Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
There was a time in the American culture when children and adults knew what the 10 Commandments were. They memorized them and attempted to apply them to life. Unfortunately, most Christians today cannot name them.
The secularization of our culture and the world follows a pattern of human sin and pride that dates back to Adam/Eve. Over and over the people of the world, including Israel, fall back into sin. God must reckon with our depraved, evil thinking and behavior. This is occurring even now in American culture, American churches, and the world at large.
The Ten Commandments (also called the Decalogue) come from the first 5 books of the Bible (called the Pentateuch and written by Moses). They are found in two places in the Bible: Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. These five books are the foundation of Scripture, revealing God’s divine purposes and plans, explaining how sin entered the world and God’s response to it.
As Christians we must be saturated in God’s Holy Word daily. That includes very basic tenets of our faith like The Ten Commandments. The origin of the Ten Commandments is found in the Torah (Jewish Law & Ethics). The Ten Commandments are the first 10 of 613 commandments given to the Jewish people that form the foundation of their ethics, behavior and responsibilities. Interestingly, several Jewish Midrash (a form of rabbinic literature that offers commentary or interpretation of biblical texts) say the tablets were made of sapphire (symbol of the heavens and God’s throne) and were carved by the finger of God. The Hebrew letters were bored completely through and that the Tablets, being very heavy, carried their own weight, allowing Moses to handle them.
The Ten Commandments demonstrate that we have all sinned and are therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace, available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
The 10 Commandments are:
1. You shall have no other gods before Me. (God is our focus for a holy life.)
2. You shall not make idols. (Worshipping something besides God will have serious consequences.)
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. (Do not use God’s name in vain by profanity, but represent him well.)
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Sabbath, a holy day, connects us with God and each other.)
5. Honor your father and your mother. (Respect and honor within our family also honors God.)
6. You shall not murder. (God is the giver and taker of life, not humanity.)
7. You shall not commit adultery. (Sex is an exclusive bond in marriage, even lustful thoughts are a sin.)
8. You shall not steal. (All manner of stealing is sinful.)
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Learn to hate lying & dishonesty and love truth.)
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. (Do not lust after or desire what others have.)