"The Decalogue"



 (A Special Edition of WWYT)                                     

     The Decalogue is commonly referred to as the “Ten Commandments”.  We’ve all read them but do we really know them and what they represent?  Do you remember how the story goes?  God is represented to Moses by a “burning bush” on Mt. Sinai, where He relates Ten Commandments to Moses.  Why would God feel it necessary to do this?  Well, there are a couple of good reasons why it was necessary.  After the first three commands, let’s leave God out of the equation, shall we?

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     The first part of the “Ten” (as I will refer to them), speaks directly to the personality and how His people (the Israelites) should relate to Him.  These are the first three commandments.  They are how the Creator indicates how He is and how He requires His followers to respect Him.  Every Commandment in the OT is backed by Jesus explaining its purpose in the NT.

     For example: Ex. 20: 3 “Do not worship any other gods before me.”  Jesus says in Matt. 4: 10, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve ONLY Him”. 

     Jesus also explains this in Luke 16: 13 as He does in the following command.  Here God is conveying that HE is the one and only Creator of the Universe and all that is in it.  If it were not so, HE would have no right to make such a claim on us.  Those that understand this, have no issue following this command even though it can encompass many things.  This command and the third command are very closely tied together.  It doesn’t say so in the Bible per se, but any reasonable person would have to consider that God, talking to us through HIS word, does not want to leave HIS personality up to misinterpretation.  To be pragmatic, they would also have to consider that, if you believe God is the Creator of the Universe, then it follows that you must need to know what HE is like and what HE wants from us. 

     The presupposition here is, Science vs. Intelligent Design or God.  The Big Bang vs. who made the Big Bang?

                            Ex. 20:4 says “Do not make idols of any kind”.  Jesus says in Luke 16:13, “No one can serve two masters…” 

     Why does God say this?  He explains that “I am a jealous God and will not share YOUR affection and love with any other god.”  You may ask why HE is jealous and I would ask you this; if you were to make everything in the universe, would it be right or considered kosher, if a certain portion of that creation went around giving credit of that creation, to someone else?  Also, you will notice that in the Bible, when God speaks to us, He uses phrases and words that we can plainly understand, or that were understood during the time it was written which spans about 2,000 to 2,500 years (give or take). 

     Sometimes, to be able to understand the full or correct meaning of what God has intended, we must either have in us the Holy Spirit (which leads us into ALL truth, John 16: 13) or be fluent in Hebrew dialects, Aramaic dialects, Greek and Roman and English (old and new) of the day.  Which seems more efficient, to have everyone know all these different languages or tongues, or to have God’s Spirit within us?  We can barely communicate efficiently within our own languages, let alone, several different ones.

     Of course, you already know that, the Bible is the leading seller of books since the written word began, to date and comes in all languages and tongues?

                            Ex. 20:7 “Do not take the name of the Lord in vain (misuse the name of the Lord, in the NLT). 

     The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name.  Jesus makes sure to refer to this in this way in Matt. 5:34, “But I say, don’t make any vows!  If you say ‘By heaven!’ it is a sacred vow because Heaven is God’s Throne”.  If you think this just refers to G-D Dam-n, think again.  If you misquote God’s word (by intent) or if you say, the Lord told me to give me your belongings or give me money etc. is a violation.  Claiming to be one of HIS chosen and you are not, or proclaiming to come in HIS name is a misuse of the Name of the Lord.  Why is it wrong or bad for us to take the name of the Lord in vain, besides the consequences from God?  Think over the years and centuries past, how many have come proclaiming the name of the Lord and murdering, raping and doing all sorts of foul things to humanity.  Does it help you to see more clearly what God intended for us by knowing what HE means when HE requires these things of us?

