Today I am going to talk to you about the Ten Commandments. But before I do, I thought it might be fun (at least for me) to start with a little quiz to see how well y’all know the Ten Commandments. Don’t worry I am not going to put anybody on the spot; participation in this quiz is completely voluntary. I’ll just have Johnny zoom in on you with the video camera so everyone watching on the internet will know you don’t know the answers… just kidding.
Let’s start with a simple one. Which commandment tells us to keep God the top priority when it says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”[1]? Which commandment tells us we don’t get to punch someone in the face for being a jerk when it says, “You shall not murder.”[2]? Which commandment tells us to pick up the wet towel in the bathroom when it says, “cleanliness is next to godliness.”? In my house we call that the 11th commandment, but it is not actually one of God’s commandments. Many people think it is, but it is a quote from an 18th century sermon preached by John Wesley. Let’s get back on track. Which commandment tells us not to have sexy thoughts about people we are not married to when it says, “You shall not commit adultery.”[3]? Which commandment tells us to be nice to each other when it says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”? That was is not a commandment either. That’s the golden rule from Jesus’ sermon on the mount. O.k. one more and this one is a real commandment. Which commandment tells us we shouldn’t try to keep up with the Jones when it says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.”[4]?
Don’t feel too bad if you didn’t do so well with this morning’s quiz. These days I don’t think there are many people who could name all Ten Commandments (It is a sad commentary on the biblical illiteracy of our culture but at least it’s job security for me). It doesn’t help that not everyone numbers the commandments the same. The Catholics and Lutherans number them the same but some Protestants split the 2nd commandment into two and combine the 9th and 10th into one. So, our 3rd commandment that tells us to “remember the Sabbath day” is their 4th commandment.
There is no divine numbering system for the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20, where the Ten Commandments are first listed, there are technically 14 directives spread over 14 verses that divide up 11 Hebrew sentences, all of which Jesus condensed down to 2 commandments when He said we are to. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”[5] Another layer of potential confusion occurs when people realize that God doesn’t call them “commandments”; He calls them “words”. That’s why in the First five books of the bible they are referred to as “the Ten Words”. But in our English Bibles Exodus 20 takes 299 words to tell us what the Ten Words are.
So, as I said, don’t feel bad if you didn’t do so well with this morning’s quiz. How one numbers the Ten Commandments or Ten Words doesn’t ultimately matter. What is important is that the essence of the Ten Commandments is properly understood. That is what The LORD our God is telling us in Deuteronomy 4:2 where He inspired Moses to write, “2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” As I see it there are four parts to this verse: 1) do not add to the Ten Commandments and 2) do not subtract form the Ten Commandments because the Ten Commandments are 3) from the LORD 4) Who is your God.
The first part of this verse says, “Do not add to what I command you”. In general, the Jewish religion is really good at ignoring this part of Deuteronomy 4:2. The Jewish religion has not 10 but 613 commandments. Many of these commands are found throughout the pages of scripture but many others are the invention of Rabbis. The Rabbis added these commandments to prevent people from accidentally breaking one of God’s Commandments. The Rabbis commandments act as a sort of fence around God’s commandments. For example, in the third commandment God tells us to” Observe the sabbath day by keeping it holy”. Around that commandment the Rabbis added commandments that prevent a person from holding a tool that could be used for work because someone holding a tool used for work (like your cell phone, laptop, or tablet), could cause a person to accidentally read an email, send a text, or answer a phone call from work and thus become guilty of breaking the third commandment.
I understand the appeal of additional commandments like these. Typically, the commandments that come from the pens of men are a lot easier to keep than the ones carved in stone by the finger of God. Now, we don’t add 603 additional commandments to the original Ten, but we kind of do the same thing when we add our own interpretation or spin to the original Ten. We add to the commands of the LORD God by focusing on the grossest manifestation of a commandment and tell ourselves as long as we are not bowing down to Buddha, join a terrorist cell, become prostitutes, or physically rob a bank then we are keeping the commandments. The problem with the keepable commandments that come from the pens of men is they lead us into a false sense of justification that makes us feel like we deserve God’s grace. They lead us to believe that we can balance out our breaking of the LORD God’s Commandments with the keeping of our own, but that is just simply not how it works. Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Ignoring the first part of Deuteronomy 4:2 certainly has an appeal, but the greater temptation for many of us is to ignore the second part of this verse that says, “do not subtract from it”. You may not be able to list all Ten Commandments, but I don’t think any of us would knowingly and intentionally subtract a commandment from the original Ten. We are too clever for that. Instead, what we like to do is pull the teeth out of the Ten Commandments. For example, we don’t tend to consider the punishment for breaking the 8th commandment to be as severe as the punishment for breaking the 5th commandment. True, the consequences for slandering a neighbor are far less severe than the consequences for murdering that same neighbor. However, according to Proverbs 19:5, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free.” Yet we act like God doesn’t really mind that much if we occasionally tell a little white lie about our neighbor. We try to do something similar with the 2nd commandment. We take the name of the LORD our God in vain so often that we don’t even notice we are doing it. We tell ourselves we don’t mean anything by it and even though Matthew 5:37 tells us using God’s name like a four-letter filth word “comes from the evil one” that still God will understand if we absently use His name in frustration or anger.
