Digging For Diamonds: The Ten Commandments
DIGGING FOR DIAMONDS: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (A long one, but worth it)
“And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” – Exodus 20:1-2
My husband’s side of the family is chock full of characters. There isn’t a mean one in the bunch. One of my favorite habits adopted by the men in the family is their response to direction or correction offered by one of the others. Tongue in cheek, the response is an ornery, “DON’T TELL ME!” These wise men are also, most assuredly, wise guys. Stick with me. I’m going somewhere with this.
It’s human nature to bristle at correction or unsolicited offers of direction. Even though, “Don’t tell me” is said in jest, there is a thin vein of truth running through it that exposes mankind’s bent of resistance. We don’t want to be told what to do, even if we know what is being said is for our benefit.
And the same holds true in our relationship with God, sometimes. We are given direction, but we want to do it our own way. The firmer the tone in the giving of instruction, the more likely and vehemently we are to likely to resist.
I will be honest. It had always bothered me that the Ten Commandments are called “The Ten COMMANDMENTS.” I tended to stumble over the “COMMANDMENT” part. The rebellious brat inside of me wanted to say, “Don’t tell me!” Another part of me wondered if, like parents banning their children’s eating of cookies before dinner, I was being restrained from something I thought was good, because I did not understanding the motivation behind the limitation.
Up front, I want to say that in no way am I suggesting that we refer to them as anything else other than, “The Ten Commandments,” but instead to suggest that there might be another interpretation of the word “commandment” than we are used to. But first, here are the Ten Commandments as presented in Exodus 20:3-17.
I You shall have no other Gods but
me.
II You shall not make for yourself any
idol, nor bow down to it or worship
it.
III You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God.
IV You shall remember and keep the
Sabbath day holy.
V Respect your father and mother.
VI You must not commit murder.
VII You must not commit adultery.
VIII You must not steal.
IX You must not give false evidence
against your neighbor.
X You must not be envious of your
neighbor’s goods. You shall not
be envious of his house nor his
wife, nor anything that belongs to
your neighbor.
In most references the description of the Ten Commandments is listed as “a set of laws given to the Jewish people to tell them how they should live.” And that “these laws are often the foundation of statutory law in many countries.” Fine. That is the generally accepted definition, but I needed to get a sense of God’s motivation for giving them to Moses.
The Lord took me to the two verses leading up to the Ten Commandments. They are shown as the first two verses above in Exodus 20:1-2. In a nutshell, God said that He was the one who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Further, to me it implies that they are the steps to follow in our “rehabilitation,” from our imprisonment, so we don’t return to enslavement. Well, that’s good!
Stay with me now! Then I pulled out every biblical reference I could find to discover what the root meanings of the word “commandment” might be. What I found was the following:
COM – generally means “with,” “by means of” or “together with” as in “compact” (pressing together) or “comrade” (a companion that you share activities with.
MAND – refers to the “hand” as in “manual labor” (labor that is executed by hand as opposed to machine).
MENT – means either “the state of” or the “result” or “end product of” such as “enjoyment.”
My belief is that while it is true that the Ten Commandments come by way of the hand of God, the word “commandment” in this case might have a slightly different meaning. I am not a Bible scholar, but I believe in this context, a commandment is:
A “Commandment” is a principle, that when followed, will have the end result of the hand of God being with you.
And when we are in obedience, the hand of God brings with it:
Psalm 145:13b-21: faithfulness, blessing,
closeness, fulfilled desires, protection
and joyful inspiration
Ezra 7:11-8:14: His hand will BE UPON US,
and we will receive: courage, grace,
protection, wisdom, favor, influence,
authority and we are equipped for the
tasks before us.
Revelations 13:1b-18: Our names are
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!
I assert that most Christians have only grasped a portion of the beauty and GIFT of the Ten Commandments. They can not only keep us out of jail and from the penalty of death (Jesus covers the bill on this one), but when its principles are followed, we avail ourselves of the very requests that we find spilling from our lips as we offer our petitions and requests before God.
Catch it! The Ten Commandments are not just a list of laws and no-no’s, they are a gateway — a roadmap to tremendous blessing. In them, He is not taking away from us, but rather showing us the path by which we we can receive!
Heavenly Father, I lift the one reading this. Give them a revelation of Your truth. Turn over the coin of their understanding, so instead of Your commands being a dusty, boring rule book, they receive them as a treasure map to great riches. Help them to shun the evil that steals from them and the forbidden fruit that will poison them. Ignite a spark within them to follow the principles You have given from Your merciful and generous heart, that they will take hold of every blessing you have in store for them, both here and in Heaven. In Jesus Name ❤️
Dear Friend, the Father isn’t setting good things as off limits to you. He does not dangle good things just out of reach to tease you. He has given us principles that are designed to protect us from harm and to bless us. Forbidden fruit may look enticing, but it leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Why not go after His treasure? His truths are sweet like honey (Psalm 119:103)! 💡
If you have been encouraged or challenged, please repost and further His kingdom!