     Any and all of these things can cause you grief and not just from the Lord either.  Is this a command designed to hurt you intentionally?  No.  It is designed to make you think before you act and give credit where credit is due.  You are even allowed to speak against The Father and Jesus but know that the “unforgivable sin” (if you will) is to denounce God’s Holy Spirit.  Why you ask?  This is why.  Turning your back on and denying the power and existence of God’s Holy Spirit is the same as saying you are giving up ALL hope; because, the Holy Spirit of God IS, the hope of the world in every way.  This is why Catholics declare that suicide is an unpardonable sin, because those who commit it have given up all hope that they can be saved by Christ.  You will find what Jesus has to say about this is Matt. 12: 31 & 32.

                             Ex. 20:8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath Day by keeping it Holy”.

      In      Mark 2:27, 28 Jesus says this, “The Sabbath was made to benefit people and not people to benefit the Sabbath and I, son of Man, am the master of the Sabbath!”  This was clearly established by the priests of the day (Sadducees and Pharisees) as blasphemy and heresy simply because they did not understand what God had meant and the priests then used the Sabbath to control the Israelites.  Anyone who taught differently, even though they were right to do so was considered a heretic.

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     The fifth Commandment is the first command with promise.

                             Ex. 20: 12 “Honor your Mother and Father so, that your days may be long on

 the Earth”. 

     In Matt. 10:37, Jesus tells us, “If you love your father or mother more than me you are not worthy of being mine”.  This sounds quite harsh however, in obeying Jesus and the Father in all things; you automatically honor your Mother and Father.

     How does that translate?  First of all, to understand and follow God’s purpose in your life would encompass what most parents hope and dream of for their children, so in doing this, you honor them.  His first and best purpose for you is to love God with all your heart and mind and soul and breath.  It is the command that Christ himself gave (Mark 12: 29-31).  Then Christ gave the second most important command, love your neighbor as yourself, commonly called the Golden Rule.  Secondly, in obeying God’s commands, you take on His righteousness and this honors your mother and father, as you’re also obeying their wishes for you.  One must hope that the mother and father are worthy of such devotion but alas, that is not always the case.  But in doing these first two things, one cannot help but honor their mother or father.  Obeying God out of love and respect is His purpose for all His children.

     Punishment for disobeying this command; the tribe that contained the offending person or juvenile would take them and stone them to death.  Some people still think this is an answer to unruly and disobedient children but remember, as they were only people trying to follow God, they were certainly imperfect, as are we.  Bottom line here, is that we must be so careful in how we interperet scripture.  Again, we must refer to the Holy Spirit within us, as trying to make these interpretations on our own can have disasterous results.

     The six, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth commands all have to do with the intent of the heart. 

                             Ex. 20: 13 “Do not commit murder”. 

     Jesus backs this up by saying the following: Matt 15: 16-20 NT and Matt 5: 21 & 22NT.

                             Ex. 20: 14 “Do not commit adultery”. 

     Again Jesus speaks about these commands in Matt 5: 27-32 NT.

                             Ex. 20: 15 “Do not steal”. 

    

     Not a lot is written about this command but I will tell you about the few things that are.  Jesus says that “if you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken, give your coat too (Matt 5: 40-42).”  Verse 42 explains it this way; “Give to those who ask and don’t turn away from those who borrow.”  In essence what this accomplishes is to curb or try to eliminate stealing altogether.  In those days of Christ and before, it was a law (both secular and religious) that anyone who was hungry could come into your garden, orchard or field, and eat their fill without condemnation or breaking of any laws.  Those who begged on the street would usually, if not always, beg for money, not food.

                               Ex. 20: 16 “Do not testify falsely against your neighbor”. 

    

     In some versions of the bible, this says simply, “Do not lie”.  Jesus put this very simply when He said, “On Judgement Day, you must give an account of every idle word you speak” (Matt 12: 36).  Lying hurts everyone, especially you.  However remember, that putting the best spin on something is not lying.  For example, let’s say you had a favorite uncle who was executed in the electric chair for his crimes.  You could say that even up to his death, he was electrifying, or he had an electric personality, and then leave it at that.  Your wife or girlfriend asks you how her new dress looks on her.  You could say that it looks terrible and hurt her feelings even though it’s the truth, or you could say something like… as long as you like it sweetheart, it looks beautiful.  You get the idea.  Don’t lie.

