Week 1: The first commandment. I have felt led to begin a discussion of the Ten Commandments. They are given to the Hebrew people twice int the Old Testament, Ex. 20:2-27 and Deut. 5:6-21. The first commandment, as it written, some combine “I am the Lord thy God Who brought you our of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" and "You shall have no other gods before you. “ Some take the first one alone and combine “You shall have no other gods before you. “ with “You shall not make for yourself any graven images.” I will do the latter and focus today on the statement we are always to remember, that God brought us all out of the house of slavery, not physical slavery in Egypt, but the slavery to sin. (Heb.2;25, Rom. 8:15, Gal. 5:1). Before we came to faith in Christ’s birth, death and resurrection, we were slaves to our flesh, seeking pleasure and wealth, envying those who had more, becoming impatient and irritable, fearing death because it was an unknown. Every day we should thank God with all our hearts for saving us from the slavery to our flesh. Daily the Holy Spirit within us convicts us, reminds us we are His and comforts us! Praise God!! Thank you, Lord!!
Week 2: The second commandment. Putting the next two commandment together, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” and “You shall make for yourself no graven image or likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or what is under water under the earth. 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, but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love Me and keep my commandments.” (Ex. 20:2-27 and Deut. 5:6-21) We might think how anyone could make something and worship it as if it had power. Yet, In some Christian faiths, statues are made of Mary and others that some bow down and pray to. In our prideful way we Protestants might look down our noses or feel sorry for those. Yet, many of us are so prideful of what we have and can accomplish we basically worship ourselves. Also, many worship the almighty dollar! We worry about our financial security more than we thank the Lord for what we have been able to have and do. Also, there are those who look upon the commandment in the Old Testament as having no meaning for New Testament Christians. Yet, Christ repeated this commandment. (Matt 4:10, Lk. 4:8) He went on to tell us where our treasure is so will be our hearts. (Matt. 6:21, Lk. 33-34) He warned us to store up our treasures in heaven. How do we do that? Give God the credit for all we are able to do and have. He is the one who enabled us to be and have and do all we are and have and can do.
Week 3: The third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”, like the first two, regard our relationship with God. Christ covered all three when asked the greatest commandment and he answered, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. this is the great and first commandment”. (Matt. 22:37) The third commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain”., is straight forward. Yet, what does it mean to take His name “in vain”? Basically, it is with no use. As Christ said of the Pharisees, they worshiped Him in vain by speaking words of worship, but having hearts that were not worshiping Him. (Matt. 15:9, Mk. 7:7) To pray to bring attention to ourselves, so others will hear us is a sin, pure and simple. Because of your profession of faith to me, you are my Christian friends. Yet, only God knows your heart. Only He and you know if you put Him first in your life. I pray you do, so you will share the peace and joy that fill my life. To call out God’s name when we are frustrated is also a sin. I smile when I remember being with my unsaved sister and saying in frustration, “Oh, Man!!” She laughed at me and said I sounded like her grandchildren. I asked her what the matter was with that. It got across my frustration. I hope you cringe, as I do, when you hear someone in frustration call out God’s, Christ’s, name. And I certainly hope you say something like, “Oh, Man!”.
Week 4: The fourth commandment is a stumbling block between the Christiana and Jews. It is “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 of the Lord your God…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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.” Before giving the 10 commandments, when they were in the desert and complaining about lack of food, God provided food for each day, one day at a time. Except on the sixth day, he provided enough for 2 days, so they wouldn’t have to go out to gather on the 7th day. Those who did go out the 7th day found nothing. The stumbling block is that Jesus allowed his disciples to pick grain when they were hungry and Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees got angry. Jesus rebuked them, pointing out that humanity is more important than keeping the law. He even gave King David as an example, that when hungry, David went into the temple on Sabbath and ate consecrated bread. Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 when he told them God wants compassion over sacrifice and told them Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ( (Matt. 12) What most Christians miss is that Sabbath was made for men. We all need a day of rest. I’ve written about that before. Yet, we are not to be legalistic about it. God is giving us a holiday-every week! Will you take it, take a day off from your work this week, rejoicing in all God has given you, including permission to take a day off?
