The Ten Commandments: Commandments 9 & 10

¹⁶ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20: 16,17 (NIV)

The first commandment that we are going to discuss in this article is the 9th commandment, You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. I’m sure that everyone who has heard of this commandment before knows that it means that we should not lie. Ever since we were little kids our parents have told us that lying is wrong and we shouldn’t do that, but they hardly tell us why lying is wrong. Why shouldn’t they, they’ve lied as well, people don’t understand the seriousness of a lie. According to the Bible, God absolutely hates it when people lie; to Him it is an abomination. In society today, lying has become so common that it has become a part of or everyday lives; even in the lives of God’s people.

Lying is born out of fear and pride. Fear is the first reason that we lie; we fear of the consequences that will come if we tell the truth. If we yield to  that fear that makes us lie we are showing a lack of trust in God to take care of the situation. If we trust God to handle the fearful situation it will turn out for the better, whether you know it or not. The second reason why we lie is because of pride. We are concerned of what people will think of us. We desire their approval above God’s approval. Jesus always told the truth, no matter what people would think about Him. He cared very little about the lies being told about Him by the Sanhedrin. All Jesus was concerned about was telling the truth, because the truth will always make us clean again.

Then tenth and final commandment is You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What is commandment means it not to covet, or desire, the possessions of  someone else. This does not only mean the things that person owns. It could also be his or her spouse, children, job, or the person’s life in general. Another word for coveting is lusting; the act of wanting what the other person has so badly. Breaking this commandment causes you to resent your own life, comparing it to the life and leaving yourself feeling bitter and angry at everything; we become a green-eyed monster. We must be content with what we have; though it may be hard to believe, there are problems in that person’s life that you might not even know about and then boom, the life that you so covet is not as perfect as you thought it was. Do not become a green eyed monster, be content with what you have and try to live your life, not someone else’s.

The Ten Commandments: Commandments 7 & 8

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵ “You shall not steal. Exodus 20: 14-15 (NIV)

Don’t cheat and don’t steal

The next commandment is “You shall not commit adultery”. Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse.This is probably one of the most common commandments broken in society today. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for married couples to get divorced because one of them had an affair with another individual behind their spouses back. People do not understand the seriousness of breaking this commandment; in ancient times when a husband or wife cheated on their spouse, the cheating spouse and their lover would be put to death, thankfully it’s not that way now, but it shows how serious marriage is to God. First of all the relationship of a husband and wife is akin to a relationship within the trinity, like The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, they are one. Another reason why one should not commit adultery is because it not also destroys marriages, but also can have short term or long term affects on children. Children who have learned that one of their parents has committed adultery most of the time display signs of bitterness and anger towards people, especially the cheating parent. Also the child might feel that it was his/her fault that the parent cheated and begins to show signs of insecurity’ adultery affects everyone in the family, especially children. Jesus also extends this commandment by saying, “But I say to you, anyone who looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28) What Jesus means that if we look at a man with lust, meaning that we want to do sexual activities with them, we are committing adultery, it doesn’t matter if you don’t do act on those lustful impulses. While God is harsh on those who commit adultery, but He does not unforgiving towards them, all He asks that if we do commit adultery is to never do it again.

The eight commandment is “You shall not steal. Now I know that we’ve been told time and time again that stealing is wrong, the bible clearly states that thieves should be punished. However few people have told us why stealing is wrong, the New Testament explains that we should not need to steal because we should count on God to provide for our material needs. When Zacchaeus was still a tax collector he would steal a portion of the taxes from the people and keep it for himself. When he was converted by Jesus he learned a valuable lesson about wanting earthly things, “¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV) The treasures of the earth will be long gone soon, so we should try to keep the treasures that do not have to be stolen, they are given freely to us by God.

Ten Commandments: Commandments 5 & 6

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. Exodus 20:12-13 (NIV)

5 & 6 Commandments

The first four Commandments instruct us how to recognize, worship and obey the true God. The next six Commandments explain how to live a peaceful life with our fellow man, beginning with the parents; which is why the fifth commandment is “Honor your father and your mother.”

