The Ten Commandments, Part 1 Of 5

The Ten Commandments

Introduction to this series: The group of sermons I will be preaching the next few weeks is another look at the Ten Commandments. As I take you through the Commandments, I will be using the Revised Standard Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted. First, some background. The traditional English translation of the Hebrew “aseret ha-d’ varim” found in Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4 is “The Ten Commandments.” However, this Hebrew is more accurately translated “The Ten Words/Statements/Pronouncements.” Perhaps the most descriptive of these is “The Ten Pronouncements” for they were ten formal decrees from God Almighty Himself; God gave the commandments to the people “face to face;” they were “written by the finger of God.” That is why I will add the concluding scriptures found in Exodus 20:18-26 and Deuteronomy 5:22-33 to this sermon series. These concluding verses give us an idea of the power and majesty of our Creator at Mount Sinai on that most amazing day, a day in 1450 BCE that continues to affect the entire world in a positive way.

There is sometime confusion caused as one reads different commentaries on the commandments for Protestants, Roman Catholics and Jews do not number the Ten the same; indeed, I found seven different traditions for numbering the commandments. Each of these traditions has some justification on the bases of the text of the commandments. For example, what Roman Catholics and Protestants consider Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6 the prologues of the commandments, the Jews consider these verses their first commandment. In Jewish thought, while these verses are not in the form of a commandment, they do establish the foundation for the commandments. Further, the Jews combine into their second commandment what Protestants and Roman Catholic name commandments one and two. Roman Catholics invert the last two commandments on the Protestants list. The Samaritan tradition has as its tenth commandment, Deuteronomy 27:2-3, “You shall set up these stones, which I command you today ….” Do not let the numbers confuse you for if you read Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 you have covered them no matter how they are the numbered.

The commandments were truly unique. Other ancient societies had laws against murder, theft and adultery, but they were conditional: “if … then.” “If” someone murders another, “then” this is the punishment. God went much further. He said that these commandments are absolutes: “You shall not.” These laws are about more than what actions are illegal, punishable; they are about what disrupts society. These laws tell humankind how we treat one another is a major concern of our Father.

All of the commandments, either explicitly or implicitly, have both negative and positive meanings. They tell us what we are not to do and what we are to do. If something displeases God, the opposite pleases him. For examples, “You shall not murder.” God forbids us to hurt or harm a neighbor unjustly because He wills that the neighbor’s life be dear and precious to us. “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.” We are not to use our tongue to harm our neighbor rather we should use our tongue to speak only the best about all people. Martin Luther, arguably the first Protestant, wrote, “This much is certain: those who know the Ten Commandments perfectly … in all affairs and circumstances are able to counsel, help, comfort, judge, and make decisions in both spiritual and temporal matters.” The Ten Commandments function as eternal universal laws that provide instructions for the life and faith of all believers.

God gave us the Ten Commandments that we might live by them and thus maintain the freedom He gave us. While only the Ten Commandments earned a place in the Ark, there are 603 laws beyond the Ten Commandments. Most of these add detail to the Ten. Other of these laws defines Temple worship, sacrifice, offerings, ritual purity and impurity. Of all of the laws Jesus said, Matthew 5:17-20, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (KJV)

Jesus is saying that if the world lived but by the Law, freedom would rule the world for Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and of freedom. In Luke 4:18, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.”

Exodus 5-15 brings us the story of the freeing slaves, of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. God says this process has a purpose: “that you may know that I am the Lord.” Further, God says, Exodus 6:7, “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God.” The Israelites had spent hundreds of years in Egypt surrounded by pagan deities, deities worshiped out of contemptible intellectual and moral ignorance. They were slaves who had hard lives from which there was no escape until God Almighty intervened. Even as they left Egypt, circumstances caused their faith to faint. During the Exodus, the Israelites complained about the threat of Egyptian soldiers at the Red Sea. They complained about the bitter water at Marah. They complained about the lack of bread, of meat and of water at Rephidim. In each instance, Yahweh responded by giving them what they needed: deliverance at the Red Sea, sweet water at Marah, manna, quail and water at Rephidim. God was making a Nation out of these former slaves. A nation must have structure, a new structure differing from the slave culture of Egypt. God began giving that structure with Ten Commandments.