Week 5: The fifth commandment is “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Ex. 20:12) In Deuteronomy, it is a little different, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.” It is the only commandment that promises a “prolonged life” and that things will go well for those who keep it. We honor our parents in many ways, by obeying them when we are young, by listening to them when we and they are older, by taking care of them when they are old. For those of us who no longer have living parents, we honor them by not speaking badly of them. When the Pharisees and scribes asked, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?", Jesus rebuked them severely calling them hypocrites because, although they kept tradition and they knew the fifth commandment, they committed to the synagogue, to God, all they had and so they were financially unable to help their needy mothers and fathers. Your parents gave you life and sustained you until you could live on your own. Think about it. We honor God, our Father, when we honor our parents.
Week 6: The sixth commandment is straight forward. “Thou shalt not murder” (Ex.20:13, Deu. 5:17) . It does not say, “Thou shalt not kill.” The Lord commanded the Hebrews to kill those who made and worshiped idols. (Deu. 17:1-6) Jesus addressed this in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5:21 when he quotes the law. Yet, He took it back when he said that we are not even to be angry with our neighbor (Matt.5:22) and to love and pray for our enemies (Matt. 5:43-44), not kill them. I cannot imagine any of us being so angry with anyone that we are tempted to kill that person, as the people have who are in the paper. But to love them and pray for them, we all need God’s help!
Week 7: The seventh commandmentis also straight forward. “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Note it comes right after don’t commit murder. Committing adultery is murdering a marriage. Again, Jesus reverses the law given in Deut. 24:1-4, granting a man permission to leave a wife who displeases him and marry another, as long as he doesn’t go back to his first wife. Jesus tells us that the only valid reason for a man has to divorce is her infidelity, that is adultery, and if a man marries a divorced woman both he and she commit adultery.. When my first husband, not a Christian, left me for another woman and I married a Jewish man, I had no sense of sinning because I was not yet a Christian and didn’t know what Christ taught. Ignorance of the law is no excuse if one is standing before a judge. My second husband had died when the Lord brought my Sweetheart into my life to lead me to Christ and make me filled with joy every day. I am thankful to know Christ’s death and resurrection paid for my adultery and everything else I have done wrong over my lifetime.
Week 8: The eighth commandmentis also straight forward. “Thou shalt not steal.” We are not to steal and claim as our own ANYTHING, not someone’s money, material possession, life, spouse, idea. For example, plagiarism, that claiming someone else's written work is one’s own. Not stealing and not committing murder are 2 of the 3 of the 10 Commandments that our government has kept as law. It is no longer illegal to commit adultery, for example. And, although we are not to murder or steal from our parents, we are not held liable by the government for not honoring them. So even with thoughts or words, give credit where credit is due and don’t take ANYTHING that isn’t yours!
Week 9: The ninth commandment is again straight forward and the third of the three commandments our government hasn’t thrown out. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. For example, in court it is a crime to accuse someone of something he/she didn’t do. It is one of the commandments Jesus tells the rich man he must follow. Although, Jesus, knowing the rich man’s heart, told him he must also sell all he had to follow Him and the man lamented he couldn’t do that. But we might do well to think about what circumstances would get a person to bear false witness, that is to lie about another person. One might lie to get undeserved recognition by saying the other person did not do what you claim you did, or to protect someone or to get out of deserved trouble. “I cannot tell a lie. The dog did it.”(Ha. Ha). God knows the truth. To be like Jesus, always tell the truth.
Week 10: The tenth commandment is “You shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife, and neither shall you covet your neighbor’s house, his field, his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor’s”. Covet is the same thing as envy, want what is not ours. It is funny, again, God working all things for good for those who love Him, that I grew up in a wealthy home with no love. There was no love between my parents or from my parents to me, So I grew up knowing money and material possessions do not buy happiness. When I hear of someone having something I do not, I am always happy for and with them, never have I wished I had whatever they have, be it love, children who call and/or visit, a special car, health, influence, anything. I feel a joy, sharing in that person’s happiness. So He caused a most unhappy childhood into an abundant source of joy and happiness as I hear of and share your joy.