Teachinghearts	The Ten Commandments "Explore the Word. Change the World"	Statistics: Time: 30 minutes Print: 6 pages

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The ten Commandments were written by God on two tables of blue stone and they were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The other laws were written by Moses but they were apparently given to him by God. They were of lesser importance because they were temporary and based on repairing a flawed system. When the world is perfect, some of them will not be needed.

Love
Love is the basis of the ten commandments in both the Old and New Testaments.

1. The first four commandments describe our duties to God.
   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind - (Deuteronomy 30: 6; Luke 10: 27)
   For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5: 3 )
2. The last six describe our duties to each other.
   Love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19: 18,34. Matthew 22: 37,39)

Christ in the Law
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. (Matthew 5: 17)
How did He fulfill the law? He kept the law and He magnified the law and made it honorable.

Until heaven and earth pass away not one of the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5: 18)
Has all been accomplished? No. Sin and sinners still exist.
Has heaven and earth passed away? No. Earth will pass away and be recreated after the millennium, but heaven will never be destroyed. Therefore, the law is eternal. At a minimun no law will change until the new heavens and earth exist.
But you say that there are laws that were changed.
You have heard it was said, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". But I say to you, do not resist an evil person ... (Matthew 5: 38-39)
This law has not changed. What has changed is the person who administers the wrath. Under a theocracy, the people who are guided by God administered this type of justice. Since God no longer supports a theocracy on earth, such judgment must wait for God. Until then mercy rules.

Christ came to magnify the law. Instead of abolishing the law, He made the standards tougher. Hate and anger were the same as murder. Lust was the same as adultery. So sin was not just what you did, or what you thought and why. Actions, motives, desires and the good you neglected to do are subject to judgment.
In our lesson on the sanctuary we completely explain many of these laws that were kept or fulfilled by Jesus. Here is a summary.

Day and Night Time														Day Only
Passover			Wavesheaf	Pentecost	Trumpets	Day of Atonement			Tabernacles
Lamb		Goat	First Fruits	Holy Spirit	Judgment	Church	Warning	Plagues			Millennium	Armageddon		New Heavens and Earth
Christ is the buried Seed				Early Rain	Summer Drought		Latter Rain		Harvest		City of Refuge
Shepherd Priest				King	Judge		Reaper			Bridegroom		Executioner		All Fulfilled

Law	Verse	Contents	Fulfillment
Lamb	Leviticus 27: 26, 28-29	The innocent dies for the guilty	Jesus died for our sins as the Lamb of God (John 1: 29)
Goat (Sin Offering)	Numbers 29: 11	The goat was the sacrifice for the sin and guilt offering	As our replacement He became as sinful as Satan by becoming sin
Serpent on the Cross	Numbers 21: 8	Life could come by looking at a serpent lifted up	John 3: 14-15. As the demon goat, Jesus also took on the characteristics of the satanic serpent when He became sin for our sins
Mother's Milk	Exodus 34: 26	A young goat cannot be cooked in its mother's milk	Jesus separated from His mother before facing the darkest part of His suffering (John 19: 26-27)
Exchanged for Us	Leviticus 27: 9-10	An even exchange makes both animals holy	Jesus died for our sins, covered us with His blood, and we became holy just as He is, by law
Female Offering	Leviticus 4: 27-29	The female sin offering and the red heifer	Jesus died in place of the woman (the church)
Shoulder offering	Numbers 6: 19-20	The parts of the offering were displayed in a certain manner. The breast and shoulder offerings were waved and the thigh offering was lifted up	On the cross his arms were stretched out as in the position of a wave.
Breast offering	Leviticus 10: 14-15. Numbers 6: 19-20
Thigh offering			On the cross His thighs were lifted up
Passover lamb	Leviticus 23: 4-8	Death will pass over us	Jesus died on Passover as the Lamb of God
One Day	Exodus 34: 25	The age of the offering	Jesus was taken off the cross and buried the same day. He was not hung for days as was the custom.
Three Days	Leviticus 7: 17-18.		He presented Himself to the fiery presence of God within three days of His death
Thirty Three Years	Leviticus 12	Woman cleansed thirty three days after the birth of a son	Christ died at the age of thirty three to cleanse the church (woman)
First Fruits	Leviticus 23: 11	He was presented before God after three days	Jesus was the first fruits from the dead
Nocturnal Emission	Deuteronomy 23: 10-11	His Seed was spilled during His sleep of death	Some of the dead were resurrected with Him from His seed of Life
Feast of Tabernacles	Leviticus 23: 34	God lives with humans	Jesus was born during the feast of tabernacles and He will probably return on the same schedule
City of Refuge	Joshua 20: 6	A killer can hide in a city of refuge without fear of retribution until the high priest dies and until he stands in judgment	As our permanent and immortal High Priest, Jesus will never die. God established the New Jerusalem as a city of refuge.
Bridegroom	Deuteronomy 24: 5	The groom cannot work or go to war for the first year of his marriage	Jesus rests with us for 1000 years with His bride before the complete destruction of Satan in the battle of Armageddon

