God's Top Ten

Thinking about the Ten!

Ex 20:1-17
God spoke to the people of Israel, giving them instruction for the fullness of life, which is the meaning of Torah. God establishes his authority in the description of their relationship. Who could bring a person out of slavery? And I wonder if there are very many who would say, “I have never been a slave!” I have been a slave, and I am not sure that I am completely free. I am a slave to the flesh, to my desire for comfort, success, and affection. It is not that these things are unimportant to our humanity. They are very important, and I believe God is eager to have us recognize that the Lord will address those needs. However, we often live in fear that God cannot deliver ‘the goods.’ That is what the Ten Commandments seem to be about. Whom do you trust?

We are to have no other gods. Nothing is to supersede the ‘I AM.’ My most common idol is me. It is not that I think I am transcendent. I am keenly aware of my weaknesses. The problem is that I want control. Greed is a common idol, both among the rich and the poor. Family is a common idol. We will put family before God. Matter of fact, we are tempted to have a lot of ‘other gods.’

We are to treat the name of God with respect. Why would we abuse someone whom we trust? If God would reveal God’s name (YHWH), that seems to me to be a relationship creator. Would you ask someone their name and then ‘make fun’ of the name, or use it as a magic charm, an incantation, or as a word for unwholesomeness? I doubt if you could keep that relationship whole and healthy if you were given to that.

What do think about the Sabbath? We are pretty busy people. We fill our schedules and have a hard time resting. We are fearful that we will ‘do without’ if we don’t seek every advantage. God stopped working for a day. If God can take a day, then I am supposing that we could trust the world to the Lord’s care for a day.

What do you suppose that ‘honor your father and mother’ command is about? Probably it means to ‘take care of your folks.’ It does not mean that you are under their authority for all of your life. It seems to me that it means that you are always responsible to God for their care. It could be one of those organizing commands, too. There is a season when you are under your parent’s authority. In the Old Testament incorrigible children were stoned to death at the city gate (Deut 21:18ff). It could be that God is reaffirming parents as the one’s who are to have a season of authority.

Life is not at your disposal. That is why God said, “Do not murder.” We are not in charge (sovereign over life and death). I read an article in the New York Times last week (March 2006) about the ethics of terminating a pregnancy when the child was going to have birth defects. It is interesting to me that we want medical knowledge to preserve our pregnancies and we consider that beneficial. However, if that medical knowledge preserves a difficult pregnancy that God seemed to be attempting to terminate, and we are unhappy with the result, we complain again. We really do not want God to be in control.

Why do you suppose we are supposed to refrain from adultery? Of course, you know that it is destructive to our relationships. It is destructive of marriage and threatens the well-being of our children. It threatens the social fabric of every community where the parties make a life. Why does this command make the top ten? I suppose because God knew that we would struggle in our relationships. Could we trust God to provide for us? It is not easy to trust.

Theft is a manifestation of the same fear. It threatens the very same things as adultery. I suppose adultery is theft. We take something that does not belong to us. We take because we are fearful. Could we learn to live with what we can earn? Could we learn to work hard and be satisfied with the results?

We are to tell the truth in court. I know that we have thought of this command as telling the truth in general, which is also important. However, I think this command is about making false accusations. Why would we be tempted to do this? Again, I think this is about the social fabric of our culture. If a person was to make an accusation against you, you would be harmed regardless of the truth. God is interested in us being careful with our relationships and with our communities.

We are not supposed to want what our neighbors possess. This seems to me to be a general principle that concludes this list. Trust God instead of wanting what does not belong to you.