Cosmic Collision Course

Written In Stone

There is no better code of living for MANKIND to be found anywhere in the world than in GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS. People who live by this STANDARD are wonderful Citizens. They make the world a better place in which to live. Imagine a world where no one steals, or kills, lies or hates. Sounds good doesn't it? Whenever the subject of “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS” is mentioned, a number of questions are raised, some of which are:- “Do we still have to keep GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS”? – “Were they done away with at the cross of JESUS”? - “Didn't JESUS tell HIS Disciples, that there were only TWO COMMANDMENTS to keep now”? – “Didn't THE COMMANDMENTS only apply to the Jewish nation”?

In spite of the doubts expressed in those questions, there is still a small minority of Christians who are CERTAIN that THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT CHRISTIANS MUST OBEY ALL OF GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY BE JUDGED BY THIS SUPERLATIVE SET OF GUIDES TO HARMONIOUS LIVING. As is our usual practice, we will let THE BIBLE be our INSTRUCTOR, and TUTOR.

Deut 4: 12,13

“And THE LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And HE declared unto you HIS COVENANT, which HE COMMANDED YOU TO PERFORM, EVEN TEN COMMANDMENTS; and HE wrote them upon TWO TABLES OF STONE”.

We learn at least four things from these verses, (1) GOD SPOKE THE TEN COMMAND-MENTS. (2) THEN GOD WROTE HIS TEN COMMANDMENTS ON TWO TABLES OF STONE. (3) GOD TOLD HIS PEOPLE THEY WERE TO KEEP HIS TEN COMMAND-MENTS. (4) GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS are also known in THE BIBLE as “HIS COVENANT”.

Matt 22:35 - 40

“Then one of them, which was a LAWYER, asked HIM a question, tempting HIM, and saying, MASTER, which is THE GREAT COMMANDMENT IN THE LAW? JESUS said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE THE LORD thy GOD with all thy HEART, and with all thy SOUL, and with all thy MIND. This is the FIRST and GREAT COMMANDMENT. And the SECOND is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy NEIGHBOUR as thyself. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS”.

No doubt you noticed that JESUS did not say that there was no need to keep all of GOD'S TEN TWO FROM NOW ON; HE did say though, that the “FIRST” was, “Thou shalt LOVE THE LORD thy GOD, with all thy HEART, and with all thy SOUL, and with all thy MIND”. And the “SECOND COMMANDMENTS, or any such thing. Neither did HE say that WE ONLY NEED TO KEEP” was, “Thou shalt LOVE thy NEIGHBOUR as thyself”. Then HE added that, “ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS”. What did JESUS mean, when HE said that on “LOVING GOD, and LOVING our FELLOW MAN, - HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS”? If you take a GOOD HARD look at THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, those TWO are an ABBREVIATION of the TEN.

Let me explain. The first FOUR of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS deal with our relationship with GOD. I will list them in an ABBREVIATED form. (1) “Thou shalt have no OTHER gods BEFORE ME”. (2) “Thou shalt not make unto thee any GRAVEN IMAGE”. (3) “Thou shalt not take the NAME of THE LORD thy GOD in vain”. (4) “Remember the SABBATH DAY to keep it HOLY”. - THESE FOUR COMMANDMENTS, deal with our “WORSHIP OF GOD”, OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, and can be SUMMED UP by saying, “LOVE THE LORD thy GOD WITH ALL thy HEART, AND WITH ALL thy SOUL, AND WITH ALL thy MIND”.

COMMANDMENTS 5-10, deal with our relationship to our fellow man. (5) “HONOUR thy father and thy mother”. (6) “Thou shalt not KILL”. (7) “Thou shalt not commit ADULTERY”. (8)“Thou shalt not STEAL”. (9) Thou shalt not bear FALSE WITNESS against thy NEIGHBOUR”. (10) “Thou shalt not COVET thy NEIGHBOUR'S house” etc. There you have it, each of these SIX deals with how we live with our NEIGHBOURS. SO JESUS MADE IT PLAIN THAT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS CAN BE SUMMED UP IN ONLY TWO. HE DID NOT SAY THAT THERE WERE NOW ONLY TWO COMMANDMENTS INSTEAD OF TEN - DID HE? What JESUS did; was answer the question that HE was asked.