The Scope of the Law
Since the ten commandments do not tell us about the good we should do, Christ widened our responsibility to God when He pointed out the good we neglected to do as we concentrate only on the letter of the law. So, in both the old and the new testament, the dimensions of doing good are described in the many ways. We can conclude that there are many principles that cover a wide range of activities. God does not say, "do not take drugs" but he does tell us to honor the body where He lives and which He gave us at an enormous sacrifice.

In 1999, I remember talking to a Christian girl who said that the Bible does not stop her from sleeping around with many men because she is still single. In her thinking the commandment is against adultery - therefore it is for married people only.
Sinners use many such arguments to justify their behavior. For her, I could point out many texts that talk about fornication and that only the marriage bed is not wrong. But what about the millions of Christians who take drugs and alcohol, watch soap operas, violent movies, pornography, cheat on their income taxes and bribe officials to spread the gospel.
Matthew 5, 1 Corinthians 13 and the book of James expand on the nature of the true Christian.

1. Avoiding the Bad. These duties are best described in the ten commandments. They only tell us the principles of what we should not do. They do not tell us what we should do.
2. Doing Good. We should be doing good, not just avoiding bad.
   This is where some people may have a problem. They focus on not doing the wrong thing and this may divert them from what is good.
   • Do good. Therefore the one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4: 17).
     Matthew 5: 44 asks us to love our enemies and do good to those who are in the process of harming us.
   • Extreme Good. Take every opportunity to do good. Pay back evil with good - not revenge. Cover each others mistake while you are trying to restore them to God - do not expose them. You have a duty to the person being harmed and to no one else. This does not apply to shielding others who are continually harming others as we keep silent. Expose those who victimize the weak and helpless. But it is evil to make plans to use the weakness of others to trap them in sin. And then to enjoy their exposure and public humiliation. This is the same spirit and work of the devil.
     Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this - not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. (Romans 14: 13)
   • Justice, Mercy, Respect for God. He has told you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6: 8).
     • Justice. Obey the letter and spirit of the law
     • Kindness and Mercy. Focus on forgiveness when others break the law. There will soon be a time when law breakers will no longer be accepted. But today God is focusing on mercy and forgiveness as He slowly gives us His nature.
     • God. Focus on our duties and relationship to God. It is this relationship that will make real justice and mercy possible.
   • Drugs and Alcohol and Sexual Immorality. Sins against the body that do not honor God. We should not mutilate our internal or external body.
     Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20).
   • Guarding what we see and hear. Isaiah describes the person who can live in the presence of God in the following way.
     He who walks righteously and speaks sincerely, He who rejects unjust gain and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe. He who stop his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. (Isaiah 33: 15).
     These principles govern the music we hear, the programs we watch, and how we gain profits. Wealth is not a blessing from God, if it was obtained through exploitation of others. If we cannot live and have hope under certain conditions, then we cannot support certain corporations who exploit third world nations for cheap labor and cause them to perpetually live under conditions that we reject.
   • Racism. God says that it is impossible for you to love him (an unseen stranger) if you cannot love those around you.
     If someone says, "I love God" and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (1 John 4: 20, 21).
     This is an important point, because in the judgment God will overlook those points of law of which we are ignorant (Acts 17: 30). So He will judge us by how we treat others because that is an excellent indication of our character.
3. The Golden Rule. In everything, therefore, treat people the way you want them to treat you. For this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7: 12).
   When all other reasoning fails, use this as a guide.
4. Love. The ten commandments are based on love for God and our neighbors.
5. The Nature of God. As we become children of God, we are given His nature by the Holy Spirit. We know what is good and we do it.
   The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22 - 23).
   There is no law that can legislate kindness or attributes of the Spirit. These virtues are open ended in the amount extended and to whom it is extended. There will never be a law that says you must be kind only to your friends and relatives or that this kindness should not consume more than twenty percent of your annual incume.

