THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (PART 2)

Yesterday, we talked about the first three of the Ten Commandments. Today we will talk about the Sabbath day.

There is disagreement on whether The Ten Commandments are apart of the Law of Moses. Because God himself wrote the Ten Commandments, some believe they are not.

I believe they are - for two reasons.

1. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

(Matthew 22:40- 40)

The Ten Commandments hang on these two laws. The first four hang on loving God, the last six on loving our neighbour.

2. In the book of James, the writer talks about how if you break one part of the law, you break the whole law.

(James 2:8- 11) If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
　

In verse number 11, James uses two of the Ten Commandments as examples of how you can break the whole just by breaking one of the Ten Commandments. If James did not believe that the Ten Commandments were a part of the Law of Moses, why would he use them as an example of how you can break the whole Law? He had hundreds of other commandments that he could have used, but didn’t.

For these two reasons, I believe that the Ten Commandments were apart of the Mosaic Law.

Question: Since the Law has been done away with in Christ, does that mean we do not have to keep The Ten Commandments anymore? Not at all. Paul mentions them in Romans 13:9:

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The last phrase of the verse lets us know that Paul is referring to the last six commandments. The first four have to do with our relationship with God - and they are always to be kept.

Must we still keep a literal, physical Sabbath day?

As long as we do not judge others who do not keep a literal, physical Sabbath day, I believe it is ok to keep it that way. Most people keep the Sabbath day spiritually.
　
　

(Isaiah 28:11-12) For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

When we receive the Holy Ghost we are receiving a spiritual rest.

I hope that you have enjoyed my study of the Ten Commandments.

God Bless,

Douglas

　

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (PART 1)

I have two books written by a Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. The two books are: JEWISH LITERACY and BIBLICAL LITERACY. The books tell about Jewish history and their religion. In one section, he talks about the ten commandments. I was surprised to see the differences between the English and the Jewish versions.

Here are the Jewish version of the ten commandments according to Rabbi Telushkin:

1. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.
2. You shall have no other gods besides Me.
3. You shall not carry the Lord your God's name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy.
5. Honor you father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not kill.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor.
10. You shall not covet you neighbor's house; you shall not covet you neighbor's wife, or...anything that is your neighbor's.

Notice how the first four commandments are different than our English versions? Let's take them one at a time, shall we?

1. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.

Rabbi Telushkin states this: "It is interesting that the First "Commandment" seems to be a statement, not a commandment. That is probably why, in Hebrew, these words are called Aseret ha-Dibrot, the Ten Statements, and not Aseret ha-Mitzvot, the Ten Commandments."

When the Bible uses the phrase "The Ten Commandments" (KJV) in Exodus and Deuteronomy, it uses a Hebrew word that means "speech, word, speaking, thing" (Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew definitions)

What is interesting to me is the verse in Deuteronomy 4:13.

(Deuteronomy 4:13-32) And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

The word "commanded" is a different Hebrew word and it means "to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order". So, it makes sense to call these ten statements "The Ten Commandments" because God commanded us to keep them!

According to Telushkin, "most Jewish authorities" believe that the first statement "commands a belief in God". 

The second commandment in the Jewish version is: 

 2. You shall have no other gods besides Me.

Notice how the English commandment "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" is absent from the Jewish version? The commandments "You shall have no other gods besides me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" are viewed as one commandment to a Jew. Why?
Because in Hebrew "graven image" actually means "idol". An idol is something that you worship. So, if you have an idol, you have another god besides the one true God.

The third commandment is:

3. You shall not carry the Lord your God's name in vain.

I thought it was interesting that it says "carry", instead of  "take". According to Telushkin it means: "don't use God as your justification in selfish causes".

I also found it intersting that Telsushkin says that the last half of this commandment is translated, "for the Lord God will not forgive him who carries His name in vain". He contiunes, "When a person commits an evil act, he discredits himself. But when a religious person commits an evil act in the name of God, he or she descredits God as well. And since God relies on religious people to bring knowledge of Him into the world, He pronounces this sin unpardonable."

I tried to think of somenoe in the Bible that committed an evil act in God's name and was forgiven for it. The only one I could think of was Paul. He thought he "ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth."(Acts 26:9). Now whether he was actually doing this in God's name or just mistaking it for God's will might be debatable.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we shall talk about the Sabbath day.
God Bless,
Douglas

GOD, EVIL AND HELL

Question: Why does God allow evil in this world?

(Malachi 2:10a) Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?...

Malachi teaches us that God is the Father of all creation. We are His children through creation, and just like natural parents, God has laid down laws and commands for us to live by.

God created us with a right of choice. He could have made us without a choice, thereby, us being nothing more than robots. But God wanted us to serve Him out of love, and since love is something that is freely given and freely received, He allowed us the right to choose how we want to live our lives.

But couldn't God have given us a right of choice and still prevent evil things from happening? Yes, He could have. But picture this, everyone in this world has the right to live their lives exactly how they want it and no matter what anyone does nothing bad happens. Ever.

How does God do this and still teach us that there are consequences for our actions?
When God gave us a right of choice, He also created a law called sowing and reaping.

(Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Through this law, we learn that what we do has an effect upon others, not just ourselves. Through this law, God teaches us that we need Him.

Question: Will God "send" people to hell? In a word, no. It is our choice.
A natural parent will sometimes say to their children, "If you do this (or don't do this), you will be grounded for a week (or spanked...have privileges taken away, etc..)" In other words, some type of punishment will be meted out.
Now, a GOOD parent gives there child a right of choice. (I say good parent because there are parents out there who will beat there child senseless, molest them, etc...) However, the good parents let their children know that there will be consequences for his/her actions.

