Ten Commandments
Part 10
Summary of the
first tablet, Intro to the second tablet
Jesus’ words to
the lawyer who questioned him about what was greatest commandment captures the
essence of the two tablets. He
summarizes the first tablet by saying “You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” He summarizes the second with the words “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39). The commandments on the first tablet speak to
our vertical relationship with God.
Commandment 1 (Protestant 1 and 2) speaks of our venerating the true God
in love. Commandment 2 (Protestant 3) speaks
of our glorifying God by our speech.
Commandment 3 (Protestant 4) speaks of our worship of God and his giving
us rest. The first tablet culminates in
our family relationships. The first
tablet focuses upon God and his moral authority over our lives. This culminates in the commandment to honor our
parents. It is the only commandment on the first tablet which speaks of human
to human contact. It is done so on the
basis of authority. The authority
parents have over their children is a link to God’s authority over us.
The remainder of
the commandments, (tablet 2), speak to our horizontal relationship with each
other. The 5th (Protestant 6th)
through the 10th commandments describe life in society on a
horizontal relationship. They culminate
in the prohibition against coveting. The antecedent of murder, adultery, theft,
and false witness is often coveting.
Even so, they
are also based on our relationship with God.
Our relationship with God and our understanding of how he wants us to
live greatly affect our relationships with each other. The remainder of the commandments can be seen
as practical rules for getting along in a difficult world. They particularly describe how we who are in
the church Jesus established are to get along with each other.
Food for thought
1. As you read through the remainder of the Ten
Commandments, how does the perspective change?
2. How does parental authority impact divine
authority?
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