The Meaning of the Commandments

Love God
1. One God. He earned our respect because He is the source of our initial life and for the continuation of that life. He deserves our respect because He loves us.
   This commandment reminds us that God is our parent. We cannot be god, nor worship others. If we stubbornly do what we want it is the equivalent of making ourselves the highest moral authority. We are making ourselves god.
2. Idols. We are not allowed to bow down before anything we have made or any other created object. This is equivalent to adultery against God.
   This commandment does not prohibit the making of art in the form of pictures and statues. But if forbids any act that gives the appearance of worship.
   The sanctuary had pictures of angels on the walls. The ark of the covenant had two carved angels on top. One reason why this was hidden, covered when moved and seen only once per year by one person was because of the potential for idolatry. Because the high priest approached this object in prayer, the ark could easily become a focal point of worship instead of the visual object lesson that God intended it to be.
3. The Name of God. God invites us to take His name. In heaven, His name will be written on our foreheads. Therefore, God expects us to take His name and treat His name and reputation with honor and respect.
   Then I looked and saw, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were one hundred and forty four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14: 1)
   
   In heaven there will be no temple building because we will go directly to God. This is why the covenant in Leviticus 26: 2 reminds us to reverence or respect the earthly sanctuary because it is a representation of Him.
   You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary; I am the Lord. (Leviticus 26: 2)
   I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21: 22)
   If we break this commandment, we show disrespect to God and we are stealing His Good Name and lying about Him.
4. Sabbath. This is the sacred, covenant time that God has set aside for our special union with Him. If we miss this opportunity it would be like going to a birthday party on another day. The birthday child is gone. The other guests are gone. While you can still call and talk on the phone, nothing can replace your absence from the party on the day of the party. You will have missed all God has to offer on that day and the gifts that you brought to celebrate.

   A Law Unto Ourselves Many people believe that the law of God should evolve with the changing times. They cannot see why a loving God would be against "any loving relationship between two people". Unfortunately, the pedophile and adulterer uses the same general statement as those in other forbidden sexual relationships. So the argument is flawed.

Love Other People
5. Parents. The respect we show our parents teaches us how to honor God. Therefore, if we cannot show respect to our parents and those who are older we will probably show contempt for God also.
   This commandment reminds us that there is only one parental authority from whom we were given life.
6. Murder. God does not tolerate killing unless it is in self defence. Jesus also said that hate and unjustified anger is equivalent to murder.
   While we cannot kill God, we can do the equivalent if we hate Him.
7. Adultery. God only recognizes only one sexual relation. This is a union of one male and one female by marriage for life. Moses allowed divorce only because the people were disobedient and the sin created complications. However, this was not the will of God. (Mark 10: 4-9).
   This relationship is sacred because it represents our eternal devotion, love and faithfulness to one God. So whatever damages this relationship is a symbol of what could be done to damage the union with God.
   
   Forbidden Sexual Relationships. The law condemns all illegal sexual contact. It also defines other behavior that is illegal. (Leviticus 18)
   You shall not lie with men as with women: it is abomination. Neither shall you lie with any beast to defile yourself with them. Neither shall a woman stand before a beast to lie down there: it is confusion. (Leviticus 18: 22-23)
   • Fornication. Any forbidden contact between married or unmarried couples.
   • Adultery. Sexual relationship outside a marriage or in the marriage of others.
   • Sexual Abomination. Spiritual abomination is having a rival in the temple of God where it does not belong. Sexual abomination is having someone in the temple of your body that does not belong there. This is having an unnatural sexual contact within your species or outside your species. Homosexuality is an abomination. Fortunately, Paul says that many people changed their behavior when they accepted Christ.
   • Confusion. Having an unnatural sexual contact whether or not you are married. Using a body part, object or creature for a purpose for which they were not designed in a union that does not reflect the image of God. Bestiality is also confusion.
   • Incest. Sexual contact with close family members or in-laws (relatives by blood or marriage). (Verse 6)
   
