The Ten Commandments

Several years ago, I had a running debate with Pastor Jack Pea. I love Jack Pea. He is a dedicated man of God and has very strong convictions. I got him going by telling him the Ten Commandments were not Christian teachings. He about had a fit. I explained they do not meet the criteria of Acts 15. You will recall that the Council in Jerusalem declared gentile converts need only follow four of the old laws. They can’t eat fresh blood, meat that has been strangled, nor can ty eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. And new Christian converts had to abide by the sexual taboos. Thus, I argued, the Ten Commandments are Jewish law and not Christian doctrine. Pastor Jack countered that the Ten Commandments came straight from God. Good argument, but not true. They came through Mosses the same as all the other Jewish laws and prohibitions. “But, but, but they were etched in stone.” True, but I didn’t see how that exempted them from the provisions of Acts 15. Jack refused to talk about it anymore.

What are the Ten Commandment? When I first went to vacation Bible School, we had to memorize them. I’m not sure what that taught us. I can’t remember them anymore. Can any of you? You can find them in the 20th chapter of Exodus. You can also find them in Ecclesiastes although worded slightly different. Let’s take a look at Matthew’s version.

Exodus Chapter 20

And God spoke all these words, saying,

1 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

The nation of Israel had just escaped from 400 years as slaves to the Egyptians. Note the first commandment doesn’t declare that there is only one true God. It says no other gods ahead of Him. You also remember that while Moses is on the mountain receiving the commandments from God, the Israelites are worshiping a golden calf.

2Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 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:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

What is a “graven image?” Graven has the same root a engrave or carve. So, no carved gods. I don’t think this applies to decorative statues unless we bow down and worship them. What about the cross? It is not a likeness of anything. It is an icon, a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice. How about the Catholic statues? I have seen people pray to the virgin Mary. Does that qualify? I carried a St Christopher’s medal in Viet Nam, but I didn’t pray to it. I did, however, consider it a lucky charm, and it made me feel God was protecting me.

3 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? Webster says it means to use a name profanely or without proper respect. My Grandfather had a full vocabulary of curse words and frequently called upon God to damn one thing or another. I think that qualifies under this definition. For Grandpa it was just words. I remember the movie Patton. The general was asked if he read the bible on his night stand. Do you remember his response? I think that qualifies here also.

4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This on gets a little fuzzy. Remember Jesus was criticized for preaching on the Sabbath. He used a parable about searching for a lost lamb on the Sabbath. Maybe the operative phrase here is to keep it holy. I was raised on a dairy farm. Cows have to be milked twice a day. When I was in the Air Force, I routinely flew on Sundays. When I was teaching and coaching football, I graded English papers on Sunday. Did I keep the Sabbath holy?

5 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Pretty self-explanatory. But here again there are exceptions. My paternal grandfather was not a nice man. I think God would have forgiven my father for not honoring his.

6 Thou shalt not kill.

Most new translations modify this to a prohibition against murder. That eliminates killing anything except other humans, and also eliminates killing in war, self-defense and other special circumstances. It is interesting to note that when Moses came down from the mountain and found the people partying around a golden calf, he had the priests randomly kill 3000 of the revelers. God ordered the Israelites to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan and kill them all.

7 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

In today’s world of monogamy in marriage, we have a fairly clear-cut definition of adultery. In the time of Moses, however, it wasn’t so clear. Remember Abraham telling Pharoah Sara was his sister, thus, making her available. Sara, in turn, put Hagar in Abraham’s bed to give him a son. Men who could afford it had multiple wives. Jacob had at least four. Wives were property. Daughters were sold to the highest bidder. Did adultery only apply to women? The only mention of an actual case of adultery was the woman brought before Jesus.

8 Thou shalt not steal.

This one is pretty much straight forward. Don’t steal; not from your neighbor, not from your enemy, not from anyone.

9Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

I have also seen this translated as “thou shalt not lie.” But that is inaccurate. False witness means to blame someone for something they didn’t do. It is lying, but it is a special case of lying. This commandment does not

prohibit little white lies.

10 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

To covet is to have an unhealthy desire to own or possess something. It is ok under this commandment to be disappointed that your neighbor achieved something you didn’t. It is ok to be a bit jealous when your neighbor drives home in a new Porsche while you are struggling to afford new tires for your old truck. But it is not ok if you let your jealousy impact your actions. It is not ok if your jealousy changes you in any way.

These are great rules to guarantee an orderly society, but Acts 15 says they are not binding on Christians. Christian society is governed by the teachings of Jesus. Look at the scripture reading for today, two passages from Matthew. Jesus taught us to Love God and to love each other. You cannot Covet your neighbor’s possessions or good fortune if you love your neighbor. If you love God, you will keep the Sabbath holy, and respect no other gods. It is just that simple. There is one subtle difference, however. The Ten Commandments tell us what not to do, “Thou shalt not.” Jesus taught us what to do, love God, and love each other. The old law commands us while Jesus asks us to follow.

Pray with me. Our heavenly Father, Jesus showed us the way. If we follow His teachings, we will achieve an orderly society; a society based on love. If we follow His teachings, we will find the way to paradise.