Musing – Is there a positive way to view the 10 Commandments?

 Hebraic Musing – Is there a positive way to view the 10 Commandments?

Moses’ Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 are viewed negatively, as “Shall nots” that constrain our nature!

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in Vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

These were the Commandments posted in the classrooms when I grew up; and we had them memorized so well we told jokes using the commandment numbers. 

But as the one-armed Rabbi once said – “On the other hand – there is another view of the Ten Commandments”.  This might be his alternative positive view:

1. We honor God as Creator. We praise him and would never put anything else in His place in our lives.

2. We always show reverence and honor to God, so would never use his name in a disrespectful way.

3. We remember to worship God by participating at Sunday Church, and through that we give honor to ourselves, as well, by resting, praying, and doing good deeds for others.

4. We respect our parents and their authority. We also give that same respect to those who are given authority over us if they protect and care for our good.

5. We respect life as being sacred in all its forms because life is created with dignity and beauty.

6. We respect the family and our part in family life. We respect marriage as being the place for sexual relationship.  We respect our own bodies and those of others.

7. We respect the property of others.

8. We respect others by being honest and truthful.  And we respect the reputations of others.

9. We respect our relationships with all others and the relationships of other people with each other.

10. We are satisfied with and grateful for the gifts which we have already been given as if received from you.

Why were we kicking against the goads* before we were saved?  
And who are we serving after salvation?

Points to Ponder

Would you rather be doing things you have to do?  Or things you want to do?

How might we view the 10 commandments after we are Saved?  What changed?

What an opportunity!  To want to respect, honor and obey our creator?

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                             January 21, 2025 
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”    insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com

*  The phrase "kicking against the goads" is a practice where farmers used long, sharpened sticks (goads) to prod oxen.  The oxen would sometimes kick against the goads, but they would eventually learn that it was better to accept the farmer's direction than to resist.
In a broader sense, the expression means that it is foolish and futile to resist God's will.