By pulling the teeth from the commandments we are attempting to subtract the punishment associated with the breaking of those commandments. I understand the appeal of a toothless commandment. A toothless commandment quickly becomes a recommendation. The problem with treating the Ten Commandments like the Ten recommendations is it leads us to believe it’s O.K. if we choose not to follow those recommendations. Pulling the teeth from the Commandments lead us into a false sense of justification. It leads us to believe that we don’t deserve to be punished for breaking the Commandments of the LORD our God. But that is just simply not true. Ezekiel 18:20 warns, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
I think we are starting to see that it is in our best interest NOT to ignore part one or two of Deuteronomy 4:2. However, just in case you need more motivation let’s look at parts three and four of Deuteronomy 4:2.
In the third part of Deuteronomy 4:2 we are reminded that the Ten commandments are “of the LORD”. These commandments didn’t come from some random guy, they came from almighty God. Moses uses the personal name of God in this verse. In our Bibles it is written with all caps L O R D. It is a name that the Hebrew people considered to be so sacred that they would not dare speak it out loud. The name is made up of four Hebrew letters that resemble the “to be” verb. This makes sense because this is the name of the one who is eternally enduring and immutably changeless. It is the name of the one who laid the earth’s foundations and set the heavens in place. It is the name of the one who causes the sun to rise in the morning and determines when and where the winds might blow. It is the name of the one who made the descendants of Abraham as numerous as sands on the seashore, sent Moses to deliver His people from slavery, and raised up David to secure the promised land. It is the name of the one who sits on the throne of heaven and yet for some inexplicable reason came down to mount Sinai and carved His will on two stone tablets and gave them to us. If you are searching for a reason why you shouldn’t add to what is commanded or subtract from it then start by reminding yourself that the Ten Commandments are backed by the divine power and authority “of the LORD”.
Part three of Deuteronomy 4:2 compels us to obey the LORD’s Ten Commandments, but in the fourth and final part of this verse Moses comforts us with the knowledge that these commandments are from “Your God”. That’s how the almighty God chooses to identify Himself. Over 500 times in the pages of scripture God identifies Himself as “your God”. Most of the time He is referred to as “your God” it is in connection with some blessing like delivering His people from danger or giving them something good. For example, here in Deuteronomy 4:2 God has delivered His people from slavery in Egypt and has led them to the borders of the promised land. You see, your God is not a hateful God who is looking for ways to oppress you. Your God is a loving God who is looking for ways to bless you. For example, your God so loved you that He sent His one and Only Son to perfectly keep all 14 directives spread over 14 verses that divide up 9 Hebrew sentences that make up the Ten Commandments. Your God so loved you that He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross as payment for the debt you are currently incurring with each broken commandment. Your God loves you so much that through the waters of baptism, He adopted you as His own dear child, through the sacrament of the supper He assures you of your place in His family, and through the proclamation of the Word He decrees that you are now an heir of salvation.
Our sin twisted minds want us to see the Ten Commandments as a set of oppressive rules and restrictions that are placed upon us to deprive us of pleasure or cause us suffering. But that is just simply not how your relationship with your God works. Your God seeks to bless His children. That is why He gives us the Ten Commandments. Your God wants to bless the relationship between you and your heavenly Father that is why He gives us Commandments 1-3. Further Your God wants to bless the relationships that exists between you and your brothers and sisters in faith that is why He gives us Commandments 4-10. Your God does not give the Ten Commandments to oppress you, He gives the Ten Commandments to bless you.
When talking about the Ten Commandments it is easy to get distracted by the “thou shalls” and “thou shall nots”. But today we have been reminded that the LORD your God doesn’t use the Ten commandments to oppress us, rather He uses them to bless us. Regardless of how you choose to number them, it is in your best interest to learn the 14 directives spread over 14 verses that divide up 11 Hebrew sentences that take 299 words to give us the Ten Commandments because the essence of the Ten Commandments is the LORD God’s desire to bless you. Therefore, as Moses says in Deuteronomy 4:2, “2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” Amen.
[1] Deuteronomy 5:7 First Commandment
[2] Deuteronomy 5:17 Fifth Commandment
[3] Deuteronomy 5:17 Sixth Commandment
[4] Exodus 20:17 Ninth Commandment
[5] Luke 10:27