TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TODAY
(A Guide To Life And True Riches)

Discover For Yourself Truths

That Society Has Rejected

And Why Most Christians Are Losers

The Gospel of John states the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Because of this, many Christians like to think that the Ten Commandments have no bearing on anybody today. In fact, this could be one of the main reasons why so many Christians fail to live up to what they have been called. Throwing out the Ten Commandments has resulted in Christians not acknowledging the requirements of God's law for life as is clearly outlined within the Bible.

 

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, who is often cited as speaking against the need to recognize the law in the gospel era, actually has a different take on what the law states. He is not against the law; rather he sees the law being fulfilled when people do what the law requires. As Paul states:

 

For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Rom. 13:9, 10).

 

Jesus talks about how he came to fulfil the law, and Paul says the just requirements of the law were fulfilled in Jesus, especially when he gave his life so that the rest of humanity could have access to eternal life. Jesus was able to do this because he never sinned once. By this, I mean Jesus didn’t fall short of keeping all the Ten Commandments.

 

The Ten Commandments are recognized the world over as being the rules by which people should live by. Yet most people only pay lip service to these rules. What is surprising, though, those who claim to  know the Ten Commandments often have a very shallow understanding of what they mean. In fact, I have not met one person who has been able to quote the Ten Commandments. I have met some who can give an abbreviated version, but not a complete version.

 

You might think, what is wrong with the abbreviated version. Well, the abbreviated version goes like this:

 

You shall have no other God’s before me.

You shall not make for yourself any graven images

You not use God’s name in vain

You shall remember the Sabbath

You shall honor your mother and father

You shall not kill

You shall not commit adultery

You shall not steal

You shall not tell lies

You shall not covet

 

There are some variations to this. Commandment no. 4 is often recited as “You shall remember the Sabbath as a day of rest”, or “You shall remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy”. Commandment no. 5 is sometimes: “You shall honor your parents” or “You shall honor your Father and Mother”. Commandment no. 6 is sometimes, “You shall not commit murder.” Commandment no. 9 is sometimes, “You shall not bear false witness.”

 

These might seem like minor points, but they do have different connotations and in this exploration of the Ten Commandments and what they really mean, and what they mean for you today, we will see their significance and how they can benefit you. We also see how they can be distorted, and misunderstood, and dismissed, and overlooked.

 

The full version of the Ten Commandments I have taken from the English Standard Version of the Bible. Here is Exodus chapter 20, where the Ten Commandments are first mentioned in the Bible. I have included the whole chapter to provide a little context and throw some light on the awesomeness of the occasion when they were first presented to the people of Israel.

 

The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20.

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

4"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13"You shall not murder.

14"You shall not commit adultery.

15 "You shall not steal.

16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 "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 is your neighbor’s."

18Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." 20 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." 21The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. 22And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone,you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.' (ESV)

 

The Ten Commandments were given directly from God to the people of Israel. This is the only time in the Bible where God has spoken directly to a large group of people of this magnitude. Actually, this is the only time in recorded history that a whole nation of people have been addressed by God Himself. As you can see the people’s response was to be fearful of God, rather than to be drawn towards him. Admittedly, the lightning and thunder might have had something to do with their fearfulness of God. It might have been different if God appeared to them as a man, only we cannot be sure of this, because when God did appear in human form as Jesus Christ, the men at the time saw fit to kill him. Fortunately, Jesus really was God and death has no hold over him, so he was able to rise from the dead.

 

The importance of the Ten Commandments, as I have already stated, is highlighted by the fact that God himself addressed the nation of Israel. God has only done this once in recorded history and, when he did, he gave man a guide to life in the Ten Commandments. Not only this, as you will find, these Ten Commandments, or words as the Bible calls them, encapsulate and explain the truth of our existence. The Ten Commandments are either a staff to help us through life, or they can be a rod on our back that inflicts pain, because we ignore them. 

