March 6th, 2021

This time the Old Testament reading for the Third Sunday in Lent is arguably one of the most familiar texts within the entire Old Testament, the text of the Ten Commandments. There are actually two times that these Ten Commandments appear, and this also testifies to their importance. The first time is in Exodus 20:1-17 (the text for this Sunday), and the second time is in Deuteronomy 5(:6-21). This second time was spoken about forty years later, and Moses is going over what had happened previously.

Much could be said about any or all of these commandments. One of the first significant and interesting differences between these two texts is in the commandment concerning the Sabbath day. Here are somewhat-literal translations from both books:

Exodus 20:8     Remember the day of the Sabbath to sanctify it.

Deuteronomy 5:12      Guard the day of the Sabbath to sanctify it, as he commanded you, Yahweh your God.

One might think that the word ‘remember’ should be used forty years later and not ‘guard’. But you might remember that the word ‘remember’ is a very special word, one that is often used at important, turning-point places within the book of Genesis. It is used to describe an action of God rather than a person’s. (See Genesis 8:1, 19:29, and 30:22).

When God remembers a person, that makes all the difference. Near the beginning of the book of Exodus (2:23f), the text says that God heard the groaning of the children of Israel while they were enslaved, and he remembered his covenant with them. And then Moses shows up. Since sin pushed Adam and Eve away from the presence of the LORD, it is wonderful that he still remembers his people, people who deserve to be forgotten! Our remembering in this commandment, therefore, comes from his remembering.

The word ‘guard’ in the Deuteronomy text shows the seriousness of such a command. The word in the Greek translation of this text is very close to the word ‘phalanx’, a type of Greek soldier. Guards are important because the thing that they are guarding is usually important. As our Lenten preaching series this year points out, what God did as Jesus and what he continues to do among us is most certainly ‘a matter of death and life’.

It should probably also be said that Martin Luther, in his German translation of the Small Catechism, also has some significant changes to this command, as well as to others. Each command begins with the words ‘Du solt….’, and, although a good translation of these words is ‘You should….’, a better translation may be ‘You are to….’ It shows the seriousness of the situation.

Also in this commandment, the word ‘Feiertag’ is given instead of ‘Sabbath’. This is a word meaning ‘holiday’, and it speaks to the present time. The woodcuts that accompanied the Small Catechism depict some of the ancient biblical texts, but the people have clothing that they would have had in Luther’s day. That also points to the present time. The woodcut that appears below is the one connected to the Third Commandment. This appears in the following work: A Facsimilie of Luther’s Small Catechism: Wittenberg, 1531; published by Concordia Publishing House; St. Louis, Missouri, 1979; page 20f. I hope you enjoy it.