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The Ten
Commandments form the heart of the Torah. This
was one of the most awesome revelations ever given
to mankind. According to Shemot (Exodus) Chapter
19, we Jewish people prepared ourselves for three
days in order to receive this revelation. Then,
the Two Tablets, which were written by God Himself,
were kept in the most special place on Earth,
within the “Aron,” the “Ark” of the Testimony,
in the Most Holy Place. In Shemot 34:29 they are
called the "Tablets of the Testimony" because
they testify to God’s demands concerning human
character and conduct. All of this tells us that
the Ten Commandments are of the utmost importance.
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Then God spoke all these
words saying, “I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of slavery. You shall have no
other gods before Me.” The opening phrase,
“Then God spoke all these words saying,” tells
us that the God of Israel is the kind of God
who can speak to us. He is a Person, and is
able to communicate very clearly to mankind
and make His desires known. God audibly spoke
these commandments to the hundreds of thousands
of Jewish people who were gathered at the
foot of Mount Sinai. Governments pass laws
that are often ignored by their citizens.
But when the God of Israel commands, all of
us had better pay attention. These commandments
were not only spoken by God Himself, but were
accompanied with great demonstrations of power.
There was thunder and lightening, and a thick
cloud on Mount Sinai, accompanied by smoke
and fire, a very loud shofar blast, and the
entire mountain quaked violently, so that
the Jewish people trembled. Upon hearing God
speaking the Ten Commandments, our people
were terrified. God wanted to make a lasting
impression on us, and He did!
We should also obey God’s commandments because
of who He is. He is Adonai, the “Yud Hay Vav
Hay,” the One who is the source of all existence.
He has being, existence and life inherent
in Himself. Everything else derives its existence,
being and life from Him. If all things exist
because of Him, and if in Him they live and
move and have their being, it is reasonable
that all things conform to His will and obey
His laws.
In addition, He is Elohim - God, which means
that He is the Strongest One in the universe.
No one is more powerful than He. He is fully
capable of enforcing His laws, rewarding those
who follow them and punishing those who disobey
them. It isn’t just the nature of this self-existent
and all-powerful Being that should cause us
to obey His commandments, but we should also
obey them because of the relationship in which
He stands to His people. He is our God
- He has entered into covenants with us, promising
to be our God. That means the Jewish people
have a special relationship with the Creator.
He created and chose us, bringing our nation
near to Himself, in order to accomplish something
very special - the salvation of the entire
human race, which fell away from God and is
alienated from Him; and He can do the same
with individuals. He can speak to us and reveal
Himself to each one of us in a very personal
way. By that, I do not mean that each individual
Jewish person is automatically in a right
relationship with God, or is going to Heaven.
It is possible to be part of the Chosen People,
with whom God has a covenant, and yet reject
God and His ways, and be headed to Hell.
Furthermore, we should obey His commands because
of His great love for us. Many people think
that God is merely an idea, or a concept.
Others believe He exists, but is not involved
in human affairs. However, the Torah reveals
that He is the kind of God who may directly
intervene in our lives. He liberated the Jewish
people, when we were oppressed slaves, from
the most powerful nation on Earth; and He
can help each one of us to overcome any of
the problems that we face! The knowledge that
God intervened on behalf of our nation should
produce a profound effect on us. He redeemed
us out of the most terrible situation, out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery. When someone saves your life, you
owe that person a debt of gratitude. The Jewish
people are rightfully and forever indebted
to God for rescuing us out of Egypt.
We must not have any other gods before Him.
We are not to ascribe divine attributes to
any other being, or give to any creature the
worship due to God alone. This includes
praying to angels, saints, or the virgin Mary
(Miriam), or attempting to invoke their help.
This is part of spiritual worship that is
due to God alone. Since He is the one
true God, He alone is worthy of the totality
of our love, adoration, gratitude, reverence,
confidence and submission. Because the God
of Israel is the living God, who has revealed
Himself to us, loves us and desires a personal
relationship with us, it would be foolish
to ignore Him, or serve any other god, higher
power, religion or philosophy. It only makes
sense to love and obey this kind of powerful
God who first loved us!
