After he arranged for their release from Egyptian captivity, God wanted the Israelites to thrive in their new homeland. So, on the journey there he began preparing them to build a successful society.
As part of this preparation, God gave the Israelites a moral code to govern their relationships with him and each other. This code is commonly called The Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are universal and timeless. Their explicit meanings and implicit principles are reiterated throughout the Bible. We, therefore, know they still apply to us today. Here they are.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
God declares that he is the sole author of the commandments. They are not rules promulgated by Moses. They are not the consensus of ancient societies.
God validates his moral authority to issue the commandments by referencing an event the Israelites could attribute only to him—their newfound freedom.
If God were to likewise present the commandments to us individually, he might say something like, “I am the Lord your God, who miraculously rescued you from that raging house fire last week.”
We would immediately know who was speaking. We would recognize his moral authority and heed what he was about to say.
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
God wants us to worship only him because he is the one true deity. All other gods are human constructs.
This prohibition pertains to more than just the deities we invent. It also includes the things we value excessively, such as money, power, prestige, fame, beauty, etc.
A society that worships multiple deities abides by a variety of moral codes. This dissonance creates a disjointed society.
A society that worships God alone unites around a single moral code. This congruence creates a cohesive society.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
God values his reputation. He does not want us to dishonor his name whether out of pride, ignorance, or unrighteousness.
He despises those who attribute his good works to Satan or other sources. He forbids the use of his name to sow hatred or advance evil.
God condemns the rank hypocrisy of those who purport to represent him. He deplores those who distort or dilute his salvation message for personal gain or glory.
God detests those who exploit their status as reborn believers to trick others into making dubious investments or buying worthless merchandise.
God disapproves when self-righteous believers smugly proclaim that a natural disaster or a disease is his punishment for the sinfulness of others.
The flippant and profane use of God’s name displeases him.
Individuals and societies that heed their impact on God’s reputation are more likely to do good things that benefit others and thus glorify him.
Conversely, they are less likely to do selfish, immoral, or hateful things that harm others and thereby discredit him.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
God cherishes our will so much that he institutionalized a day for us to pursue our personal interests.
He intends us to use our free day to relax, worship him, bond with our families, attend to our hobbies, and have fun with our friends. These activities refresh us and build durable societies.
As we enjoy our day of rest, God wants us to remember that it was all his idea.
The ultimate reason we have the day off is because he rested on the seventh day of creation, not because society thinks a short work week is a nice tradition.
Note that God applies this precept equally to adults, sons, daughters, male and female servants, foreigners, and animals.
Inherent in this equality are several essential principles.
- Individual liberty is an inalienable right given to us by God, not granted by human authorities. Successful societies codify and protect this right.
- God gave everyone, at every level of every society, the same day of rest. He forcefully declared that we all have equal worth, regardless of our worldly status. Individual dignity is thus a divine absolute, uniformly ascribed to every person by God. It is not a human construct, subjectively bestowed on favored individuals, groups, or classes by societies and governments.
- God esteems women and children. He considers them first-class citizens on par with adult men. He gave them equal rights to enjoy the same day of rest.
- God values workplace fairness. He wants employers to treat their employees—servants, in this context—with the same dignity they afford themselves.
- God condemns discrimination and oppression. He says the minority groups in society—identified as foreigners in this commandment—are entitled to the same day of rest as the majority group.
- God wants animals to be treated humanely. Even they deserve a day of rest.
What about the servant reference in this commandment? Does God endorse slavery?
No. The servitude mentioned here is indentured service, not involuntary slavery.
Government welfare was uncommon in Bible times. The poor often agreed to serve the wealthy for a specified period in exchange for subsistence. They traded their labor for food, clothing, and shelter. God established civil laws to protect indentured servants from abuse and injustice.
God abhors involuntary slavery in which people are captured, sold, and forced to work. Soon after delivering The Ten Commandments, he decreed that slave traders should be executed.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
This commandment affirms that families are the building blocks of successful societies. It applies to children with regard to their parents. And to the parents with regard to their parents, i.e., the grandparents.