 

Psalm 23 makes mention of this:

1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2) He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3) He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5) You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

This is a beautiful psalm and many people are comforted by these words. It is probably the most well know psalm. The Message Bible reads:

Psalm 23

1-3) God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

4) Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I'm not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
makes me feel secure.

5) You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

6) Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

 

There is a poetic element in the Message Bible that can capture our breath in a different way, so to speak, than what is in the other versions. Verse 4 of this psalm is what we are really interested in. In most translations of the Bible, the scripture reads as the ESV, which is a literal translation, along the lines as follows:

 

4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

 

In the Message translation, the reading conveys different thoughts and evokes different images in our mind. A “trusty shepherd’s crook” looks different to what we normally perceive as a rod. A rod might be a fishing rod or some narrow pole that is used to prod or hit animals to get them to move on, or a slender metal bar that might be used for manufacturing or construction purposes. A shepherd’s crook is often drawn or seen with a hook on the end, like a very tall walking stick.

 

Shepherds, however, use their crook for two main purposes. One is to assist them in walking up hills and prodding their sheep and, two, to fend off dangerous animals or defend themselves from attackers. A shepherd without his crook or staff will start to feel insecure because of his inability to protect himself and his flock.

 

The Ten Commandments are like this. They provide us with moral protection, and a means by which we can live our lives with other people and know the boundaries of social interaction.

 

There is much talk, today, about boundaries when it comes to raising
children. Teaching children boundaries so they can feel secure in their environment and know what is expected of them is recognized as one of the most important legacies a parent can leave their children. Without a moral and legal framework, children grow up living recklessly and have no regard for anyone, and often themselves.

 

Like a father who cares for his children, God spoke to the people of Israel and gave them some guidance. At the time God was probably speaking disapprovingly of his children because they had built a golden calf to worship. It is like a mother or father who wants to give their children a treat, but when he or she comes home, the children have been doing something that is out of order. Instead of speaking of the treat, the parent will immediately speak disapprovingly of the situation at hand and provide some guidance as to how the children should conduct themselves in future, by telling them what is expected of them. However, the parent’s voice will not be one that is soothing to the little souls, instead it will reflect disapproval and come across as angry. Admittedly, a parent has a right to be annoyed or angry with indignation at disobedient children, just as God would have been indignant at the fact the Israelites, whom he had just miraculously rescued from the Egyptians, were now forsaking him out of unbelief. This, of course, is not to be confused with the wrath of God where punishment is dealt out to the wicked for wrongdoing.

Many people confuse an expression of disapproval of what they have done as a hatred of themselves, rather than being a disapproval of an action that was performed. As in the case of the Israelites, God disapproved of the fact they were building a calf to be their god. Wouldn’t you disapprove of your children making a sculpture and saying they are not going to listen to you but whatever they think the sculpture is saying?

 

The reaction of the people towards God was just like any child reacts when they feel what they did is not met with approval. The child will begin to feel that he doesn’t want to talk to the adult and will usually say something like “I don’t want to talk to you anymore”. This is how the Israelites reacted. They cried out, “We don’t want God talking to us anymore."

They now felt they wanted someone else to mediate between God and them. This is what happens when people do not want to relate honestly to another person. They would rather hide or disappear than face the truth of their actions or change the attitude of their hearts.

When we go back to the Garden of Eden we see the same reaction in Adam and Eve when they had eaten from the tree the knowledge of good and evil. Instead of displaying a confident open attitude towards God, they tried to hide rather than honestly confess what they had done. Adam and Eve felt a sense of shame. They felt distressed by the knowledge they had broken faith with God and, when they knew they had to confess, they became conscious of the pain of abusing the faith placed in them by God. This is what happens with children when they have let their parents down; when they know they have done wrong they feel distressed. This is what happened to the Israelites when they had demonstrated their distrust of God by erecting a statue to worship. God had delivered them from their enemies and performed miracles on their behalf, yet they did not exercise faith towards God.

