The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites to instruct them how to live holy lives under God’s rule. As we’ve learned earlier, God chose Israel to be His special nation, chosen above all the nations to inherit and advance the promise God made to Abraham to bless all nations through him.
At this point in this marvelous story, God has made a covenant with Israel, chosen Moses to lead them, and has given them the Ten Commandments. We have considered the first four commandments about how God is to be treated and the fifth commandment about honoring our parents; now we focus our attention on commandments five through ten.
Unlike most of the previous commandments, these are couched in negative terms: “you shall not.” They are like huge flashing stop signs, forbidding specific actions toward others: murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and coveteousness. The language God uses, “shall not,” reminds me of His prohibition to Adam and Eve: “From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.” Genesis 2:17. God is serious about these instructions, and willful disobedience will have serious consequences.
These commandments are terse statements about how we are to treat others. Let’s look briefly at each of them to uncover their essential meaning.
Commandment number six, “You shall not murder,” says we cannot deliberately, intentionally take the life of another human being. The KJV uses the word “kill,” but gives a footnote that “murder” is an alternate translation. “Murder” is the right word to use. Murder is a deliberate act to take the life of another. God is saying that human life is sacred and no one has the right to presume to take the life He has given.
In some instances, taking the life of another person is not considered murder. All loss of life at the hands of another person is horrible, but situations like self-defence and accidents that take the life of another are not murder.
Other situations about the taking of human life raise serious moral questions: what about war and capital punishment?
My personal opinion is that most abortions are a blatant disregard for this commandment; over fifty million innocent lives have been taken since Roe v. Wade was made law of the land in the 1970’s.
“You shall not commit adultery “ is the seventh commandment, and is intended to protect the exclusive conjugal rights between a married couple. Sexual relations outside marriage are prohibited for the man and the woman. Period. Sexual relations are for creating a physical and emotional bond between the man and woman, as well as procreation to bring children of their marriage into the world.
Sexual intercourse is therefore to be engaged in only in a married relationship. Sexual intercourse outside of one’s marriage is labeled adultery, while intercourse by unmarried people is labeled as “fornication” in scripture. While both are serious breaches of God’s intention for sexual expression, adultery is a violation of the marriage covenant, the foundation of a healthy society.
The eigth commandment is also short and straightforward: “You shall not steal.” Here’s another one of those absolutes: “You shall not…” While the previous commandment protects the sanctity of one’s marriage, this one puts our property “off limits” to those who may want to take (steal) it from us. God has granted us the right to possess, to own property. We are allowed, even encouaged, to own land, houses, money and other kinds of possessions through honest work, investments, and inheritance. Our property is a part of our identity; “our house, money, car, book, etc.”
What we are not permitted to do is to steal something that belongs to someone else. The principle is: You are not to possess something you did not earn, inherit, or was not gifted to you.
The implications of this commandment are far-reaching. What about issues such as plagarism, intellectual property, and income tax filings?
“You shall not murder” sets a boundary that is to protect our lives. “You shall commit adultery” is to protect the sacredness of our marriage. “You shall not steal” is to put our property off limits to those who would steal it.
Commandment nine, intended to protect our character and reputation, is: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” While this could be construed as about being truthful when testifying about a person in a legal or property dispute, I believe it applies very broadly to truthfulness in all our speech. False witness is saying something that is not true. It is lying about someone or something that did or did not happen. This commandment encompasses all areas of our speech, cautioning us not to say something untrue about someone or lie about our motives, actions, or those of others. And, even if something we say is true, we are instructed to “Speak the truth in love.” Ephesians 14:15.
The tenth commandment says,
“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 belongs to your neighbor.” fe
To “covet” is to desire, to want what belongs to someone else. What is the difference between this commandment and the previous four? Each is an absolute, but this one is not about actions like murder, adultery, stealing, or lying. It is about an attitude, coveteousness, that can consume us and lead to an attempt to murder, steal, commit adultery, or lie about another person to get what we want. Or, it could drive us to ruin our health and destroy our family by striving to “have” what other people have. When is enough, enough?
All the commandments are for our protection. What does this commandment protect? It protects our heart, our spirit, and our attitude from greed, lust, and ingratitude. The antidote to coveteousness is gratitude for our blessings and being content with what we have. It is okay to work to make life better for ourselves, but wanting what other people have is not the way to get there.
Please forward this blog to a friend or family member, or direct them to my website http://www.cosdavis.com, where they can sign up for my blogs and see other resources for their walk with the Lord.