The honor children give their parents instills respect for other authorities, including teachers, coaches, police, military commanders, employers, and government institutions. This training translates into an orderly society.
As adults, we see character flaws and behavioral deficiencies in our parents. We recognize their parenting mistakes that negatively impacted us. We may have to accommodate their physical frailties.
Honoring parents in our adulthood, despite their shortcomings, requires us to be kind, patient, forgiving, and magnanimous. These characteristics translate into a compassionate society.
Compliance with this commandment produces durable societies because it binds families across generations. Hence, the reference to living long in the land. Conversely, persistent family disintegration eventually destabilizes societies.
Note that God commands us to honor our parents, not to love them. He makes this distinction because he knows that some parents are hard to love.
You shall not murder.
God supremely values human life. He considers the malicious taking of innocent human life to be immoral.
The specificity of this commandment distinguishes murder from other types of killing.
For instance, killing an assailant in self-defense is moral. Preemptively slaying hostile attackers before they can inflict harm is permitted.
God prescribed capital punishment for certain offenses, so we know it is allowable when judiciously administered. But vigilante justice is unlawful.
God incorporated animal sacrifices into his initial atonement plan. He arranged for the Israelites to eat quail after they crossed the Red Sea.
We, therefore, know that humanely killing animals for beneficial purposes is not murder.
Societies that tolerate murder are unsafe for everyone. If murder, the ultimate act of violence, is allowed, then it is easy for individuals to justify other violent actions that do not end lives, such as rape and battery.
You shall not commit adultery.
Upholding this commandment stabilizes societies and protects their future viability.
Families are the building blocks of successful societies. Sexual infidelity can destroy marriages and break up families.
Family disintegration often harms children. This damage can trickle down to their progeny, creating a legacy of brokenness that weakens societies.
Removing adultery as a viable option in unhappy marriages can motivate spouses to preserve their relationship.
This effort, if done right, makes both spouses less selfish and more thoughtful. These attributes characterize good families and benevolent societies.
You shall not steal.
God forbids us from taking that which does not belong to us, either directly through theft, or indirectly through deception, coercion, manipulation, or fraud.
Societies become dysfunctional when stealing is rampant.
The generality of this commandment indicates that it concerns more than just the physical theft of tangible property.
It also pertains to the illicit taking of the intangibles others possess, including their dignity, identity, innocence, ideas, and opportunities.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Our neighbors are those we encounter as we go through life. God wants us to be honest with everyone in what we do, say, represent, and imply.
Successful societies cherish trust and justice, individually and corporately. Upholding these values requires us to be truthful and honest.
Common sense tells us there are exceptions to this commandment, especially when something less than the truth protects innocent lives from harm.
For example, we need not answer honestly when a violent home invader asks if our children are in the house.
Some state and military secrets are so important that they must be shielded from public disclosure by obfuscation.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Covetousness is the exaltation of desire over principle.
We covet when our lust for what others have, in whole or in part, reorders our moral values. The satisfaction of this appetite becomes our highest good.
Covetousness is a form of idolatry.
When we covet, we elevate the object of our desire above God. Our fascination with its allure supplants our adoration of his excellence.
Covetousness prevents us from experiencing true contentment.
God is the source of true contentment. Coveting focuses our affection on inferior alternatives that offer only fleeting fulfillment.
Covetousness fosters anger, resentment, and bitterness. It sours our relationships with God and others. If allowed to fester, it can impair our emotional health.
Covetousness is often the underlying motivation for lying, theft, adultery, and murder, which are prohibited in the preceding commandments.
Abstaining from covetousness makes us more likely to uphold these precepts.
Societies fracture when covetous individuals and groups act adversely on this impulse. The absence of covetousness helps societies unify.
New Testament Perspective
Jesus distilled The Ten Commandments into two.
He said we should love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and treat others the same way that we would like them to treat us.
He proclaimed that we effectively fulfill The Ten Commandments and all of God’s other precepts when we do these two things.