The Ten Commandments Repeated
5 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your [a]hearing, that you may learn them and observe [b]them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of [c]us alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5 while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. [d]He said,
6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [e]slavery.
7 ‘You shall have no other gods [f]before Me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself [g]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above [h]or on the earth beneath [i]or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not [j]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who [k]stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
17 ‘You shall not murder.
18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘You shall not steal.
20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
Moses Interceded
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
I’m not 100% sure if this was the intent, but I think it is a point worth making regarding the Sabbath day. It’s something of a struggle in our culture in America (possibly in other countries too). We have a hard time just resting and devoting an entire day to honoring God in our rest.
There is an odd connection here, where Moses says it is because God brought them out of slavery, and God brought them out with his “strong hand and powerful arm”.
I think the latter part is key here. The Israelites weren’t supposed to rest because they had once been slaves and toiled day after day in slavery. They were supposed to rest, and trust that God could take care of things while they rested.
They are reminded that it wasn’t their strength that freed them from slavery, but the power of God. If he could do that, certainly God can be trusted to keep things in order while we rest. And indeed, God doesn’t take the other six days off, He is the one keeping things in order all the time, and He will continue to do what is best for us all our days.