10 Commandments Part 2

The Fifth Commandment

The fifth commandment addresses the foundation of a holy nation: the family.

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

A nation is only as strong as the marriages and families within it. The same is true of our churches today. If the marriages in the church are bad, then the church will be weak. If the marriages are not producing godly children, then the church stands on the brink of closing its doors. The purpose of this commandment is to keep that from happening.

This commandment reminds us that the home is to be the first place for spiritual instruction. It also reminds us that if the family structure breaks down, the whole nation will collapse. The family is the foundation for all social interaction, as well as, the health of the nation. If the homes are immoral, then the nation will also be immoral. The parents are to be an example of godliness and teach their children about the God who freed them from slavery in Egypt. When the parents do this, they are acting as God’s representatives. So, if a child disobeys godly parents, they are disobeying God as well.

The phrase, “that you may live long in the land,” is reminding children that as long as they learn from their parents and pass down what they learn to their children, God will allow them to remain in the land. In other words, if you will put God first then He will protect the nation. Remember, serving God and living a life of holiness blesses a nation. Rejecting God and living a life of sin brings the judgment of God to a nation.

 

The Sixth Commandment

The sixth through ninth commandments remind us that even the ungodly nations have laws. Almost every ancient culture considered the following commandments as morally acceptable laws.

Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.

In the ancient world, murder was considered a form of premeditated anger that led to killing someone out of revenge. Even if one’s premeditation only lasted a few seconds, if it led to murder the person was obviously guilty, because they sinned in their anger; they failed to use self-control and self-restraint. No nation could survive if such brutal actions were tolerated. This commandment prohibits taking the law into our own hands.

This commandment does not prohibit killing in times of war. Nor does it prohibit the use of capital punishment by the king or government. If this were so, then this commandment would contradict other laws given to Israel at the same time. The spirit of murder and revenge is never the path to freedom.

 

The Seventh Commandment

Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.

This commandment is designed to protect the integrity of the marriage, as well as, the children within the marriage. As we’ve already mentioned, the family was rightly viewed by the ancient world as the foundation of society. Ancient cultures may have disagreed on how many wives a man could have, but they all agreed that it was wrong to cheat on a wife, no matter how many wives a man had.

Additionally, if a man cheated on his wife it would cause emotional turmoil for her and the children. Adultery was viewed as shameful and disrespectful to one’s entire family. Therefore, not only does this sin affect the family within the home, it had social repercussions outside of the home.

For the nation of Israel, adultery was always associated with the sin of idolatry. The idea being, that if a man would break the vow made to his wife, he would also break his vow to the Lord. If he will cheat on his wife, he will cheat on God by being disobedient. Remember, the Scripture equates our love for God with our obedience to God (see 1 John 4:20-21, 5:3).

From the very beginning, marriage was viewed as a man and a woman becoming one. This was to reflect the original unity of God and humankind before the fall of man. That is, marriage is the relationship God established at creation to be a reflection of His love for us and our love for Him. The purpose of salvation is to bring us back to that original state of being one with God. This is what Christ prayed for at the Last Supper (see John 17:11, 21-22).

The bottom line: it is never right to have sexual relations with any one other than your wife. Jesus even took this commandment a step further by saying, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

 

The Eighth Commandment

Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal.

The purpose of this commandment goes far beyond the taking of physical property. While it does prohibit the taking of another person’s material possessions, it also refers to non-material possessions.

This commandment prohibits the taking of another person’s freedom, rights or dignity. It is never right to harm someone emotionally, thereby stealing their peace. It is never right to abuse your authority over a person in the home or at work to the point of enslaving them. It is never right to be lazy and steal time from your employer.

This commandment would even include things like kidnapping or cheating someone out of their birth right, etc. It is never right to take anything from anyone that doesn’t belong to you. Stealing never leads to the peace and holiness of God.

 

The Ninth Commandment

Exodus 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

This commandment is connected to the eighth commandment in the sense that giving a false testimony is a form of theft. It is taking a person’s integrity, their time and possibly their possessions because of a lie.

The idea behind this commandment is that we should never harm a person’s character in order to get our way. We should not gossip or tell lies. Specifically, we should never lie in a legal setting.

This commandment, like many of the commandments, is designed to strengthen the moral integrity of the nation. If people are allowed to lie and be dishonest, then the whole nation will become unjust. Freedom comes from being honest and telling the truth.

 

The Tenth Commandment

The tenth commandment, like the first commandment, addresses the importance of the mind and thought life.

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The first commandment addressed the false belief that there are many gods. The tenth commandment addresses the false belief that we can hide things from the one and only God. Here, God reminds us that we can not hide anything from Him. Thus, the first and tenth commandments work together to destroy any false perceptions of the universe and our life on earth.

These two commandments teach us that there is only one God and that He alone sees all things, including our thoughts. Therefore, this commandment differs from the first nine in that only God can punish those who violate this commandment, because only He can see a person’s thoughts and motives. It reminds us to worship the one and only God, who is Spirit and unseen, and who alone has the power to see our unseen thoughts.

This commandment also addresses the idea of sinful desires. To “covet” is to look for a short cut to God’s blessings and His will for our lives. It is to say, “I don’t want to be holy like my Maker.” To covet is to believe that what God gives us is not enough. It is questioning His love and provision for our lives. To covet is to say, “God is not enough.” Of course, this is incorrect; God is the only thing we truly need.

An additional purpose for this commandment is to teach us to keep our minds pure. Sinful thoughts are the seeds we plant that become sinful actions and cause us to break the first nine commandments. We should keep our minds on God so that we might live in a state of peace. It is never right or good for us to violate God’s commands. Obeying God’s commands always leads to life and always makes our life better. Obeying God’s is the path to freedom.