Written by the Finger of God: The Ten Commandments for the Twenty-First-Century Church

Most books on the Ten Commandments hand the church ten rules. This one hands the church the heart of God.

Written by the Finger of God is a seminary-deep yet preachable theology of the Decalogue for the twenty-first century - written for the pulpit and the pew alike. It reads each commandment two ways at once: as a window into the character of God, and as the shape of the redeemed life. It answers the question the church keeps asking - do we still keep them, or were they only for Israel? - and names, command by command, the modern idol each one exposes: the curated self, the screen, the coveting economy.

Here is the grace the church has half-forgotten. The commandments were not the ladder Israel climbed to reach God; they were spoken by a God who had already redeemed His people. Before a single command is laid down, grace has gone first: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt." Redemption precedes command. Grace comes first; obedience is the response.

Moving from the fire and thunder of Sinai to the plains of Moab where the Law was given a second time, this study opens each of the Ten Words in its original Hebrew and Greek, traces its fulfillment in Christ, and presses its claim on the modern conscience. Inside you will find a masterclass on the two givings of the Law, eight addenda on the numbering traditions and the uses of the Law, a teaching catechism, and a master lexicon of every key term.

Whether you are a pastor preparing to preach the Law as gospel, a teacher leading a class, a student of Scripture, or a believer longing to know the God behind the commandments, this book invites you to hear again the ten greatest words ever spoken to a human community - spoken in fire, written in stone, and binding still.

Rev. Dr. Billy J. Hill is a Baptist minister, U.S. Army veteran, and the prolific author of more than forty books.