Just like a natural parent, God has said, "These are my laws, my commandments. If you do these things, there will not only be blessings for you on this earth, but you will also receive eternal life. If not, then you will spend eternity in a lake that burns with fire."

God has told us want the punishment will be if we disobey. He has now left the choice up to us. A child knows that if he/she obeys their parents, they will have their approval and be rewarded. Similarly, God will approve of our obedient faith and will reward us with eternal life.

There are parents out there that have very stubborn children. They have done everything that they can think of to get that child to obey. Doing their upmost best to raise the child to be a productive member of society, to teach them right from wrong, to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Yet, no matter what they do, that child will stubbornly refuse to listen.

No matter how much God prods, leads, entices people to live for him, they will stubbornly refuse. Believing the devil's lies, that they have plenty of time. That a loving God will not have them thrown into a lake of fire - forever.

We choose where we want to spend eternity. God doesn't "send" anyone to hell. We choose to go there. Our destiny is in our hands. Through creation we are His children. In order to saved, we must become His spiritual children.

ARE YOU HIS CHILD? IF NOT, HERE'S WHAT YOU MUST DO TO BE SAVED:

(Acts 2:38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

God Bless,

Douglas

IF YOU WILL TEACH ME

(Matthew 18:3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

You can learn a lot from children. Like love, forgiveness, and faith.

I read a story one time of how a man had lost his wife, a little boy had went over to visit the man. When he returned home a little later the mother asked him what he said to the man. The boy replied, "Nothing, Mommy. I just helped him cry." This boy knew how to show love.

Two children can be playing and end up getting into a fight. The next day you can see those same children playing like nothing had ever happened. These children knew how to forgive.

Faith. What is faith? The basic definition is: belief, trust, and reliance. A child believes everything you tell them - without question. If you take him outside, show him a blue sky and tell him that the sky is green, he will believe you. That same child can end up going to school and the teacher will show a card with a blue square on it and tell them that "this is the color blue" and that child will protest and say, "Daddy, says it's green". That teacher will have to unteach what that child was taught.

A child trusts their parents completely. A parent may say to their child, "Jump and I'll catch you". That child will jump trusting their parent to catch them.

A child relies upon their parents for everything. For all their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Just like children, we need to learn to BELIEVE God's word, TRUST Him to KEEP His word, and RELY upon Him to OBEY is word.
(Ephesians 5:1) Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

Here in Ephesians, the Greek word for followers means an imitator (Strongs #G3402). Paul is not talking about being a cheap imitation of something. He is talking about us aspiring to be like someone you look up to, someone you admire and long to be like. 

When my nephew, Mark, was little, he would get his play tractor, prop it up on something, crawl under it and pretend that he was working on it. He was imitating his Daddy. 
Just like children imitate their parents, we should endeavor to imitate our Heavenly Father.

Years ago, a woman was watching a news program concerning the famine over in Africa. As the camera showed pictures of little boys and girls starving, she noticed this one boy. For some unexplainable reason, she knew she had to adopt this boy. So, after she went through all the red tape, she met the boy at the airport and said:

"I have brought you here to be my son."

The boy looked up at her and said:

"I do not know what that means, but if you will teach me, I will learn."

Father, I don't fully know what it means to be your child, but if you will teach me, I will learn.

FELLOWSHIP

Our Sunday School lesson for this week was titled, “Fellowship with God and each other”.

One of the definitions our Pastor gave for fellowship was: Participate.

I thought that it was an interesting definition. You can’t just “show up” for church and say, “I’ve done my part”. You have to participate! How? By communicating. By being active.

We communicate with God through pray. But communication also involves listening. We need to listen to what God has to say to us. Through his word, the preaching, teaching… and learning how to listen to that still small voice.

We are active in our relationship with God through worship, pray, Bible study, meditating on the scriptures, witnessing, helping our fellowman/woman, and living a Godly, dedicating, Holy life before Him and others.

Not only do we need to participate in our relationship with God, but also with each other.

I’ve heard that marriage is a 50/50 proposition. I’ve never been married, but I don’t agree with that in the least. The husband must give 100%. The wife must give 100%. Any of you married folks out their disagree with me, let me know. I believe we must give 100% in any relationship. Our relationship with God, spouse, children, siblings, etc…

The church needs fellowship with each other. For encouragement, strength, guidance, etc…We are not in this fight alone.

I’ll end this post by quoting a portion of our Sunday School lesson:

“Fellowship is vital to believers in Jesus Christ. Constant and ongoing fellowship - both with God and with fellow believers - sustained the early church. The book of Luke reveals that the growth of the early church included their continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers…

…Many people have mistakenly thought they were to be isolated, like an island unto themselves. This wrong thinking has created many casualties among Christian believers.

The plight of believers is similar to that of a group of porcupines that the famous philosopher Schopenhauer once used to illustrate a point.

A group of porcupines were marooned one bitter cold night in the middle of a large frozen field. There was no way to escape the biting wind. They could not burrow into the frozen ground. They huddled together to keep warm, but their sharp quills began to pinch and hurt one another. The close they moved together, the more the pain increased until some of the animals who could not bear the pain drew apart to sleep alone. In the end they had frozen to death. They needed each other.


In our humanness there are times when we hurt each other, and we tend to pull apart to go it alone; but Christians must resist this tendency. The scriptures often encourages us to walk together in agreement….Through fellowship with God and with each other, we learn to tolerate one another. Through fellowship we learn to appreciate our differences.”

God Bless,

Douglas