On Eagles' Wings

On Eagles’ Wings

By Justin L. Snyder

If you will before I begin take your Bible and turn with me to Exodus Chapter 20 Verses 3-17, there are ten things that we need to take to heart tonight, and keep them there for the rest of our lives, take a moment to look over them, and keep in your mind what you hear in these verses when you read them, because tonight my hope, and my prayer is that we will all have a new understanding, and a new realization about the Ten Commandments.

Ever tried to read between the lines on anything, ever read a letter that was sent by someone and you tried so hard to make it into what you wanted it to say?

Ever try to change the wording of something to make it be what you want it to be. Like wishing that your paycheck had one more digit on the end of it. Or maybe that your taxes had one digit less.

That’s what Satan did, he not only wished to change it he succeeded with changing the Ten Commandments into what he wanted it to say, he has made some Christians and Non-Christians think of it as handcuffs and leg shackles, they are just some old rules, made up by some old guy, and none of them apply today, they just want to keep us from doing what is fun.

Have you ever heard the Ten Commandments described as a love letter…. A tender, heartfelt message from the very heart of God? Probably not. Yet, I’m convinced it is one of the most powerful expressions of God’s love in all of Scripture. And you don’t need to read between the lines. You don’t need to add or take anything out. It’s all there. God doesn’t leave anything out. These ten statements are all encompassing touching virtually every part of our lives. They are the parameters to live by – the truths He knows are going to provide blessing and strength, a future and a hope.

These Commandments, are so filled with love, and hope in our lives, they are what we need to live by, not just on Sunday, but every day of our lives, because God knows that if we follow these commandments, our lives will be soooooo much easier.

God’s love was so strong that he wrote these commandments with his own finger, he personally delivered it to his people on top of Mount Sinai. God’s love was written all over Ten things carved into stone.

There are several books out today on both the secular and the Christian bestseller lists that purport to reveal a “secret code” embedded in the text of the Hebrew scriptures. These books talk about how computer technology has revealed an intricate pattern embedded in the texts-- a code that supposedly names contemporary political leaders and spells out future events.

Today I’m not arguing that this “hidden code” is there or not. All I’m saying is that I don’t need any secret code. I don’t need to read between the lines. I don’t need to count all the letters and spaces, multiply them by seven, and divide them by twenty-two. I don’t need to borrow a supercomputer from the defense department and an analyst from MIT. All I need to know is what God is plainly saying to me on the pages of my Bible. And if you miss the real message of these Ten Commandments, you’ve missed a great deal.

“In fact, you’ve missed the very heart of God.”

Some people, of course, imagine it to be the exact opposite. They don’t hear love in these statements at all. What do they hear. They hear the clank of chains and the rattle of padlocks. They hear God saying,

“You mess with me, you step out of bounds, and I’ll fry you like a insect landing in a Bug Zapper.”

All of this, of course, plays right into Satan’s master plan—the one he’s had from the beginning. (Why change it if it still works.) Satan says, “God is prude. God is a killjoy. God is a harsh old grandfather with a long gray beard and brushy eyebrows who doesn’t wont anyone to have any fun—ever.”

No, it’s not a very original line of reasoning. The enemy began it with Eve back at the dawn of creation when he said. “Has God really forbidden you to eat this lovely fruit? Oh my. What a pity, what a shame.. He knows that if you ever tasted from this tree, you would be like God. Nothing could hold you back. God wants to keep you from the tang and sweetness of life. True freedom means freedom from confining restrictions such as these. It’s what Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness; He took God’s words out of context. And that’s what he’s doing today with the Ten Commandments.