors on the Sabbath can help us keep it a holy day. By performing all of our labors in six days, as instructed in verse 9, we can better prepare ourselves to rest from our labors on the Sabbath.

2. Answer the following questions:

• What are some other ways that we can keep the Sabbath a holy day? To help you answer this question, you may want to read Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–10 and For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 30–31.

• How have you been blessed as you have kept the Sabbath a holy day?

Honoring Our Parents

One of the Ten Commandments is to honor our fathers and mothers. We honor our parents as we show love and respect for them.

Read Exodus 20:12, looking for what the Lord promised those who obey the commandment to honor their fathers and mothers.

He Will Bless Us

The land referred to in Exodus 20:12 was the land of Canaan, which had been promised to the children of Israel if they kept their covenants with the Lord. If they broke their covenants, they would be driven from the land and scattered (see Deuteronomy 4:23–38). We can identify the following principle from verse 12: As we honor our parents, the Lord will bless us.

Sometimes people wonder how to honor a parent who is not living righteously and who may even encourage his or her children to live unrighteously. Remember that the commandment to honor our parents comes after the first commandment to love and serve Heavenly Father above all else (see Exodus 20:3; Matthew 22:35–39). We can obey Heavenly Father and still show love and respect for our earthly parents even when they are not perfect by obeying them as long as they are not encouraging us to disobey our Heavenly Father.

3. Carefully consider both of the following questions and answer one of them:

• How can we be blessed by honoring our parents?

• How have you been blessed as you have honored your parents?

Putting God First

As you conclude this lesson on the importance of obeying God and His commandments, read this statement by President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), who emphasized the importance of putting God first in our lives.

“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities” (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Great Commandment—Love the Lord,” Ensign, May 1988, 4).

What blessings come to those who put God first?

The Lord’s Mercy

The following truths were identified in this lesson:

• When we love God and keep His commandments, He will show us mercy.

• Resting from our labors on the Sabbath can help us keep it a holy day.

• As we honor our parents, the Lord will bless us.

How will you apply what you learned from this lesson to receive the Lord’s mercy? Think about how you can love God more completely or obey Him more fully. List what you plan to do, and keep your list in a place where you can see it.