 

Admittedly, there is a big difference between the way God revealed himself to the nation of Israel and when He was speaking to Adam and Eve. God confronted Adam and Eve in a more gentle way to the Israelites at Mt Sinai. God did not speak to Adam and Eve out of clouds with deep rumblings of thunder that would have probably felt like an earthquake rattling every cell in their bodies, and with lightning bolts that charged the very atmosphere of the wilderness with so much electricity that the hairs on their head felt numbered. It is understandable that the Israelites felt more than shame; they would have been terrified.

 

God was testing the Israelites. Moses said that there was nothing to be afraid of. God was simply letting the Israelites know that he alone was Almighty and was capable of performing what he said he would do. Yet the Israelites were not prepared to take God at his word, even though he had demonstrated miracles, like parting the Red Sea, when they looked like all was doomed. God knew this would happen, but just as with Pharaoh, the Israelites would put to the test. Or as it otherwise expressed, they would be putting God to the test. Pharaoh put God to the test ten times, and gave in on the last test and let the Israelites go. The Israelites were to put God to the test ten times during their time in the wilderness. And oddly enough, God gave them Ten Commandments by which to live.

 

These commandments were not tangible things that could be touched like a golden calf, they were principles of behavior. Five of these commandments were to relate to God and five were to relate to men. Some would disagree with this and say that six of the commandments relate to men and four relate to God, however it is worth noting that five of the commandments have the word "God" included in them, and five do not. What this means is five commandments reveal to us how we are to honor God and show our love for him, and five are how we are to honor and love each other.

 

Morality is the behavior that distinguishes humans from beasts. Moral behavior requires us to think about what we do. Morality then means that there is responsibility and accountability involved in the very actions we do. Morality, however, can mean different things to different people. For some people it is immoral to kill an animal, but not immoral to kill a human to save an animal. Yet the simple concept of morality is a matter of doing to others what you would have them do unto you. Ironically, a wild beast of the field would not give a second thought about killing a human. But then they are merely irrational creatures of instinct.

Thinking is the distinguishing feature between humans and animals, and having an inner recognition of what is right and wrong is only evident in humans. Animals can be trained to imitate, but there no evidence that they can actually think.

 

A dog is said to be a man’s best friend. A dog will be loyal to its owner. But no dog has demonstrated the ability to think for itself. Dogs are trained to do what comes natural to them. Some dogs are thought to be better suited at rounding up sheep, while other dogs are more inclined to be better suited at chasing foxes. Yet all dogs need to be trained if they are to be good at what they do. Guard dogs are trained to attack trespassers and guide dogs are trained to safely lead blind people. But no dog has been trained to talk or write or show concrete evidence of actually thinking. Like all animals, dogs can be trained to do what comes natural for them to such high degrees of excellence that it resembles a form of limited intelligence. The same applies to the great apes. However, the evidence is a two year old child can demonstrate more intelligence than a highly trained chimpanzee. Limited displays of intelligence are not the same as having the ability to think and understand right from wrong.

 

Emotive behavior that appears to suggest that animals are conscious beings is more about reactions that come from trained responses, or conditioned responses, rather than being perceptive, as a result of the ability to form concepts of moral behavior, and exercise the power of the will to choose not to respond in an expected fashion.

 

There is an element of irrationality in humankind that is evident when people get their buttons pushed and respond with an immediate reaction. It might be an emotive response from conditioning as a child. Psychologists are aware of this and sales psychology teaches sales staff to utilize human emotive behavior to secure sales. To counteract this, many governments have introduced cooling-off laws, so people can have time to think about what they have purchased, rather than have them making conditioned responses just like animals.

 

The Ten Commandments are not about emotive responses to environmental stimuli. The Ten Commandments are about having principles by which you can live your life in a civilized way without infringing the rights of other people. To understand what these principles mean requires intelligence that goes beyond an emotive response, or environmentally conditioned responses, or artificially trained behavior.

 

Intelligence requires the ability to choose between right and wrong, or the powers to exercise choice, which is known as volition, and is based on knowledge, not emotion or conditioned responses.

