Deuteronomy 5:6 - Meaning and Application

Here is a repeated form of the Ten Commandments. Notice first that, although they had already been spoken and written, God gives them again. This is because God’s word needs to be heard often. We need the same truths pressed on us again and again, so they stay in our minds and shape our hearts. See (Philippians 3:1).

Second, there are some differences here from the record in Exodus 20, just as there are small differences between the Lord’s Prayer in (Matthew 6) and (Luke 11). In both cases, the main point is to hold to the meaning, not to demand exact wording every time. The substance matters more than the precise phrasing.

The biggest difference is in the fourth commandment. In (Exodus 20), the reason given comes from creation. Here, the reason is based on Israel’s rescue from Egypt. That matters because that rescue pointed forward to our salvation through Jesus Christ, and in memory of that greater rescue, Christians were to keep the Sabbath. “Remember that you were a servant, and God brought you out” means that the Sabbath should remind them of both mercy and deliverance (Deuteronomy 5:15).

Because of that, it is fitting that servants should be allowed Sabbath rest. God knows the heart of a servant, and He knows how welcome one day of rest is after six days of labor. It is also fitting that God should be honored by the worship and holy service of the day, since He has done great things for His people. In Christ’s resurrection, we are brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children by a mighty hand and outstretched arm. So, under the gospel form of the law, we are directed to keep the first day of the week in remembrance of that great work of power and grace.

In the fifth commandment, the added words are, “that it may go well with you.” The apostle Paul quotes this and puts it first, saying, “that it may go well with you, and that you may live long” (Ephesians 6:3). If someone is very dutiful to parents and does not live long on earth, this promise is still true. It means that things will go well with that person, either in this life or in the better life to come. See (Ecclesiastes 8:12).

The last five commandments are linked together here in a way they are not in Exodus. “Neither shall you commit adultery, neither shall you steal,” and so on. This shows that God’s commands belong together as one whole. The same authority that requires one command requires all the rest. We must not pick and choose in God’s law, but respect all His commandments, because anyone who breaks one point is guilty of breaking the whole law (James 2:10, James 2:11).

These commandments were given with great and holy fear. They were spoken with a loud voice out of fire and thick darkness. That scene was meant to inspire terror, so that the gospel of grace would later be more welcome. It also gave a small picture of the terrors of the final judgment (Psalm 50:3, Psalm 50:4).

He added no more. The other laws were given through Moses, but no more were spoken in the same direct and solemn way as the Ten Commandments. Since He added no more, we must not add to them. The law of the Lord is perfect, and it needs no human additions.

He wrote them on two stone tablets so they would be kept from decay and passed down pure and unchanged to later generations. They were meant not only for the people then alive, but also for those who would come after them. Since these commandments were the main points of the covenant, the chest where the stone tablets were kept was called the ark of the covenant. See (Revelation 11:19).