     Most people realize that there are so many ways to detect liars now besides the polygraph machine that they don’t even bother anymore.  Some people, like myself, realize that they aren’t very good at lying so they have decided that it is better to tell the truth and much easier.

                               Ex. 20: 17 “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that is your neighbor’s.

    

     This brings us to the last and final commandment, the one I like to refer to as the “Gateway” sin commandment.  Why gateway sin?  Well, because in the coveting or desiring of anything that does not belong to you, it will lead you to commit every single sin listed above.  This was even Lucifer’s downfall.  Lucifer was considered a god (as the bible says we all are, Ps. 82:6 OT and John 10: 34 NT, but wanted to become The GOD).  In John 10: 34-36, Jesus refers to the OT and Ps. 82:6 where the Israelite rulers and judges are called “gods” (see also, Ex. 4:16, & 7:1).  If God called the Israelite leaders gods because they were agents of God’s revelation and will, how could it be blasphemy for Jesus to call himself the Son of God?  He was rebuking the religious leaders, because he is the Son of God in a unique and unparalleled relationship of oneness with the Father.

     God see his children as reflections of His own self, and in that sense, we are deemed “gods”.  How curious is it then, that we would want to behave contrary to this declaration?  But we do.  In our fallen nature it is our desire, quest or hope that we become more by acquiring more.  This is why this particular sin is SO dangerous and undermining.  It is what caused Cain to kill his brother, Abel. 

    

     Sometimes however, the thing you think you desire most is something you already have.  Cain wanted God’s love and though he had it already, didn’t realize it because God was disappointed in his offering, unlike Abel’s.  Disappointment in someone, does of course, not mean you do not love them.  Of course not only did Cain murder his brother, but then he lied to God about knowing where his brother was.

     In summation, I can assuredly tell you this; that where we let ourselves down the most, is when we don’t look at our lives in retrospect or with a critical eye.  How many of us can say that we truly examine our motives for doing things, without trying to justify them to our favor?  A famous secular man named, Aristole once said, “The unexamined life, is NO life”. 

      The things I have written today are not an indictment on anyone who reads this, it is just an explanation of why they were written in the first place.  Written first, by the hand of God, then passed down from generation to generation to us; why?  So to be a benefit to us, not for others to control us but so that, we will have self control and assurance that we will do the right thing in all situations.

     How can we become better people by not examining ourselves?  The simple answer is, we cannot.  We cannot learn to adjust attitudes, learn real love or gain growth, when we don’t examine the way we live and act toward one another.  I know that Jesus said it perfectly when he told us how to examine our lives this way; “Take the beam out of your OWN eye, then you can see clearly enough to take the sliver out of your brother’s eye” (Matt 7: 3 & 5, Luke 6: 41 & 42 NT).

     In this writing, I have given you both the Old Testament and the New Testament to show the consistent and congruous nature of the Bible.  Spanning over millennia (approx. 4500 or so years to date, the Bible itself took approx. 2500 years to complete in its entirety), no book on earth could have this kind of consistency within all its pages, without divine help.  It is not reasonable or prudent to think that it could be possible.  One more thing to note, it is not in the translation that the meaning of the word is lost, only in the interpretation.  God and His divine wisdom has seen to it that His Word stands unaltered in its meaning forever. 

     So there you have it, “The Decalogue”, otherwise known as the Ten Commandments and my testimony of what benefits us, not what hinders us.  I pray that, as you read this, you’ll have questions that you’ll like answered.  Please feel free to ask and I will do my utmost to give you honest and beneficial answers.  Thanks for reading and I hope you have enjoyed it.

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Cate