 

Many say mankind is experiencing evolutionary progress. Yet, socially, the problems that exist today would suggest that human behavior is getting worse not better.

 

Actually, the Ten Commandments, which were spoken by God himself to a nation that had just been miraculously delivered out of slavery, do not provide evidence that humans are evolving into more intelligent, more perceptive, more knowledgeable beings. Instead, humans have been failing to live up to the requirements of the principles of life, as outlined in the Ten Commandments, for the last 3500 years. The promise that comes with the Ten Commandments is that if they are not broken, then until a person breaks any one of them, death has no hold over that person. In other words, anyone who does not break one of the Ten Commandments will live forever.

 

The reason why you can live forever is, if you keep all of the Ten Commandments, you will be in communion with God; for you will not have broken faith with God, and you will be like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before they sinned. To be in communion with God means that you have true life in the eternal realm that transcends time and death. The eternal realm is not governed by time. Time is only measured when there is a difference like day and night that recurs. Outside of this, there is no such thing as time, because it cannot be measured. Only finite things can be measured. Death makes time measurable and people mortal. Death comes from breaking only one of the Ten Commandments. Infinity cannot be measured and neither can eternity, because there is no end.

 

Fortunately for us, Jesus did meet the requirements of the Law and, by fulfilling those requirements, has bequeathed to us his righteous life, so we do not have to try to meet the requirements of the law on our own strength. The Bible is quite clear that all have fallen short of keeping the Ten Commandments, and because of this, we are out of fellowship with God. However, all has not been lost, because God in his divine grace has given each one the opportunity to receive unmerited favor in his eyes through the gift that has been bequeathed to us through Jesus' death. When Jesus died, he left an inheritance to all who want it. This inheritance is the right to eternal life because Jesus kept the commandments.

Now, according to the will and testament of Jesus Christ, as a result of his death, it is possible for us all to partake of the free gift that has been bequeathed to us. Now, if we take up Jesus' offer of eternal life, would it be right for us to spurn this offer and then abuse the grace that has been extended to us. The answer to this is a resounding “No!” The door that was once closed to us has now been opened, so we can have a relationship with the Creator God. This relationship means we still need to keep the Ten Commandments. But, if we do miss the mark, we now have an advocate with the Heavenly Father who intercedes on our behalf, so when we stumble we can pick ourselves up and get back on track.

 

God wants to bless you and give you life with all its riches. People might tell you different, but do not believe this. Just read what the book of Proverbs chapter 22, verse 4, says, "The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life."

 

Proverbs 8:18, speaking about true wisdom says, “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity.”

 

Proverbs 24:4, says, ”by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

 

As for disregarding the law and the knowledge of the Ten Commandments, and what they mean for you, do not listen to those who say they are done away with. In Hosea 4:6, the Bible tells us with strong words that without knowledge the people perish. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

 

Jeremiah 31:33: "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

 

The Bible says a true Jew is a son of Abraham, and this has nothing to do with physical birth, rather it is a matter of faith and adoption into the family of Abraham by faith. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter four is very clear about who are the sons of Abraham.

 

You will find that the Ten Commandments have more to offer you today than what most people think. Basically, Jesus even went as far to say that if you do not believe what Moses wrote, you would not believe him, even if he were to be raised from the dead (cf. Luke 16:31; John 5:46). It is always tempting to throw the baby out with the bath water, and many people do, by saying that the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments have been done away with because they have been superseded by the New Testament and the commandments to love God and your neighbor as yourself.

What many people fail to realize is the Greatest Commandment, which they call the first of the two new commandments, is actually found in the what is known as the Law, or Pentateuch (as the Jews call the five books of Moses), in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 6:4:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

 

The Second Commandment is found in Leviticus 19:17-18:

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

 

In the following chapters we will look at what the Ten Commandments mean for us today, without the Mosaic rituals. I promise you, you will have not read anything that comes near the truths of what are revealed in the following pages.

English Standard Version (ESV--The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

(c) Copyright 2007, 2011, Happy Riches.