The word honor means that we show respect for our parents for all the love and care that they give us. As kids it is our duty to listen to what our parents tell us, because even though it’s tough to believe at times, they have our best interest at heart. They know what is the best for us. When we are children (and it is true, don’t deny it) all we want to do is to do what makes us feel happy. Oftentimes these things are not good or safe, and can sometimes be just plain stupid. If we listen to the advice of our parents than our lives will be for the better.

However the fifth commandment is not a “one way street”. Parents have a responsibility to conduct themselves as worthy parents. The role of the parent is a huge honor given by God, and their lives can have a huge impact on the lives of their children; both for good and bad.  The best way for a parent to teach their children the difference between right and wrong is to live as an example for them, because when kids grow up what they will become depends greatly on the influence of their parents.

The sixth commandment is “You shall not murder.” Now the first thing that I want to say is that there is a difference between killing and murder. Murder is the unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice; meaning murder is when someone kills a person out of hate, and that it was well thought-out and planned. However killing is something different. All it means is that you take a life, most of the time out of self-defense. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that killing in self-defense is wrong. In fact, Jesus told His disciples before they left on their journey to buy a sword in preparation for self-defense. So if someone is trying to extinguish your own life it is not considered murder, but self-defense; however when faced with such situation it is better to try other options first. Also to kill during war is not considered murder either, the bible says in Romans 13:1-4 that we have to right to raise the sword against evildoers, both foreign and domestic.  However the bible does not condone violence of the mind as well as the hands, meaning that if we despise or hate someone we are committing murder, because you are secretly wishing that the person of your heat never existed. “Do not envy a violent men or choose his ways” proverbs 3:31, it is far better not to be a violent person, patience and pray beats violence and anger any day.

The Ten Commandments: Commandments 3 & 4

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Exodus 20: 7,8  (NIV)

The Third Commandment is “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.” What this commandment means is that we should not just throw the Lord’s name around as if it was a common thing. Saying God’s name in the place of a swear word, such as “Oh my God” or saying “God” in a frustrated tone of voice is misusing His name. Using the Lord’s name in this manner shows that we have little respect for God and that His name means little to us.

Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holey

There is also another way that we can misuse the Lord’s name. As Christians we are a representation of God Himself. What we do and say represents our opinion of God, and it can also affect the opinion of others about God as well. It was so important to God that we act righteously in His name that He made it a commandment!

The fourth, and probably one of the most important commandments is “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” The Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week that God set aside for us as a day of rest. It is a day when we do not work; where we spend time with family and worship God. But the Sabbath is much more then a day of rest, it is the most debated subject in all of Christendom.

The majority of Christians believe that the Sabbath is on Sunday instead of Saturday.  There is no Biblical proof at all of any change in the Bible at all. According to the catholic publication, Catholic Virginian, “...nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.”

Even though this is true most Christians still worship the Sabbath on Sunday because it is what they grew up with. It becomes a mindset and a lifestyle, and people are very reluctant to change such things. But we must realize that keeping the Sabbath on the true Sabbath day  is a sign of loyalty to God, acknowledging Him as the Creator. In the final days of Earth, when the Sunday Law is passed, keeping this commandment will prove who the true followers of God are.

The Ten Commandmants: Commandments 1 & 2

  ³ “You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them;Exodus 20:3-5a(NIV)

The Ten Commandments were the laws that God Himself wrote for His people. The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me.” What that commandments means is that there shall be no idol worship among His people, for God is our one and only God. However the idols mentioned in the commandment do not just include  those gigantic statues  that the pagans use to worship. What the commandment means that we

should not hold anything above God, anything that takes up most of your time and alienates you from people and from God. A perfect example of a modern idol is video games.  How many people do you know or have heard

of spending hours, days, playing all kinds of video games, while they ignore their friends and family because their god is the mighty control. God created this commandment because He knew that the Israelites would be tempted by the lure of foreign idols, while there may not be anymore large golden statue around to tempt us there are still plenty of other idols in the world that, if allowed, will become our gods.

The Second commandment is “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Now people often assume that this commandment is just a repetition of the first commandment. But in reality it what this commandment means is that making images of Jesus, or Christian relics as such crosses, as holy. The cross itself is not holy, what happened on the Cross is holy, and making objects, even if they are meant to represent God, we are just making inanimate objects, like the pagan idols of old, as holy as God is.