   Sex is not a right. If it cannot be conducted within the confines of the laws of God then it is forbidden and the people affected must live the single life even if the condition was unavoidable. Speaking about being celibate Jesus said.
   Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
   Birth Defect. For there are eunuchs who are born that way from their mother's womb.
   Castrated. And there are eunuchs who are made eunuchs by men.
   Gift of Celibacy. And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom. He who is able to accept this let him accept it. (Matthew 19: 11-12).
   The key is God can give us the ability to live within the confines of this limitation, no matter how hard it is.
8. Stealing. There is no justification for taking the property of others unless it is for payment of a debt. In that case the property is taken openly, not in secret.
9. Lying. There is never any justification for lying. You can delay telling the truth if the person is too young or vulnerable or if the information is confidential. But in this case, you have not lied if you tell them that you cannot answer their questions.
   A lie can be told directly or by carefully deleting some relevant facts or by our body language. If a person walks away from a meeting with you and they do not have a correct interpretation of the facts because of some deliberate actions or words on your part, then you were lying.
10. Covet. This commandment is a mental sin than can lead to all the other sins. While ambition is good, we should not compete with others just to have the satisfaction of being materially better. We should not rejoice over the fact that others are materially inferior to us. None of this makes us number one. We should not take, or want the possessions of others to the point where we hate them for having those things.
    The Sabbath belongs to God. We cannot covet it and take it and use it for our benefit. If the Sabbath makes sports, shopping and religion inconvenient we cannot substitute what is more convenient for us. It is equivalent of asking God to celebrate His birthday on a different day or to take another wife because you want His wife.

Changes to the Law of God
Christ did not come to change the law. Instead He showed us how much more the law extends into our minds and hearts. It covers not just what we do but why we do it. Therefore, if we give away billions of dollars because we want to be remembered in history or because it benefits us somehow, then God considers this useless. He calls it filthy in one place.
(Daniel 7: 25 predicted that the "Little Horn" power who persecuted the saints would try to "change times and laws". The Sabbath is a law concerning time and it was changed.
The numbering of the commandments are the same for Protestants and Jews. The Catholic publications have a different numbering because the second commandment about image worship has been deleted from the cathecisms. To make ten commandments, the tenth commandment has been split into two.
In defending the deletion of the second commandment (which forbids images), the church states that it can be assumed in the first commandment. But why delete the words? Why not include the words in the first commandment? Why tamper with the only words that God wrote Himself on a piece of His throne?

Actions		Motives	Actions	Catholic Changes
(Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5)		Text	New Testament	#	Change	Tradition
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind (Deuteronomy 30: 6; Luke 10: 27)
1	I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me (Verse 1-3)	Pride	"You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall You serve." Matthew 4: 10	1	You shall have no other gods before Me	Praying to Mary and saints
2	You shall not make for yourself any idols or any likeness of what is in Heaven above or earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them. (Verse 4 - 6)	Stubbornness is idolatry	"little children, keep yourselves from idols." "For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not think that the Godhead is like gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." I John 5: 21; Acts 17: 29	Deleted		Image worship
3	You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain. (verse 7)	Unthankful, Unholy	"That the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed." (1 Timothy 6: 1)	2	You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain	Priest confessions
4	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 not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant, your cattle or your visiter who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Verse 8 -11)	Salvation by works	"Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." "For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works." "There remains therefore a keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His." " For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth." Matthew 24: 20; Mark 2: 27-28; Hebrews 4: 4, 9-10, margin; Colossians 1: 16.	Changed
				3	Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.	Sabbath changed from Saturday to Sunday. And the phrase "the Lord's day" has been consistently applied to Sunday even though the biblical evidence is that it is the Sabbath.
Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19: 18,34. Matthew 22: 37,39)
5	Honor your Father and your Mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. (Verse 12)	Disrespectful, rebellion	"Honor your father and your mother." Matthew 19: 19	4	Honor your Father and your Mother	Infallible pope. The holy father.
6	You shall not murder (Verse 13)	Hate, anger. Matthew 5: 22	"You shall not kill." Romans 13: 9	5	You shall not murder	Persecute heretics
7	You shall not commit adultery (Verse 14)	Lust. Matthew 5: 28	"You shall not commit adultery." Matthew 19: 18	6	You shall not commit adultery	Promotes church and State union
8	You shall not steal (Verse 15)	Greed, Selfishness	"You shall not steal." Romans 13: 9	7	You shall not steal	Claims supreme, infallible, authority over church
9	You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Verse 16)	Truce breakers	"You shall not bear false witness. "Romans 13: 9	8	You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor	Tradition in place of the Word of God - the true witness. Claims to be infallible.
10	You shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Verse 17)	Malice and greed. Luke 12: 15	"You shall not covet." Romans 7: 7	9	You shall not covet your neighbor's house	Covets the duties and authority of God. God on Earth, holder of the triple crown with keys to heaven earth and purgatory.
				10	You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

All the ten commandments are repeated in the New Testament. In addition, our motives have become important. The law has been magnified.