The Ten Commandments

[CWH]

In this thread, I will discuss why God made the ten commandments and its relevance to our times and why it is not absolute meaning there are exceptions and forgiveness to the rules. That's the beauty of knowing good and evil. The ten commandments are not just for the Jews but for all Christians. The ten commandments are like an instruction manual instructing the "Do's and Don't" in order to get the best out of the product. The ten commandments instruct us how we can live properly, abundantly and harmoniously in society. It is also an instruction in which one can use to achieve eternal life. This is made simple as summarized by Jesus into 2 commandments, "Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, Love your neighbor as yourself".

Matthew 22:36*“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37*Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38*This is the first and greatest commandment. 39*And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40*All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

—Matthew 19:16-19

1. Matthew 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

2. Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

3. Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.


See wiki for more details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

Let's compare what was written in the BIble with modern interpretations of the ten commandments (my comments are in red) :

And God spoke all these words:
2*“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3*“You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

If we all see Jesus coming today with all his angelic hosts, will all religions collapsed and be exposed as false? Yes, so why believe in false religions in the first place? Why believe in a god that can't do anything for you?
Will all non-believers become believers then? Not all, there will be some hard cores who will not accept God and will fight against Him in order to retain their present evil ways of living.

Food for thought: In Revelations, it seems to say that we are accountable for what we have done and not what we believe. Does it means doing many good deeds without believing in Christianity is pardonable? Maybe, as it fulfills one great commandment of loving thy neighbor as thyself.

Revelations 20:The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13*The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

In James 2, he seems to say that good deeds are equally important with faith.

14*What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15*Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16*If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17*In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

4*“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5*You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6*but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Why believe in a man-made image, (idol or someone) who can't do anything for you, wasting your time and life? Why believe in the created than the Creator? Jealousy here does not mean jealous with revenge in mind but jealous with a zeal or want for better results like a student jealous over his schoolmates doing better than him thus forcing him to work harder.

Food for thought: why did God says that He will punish the children of those who hate Him to the 3rd and 4th generations only and not to a thousand generations? Has this punishment been shown to be done in the Bible? or is it just a threat to encourage keeping the commandments? or is it due to one of those oddities in Bible lingo or mistranslation which is an indirect reference meaning that the sins of their parents will influenced the negative behaviors of their children to the 3rd and 4th generations just like the crimes or sins done by the parents will psychologically have a negative impact and influence on the behaviors or characters of their children and grandchildren. Another analogy is like a mother who claimed responsibility for kiling her child due to a traffic accident for asking her to out to do an errant although she is not the one who directly killed her. It is like God is reponsible for creating those who become sinners and affecting negatively the 3rd and 4th generations as he is also the one who created the psychology and behaviors of humans. Nevertheless, God will forgive those and their generations who hated Him if they repent regardless of what sins they have done to a thousand generations.
Is it ok to build an image of god of a religion but worship with the focus on the good teachings that the religion embraces? An example is a staunch Buddhist who believes in the teachings of Buddha but did many good deeds that fulfill the commandments of loving thy neighbor as thyself. i beieve it is ok. Likewise, what good is a Christian if he dies not believe in the teachings of Jesus?

7*“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

No one wants anyone to make use of his name, like wise with God. People make use of other people's name or God's name usually for selfish reasons such to cover one's mistake. Is it right to spoil someone's reputation or God's reputation for one's own good? Let's honor and respect each other without spoiling anyone's or God's reputation. The keyword is "misuse". Is it okay to "misuse" God's name or someone's name in order to save some good souls or to do good deeds? I believe so. Should we blame God for the natural disasters such as Hurricanes and flooding or should we blame humans for causing global warming which caused strong hurricanes and massive flodings?

8*“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9*Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10*but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11*For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Overwork is a known cause of death; there is a report that some Japanese workers overworked themselves to death, there is also evidence that lack of sleep or high work stress leads to early death due to illness. Therefore, adequate rest after work and having adequate rest per week is important for health. It is also important to reserve a day of rest in remembrance of God so that one may noy backslides.

http://www.economist.com/node/10329261
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...p/faq-20057757

This commandment was given so that there is adequate rest of at least one day per week and to think about God so that your faith and remembrance of God will not diminish. It is however ok to do good work during your restday. It is justified to do work on the restday out of good neccessities as evidence by Jesus:

Matthew 12:11
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

Matthew 12:12
How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

12*“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Honoring your parents means respecting them and does not mean obeying everything they said or instructed. Will you respect and obey you parents if they asked you to commit crimes and sin? Obviously not. Respect is a means of paying back what good upbringing and teachings your parents have impart to you. Respect is reciprocal and will lead to harmonious family relationships thus ensuring a harmonious society. How many crimes and sins were committed due to family strife and disrespect? It is a known statistic that many criminals were from broken or violent families.

https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7...o-be-criminals

13*“You shall not murder.