“And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” – Exodus 20:1-2
My husband’s side of the family is chock full of characters. There isn’t a mean one in the bunch. One of my favorite habits adopted by the men in the family is their response to direction or correction offered by one of the others. Tongue in cheek, the response is an ornery, “DON’T TELL ME!” These wise men are also, most assuredly, wise guys. Stick with me. I’m going somewhere with this.
It’s human nature to bristle at correction or unsolicited offers of direction. Even though, “Don’t tell me” is said in jest, there is a thin vein of truth running through it that exposes mankind’s bent of resistance. We don’t want to be told what to do, even if we know what is being said is for our benefit.
And the same holds true in our relationship with God, sometimes. We are given direction, but we want to do it our own way. The firmer the tone in the giving of instruction, the more likely and vehemently we are to likely to resist.
I will be honest. It had always bothered me that the Ten Commandments are called “The Ten COMMANDMENTS.” I tended to stumble over the “COMMANDMENT” part. The rebellious brat inside of me wanted to say, “Don’t tell me!” Another part of me wondered if, like parents banning their children’s eating of cookies before dinner, I was being restrained from something I thought was good, because I did not understanding the motivation behind the limitation.
Up front, I want to say that in no way am I suggesting that we refer to them as anything else other than, “The Ten Commandments,” but instead to suggest that there might be another interpretation of the word “commandment” than we are used to. But first, here are the Ten Commandments as presented in Exodus 20:3-17.
I You shall have no other Gods but
me.
II You shall not make for yourself any
idol, nor bow down to it or worship
it.
III You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God.
IV You shall remember and keep the
Sabbath day holy.
V Respect your father and mother.
VI You must not commit murder.
VII You must not commit adultery.
VIII You must not steal.
IX You must not give false evidence
against your neighbor.
X You must not be envious of your
neighbor’s goods. You shall not
be envious of his house nor his
wife, nor anything that belongs to
your neighbor.
In most references the description of the Ten Commandments is listed as “a set of laws given to the Jewish people to tell them how they should live.” And that “these laws are often the foundation of statutory law in many countries.” Fine. That is the generally accepted definition, but I needed to get a sense of God’s motivation for giving them to Moses.
The Lord took me to the two verses leading up to the Ten Commandments. They are shown as the first two verses above in Exodus 20:1-2. In a nutshell, God said that He was the one who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Further, to me it implies that they are the steps to follow in our “rehabilitation,” from our imprisonment, so we don’t return to enslavement. Well, that’s good!
Stay with me now! Then I pulled out every biblical reference I could find to discover what the root meanings of the word “commandment” might be. What I found was the following:
COM – generally means “with,” “by means of” or “together with” as in “compact” (pressing together) or “comrade” (a companion that you share activities with.
MAND – refers to the “hand” as in “manual labor” (labor that is executed by hand as opposed to machine).
MENT – means either “the state of” or the “result” or “end product of” such as “enjoyment.”
My belief is that while it is true that the Ten Commandments come by way of the hand of God, the word “commandment” in this case might have a slightly different meaning. I am not a Bible scholar, but I believe in this context, a commandment is:
A “Commandment” is a principle, that when followed, will have the end result of the hand of God being with you.
And when we are in obedience, the hand of God brings with it:
Psalm 145:13b-21: faithfulness, blessing,
closeness, fulfilled desires, protection
and joyful inspiration
Ezra 7:11-8:14: His hand will BE UPON US,
and we will receive: courage, grace,
protection, wisdom, favor, influence,
authority and we are equipped for the
tasks before us.
Revelations 13:1b-18: Our names are
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!
I assert that most Christians have only grasped a portion of the beauty and GIFT of the Ten Commandments. They can not only keep us out of jail and from the penalty of death (Jesus covers the bill on this one), but when its principles are followed, we avail ourselves of the very requests that we find spilling from our lips as we offer our petitions and requests before God.
Catch it! The Ten Commandments are not just a list of laws and no-no’s, they are a gateway — a roadmap to tremendous blessing. In them, He is not taking away from us, but rather showing us the path by which we we can receive!
Heavenly Father, I lift the one reading this. Give them a revelation of Your truth. Turn over the coin of their understanding, so instead of Your commands being a dusty, boring rule book, they receive them as a treasure map to great riches. Help them to shun the evil that steals from them and the forbidden fruit that will poison them. Ignite a spark within them to follow the principles You have given from Your merciful and generous heart, that they will take hold of every blessing you have in store for them, both here and in Heaven. In Jesus Name ❤️
Dear Friend, the Father isn’t setting good things as off limits to you. He does not dangle good things just out of reach to tease you. He has given us principles that are designed to protect us from harm and to bless us. Forbidden fruit may look enticing, but it leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Why not go after His treasure? His truths are sweet like honey (Psalm 119:103)! 💡
If you have been encouraged or challenged, please repost and further His kingdom!
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