Have you ever noticed that this LAWYER, (a man who specialised in THE LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTS, and their interpretation,) did not argue with JESUS about what HE had said? The reason why he did not argue was, because JESUS answered him with the same SUMMARY that the religious leaders of the day, themselves used to describe GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS. Let me prove that statement to you.

Deut 6:5

“ .... thou shalt love THE LORD thy GOD with all thine HEART, and with all thy SOUL, and with all thy MIGHT”.

So there we have the fact that in the days of Moses, the people understood that the first FOUR commandments could be, and were SUMMED UP or ABBREVIATED in this manner. We have learnt that JESUS was NOT telling the people that there was only ONE COMMANDMENT NOW, instead of these FOUR. HE simply gave a SUMMARY of the FOUR. Is there evidence in THE BIBLE, that the people of ancient times had also ABBREVIATED the other SIX commandments in a similar manner?

Lev 19:18, (the last part).

“....., but thou shalt love thy NEIGHBOUR as thyself...... ”.

There you have it, within a short time of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS BEING RENEWED to them, (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS were known long before they were given to Moses, as will be demonstrated), GOD'S people had already worked out, that one part of them dealt with OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, and the other part dealt with OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR FELLOW MAN.

Isn't it wonderful how THE BIBLE will answer our questions if we study it thoroughly, - and of course, if we ask it the right questions? Moses lived roughly fifteen hundred years before JESUS CHRIST was born, and the people living in his time were already in the practice of ABBREVIATING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE SAME WAY THAT JESUS DID to the Lawyer.

Anyway, how can anyone conclude, from that short conversation HE had with the LAWYER, that JESUS had done away with THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND HAD GIVEN US ONLY TWO IN THEIR PLACE? For a change of that magnitude, we would require more evidence than is presented in this instance. GOD just does not work that way.

WE WILL NOW EXAMINE GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS. (Making brief comments on each one as we go).

Ex 20:3 - 17

(1) Verse 3. “Thou shalt have NO OTHER gods BEFORE ME”.

THE CREATOR GOD, says that we are to WORSHIP HIM, - and HIM ALONE. After all, that really is only fair, HE IS OUR CREATOR. Those of us who have children, expect them to be OBEDIENT, and RESPECTFUL to us, don't we? We expect them to realise that we know WHAT IS BEST FOR THEM, and that we have THEIR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART. GOD EXPECTS THAT SAME RESPECT and OBEDIENCE, FROM HIS CHILDREN, YOU AND ME.

(2) Verses 4-6 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any GRAVEN IMAGE, OR 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: THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN THYSELF TO THEM, NOR SERVE THEM: FOR I THE LORD thy GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation OF THEM THAT HATE ME; And shewing MERCY unto THOUSANDS OF THEM THAT LOVE ME, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS”.

This is a prohibition against MAKING, and “WORSHIPPING” (“BOWING DOWN TO, OR SERVING”) IDOLS, and expecting them to answer prayers, etc. - against “WORSHIPPING” SOMETHING WHICH WE HAVE CREATED OURSELVES, instead of WORSHIPPING THE CREATOR GOD. In this COMMANDMENT, GOD promises to REWARD THE FAITHFUL COMMANDMENT KEEPERS, - and PUNISH THE WICKED WHO DO NOT KEEP THEM.

(3) Verse 7, “Thou shalt not take the NAME OF THE LORD thy GOD IN VAIN; for THE LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh HIS NAME IN VAIN”.

“IN VAIN” means to use GOD'S NAME senselessly, and repeatedly. Saying “CHRIST this and CHRIST that”, - in the manner of an “expletive”, as many do when they have hurt themselves for instance. Or saying “O GOD”, when you are not addressing GOD at all in the conversation. Even repeating GOD'S NAME or HIS TITLE, - “LORD”, excessively in prayer, is taking THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN.

