Study of the Te n Command ments

First I would like to address the question of validity. Some Christians say we need
to get out of the O ld Testame nt and get into the N ew Te stament. Liste n to the
words of Jesus in the N ew Te stament. M atthew 2 2:36-40 "T eacher, which is the
greatest c ommandment in the La w?" Jes us replied: "'Love the Lord your Go d with
all your heart and w ith all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." These words
indicate that Christians still need the Moral Law of God. Not for salvation purposes
but out of Love for J esus. H e said Jo hn 14:15 "If you love me , you will obey w hat I
command . So the T en C omma nds are to be ob eyed out of love for Jesus. Again
Jesus s ays "Do not think that I have c ome to ab olish the Law o r the Prophe ts; I have
not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and
earth disap pear, no t the smallest letter, not the least s troke of a p en, will by any
means disa ppear from the Law until everything is acc omplished. A nyone who
breaks one of the leas t of these co mmandments a nd teache s others to do the sa me
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Ma tthew 5:17-19 If
Jesus says we need to obey His Commands, well we need to obey them. It is as
simple as that. If we think differently than wha t the Bible clearly tea ches then w e
need to repent and obey. Proverb 30:5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a
shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke
you and prove you a liar. Let us look and see if God needs to rebuke us!

Exodus 20:1-17
1 And God spoke all these words:
Notice w ho is spea king, God . This is His W ords so we nee d to listen.

2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of
slavery.
LORD (self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of
God:--Jehovah) Jehovah is speaking and reminding Israel who He is and what He
has done for them through Moses. It is also noteworthy that Jesus delivers us from
bondage as we ll.

First Command ment:

3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
The First Commandment is c lear; do not have anything in your life that is
more important tha n Our Cre ator, our Fa ther and our G od! He delivered us and
Saves us through Jesus His Son and deserve s prominence in our lives. 1Co rinthians
6:19 know ye not that your bo dy is the temple o f the Holy Ghos t which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Second Command ment:

4 "You s hall not make for yours elf an idol in the form of anything in heaven abo ve
or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God,
am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathe rs to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but show ing love to a thousa nd generations of those w ho love me and keep my
commandments.
Idolatry, What is it? The Hebrew word translated in the King James version
of the Bible is graven image. (to carve, whether wood or stone:--grave, hew). An
idol is changing the image of God into our image. Thinking about God in ways other
than who He is. To change His image is to worship God in your own image. Notice
we are Created in His image, not vice versa. If we have anything in our lives which
we hold dear to our hearts more than Him we are worshiping that thing instead of
the C reator. What w e will not s urrender to H im we will ultimate ly wo rship ! God is
jealous? Yes. But the jealousy refers to His zeal or anger. What is He angry at or
about? Ido latry, sin, putting other things ahe ad of Him! God s ays He w ill punish the
children for the sins of their fathers to the third and forth generations o f those who
hate Him. Seems unjust or does it? The Hebrew word for visit or punish is as
follows; [to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy, to oversee, muster,
charge, care for, miss, deposit]. Who suffers when parents are hateful toward God?
Is it not the children? Ad am C lark des cribes this portio n of Scripture this w ay; This
necessarily implies-IF the children walk in the steps of their fathers; for no man can
be conde mned by Divine Justice for a crime of which he w as never guilty; idolatry
is howeve r particularly intended, and visiting sins of this kind refers p rincipally to
national judgments . Verse six shows the love and mercy of God toward those that
love God and obe ys His comma nds. N otice the difference betwe en the judgment
upon the generations of those who hate God is much less than the mercy or love He
shows to those that live in loving obedience.

Third Comma ndment:

7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not
hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
 Bec ause God s Name is Sa cred and Ho ly any misus e of H is name w ill
automatically get God s attention. To misuse or take His name in vain is to slander
or empty G od out of our he arts. N otice Go d says H e will not allow a p erson to
escap e punishment for ca lling Him a liar or emptying His Name a s useless . Jesus
says in M atthew 5 :33-37 "Aga in, you have hea rd that it was said to the p eople long
ago, 'Do no t break yo ur oath, but k eep the o aths you have made to the Lord.' But I
tell you, Do no t swea r at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the ea rth,
for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not
swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let
your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and yo ur 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this c omes from the evil
one. Again Jesus speaking concerning words in Matthew 12:36,37 But I tell you
that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every ca reless word
they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you
will be condemned." Let us therefore watch our words and not use them to slander
or for evil speec h.

