Surprise!  The ten commandments are not as they seem.  The ex-slaves, the Israelites, are afraid of their rain-frogs-from-the-sky God, and cherubs aren’t just a type of tomato.  It’s another edition of me making an addition to my cataloging the imperatives in scripture.

Exo 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”  None of the other members of the Ten Commandments are actual imperatives.  Confession, I have lied to you (oops #9).  Some of the most powerful commands in scripture grammatically are future tense, “You will never do X.”  More specifically the ten commandments are imperfect tense. They can never be completed, or they are in process.  So the question is, “Why is the command about parents imperative?”  Short answer, most of the commands are looking forward to a time when the people are stationary enough to have a full society (courts, metallurgy, temples, property, etc.) but everyone has parents (notwithstanding Peter Pan and crew).  But, I have another guess; the honoring of parents is the only one of the ten that is not eternal.  For all eternity, stealing is not what God wants, but by the time of Jesus it appears that family ties are becoming less important (Mark 3:33; Mark 12:25).  God specifically says, “You do this now” because now is all we’ve got to honor our parents.

Exo 20:19 “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” The people don’t want God talking to them any more.

Exo 23:21 “Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.”  God is warning the people against turning against their helping guide.  The two commands are lit. ”  This is similar to Jesus warning about the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).  If God sends spiritual help you and you rebel, life is not the reward.

Exo 24:1 “Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.” The command “come up” seems normal, but this is a big time empathy moment for God.  In the last half of Exo 23, Yahweh tells the people they will spend the first couple generations in the land engaged in bloody conflict.  This is deflating news for anyone, especially recently freed and sunburned slaves.  The carrot to the stick is the opportunity to draw close to Yahweh.

Exo 24:12, 14 “Now the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets… But to the elders [Moses] said, “Wait here for us until we return to you.”  God commands Moses to go higher.  Moses tells the elders to stay midway up the mountain.

Exo 25:2 “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.”  God commands the prophet Moses to proclaim what the people should do.  Interestingly, this is the first occurrence of terumah in scripture.  The traditional word for offering, minkhah, first used in Gen 4:3 with Cain and Abel is the general term for stuff offered to God/gods (Lev 2).  The contribution Yahweh calls for here is a new thing because it is intended not for the altar but for the construction of the worship center, the tabernacle.

Exo 25:19, 40 “And make one cherub… and see that you make [the lamp-stands] according to the pattern..”  God teaches the people how to make a holy place.  In v40 there is the added command of “see”, God commands their mind’s eye to follow what they saw on the mountain.

Exo 28:1 “Then bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest…” Moses’ relationship to Yahweh has progressed.  The first words from Yahweh to Moses were “Moses, Moses… don’t come near” (3:3, 5)  Now Yahweh tells his prophet to command priests to come near.

Exo 28:42 “And you shall make for them linen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs.” The translations have vv31, 36, 39 and 42 all as similar instructions on how to dress the priests, “You will make…”  However, only v42 is a true imperative, and it is an imperative singular.  Moses is intended.  There is no obvious theological difference unless God wants to hit home to Moses that he alone must make the priests’ underwear.

Exo 29:1 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish…”  God begins the final instructions to lighten Moses’ priestly load.  The specific imperative is “take one young…”  These bulls’ are an exchange for the lives of the priest.  The symbolism is that God’s holiness would consume anyone who would minister in the tabernacle.  Interestingly v1 emphasizes what Moses must do, but the end of the chapter has “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.” (44-45).  Moses consecrating actions are preparation for the main event, God’s movement and indwelling.

In Exodus God has heard the people.  He has freed the people.  He gave the people sustenance, manna and quail, but now God has given them life.  In Exodus 20-29 God has given his people Torah and the priesthood.  These tools of consecration will prepare the people for Yahweh to be their God.