Question 64: How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
Answer: A. Ten commandments.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) The Ten Commandments.
20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord
your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of
those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 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.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 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."
Question 71: Is God pleased with those who do not love and obey Him?
Answer: No. God is angry with the wicked every day.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) 11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day. Psalm 7:11.
(2) 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, How have we wearied him?" By saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, Where is the God of justice?" Malachi 2:17.
(3) 16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19.
Question 73: What does the First Commandment teach us?
Answer: To worship God only.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:5-6.
(2) 10 Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
'You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.' Matthew 4:10.
(3) 22:8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. Revelation 22:8-9.
Question 75: What does the Second Commandment teach us?
Answer: To worship God in the right way, and to avoid idolatry.
Supporting Scripture:
(1)The Folly of Idolatry
16:9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my god!"
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Isaiah 44:9-20.
(2) 5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
8 Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me, Isaiah 46:5-9.
(3) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24.
(4) 29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. Acts 17:29.
Question 77: What does the Third Commandment teach us?
Answer: To reverence God's name, Word, and works.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Isaiah 8:13.
(2) 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Psalm 29:2.
(3) 2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word. Psalm 138:2.
(4) 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations![a]
4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:3-4.
Question 79: What does the Fourth Commandment teach us?
Answer: To keep the Sabbath holy.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) 19:30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
The Sabbath
23:3 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.
Leviticus 19:30, 23:3.
(2) 13 If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 58:13-14.
Question 82: How should the Sabbath be kept?
Answer: In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God's Word, and in doing good to our fellow men.
Supporting Scripture:
(1) 13 If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 58:13-14.
(2) 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. Acts 20:7.
(3) 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
1 Corinthians 16:2..
(4) 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
Luke 4:16.
(5) 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. Matthew 12:10-13.
