His Story: A journey through the greatest story of all time
The Bible isn’t just an old book—it’s God’s story, and it’s still alive today. His Story takes you chapter by chapter through Scripture, combining simple readings of God’s Word with prayer for every listener and occasional reflections on what the passage means for our lives right now.
Whether you’re brand new to the Bible or have been reading it for years, this podcast is a space to slow down, hear God’s Word spoken, and be reminded that His story is also our story.
His Story: A journey through the greatest story of all time
Grace First, Then the Ten: Why Exodus 20 Still Speaks
Thunder shakes the mountain, a trumpet sounds, and a rescued people hear the words that will shape their life together. We return to Sinai and read Exodus 20 in full, but we don’t stop at the list; we press into the heartbeat behind it—grace first, then guidance. Before a single command is given, God names what he has already done: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.” That opening changes everything, transforming the Ten Commandments from a ladder into a mirror and a map for a redeemed people.
We trace the flow from loyalty to God—no other gods, no idols, the weight of God’s name, the gift of Sabbath—into love for neighbor—honor parents, protect life, keep covenant, respect property, tell the truth, cultivate contentment. Along the way, we draw a line from Sinai to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew: righteousness reaches the heart long before it reaches the hands. Anger seeds murder, lust shadows adultery, and coveting fuels quiet unrest. We explore how the altar’s instructions, set right beside the Law, anticipate atonement and point forward to Christ as the Lamb of God—justice satisfied, mercy offered, and a new way of living opened.
This conversation also names pride and ego as the hidden root behind so much harm—idolatry of the self, dishonor at home, betrayal in marriage, theft, slander, envy. We talk about humility not as self‑neglect but as the joyful freedom of trusting God’s care, embracing limits, and loving our neighbors without keeping score. If you’re hungry for a grounded take on the Ten Commandments, Sabbath rhythms, heart‑level ethics, and the connection between law and grace, this episode offers a clear path forward. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves biblical theology, and leave a review to tell us which commandment challenged or encouraged you most.
The Bible isn’t just an old book—it’s God’s story, and it’s still alive today. His Story takes you chapter by chapter through Scripture, combining simple readings of God’s Word with prayer for every listener and occasional reflections on what the passage means for our lives right now.
Whether you’re brand new to the Bible or have been reading it for years, this podcast is a space to slow down, hear God’s Word spoken, and be reminded that His story is also our story.
Welcome back to His Story, a journey through the greatest story of all time. Today we come to Sinai, where God's covenant people hear his voice in Exodus 20. Exodus 20 is the heart of the covenant, the Ten Commandments that we all know so well. The law is a mirror showing us God's holiness and our need for grace, and it reflects God's character, not arbitrary rules. The law is divided into duties toward God and neighbor, foreshadowing Jesus' summary in Matthew 22. Although we are not justified by law, it remains a guide for holy living, and it is the standard by which we realize we need a savior. The preface grounds obedience in redemption. I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. Let's get started. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day that you've given us and for your word, for the history that it tells us, your story of redemption that started way back in the very beginning. Thank you for this story in Exodus about you coming to your people and speaking to them what you would have them do. May we take the same approach today. In Jesus' name. Amen. And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. 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. 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 fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of your Lord, your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. 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. Honor your mother and your father, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, 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 neighbour's. And when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off, and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us, lest we die. Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the people of Israel, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourself gods of gold. An altar of the earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen, and every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it, and you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it. This is the word of God. You know, the Ten Commandments aren't a ladder to climb into God's favor. They're the guide for the life of a redeemed people. I mean, God begins with grace. I am the Lord your God who brought you out. God clearly is the one who provides everything that they need, and obedience flows from his deliverance. The commands move from loyalty to God, you know, no other gods, no idols, honoring his name, keeping his day, to love for neighbor, to honor parents, to protect life, to keep a covenant in marriage, to respect property, speak truth, don't covet. In short, it's a simple list, and yet it it's impossible to follow. Especially when you consider the weightiness of it. When Jesus in Matthew talks about it's about the heart, not even about the actions. It's about how you view people, how you think of them. Jesus says in Matthew that if you hate someone, you've already committed murder in your heart. If you look lustfully upon a person, you've already committed adultery in your heart. And this law that God gives his people after delivering them out of Egypt is to show them their need for a savior. You'll notice that in the same passage that he gives them the law, he also gives them the command to build an altar, to make sacrifices. And those sacrifices were a way of saying, I can't uphold this law. And so because I'm breaking this law, there has to be atonement for that sin in the form of sacrifices, which is foreshadowing of Jesus, who comes as the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice once and for all. It's all built into the whole story from the very beginning. God is showing us exactly what his plan of redemption is from the very beginning. And we see that when Jesus later compresses all this into love for God and love for neighbor. When the Sadducees and Pharisees and the rulers of the law came to him and tested him and said, Teacher, which of these is the greatest commandment? He did not falter. He said, Love your God with everything you have, and love the people. And that's it. And that's what it's all wrapped up into. You know, the thunder and the lightning, the trumpet of Sinai. It reminds us that this isn't advice. It is the very words of God, a covenant command from a holy God who loves us and wants our best so we can trust him. And we do our best to follow the commands. But we know we'll fall short, and that's why we need a savior. That's why we need Jesus. And as I look at this entire list, to me it all comes back to pride and ego. That we would create idols to worship instead of worshiping God, that we would not honor our parents, that we would hurt others, that we would commit adultery, which is a selfish act in and of itself, that we would steal, we'd take from other people because we want, that we would bear false witness, which is usually a protection mechanism for ourselves, that we would covet what other people have, maybe for status or maybe for approval or or for whatever it is, for the scoreboard of life. It all is wrapped up in pride and ego. And the more that we can get rid of pride and get rid of self, the better off we are. And that's why you know Jesus says that that humility is uh is something to be desired, and that it comes, you know, pride comes before the fall, but that he honors those who humble themselves. And so it comes back at the end of the day to do we believe in God, do we trust God? Do we seek him? Do we look up to him? Or are we trying to build something for ourselves? Are we trying to put ourselves out front and get as much as we can for ourselves? And the law shows us that that's the wrong way. But so often in life, that's what people do, that's what we see. God, thank you so much for your word here in Exodus 20. When you came to your people and gave them the guidelines for how they should live, knowing that they could not do it, and that they would need to make atonement for that and ultimately look to Jesus for that. God, thank you for giving us a redemption plan from the very beginning. Thank you for your law, which is good, it's perfect, and we are not. May we seek you today in all that we do. May we look to get rid of our own pride and ego and humble ourselves before you and trust you to take care of all of our needs. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Next time we'll hear Jesus begin the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Until next time, remember, Jesus wrote the greatest story ever told, and that includes loving you and me completely. See you next time.
