Lay Down the Law

They are not outdated.  They are not opposed to grace.  Jesus did not divide his original teachings in Torah from his teachings while he walked the earth.  In Matthew chapter 5 he distinguishes between what his teachings in Torah really meant as opposed to the popular interpretations of his day...

So how do we look at these rules and regulations?

Like Joy Davidman in her book, Smoke on the Mountain, I'm afraid we look at these rules like a certain old African cannibal reportedly did.

"You mean I should not take my neighbor's wife, or ivory?  I should not make the war dance and kill my enemy's tribe?"


That's right.  Christians do not do such things.


"I cannot do those things anymore anyway.  Being a Christian and being old... they are the same I think."


Are the Ten Commandments, for the most part, statements of negation... subtracting from what life can be?

The Israelites were descendants from a rugged nomadic people and lived in a brutal time.

How would people react in our day and age if we knew there was an entire race of people enslaved in Egypt?

Working themselves to death.

Even in Jesus' day times were different.  Crucified criminals

would cry out until they lost their voices and hang there...

for days...

rotting pieces of meat 

swarmed by flies and birds.

In our day we expect security.  And as long as it isn't too inconvenient for us... we expect this security for everyone in the world too.

The Israelites did not have this expectation.  Their world was filled with brutality and the worship of many gods... specifically which ever god might help further their immediate purpose (crops, battles, etc).

We read the ten commandments in Sunday School like this

1. Have no other gods.

2. Don't worship images.

3. Don't take the Lord's name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath.

5. Honor your father and mother.

6. Don't murder.

7. Don't commit adultery.

8. Don't steal.

9. Don't bear false witness.

10. Don't covet.

The Israelites likely heard it this way... and it forced them to change their culture.

1. There is a PRIORITY in life - Yahweh.

2. There is a SOVEREIGNTY in life - Yahweh is bigger than idols.

3. There is SINCERITY in life - worship of Yahweh must be real.

4. There is SANCTITY in life - life is more than material.

5. There is UNITY in life - beginning in the home.

6. There is RESPONSIBILITY for life - respect the lives of others.

7. There is FIDELITY in life - be faithful in relationships.

8. There is HONESTY in life - be trustworthy and trust others.

9. There is INTEGRITY in life - be true.

10. There is SECURITY in life - protect the property of your neighbor (and enemy).

You see... the decalogue (ten commandments) was not given to take away a piece of life... it gave a framework for the best possible life.

We hear the words: "rules"; "laws"; "statutes"; "commandments" - and we want to run!!!

But the Psalmist knew the life embedded into God's Ten Words:

"Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors." Psalm 119: 17-24

May this Psalm ring true in the coming weeks as we investigate how the life-breathing commandments of God call us to radically transform our lives.


What has been your experience of (or thoughts on) the Ten Commandments?

*the Ten Words Priority, Sovereignty, Sincerity, etc. were taught to me by Dr. Ron Lyles at STSCS(.org).  
*much of the above content is summary and paraphrase of Joy Davidman's introduction to Smoke on the Mountain