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You shall not make for
yourself an idol, or any likeness of what
is in Heaven above or on the Earth beneath,
or in the 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,
on the third and the fourth generations of
those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness
to thousands, to those who love Me, and keep
My commandments. We should have nothing
to do with idols, because they are altogether
inaccurate reflections of the invisible God,
who alone loves us and has the power to help
us. Because God is Spirit, He isn’t limited
to the confines of a physical body as we are.
Because He is infinite, He is infinitely greater
than the entire universe. Thus, using idols
to represent God only limits our understanding
of who He is. Then we may begin to think that
God is limited too. As soon as we do that,
we’re believing in something that is not God,
something with less power and ability than
God really has.
One of the most common sins is the sin of
idolatry, because idolatry is not limited
to bowing down before a statue of wood or
stone or precious metal. When anything replaces
God or comes before Him in our affections,
then that thing becomes an idol. In addition,
one can be guilty of committing idolatry,
without ever worshiping a statue, because
the essence of idolatry is having thoughts
about God that are untrue and unworthy of
Him. The idolatrous heart assumes that God
is something other than who He really is.
All false, man-made conceptions of God must
be driven out of our minds. We are not
to come up with our own conceptions of God.
We are only to accept those truths about Him
which are revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.
We are to know God as He has been revealed
in Creation, in the Scriptures, and especially
through Messiah Yeshua, who is the exact representation
and the final and perfect revelation of the
God of Israel.
In addition, we should worship and serve only
the Lord because He is a jealous kind of God.
Normally, being jealous is not a very nice
thing. But in God’s case, it’s good that He
is jealous, because we were designed in such
a way that our spiritual affections should
be reserved for the God of Israel alone. That
is His right, since He is the Creator, and
it is also what is best for us. He demands
that all of our religious love and devotion
be directed to Himself alone. The most serious
consequences will result if we ignore the
true God, or worship any god, or participate
in other religions or philosophies. God will
bring judgment upon the one who does this,
and it can have an impact on the succeeding
four generations! But if we do two things
- love Him and keep His commandments, He will
bless us to the maximum degree possible, and
these blessings will have an impact on our
remotest descendants, even one thousand generations
away!
What does it mean to love God? It’s not so
different from loving a human being -wanting
to be with them, talking with them, opening
up to them, sharing dreams and plans with
them. God wants us to love Him in a similar
way, having that same kind of intimate and
personal relationship with Him. We are to
love God with the entirety of our being -
with all our heart, soul, and might. We can
love God with our thoughts about Him, our
prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving and
our love directed to Him. We may show our
love for him with the way we use our money,
and by our priorities and choices. Sadly,
there are millions of men and women who never
have God in their thoughts. They do not recognize
that He is the One who gives them life and
provides for them. They do not consider His
will when they make their decisions. They
do not feel responsible to Him for what they
say or do. They neither worship Him, thank
Him nor serve Him. But loving God is not enough!
We also need to keep His commandments! You
don’t really love someone if you don’t treat
them respectfully, and do the things that
are right toward them. The same is true of
our relationship with God. We must keep His
commandments!
Worshiping the true God is crucial, because
we become like what we worship. If we
idolize someone, we take on their characteristics.
We are interested in what they are interested
in, we value what they value, and over time,
we become more and more like them. If we idolize
something that isn’t real, isn’t true and
isn’t good, then we become less real, less
true, less good, and we will become less than
the human beings we were created to be. Eventually
we will die in spiritual darkness - like our
false god. But if we worship the one true,
living God, then we will become more authentic,
more honest, more virtuous and live forever!
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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. Taking the name of God
in vain means treating God, or those things
connected with God, lightly. God Himself,
the Holy Scriptures, and the True Faith, are
to be treated with respect. They should not
be the object of jokes, or used as exclamation
marks to punctuate our speech. The one who
insults his Creator is guaranteed not to get
off lightly.
