Ten Commandments

Here are the Ten Commandments, recorded in Exodus 20:1-18, explained in simple terms.

To whom is God speaking above?
To Moses, just before giving him the Ten Commandments.

How are the Ten Commandments grouped?
As we will see below, the first four of the Ten Commandments concern our 'vertical' relationship with God; the remaining six Commandments concern our 'horizontal' relationship with each other.

What is the First Commandment?
“You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).

What qualifies as such "gods"?
Any entity that you put "before" God.

What could be such an entity?
Something distant and remote as a golden calf or something close like your wealth, work, house, hobby, favorite TV show or sport, even family or friends. It is anyone or anything that you 'end up' prioritizing or that gets in your way of obeying, worshipping and glorifying God.

What is the Second Commandment?
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image - any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5).

Why did God limit this Commandment to just "carved" images instead of including 'all' images?
There were no oil paintings in those days. All images were carved, so to those who received this Commandment, "carved" images were all images, which is the application for us today. God knows our visual nature and our inclination to worship what we can see and/or touch, and gave us this Commandment to have us worship Him not physically or visually, but in spirit and truth, for "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:4).

Can we at least hang and worship images of Jesus?
No. For one, we don't know what He looked like, other than that He wasn't handsome: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). For another, the interdiction above includes images of even God ("in heaven above"); God is far too great to be portrayed visually. He wants us to worship Him directly in spirit, not through physical images of any kind.

What is the Third Commandment?
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

What are some modern examples of taking God's name in vain?
"Oh my G_d!," "G_d d... it!" "For G_d's sake!" "J_s_s Chr_st!" "Jeez," etc. God's holy name should be verbalized only in worship and reverence, not to express surprise, frustration, shock or to swear regardless of how common blaspheming His name has become in our increasingly wicked society.

How severe is the consequence of taking God's "name in vain"?
Severe enough for God to explicitly warn that He "will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

What is the Fourth Commandment?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates" (Exodus 20:8-10).

So who is supposed to work seven days a week?
Nobody.

Does the seventh day belong to the employer or the employees?
Neither of them, as it belongs to God: "seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:19).

What are we supposed to do on the seventh day?
"Keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8).

What does that mean?
The root of the Hebrew word translated "keep it holy" is קָדַשׁ (qadash), which means, "unique and pure," hence the nature of God, but also "consecrated or dedicated to service and loyalty to God."

Does preaching, teaching, leading musical worship, ushering, etc. during church service on the seventh day qualify as "service" to God?
Yes.

What about only being on the receiving end of their service?
A Christian being fed spiritually during a church service is like a marathon runner being fed an energizing meal before a marathon. Just as a self-declared marathoner who only eats but never runs is an imposter, so is a self-declared "Christian" who attends church services but never serves God: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

Which of the following activities qualifies as an expression of "service and loyalty to God": watching sports, playing sports, watching a movie, playing video games, shopping, dining out, socializing, or recovering from a hangover?
 

What will you do to serve God this coming seventh day?
 

What is the Fifth Commandment?
Parents typically sacrifice more for their children than anyone else does. As His first Commandment concerning our relationship with fellow humans, God told us to honor our parents.

Does that mean children should obey everything their parents tell them to do?
As long as their commands do not contradict God's commands in the Bible: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1). If the parents' commands contradict the Bible and therefore are not "in the Lord," their commands must not be obeyed, for "we ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

What is the Sixth Commandment?
"You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).

What does "murder" include?
Not only taking someone's life without a cause, but according to Jesus, even being angry with someone without a cause: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." (Matthew 5:21-22).

Does it also include killing babies who are in the wombs of their mothers and who can't even cry out, let alone defend themselves?
 

What is the Seventh Commandment?
"You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14).

What is "adultery"?
Any sex outside of a marriage between a man and his wife. According to Jesus, it includes not only sex acts but also sexual thoughts outside of marriage: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).

What does looking "to lust" include?
Pornography.

What about homosexual sex?
God called it an "abomination" comparable to bestiality and strictly forbade it: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you" (Leviticus 18:22-24).

What is the Eight Commandment?
"You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15).

What does it mean to "steal"?
Take or keep by force or deceit anything that does not belong to you, including "petty" theft, shoplifting, porch piracy, not turning in a found lost item, padding expense reports, plagiarism, rape, human trafficking, fraudulently withholding the "wages of laborers" (James 5:4), etc.

What is the penalty for shoplifting to resell the stolen merchandise?
400% to 500 of the value of the stolen merchandise: "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep" (Exodus 22:1).

What is the penalty for human trafficking?
Death: "He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death" (Exodus 21:16).

What is the penalty for killing a robber or a burglar?
None: "If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed" (Exodus 22:2).

What is the Ninth Commandment?
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).

What does it means to "bear false witness against your neighbor"?
Say anything false about someone.

What about lawyers lying about their clients' accusers to uphold their fiduciary duty to their clients, or political candidates lying about their opponents in order to win?
Lawyers' first duty is to God, who chooses earthly rulers: "... Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings ..." (Daniel 2:20-21).  

What does the Tenth Commandment say we can covet?
Nothing.

What does coveting forfeit?
Heaven: "For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God" (Ephesians 5:5).

Why?
To be covetous of what others have is to be dissatisfied with what God has given you: His own life and heaven. Anyone who isn't ecstatic with that does not believe what Jesus has given them or is rebelling against Him and therefore has no "inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

How many of God's Ten Commandments above have you broken?
 

If God judges you by His law today, will you go to heaven or hell?
 

What did God do to save you, and why?
See John 3:16.