Forth Comma ndment:

8 "Reme mber the Sa bbath da y by keep ing it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do
any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
11 For in s ix days the LO RD made the heavens and the e arth, the sea , and all that is
in them, but he res ted on the s eventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabb ath
day and made it holy.
The Sab bath is a da y of remembranc e. One day in seven to rest from our
labo rs and re memb er our Great Creator! Notice God made it Holy. N o Christian is
free to disob ey what G od has C ommanded . Mo st Christians d isobey this C ommand
by not rememb ering and choo se to sa y Sunday is the S abbath. I challenge you to
find in the New Testament where it says this Command is nullified. Also remember
what Jesus said; M atthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Believing in Jesus and walking in obed ience to Him is reme mbering the Sab bath.
Continued study of this topic, one should refer to Hebrews. 4:7-11 Therefore God
again set a c ertain day, c alling it Today, whe n a long time later he sp oke through
David, as was s aid before: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another
day. 9 T here remains, then, a Sa bbath-res t for the peop le of God; 1 0 for anyone w ho
enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. 11 Let us,
therefore, ma ke every e ffort to enter that res t, so that no one will fall by following
their example of disobedience.

Fifth Commandment:
12 "Hono r your father and yo ur mother, so that you may live long in the land the
LORD your God is giving you.

This is the first Comma ndment with a p romise attac hed. That you may live
long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Now what does He mean honor
your father and yo ur mother? The Heb rew w ord for honor c an be trans lated- to
promote. The Etymology D ictionary defines the w ord honor this w ay; high respec t,
as for wo rth, merit, or rank: to b e held in honor. G od s first institution was the
family. Father, mother and childre n. G od k now s tha t if child ren w ill hono r their
parents, they will certainly be more apt to honor Him. It is a disgrace to God s
character and love to dishonor our parents!

Sixth Command ment:

13 "You s hall not murder.
First off let us realize that the KJV translated the word kill. The Hebrew
word me ans man-slaye r, murder. So the word kill does not and is not what w e are to
obey hear. Murder is different from killing. Listen to other Scriptures define what
God is s aying in this Command. Matthe w 5:21 "Y ou have hea rd that it was said to
the people long ago, 'Do no t murder, {21 Exod us 20:13} and anyone who murde rs
will be subject to judgment.'
22 But I tell you that a nyone who is angry with his brothe r {22 So me manuscripts
<brothe r without caus e>} w ill be subject to jud gment. Again, anyo ne who s ays to
his brother, 'Ra ca, {2 2 An Arama ic term of contemp t} 'is answerable to the
Sanhedrin. B ut anyone who says, 'Y ou fool!' will be in dange r of the fire of hell.
1John 3:15 Anyone w ho hates his b rother is a murde rer, and yo u know tha t no
murderer has eternal life in him.
Proverb 6 :16-19 There are six things the LOR D hates , seven tha t are dete stable to
him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that d evises w icke d sc heme s, fe et that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witnes s who p ours out lies and a man who stirs up disse nsion among
brothers. Now we see the difference between murder and killing. The King James
translators miss ed the trans lation from original Hebrew . ratsach is a primitive
root; prop erly, to das h in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), esp ecially to murder:--put
to death, kill, (man-)slay(-er), murder(-er).
To kill someone or to murder someone is different; to kill someone in self defense or
in case of war does not fall into the same category as murder.
Here is an illustration for killing;
1Samuel 15:2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites
for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3
Now go, attac k the Amalek ites and tota lly destroy everything that b elongs to them.
Do not s pare them; p ut to death me n and wo men, children and infants, cattle and
sheep, camels and donkeys .'"
Israel went to war with the Amalekites. They were a wicked and Idolatress people.
Israel was acting in self defense under the direction of God.
An illustration of murder is;
Ps 106 :34 They did not d estroy the p eoples a s the LOR D had c ommanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
36 They w orshiped the ir idols, which became a s nare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they
sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was de secrated by their blood.
You see killing and murdering are two different things. The best illustration of
murder to day is ab ortio n. The shedding o f innoc ent b lood ! Soldiers do not commit
murder when fighting for our Country.

Seventh C ommandment:
14 "Yo u shall not commit adultery.
Adultery covers a multitude of sins pertaining to sex. Most people think that
you have to be married in order to commit this sin. Not true! Listen to Jesus;
Matthew 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' {27
Exodus 20:14} 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has
already committed ad ultery with her in his heart. It is a lso note worthy to ap ply this
commandment to our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Part of being an
obedient Christian if faithfulness. Going to Church, serving and loving others,
witne ssing, wo rshiping etc ...a re all part of what G od w ants for our lives. If we
become unfaithful we have committed spiritual adultery!

