Ten Commandments Part 3
Aspects of
the Ten Commandments
Although we refer to them as the Ten Commandments,
they really aren’t commandments at all.
The Hebrew word “debarim” (Greek
logous) is translated “words. It never refers to “commandments.” The Greek word logous is the plural form of the word logos, translated “word” in John 1:1. There is a connection between the “Ten Words”
and Jesus as the “Word” of God. Of the twenty-four verbal forms in the Ten Commandments only one is an
imperative command. The rest are
declarative verbs. There is a difference between a command and a
declarative word. A command doesn’t
require dialogue. A word “is the
essential medium of relationship as a dialogue.”[1] The
Ten Commandments speak to the covenantal relationship we alluded to
earlier.
The back story helps us
understand this. God has rescued the
people from slavery. When they reach
Mount Sinai God tells them that if they keep his covenant they will be his people. All the people replied “All that the LORD has
spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8). God,
in the Ten Commandments, describes what keeping his commandments will look
like. He effectively says “then you will
have no other gods, will honor your parents, won’t kill, steal,” etc.
This is a key point for
us to remember. Israel’s desire to keep
the commandments was grounded in their gratitude and love for God. Because he had freed them they desired to please
him by following his dictates.
The majority of the
commandments are cast in a negative framework, with the 3rd and 4th
(Protestant 4th and 5th) being positive. In each case the opposite side is also
implied. For example, to say “you shall
not worship other gods” implies “You shall worship God.” To say “you shall not kill” says “you shall
honor life.” Each time we look at a negative command
we must look at the truth of its contrary affirmative command. Each time we look at a positive command we
must look at the truth of its contrary negative command.
We can ask why they are mostly negative statements. It is because being human, we tend to violate
them in one way or another. Therefore,
they are cast in a negative light to point out to us the things we shouldn’t be
doing that we find ourselves doing.
All of the commandments are very personal. The prelude (Exodus 20:3) is in the first
person. God addresses the people with
the pronoun “I.” Throughout the commandments the word “you” is singular,
implying that God is personally speaking to each one of us. For example, he says to me “I, God, and you,
David, are in a relationship together.
And if we are going to continue to be in relationship together this is
what your life should look like.” Next time you read the Ten Commandments add
your own name with the word “you.” You
may find them more meaningful.
Eight
of the commandments concern action, the 2nd (Protestant 3rd)
and the 8th (Protestant 9th) concern speech. The 9th and 10th (Protestant
10th) are concerned with thought.
When we read the commandments it is easy to think that their focus is
solely on right behavior. That is not
the case. While they begin with the goal
of transforming external behavior, the ultimate goal is to transform the inner
self.[2] Rabbi Akiba, speaking of this, says that the
act of restraint helps bring about holiness.
The Ten Commandments have a more elevated purpose than what is merely
permitted, forbidden, or obligatory.
They describe the conditions for membership in a community. For Israel, anyone who didn’t observe them
excluded him/herself from the community of the faithful. They aren’t concerned with punishments – that
is dealt with elsewhere. In this sense
they are like our Declaration of Independence.
It doesn’t list punishments for those who don’t embrace “all men are
created equal.” Other laws do that.
“The Ten Words establish the conditions necessary for a
free, loving, and just community of God’s people to develop and flourish.”[3] They
all begin with “I, God, and you, man, now we belong together. And if
we are to remain together, then your life will look like this:”[4]
As we will see when we look at each individual
commandments we will find we have broken all of them. Our failure to keep the Ten Commandments
calls forth a prayer for mercy. It is a
prayer that God will not give us what we deserve, but be merciful to us and the
culture in which we live. It is in the sense
that the commandments help define a community of the faithful that I think we
will see them becoming more meaningful in the church again.
We can look at
the Ten Commandments literally and typically.
Literally, it refers to a historical event – when Israel was delivered
out of their bondage in Egypt.
Typically, we can see ourselves to be in bondage. Just as Israel was in bondage under the
tyranny of Pharaoh, so we are in bondage under the tyranny of Satan. Just as Israel was saved by God’s hand from
the power of Pharaoh so we are saved from the power of Satan.
Next week we will look at the confusion caused by different church bodies numbering the commandments differently.
Food for thought
1.
How do the
commandments seem different when you include your name in them?
[1] http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180620_udienza-generale.html
[2]
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Biblical Literacy
(New York: William Morrow Co, 1997) p. 420.
[3]
Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten
Thousand Places (Grand Rapids: Wm B Eerdmans, 2005), p 252.
[4]
Ernst Lange, Ten Great Freedoms (Downers
Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1970), p 1
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