But there is another way that people can be guilty of TAKING THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN that is often overlooked, but must be considered. That is, to call oneself “A CHRISTIAN”, but NOT “WORSHIPPING” HIM AS HE HAS COMMANDED. BY NOT BEHAVING IN A “CHRIST-LIKE MANNER”, by not living up to the HIGH STANDARDS OF CHRISTIAN LIVING which CHRIST HIMSELF GAVE for HIS people to follow. Let me explain, even though it is embarrassing for me. I worked in the Railway workshops at the time I accepted JESUS AS MY SAVIOUR; I had some very bad habits, such as swearing, and telling bad jokes.

One day, quite a long time after I became a member of The Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of my workmates, heard me telling an off-colour joke, and he was not impressed, he told me that “I was not a Seventh-day Adventist’s bootlace”!. I told him that I was, and I could show him my Baptism Certificate. But he still insisted that I was not a Seventh-day Adventist. I asked him why it was that he wouldn’t believe me? His reply was, “That I swore, and told dirty jokes; and he had lived next to Seventh-day Adventists years ago, and no money in the world would have gotten them to swear. Boy! Was my face “red”. But I wasn’t convinced.

Do you believe me, when I tell you that I felt even worse that night when I started reading my BIBLE where I had left off that morning, I had been reading the book of Ephesians, and as I read onwards, I read Eph 4:29. “Let NO CORRUPT COMMUNICATION PROCEED OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, BUT THAT WHICH IS GOOD TO THE USE OF EDIFYING, [UPLIFTING, ENCOURAGING], THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE UNTO THE HEARERS.” I WAS CONVINCED.

(4) Verses 8-11. “REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the SEVENTH-DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD thy GOD: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy STRANGER that is within thy gates”:

“For in six days THE LORD made HEAVEN and EARTH, the sea, and all that in them is, AND RESTED THE SEVENTH-DAY: WHEREFORE THE LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY, and HALLOWED IT”.

GOD REQUIRES US TO, “REMEMBER” TO KEEP THE SEVENTH-DAY, (HIS SABBATH) HOLY, because it is a MEMORIAL OF THE FACT THAT HE CREATED and WORKED for SIX DAYS, AND THAT HE RESTED ON THE SEVENTH-DAY, AS AN EXAMPLE TO US. NOT BECAUSE HE NEEDED TO REST, but because HE knew that MANKIND would need to REST for the good of their HEALTH, - BOTH PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL, and to have a day free to think of their CREATOR.

GOD told HIS people that they were NOT TO WORK ON THE SABBATH DAY, NOR WAS ANYONE TO WORK ON THEIR BEHALF, ON HIS MEMORIAL OF CREATION, THE SABBATH DAY. A fact that is often overlooked by scholars is that the PROHIBITION on WORKING ON THE SABBATH DAY WAS ALSO EXTENDED TO “THE STRANGER”. “THE STRANGER” REFERRED TO ANY NON-BELIEVER, ANY PERSON NOT OF THE JEWISH RACE. (See Isa 56:6,7, for confirmation) SO THE SABBATH WAS NOT ONLY GIVEN TO THE JEWS, but to ALL MANKIND.

(5) Verse12. “Honour thy father and thy mother: THAT THY DAYS MAY BE LONG upon the land which THE LORD thy GOD GIVETH thee”,

GOD makes it plain that HE desires that HIS people “HONOUR”, and “RESPECT”, their parents. This COMMANDMENT is the first one to have a promise of LONGER LIFE TO THE OBEDIENT FOLLOWER OF GOD. It also reminds GOD'S people that it is GOD WHO GAVE THEM THEIR LAND.

(6) Verse 13, “Thou shalt NOT KILL”.

The CHRISTIAN has no right to KILL his FELLOW MAN. JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT, AND THEN THINK OF THE TROUBLE AND STRIFE THAT HAS RESULTED BY NOT FOLLOWING THAT COMMAND.

(7) Verse 14, “Thou shalt NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”.

THERE HAS BEEN EVEN MORE TROUBLE AND STRIFE IN THIS WORLD, BECAUSE THIS COMMANDMENT HAS BEEN BROKEN. HOW MANY TIMES IT HAS LED MEN AND WOMEN TO BREAK THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. JUST LOOK AT HOW MANY TIMES THAT BREAKING OF THIS COMMANDMENT HAS LED GREAT MEN AND WOMEN OF THE BIBLE TO GO ASTRAY. AND HOW MANY OF THE LEADERS OF TODAY, AND YESTER-YEAR, HAVE DESTROYED LIVES BECAUSE OF IT.