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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; in it you
shall not do any work, you or your son or
your daughter, your male or your female servant
or your cattle or your sojourner who stays
with you. For in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the Earth, the sea and all that
is in them, and He rested on the seventh day;
therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
and made it holy. We refrain from working
on Shabbat for physical and spiritual reasons.
God cares about us physically. Living things
work in relation to the cycles God has built
into nature, such as day and night, seasons
and years. Most creatures either rest at night
and are active during the day, or vice versa.
Women are tuned in to a monthly rhythm. Many
animals and plants hibernate during the winter
and begin a new cycle in the spring. Just
as we need a daily rest, so human beings need
a weekly time of rest if we are to function
properly. We are not to work on the Sabbath,
because during the First Week, our Heavenly
Father worked six days to make the entire
universe, and on the seventh day He rested.
Therefore if we want to be His good children,
we should follow His example. Just as God
rested and evaluated His work at the end of
the First Week, concluding that it was very
good, so on the Sabbath we should also take
the day off, rest and thank God for the blessings
that have come to us, and for the things we
have accomplished during that week.
The Sabbath reminds us that God is not only
our Creator, but also our Helper. When we
rest on the seventh day we are to remember
how He helped us out of slavery in Egypt.
We certainly couldn’t enjoy the Sabbath while
we were slaves!
Only after God delivered us from Egypt was
our nation able to rest on the Sabbath. The
Sabbath also reminds us of the help we get
in Messiah, who called Himself “the Lord of
the Sabbath.” He gives a wonderful kind of
Sabbath Rest to everyone who believes in Him
- seven days a week! The Sabbath also looks
forward to the day when King Messiah returns
and brings peace and rest to Israel, and to
all the nations of the world.
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Honor your father and
your mother, that your days may be prolonged
in the land which the Lord your God gives
you. Now the focus is shifted from our
duties to God, to our duties toward our fellow
human beings. If we don’t love people whom
we have seen, especially our parents, who
gave us life, nurtured us cared for us when
we were helpless, and taught us so many things,
we certainly don’t love God whom we haven’t
seen. God has designed the family, and given
our parents the privilege and responsibility
to nurture us physically, morally, and spiritually,
until we come of age. In many ways, our parents
act as God’s representatives to us. Therefore
to dishonor our parents, is to dishonor the
One who established this system.
We honor our parents by listening to them,
even if we don’t always agree on everything.
We should always treat them with respect.
We are to reciprocate their love by taking
care of them when they are older and cannot
care for themselves. If we honor our parents,
we will love and obey them, listen to their
advice, and treat them respectfully. It means
remembering to say “please” and “thank you,”
showing kindness, not talking back or complaining,
being polite, always speaking in a respectful
tone of voice, apologizing when we are wrong,
respecting their “no”, and not trying to get
the other parent to say “yes,” doing what
we are told (even if it means putting aside
whatever we were doing), and more! This commandment
comes with a promise. If we honor our parents,
then things will go well with us. The way
we treat our parents will spill over to the
way we treat teachers, neighbors, employers,
friends and strangers. If these skills become
part of us because we use them at home, then
we will automatically employ them with others.
Good people will enjoy being around us, and
we’ll be on our way to long, happy lives.
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You shall not murder.
The Hebrew word means “murder” - not “kill.”
There are times when it may be right and necessary
to kill other people, such as in a just war.
For example, the same God who gave this command
also commanded the Jewish people to utterly
destroy the Canaanites who were living in
our land. Another example might be a situation
when a policeman shoots a criminal who is
about to kill an innocent person. Jewish tradition
has also applied this command to killing yourself.
No one has the right to commit suicide. That
is a violation of the command not to murder.