Of couse, it is wrong to kill and murder but it is justified to do so in situations such as to kill the enemies in wars, in self defence, to protect others from being harmed, in capital punishments. Should a person be punished for accidental killings or killings committed out of insanity? Will one be justified to kill Hitler? Yes, in order to save milllions from being killed. Will God forgive if one repented for the killing/murder? Yes , but as I said before, repentence does not mean totally no punishment. There are some punishments for the repentence before forgiveness so as to give some justice to the victims as evidenced in King David for killling Urriah and taking his wife. (2 Samuel Chapter 12).

14*“You shall not commit adultery.

Many crimes such as murder were caused by adultery. Many divorces and broken marriage are also caused by adultery which may psychologically affect the family that is the children. It may break the unity of the family which is important in the upbringing of the children. Adultery breaks the trust in the relationship of the husband and wife and is one of the main cause of marital discords. Many criminals are from broken families. But there are exceptions to the rules, what if adultery is committeed so as to force a divorce from a violent husband who will ultimately kill the wife and the children if not done? Is having paid sex with a married prostitute deemed as adultery? I don't think so; same as raping a married woman in which there is no mutual love relatonship involved. Obviously, adultery will be forgiven if there is repentence as evidenced in Jesus forgiving the adulteress (John 8).

15*“You shall not steal.

The Talmud interprets it as "You shall not kidnap". Nevertheless, stealing is taking what does not belongs to you without permission. I believe this commandmens help to ensure that there is harmonious relationship in society. It will be a chaotic society if stealing is rampant; there will be fighting everywhere as each accused the other for stealing. However, stealing may be justified e.g. stealing food to feed his starving children, "rob the rich to help the poor". There is a example of a justified dshonesty in the parable of the shrewd manager:

Luke 16:1-8 — The Shrewd Manager
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of
1
wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear
2
about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager
any longer.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking
3
away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know
4
what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their
houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How
5
much do you owe my master?’
“ ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
6
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four
hundred.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
7
“ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted
8
shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own
kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends
9
for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into

16*“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Bearing false witness against someone disrupts justice. And Justice helps to ensure a fair equitable society. It encourages corruptions and getting the innocent into trouble while the criminal or offender goes scotch free. Neighbor means anyone you happened to come across. But is it ok if one bears false witness in order to get the innocent vindicated and the wicked arrested? I believe so. I will never hesitate to bear false witness to get Hitler into jail or even kill him so as to save milllions of people from sufferings.

17*“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

The key word here is covet which means greed. Neighbor here means anyone that you happened to come across. If everyone is greedy over someone's property, it will be a "Dog eat Dog society"; it's a selfish greed. But is it ok if the greed is altruistic; that is use greed to help the poor and the disadvantage? I think it's ok. See parable of the shrewd manager.

The modern day interpretations of the ten commandments:

http://christianity.about.com/od/bib...ommandpara.htm

The following is a modern-day paraphrase of the Ten Commandments (My summary is in red to show that those Keywords if followed will lead to harmonious, abundant, wonderful living):

1. Do not worship any other god than the one true God. All other gods are false gods. (It's about TRUE WORSHIP)
2. Do not make idols or images in the form of God. An idol can be anything (or anyone) you worship by giving it more importance than God. If something (or someone) has your time, attention and affections, it has your worship. It could be an idol in your life. (It's about DON'T IDOL WORSHIP)
3. Do not treat God's name lightly or with disrespect. Because of God's importance, his name is always to be spoken of with honor. (It's about HONOR)
4. Dedicate or set aside a regular day each week for sabbath rest and worship of the Lord. (It's about REST)
5. Give honor to your father and mother by treating them with respect and obedience. (It's about RESPECT)
6. Do not deliberately kill a fellow human being. (It's about NO KILLING)
7. Do not have sexual relations with anyone other than your spouse. God forbids sex outside of the bounds of marriage. (It's about NO ADULTERY)
8. Do not steal or take anything that doesn't belong to you, unless you have been given permission to do so. (Its' about NO STEALING)
9. Do not tell a lie about someone or bring a false accusation against another person. (It's about NO LYING)
10. Do not desire anything or anyone that does not belong to you. Comparing yourself to others and longing to have what they have leads to jealousy, envy and other sins. Be content by focusing on the blessings God has given you and not what he has not given you. (It's about NO GREED).