(8) Verse 15, “Thou shalt NOT STEAL”.

Breaking this COMMANDMENT is probably the most common practice in all societies. In Saudi-Arabia, and other Moslem Countries, the punishment for stealing is that the offender has his/her right hand cut off.

(9) Verse 16, “Thou shalt NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS against thy NEIGHBOUR”.

No doubt, GOD gave this COMMANDMENT because HE knew that people would have a problem with GOSSIPPING, and TELLING LIES. How much hurt has been created because this COMMANDMENT is broken? Many times, people jump to false conclusions when they see, or hear, something quite innocent, then conclude that something entirely worse was the intent. How many friendships are broken up, because of FALSE WITNESS? REMEMBER THAT IT WAS “FALSE WITNESSES” WHO HELPED TO BRING ABOUT THE DEATH OF JESUS.

(10) Verse 17, “Thou shalt NOT COVET thy NEIGHBOUR'S house, thou shalt NOT COVET thy NEIGHBOUR'S wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy NEIGHBOUR'S”.

Again, if this COMMANDMENT was lovingly obeyed, how much better this world would be. Have you noticed that many of these COMMANDMENTS are connected with each other? COVETING often leads to STEALING, ADULTERY, and MURDER, doesn't it? And have you noticed that “NEIGHBOUR”, (which means, not just the people who live next door, but anyone with whom we come in contact), is mentioned, or implied in the last six COMMANDMENTS of GOD? HONESTLY! HOW MUCH HAPPIER OUR LIFESTYLE WOULD BECOME, if everyone living on this earth was OBEDIENT TO GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENTS.

UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE MANY TODAY WHO SAY, “THE TEN COMMAND-MENTS WERE NOT GIVEN UNTIL THE DAYS OF MOSES”. BUT IS THAT TRUE?

How about we ask THE BIBLE to show us if that is a TRUE CLAIM or not?

Gen 26:5

“Because that ABRAHAM OBEYED MY voice, and kept MY CHARGE, MY COMMAND-MENTS, MY STATUTES, and MY LAWS”.

Abraham lived almost 2,000 years before CHRIST was born, which was over 500 years before Moses was given THE COMMANDMENTS WRITTEN ON STONE.

And Abraham kept GOD'S COMMANDMENTS all those years before. It is interesting, that “MY CHARGE” could be understood to mean THE COMMANDMENTS, because GOD did give a CHARGE to the people to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. Also “MY STATUTES” could be the same, because, as I checked Psa 119, in 21 different Versions, some of the translators used the word COMMANDMENTS, and some THE LAW, instead of STATUTES. Likewise LAW was sometimes translated as STATUTES, JUDGMENTS, PRECEPTS or COMMANDMENTS.

So whichever word is used, ABRAHAM WAS KEEPING GOD'S COMMANDMENTS, a long time before they were given to Moses.

Gen 35:2

“Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away THE STRANGE gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments”:

That sounds to me, mighty like Jacob knew THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. – “Thou shalt NOT MAKE UNTO thee any GRAVEN IMAGE. ...., thou shalt not bow down thyself to them”: But it also sounds like the FIRST COMMANDMENT as well. “Thou shalt have no other gods BEFORE ME”. So having “strange gods” in their possession broke at least TWO of GOD'S COMMANDMENTS. In fact, it BROKE ALL TEN OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS. It would be breaking the THIRD, because it would be VAIN or USELESS to worship idols, and try to WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD AS WELL. It would be calling yourself a follower of GOD, while you were “taking HIS NAME IN VAIN”.

It would be breaking the FOURTH, because they were “WORSHIPPING” their own god, and not THE CREATOR GOD, WHO asks HIS people to keep HOLY THE SABBATH DAY as a MEMORIAL OF CREATION. BECAUSE THEY WORSHIP THE “SUN”, which is something “created”, instead of “WORSHIPPING” THE ONE TRUE GOD WHO HAD “CREATED” THE “SUN”, most “HEATHEN” (non-believers) worshippers “WORSHIP” ON SUNDAY, (also called “the venerable day of the sun” in the first Sunday Law by Constantine, in 321 AD).