Wherever hate is, the seed of murder is already
there. The Son of God taught in the Sermon
on the Mount: You have heard that the ancients
were told, “You shall not commit murder” and
“Whoever commits murder shall be liable to
the court.” But I say to you that everyone
who is angry with his brother shall be guilty
before the court. Messiah Yeshua is telling
us that anyone who hates is a murderer already,
lacking only the right situation and the opportunity
to accomplish the deed. The way to control
hatred is to confess your hatred as sin, agree
with God about it, and tell Him so. If you
do, then the Holy Spirit will pour out love
in place of hatred.
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You shall not commit
adultery. Adultery takes place when a
married person has sexual relations with anyone
outside of the marriage relationship. Adultery
is so wrong because God designed us in such
a way that we require fidelity and trust in
our marriages for our own well-being, and
for that of the family and children. Where
there is love and trust between a husband
and wife, people feel safe and content. There
are happy families, and solid communities.
Adultery shatters this relationship, and destroys
the family unit, which is so central to a
healthy society. While adultery is strictly
limited to the marriage relationship, God
is a God of purity, and He wants us to be
pure in the area of sexuality at all times
- before marriage, as well as during marriage.
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You shall not steal.
The Torah acknowledges that there is a place
for the ownership of private property, and
that other people, and their property rights,
are to be respected. Since God will provide
for us through honest means, theft represents
a lack of trust in God and His goodness. Our
needs are not more important than the needs
of others. This commandment reminds us that
we are to be givers, not takers, and that
it is far more blessed to give than to receive.
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You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor. Bearing
false witness primarily refers to a legal
situation, when you are called upon in court
to testify to the truth. Even if it may be
difficult to speak the truth, complete honesty
is essential in order for justice to be served,
and God is a God of justice. God hates lying
and deception, so we should always strive
to be honest, speaking the truth in love in
all situations. We need to use the gift of
language the way God intends us to -with kindness,
with love, and with truth, so that those who
listen to use are encouraged to get closer
to God.
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You shall not covet
your neighbor's house; you shall not covet
your neighbor's wife, or his male servant
or his female servant or his ox or his donkey
or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
We have seen that God cares about our actions,
and this commandment teaches us that He is
also concerned about our thoughts. It’s OK
to want things, but only want what you have
a right to want. Coveting isn’t just wanting
what you don’t have. You could work hard,
save your money, invest wisely and buy what
you want - and not be guilty of coveting.
Coveting is wanting what you have no right
to have. You can want to marry some nice
man, but not if he is already married to someone
else. You can want a house to live in, but
not at the expense of depriving someone else
who rightfully lives there. Coveting can lead
to breaking every other commandment. Look
at King David: he coveted Uriah’s wife, breaking
the tenth commandment, which led to committing
adultery (the seventh), stealing
her from her husband (the eighth), deceiving
Uriah (the ninth), and arranging Uriah’s death
(the sixth).
In doing
all this, King David dishonored God’s Name (the
third).
Only the
God of Israel, and the wonderful Messiah that
He sent to help us, can give you the peace, joy,
satisfaction, the wisdom and atonement that you
need. As you look to God with trust, He will provide
you with everything needed for a blessed life.
If you look elsewhere and substitute other things
for the blessings that only He can give, you do
yourself a great disservice. Trust God to give
to you what is right for you, in His time, and
in His way. Strive to be content with what you
have, because life does not consist in how many
things you have. If you go through life wanting
more and more things, you will never appreciate
the things in life which don’t have a pricetag,
that may turn out to be the most important things
of all.
The
Ten Commandments work! They reflect the right
way to live, because they reflect how God made
things to work. If you welcome Yeshua as the
Messiah, then Adonai will be your God, and He
will enter into a covenant with you, write His
commandments on your heart, and empower you to
do all that He calls you to do, including keeping
His commandments.
I’m indebted
to A.W. Tozer, Ray Stedman, Ricki Heligman, Rick
Osborne and K. Christie Bowler and their book,
“I Want To Know About the Ten Commandments,” and
others, for this message.
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