Eight Command ment:

15 "You sha ll not s teal.
To the simple minded, this commandment is easy. Do not take anything that
doe s not belong to you or that you ha ve no t earned . This is a bso lutely wha t this
command is saying! But, there is a spiritual aspect to stealing. Listen again to God
speak; Malachi 3:8-10 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How
do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-- the whole nation of
you-- because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see
if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that
you will not have room enough for it. God is a giving God and He wants us to be
giving as well. Let us not steal from our neighbors or steal from God what is His!

Ninth Comma ndment:

16 "You s hall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Again, w hat is hard abo ut this command abo ut lying? If your neighbo r is
doing well and you are not, the tend ency of fallen man is to attack his neighbor s
character. Giving false testimony is a willful and premeditated act! One of the best
ways of bringing shame upon yourself is to lie about them in some way. Hear are a
few Scripture to give greater understanding about this command; Proverb 6:16-19
There are six things the LOR D hates , seven tha t are dete stable to him: haughty
eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked
schemes , feet that are quick to rush into e vil, a false witness who po urs out lies and
a man who stirs up disse nsion among bro thers. Notice tw o of the seve n things
detesta ble to the Lord have to do with false testimonies , lying. Again, listen to
Jesus; M atthew 5 :33-37 "Aga in, you have hea rd that it was said to the p eople long
ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great
King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or
blac k. S imply le t your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and yo ur 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this
comes from the evil one. Proverb has selective passages concerning gossip-which
is false testimony: Prove rb 11:13 A gossip b etrays a c onfidence, b ut a trustwo rthy
man k eep s a s ecret. 16:2 8 A pe rverse man stirs up dis sension, and a goss ip
separates close friends. 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they
go down to a man's inmost parts. 20:19 A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a
man who talks too much. 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a
quarrel dies down. The most stunning and straight forward passage is Revelation
21:8 But the cowardly, the unb elieving, the vile , the murderers, the s exua lly
immoral, those who practice magic arts , the idola ters and all liars-- their p lace will
be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Do not lie or gossip,
enough said!

Tenth Co mmandment:
17 "You s hall not co vet your neighb or's house. You s hall not co vet your neighb or's
wife, or his mans ervant or maids ervant, his ox o r donkey, or anything that belongs
to your neighbor."
Let us define co vetous; to d esire wro ngfully, inordinately, or without due
regard for the rights of others: to covet another's property. The Hebrew word for
covet literally means, to delight in. Whe n you see s omething your neighbor ha s and
you do not have the same thing and you start thinking things like, I wish I had that, I
want what they have, I dese rve w hat they have etc... that is co veting! Here again is
other Scriptures to define this Commandment; Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd
said to him, Teache r, tell my brother to d ivide the inheritance w ith me. 14 Jes us
replied, Man, who ap pointed me a judge or an a rbiter betw een you? 15 Then he
said to the m, "W atch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life
doe s not consist in the abundance of his pos ses sions." 16 A nd he told them this
parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger
ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.
Tak e life e asy; eat, drink a nd be merry." ' 20 "But God sa id to him, 'Y ou fool! This
very night your life will be demande d from you. The n who w ill get what you have
prepare d for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyo ne who s tores up things
for himself but is not rich toward God." Again listen to Paul; Colossians 3:1 Since,
then, you have been raise d with Christ, set your hearts on things above, whe re
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Finally, we reach this verse to bring this Commandment to full understanding.
Hebrew s 13:5 Keep yo ur lives free from the love of mone y and be c ontent with
what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake
you. "
Now we have heard the Truth of God s Commandments. God is enough! He
wants yo u and I to live Free from the bondage of sin! God through His S on Jesus
Christ wants us to be filled with Him, through the Holy Spirit. God w ill bring every
man into judgement. The question is not if we have kept all these Commandments,
for this is impos sible , it is whe ther we belie ve in J esus Christ as the only sin
substitute. Jes us fulfille d the entire Law of God where we have broken them all!
James 2 :10 For w hoever k eep s the who le law and yet s tumbles a t just one point is
guilty of breaking all of it.
Here is a reminder; Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." These
words indicate that Christians still need the Moral Law of God. Not for salvation
purp ose s but out of Love for Jesus. He said John 14:15 "If you love me, you w ill
obey w hat I command . So the Te n Command ments are to be obe yed out of love
for Jesus! Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been s aved, through faith--
and this not from yours elves, it is the gift of God -- 9 not by w orks, s o that no one
can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which G od p repared in advance for us to do. The good works Pa ul is
speak ing of is obedience to the Law of the Ten C ommandments . Jesus died and
shed His Blood to wash away our sins, disobeying the Law, and is calling us to a
holy life . The only wa y to live a H oly life is repenting of our s ins and believing in
the d eath, burial a nd re surrection of Jes us C hrist, and the n wa lking a nd living in
obedience to the Holy Law of God! If you Love me, obey my Commands! Jesus.