| GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENTS Are NOT His ten suggestions! Let’s go through them one by one. 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 KJV Just what are ‘other’ gods? They are the idols—anything or anybody we compose a feeling of worship towards in our physical, mental, and emotional being. Idols make up a tremendous list with these few, like self made religions, another person, money, possessions, or even a pet being most common. Idols we can do without, but Our LORD is the only God we cannot do without! No other gods means, NO OTHER GODS! 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing 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. Exodus 20:4, 5, 6 KJV This doesn’t mean that we can’t own and enjoy art in statue form—it simply means that any image either sculpted or carved by the hand of man, shouldn’t receive our worship. This is paganism at its highest form! We are neither to bow down to such images, or touch and kiss them in godly reverence. But, all over the world we have this pagan worship still going on in the 21st century! This is why we must continue to spread the gospel, to all corners of the earth. 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. Exodus 20:7 KJV Usually we only hear God’s name, and the name of Jesus used in cursing in our modern culture. We are not to speak the name of God along with any kind of curse, and we are to refrain from swearing by the name of God in an oath, and then not keep it! 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. Exodus 20:8 thru 11 KJV We are to take this example and work 6 days, setting the sabbath aside for rest and reverence for our Creator. For Christians our Sabbath, as a lot of bible teachers explain, falls on Sunday, in connection to that Resurrection Sunday of our Lord over 2,000 years ago. By having church, [where two or three are gathered anywhere], we worship Our LORD in one accord, and by having fellowship with other believers we can edify one another with encouragement. 5. Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12 KJV Honoring your father and mother are very important to the LORD! You don’t have to like them or how they run their life, but honor them—they brought you in to this world and every human birth is important to God! This is the first commandment with a promise! And everyone would like their lifetime to be long upon this earth, right? 6. Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13 KJV VERY SELF EXPLANATORY! Humans are made in the image of God. He doesn’t want us murdering one another because that is killing God’s image. That is an abomination to Him! Each human soul and spirit is important to God—and He knows each and every one that has lived from the very beginning of creation. This also includes each and every unborn and delivered baby that is aborted or left to die by the thousands every day around the world today! God will not deal kindly with those that take defenseless lives. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 KJV SELF EXPLANATORY. Today we have millions of adulterers laughing about this sin, calling it an ‘affair’. That’s a word used to soften sin’s description of a sinner! The Bible tells us if we confess this or any sin though, we will be forgiven, but those who die in any sin will not have a second chance to spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven. 8. Thou shalt not steal. Exodus 20:15 KJV SELF EXPLANATORY, and can include stealing anything that doesn’t belong to you—from a paper clip to a yacht! There is another kind of stealing—kidnapping. God has something very important about stealing humans! See Exodus 21:16. People even steal another man’s integrity! Don’t rob him of that, or even his joy in the Lord! Don’t make fun of him— remember he is an image of God! It is also a form thievery, when you degrade another human to the point of robbing him of his self esteem! Don’t be a thief! 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Exodus 20: 16 KJV Don’t lie about anyone or to anyone! Not for personal gain, not for revenge, not if someone else tells you to! Don’t do it in a court of justice, or in a conversation. Don’t perjure yourself for anyone, for God will see the deception as His Word repeatedly tells us, and an Almighty God will deal with it, His way. It seems our courts of so-called justice are the perpetrators of this most often! You WILL be held accountable for lying. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s. Exodus 20:17 KJV Covetousness—an insatiable desire for worldly gain. A. Described as: Idolatry, Colossians 3:5 Root of evil, 1 Timothy 6:9-11 Never satisfied, Habakkuk 2:9 Vanity, Psalm 39:6 B. Productive of: Theft, Joshua 7:21 Lying, 2 Kings 5:20-27 Murder, Proverbs 1:18, 19 Falsehood, Acts 5:1-10 Hurtful lusts, 1 Timothy 6:9 Apostasy, 1 Timothy 6:10 C. Excludes from: God’s kingdom, 1 Corinthians 6:10, and Ephesians 5:5 Sacred offices, 1 Timothy 3:3 Heaven, Ephesians 5:5 D. Examples of: Achan, Joshua 7:21 Saul, 1 Samuel 15:9 & 19 Judas, Matthew 26:14 &15 Annanias, Acts 5:1-11 The Word of law that was given to Moses was written by the very finger of God—Exodus 31: 18—and was chiefly given to us expose the sin of all, because there has never been a man able to keep every single one. Only by the shedding of blood, Christ Jesus, the Resurrected LORD has paid for each and every one of the sins of all mankind. This includes those that have lived from the dawn of creation until now. All we have to do is accept the gift and ask for forgiveness. Aren’t we to be ‘Christ like’ and follow the example of Jesus during his short ministry on earth? He didn’t condemn hurting people, but ministered to them. He asked those he spoke to, [even though He knew what was in their heart] to tell Him their troubles and needs. In an attitude of thankfulness, Jesus prayed often to our Father God for guidance and encouragement. Isn’t this exactly what God expects us to do in and with, prayer? Do we really understand that God judges the heart, and intent of the inner man, and not his ethnic background? For a moment, close your eyes. Listen to the wisdom of the man next to you. Does his skin color really make a difference in his words? GOD ignores ethnicity. We should learn how to do the same. The author of this commentary is a descendent of America’s Native culture. In our history books you can read about many terrible atrocities that were thrust on my ancestors. A whole race was almost annihilated! But I got over it. How? By searching my heart for any lingering bitterness, then when I gave my life to Christ, decided to turn it all over to Him and let go of all that bitter history, instead of dwelling in it. That was then, this is now. And we all are here, at this moment in history, today. As a professing Christian, it is now my time to be about my Father’s business. As fellow believers, I’m calling on you to walk with this army, for we must ALL be about our Father’s business! And that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you say? Think about this: Did you, or anyone else have a choice as to how God brought you in to this world? Or who our parents would be? Or which country we would be born in? Fellow believers, there’s a harvest out there ready for the reaping, and its time to put on the armor of God. He is looking for warriors. God will truly bless those that read The Word and put it to work in their own lives. All Bible References taken from the King James Version All commentary through the Wisdom of God, by Lady C |