God Bless.

[CWH]

Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments into Two:

Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind(It's about Fearing and Loving God to achieve eternal life, abundant happy living)
1. Do not worship any other god than the one true God. All other gods are false gods. (It's about TRUE WORSHIP)
2. Do not make idols or images in the form of God. An idol can be anything (or anyone) you worship by giving it more importance than God. If something (or someone) has your time, attention and affections, it has your worship. It could be an idol in your life. (It's about DON'T IDOL WORSHIP)
3. Do not treat God's name lightly or with disrespect. Because of God's importance, his name is always to be spoken of with honor. (It's about HONOR)
4. Dedicate or set aside a regular day each week for sabbath rest and worship of the Lord. (It's about RESTand DEDICATION)

2. Love your neighbor as yourself (It's about "Do unto others what you want others to do unto you)
5. Give honor to your father and mother by treating them with respect and obedience. (It's about RESPECT)
6. Do not deliberately kill a fellow human being. (It's about NO KILLING)
7. Do not have sexual relations with anyone other than your spouse. God forbids sex outside of the bounds of marriage. (It's about NO ADULTERY)
8. Do not steal or take anything that doesn't belong to you, unless you have been given permission to do so. (Its' about NO STEALING)
9. Do not tell a lie about someone or bring a false accusation against another person. (It's about NO LYING)
10. Do not desire anything or anyone that does not belong to you. Comparing yourself to others and longing to have what they have leads to jealousy, envy and other sins. Be content by focusing on the blessings God has given you and not what he has not given you. (It's about NO GREED).

Food for Thought:
Isn't it comparable to :
1. Love thy Country and Government
2. Love Thy Countrymen.

God Bless

[CWH]

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind(It's about Fearing and Loving God to achieve eternal life, abundant happy living)
1. Do not worship any other god than the one true God. All other gods are false gods. (It's about TRUE WORSHIP)
2. Do not make idols or images in the form of God. An idol can be anything (or anyone) you worship by giving it more importance than God. If something (or someone) has your time, attention and affections, it has your worship. It could be an idol in your life. (It's about DON'T IDOL WORSHIP)
3. Do not treat God's name lightly or with disrespect. Because of God's importance, his name is always to be spoken of with honor. (It's about HONOR)
4. Dedicate or set aside a regular day each week for sabbath rest and worship of the Lord. (It's about RESTand DEDICATION)

2. Love your neighbor as yourself (It's about "Do unto others what you want others to do unto you)
5. Give honor to your father and mother by treating them with respect and obedience. (It's about RESPECT)
6. Do not deliberately kill a fellow human being. (It's about NO KILLING)
7. Do not have sexual relations with anyone other than your spouse. God forbids sex outside of the bounds of marriage. (It's about NO ADULTERY)
8. Do not steal or take anything that doesn't belong to you, unless you have been given permission to do so. (Its' about NO STEALING)
9. Do not tell a lie about someone or bring a false accusation against another person. (It's about NO LYING)
10. Do not desire anything or anyone that does not belong to you. Comparing yourself to others and longing to have what they have leads to jealousy, envy and other sins. Be content by focusing on the blessings God has given you and not what he has not given you. (It's about NO GREED).

There seems to be some number curiosity pattern in the ten commandments; not sure if there is any significance. Seems there is a cut-off after commandment 4 and also seems to add to 22:

Commandment:
1+2+3+4 = 10

1 = 1
2 =1+2 = 3
3 = 1+2+3= 6
4 = 1+2+3+4 = 10 (10)
5 = 1+2+3+4+5 = 15
6 = 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21
7 = 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28 (2+8 = 10)
8 = 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36
9 = 1+2+3+$+5+6+7+8+9 = 45
10 = 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 55 (5+5 = 10)

Add all together = 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 1+3+6+10+15+21+28+36+45+55 = 220/10 = 22

Commandment 1+2+3 = 1+3+6 = 10/10 = 1
Commandment 4 = 10 = 10/10 = 1
Commandment 5+6+7+8 = 15+21+28+36 = 100/10 = 10
Commandment 9+10 = 45+55 = 100/10 = 10

Commandment 1+2+3+4 = 1+3+6+10 = 20/10 = 2
Commandment 5+6+7+8+9+10 = 15 +21+28+36+45+55 = 200/10 = 20


God Bless.