The Ten Commandmentsהדברים עשרת.... and their significance today.

Wikipedia

• In Biblical Hebrew, the commandments are called עשרת transliterated (Asereth ha-D'bharîm)  הדברים

• In Rabbinical Hebrew הדברות  עשרתtransliterated (Asereth ha-Dibroth), both translatable as "the ten words", "the ten sayings" or "the ten matters".

• The English name "Decalogue" is derived from the Greek translation δεκάλογος dekalogos "ten terms", found in the Septuagint at Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 10:4.

Basic Principles of the CommandmentsMan’s Law

• Man might organise society in ways to suit himself and the laws would be:– Biased towards the powerful – inequitable– Ordered self first, family second others last– The powerful would prefer self first and last! – The 2 golden rules many people go by is:

• What is yours is mine• Thou shalt not get found out

• It avoids any responsibility to a higher power• But God’s law is very different

Basic Principles of the CommandmentsGod’s Law

• Unlike Mankind's own laws, God’s laws are organise to suit God not man

• Biased towards the righteousness of God and therefore his right to expect men’s respect

• God’s laws are therefore: – Equitable– Ordered first towards mans relationship with God – Second men’s relationships towards other men

How Well Do You Know - 10 Commandments?1. Close your Bibles 2. Write down on a piece of paper, 1 to 103. Write key words for each against 1 to 10

Hint they are organised1. About God2. About Family3. About relationships with others

4. In Exodus 20: 2-17 and Deut 5: 6-21 the wording is essentially the same, but how many did you get?

Did your list look like this?• I am the Lord your God• You shall have no other gods before me• You shall not make for yourself an idol• You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain• Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy• Honour your father and mother• You shall not kill/murder• You shall not commit adultery• You shall not steal• You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour• You shall not covet your neighbour's wife• You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour

Did your list look like this?1. I am the Lord your God2. You shall have no other gods before me3. You shall not make for yourself an idol4. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain5. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy6. Honour your father and mother7. You shall not kill/murder8. You shall not commit adultery9. You shall not steal10. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour11. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife12. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbourThe passage in Exodus 20 contains more than 10 im

perative statements

Exod 20: 2-17 & Deut 5: 6-21

Exod 20: 2-17 & Deut 5: 6-21

Exod 20: 2-17 & Deut 5: 6-21

Division according to different religions• As we said, the passage in Exodus 20 contains more than ten imperative

statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all. – While the Bible itself assigns the count of "10", using the Hebrew phrase aseret

had'varim ('the 10 words', 'statements' or 'things'), this phrase does not appear in Exodus 20.

• Various religions parse the commandments differently. The table below in Wikipedia helpfully highlights those differences:

So these 3 are essentially the same

They can be grouped in 3 like thisAbout God1. I am the Lord your God, You shall have no other gods before me2. You shall not make for yourself an idol3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holyAbout Family5. Honour your father and motherAbout Relationships with Others6. You shall not kill/murder7. You shall not commit adultery8. You shall not steal9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour10. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife or anything that

belongs to your neighbour

HOW MANY OF THESE ARE OBSERVED OR SIGNIFICANT IN BRITAIN TODAY?

About God1. I am the Lord your God, You shall have no other gods before me2. You shall not make for yourself an idol3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holyAbout Family5. Honour your father and motherAbout Relationships with Others6. You shall not kill/murder7. You shall not commit adultery8. You shall not steal9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour10. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife or anything that

belongs to your neighbour

Our Attitude• We are supposed to standout form others

being followers of Christ not followers of men

• We may not be Jews or Judaizers, but these laws are God’s laws that were handed down to his holy people

• We can’t just ignore them all – can we?

• So “how significant are they today”

English Law

• Many, including Prof Francis Nigel Lee’s book “Common Law: Roots and Fruits”, claim that English law has its roots in Biblical Law

• More importantly, What did Jesus Say?– I come not to

destroy the law but fulfil it

•

About God

1. I am the Lord your God, You shall have no other gods before me

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in

vain4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

About Family

5. Honour your father and mother

About Relationships with Others

6. You shall not kill/murder7. You shall not commit adultery8. You shall not steal9. You shall not bear false witness against your

neighbour10.You shall not covet your neighbour's wife or

anything that belongs to your neighbour

So Are These Significant Today?

What did Jesus Say?– I come not to destroy the law but fulfil it– All the law and the prophets are summarised like this: 35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked ... ...

36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him,

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” 38This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the

prophets.