After arranging their release from Egyptian captivity, God began preparing the Israelites to build a prosperous society as they journeyed to their new homeland.
As part of this preparation, he provided them with a moral code to govern their relationships with him and with one another.
This code is commonly known as the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are universal and timeless. Their explicit meanings and implicit principles are reiterated throughout the Bible, so we know they still apply today, except as noted below.
Here they are.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
God proclaims himself the sole author of the commandments. They are neither the consensus of ancient societies nor rules promulgated by Moses.
God grounds his moral authority to issue the commandments in an event the Israelites could attribute only to him — their newfound freedom.
If God were to present the commandments to us individually, he might say, “I am the Lord your God, who miraculously rescued you from that raging house fire last week.”
We would immediately recognize the speaker, acknowledge 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 extends beyond the deities we invent. It also includes things we value too much, such as money, power, prestige, fame, and beauty.
A society that worships multiple deities follows a variety of moral codes, creating a fragmented community.
A society that worships God alone unites around a single moral code, creating a cohesive community.
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 ascribe his good works to Satan or other sources. He forbids the use of his name to sow hatred or to advance evil.
God condemns the rank hypocrisy of those who claim to represent him. He deplores those who distort or dilute his message of salvation for personal gain or glory.
God detests those who exploit their status as spiritually reborn believers to deceive others into making dubious investments or buying worthless merchandise.
God disapproves when self-righteous believers smugly proclaim that natural disasters or diseases are his punishment for the sinfulness of those affected.
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 engage in selfish, immoral, or hateful acts 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 free will so much that he has institutionalized a day for us to attend to our personal interests.
He intends for us to use the day to relax, worship him, bond with our families, pursue our hobbies, and have fun with our friends. These activities refresh us and stabilize societies.
As we enjoy our day of rest, God wants us to remember that it was his idea all along. We have the day off because he rested on the seventh day of creation, not because society considers a short workweek a lovely tradition.
Note that God applies this precept equally to adults, sons, daughters, male and female servants, foreigners, and animals.
This equality encompasses several essential principles.
- Liberty is an inalienable right given to us by God, not granted by human authorities. Successful societies codify and protect this right.
- God granted the same day of rest to everyone, regardless of social status. He 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, 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 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 extend to 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.
Does this commandment mean we must abstain from all work on Sunday, including activities like cooking and driving?
No. Jesus effectively rescinded the restriction on activity by publicly healing people on the Sabbath.
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. Instead, the poor often agreed to serve the wealthy for a set 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 labor. Soon after delivering The Ten Commandments, he decreed that slave trading was punishable by death.
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 in relation to their parents and to parents in relation to their own 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 fosters an orderly society.
As adults, we see our parents’ bad habits, blind spots, and character flaws. We recognize the lifestyle choices and parenting decisions that have harmed us. We may need to accommodate their physical frailties.
Honoring elderly parents despite their shortcomings requires us to be kind, patient, forgiving, and magnanimous. These qualities foster a compassionate society.
Compliance with this commandment produces stable societies by binding families across generations. Hence, the reference to living long in the land. Conversely, family disintegration destabilizes societies.
Note that God commands us to honor our parents, not to love them. He makes this distinction because he knows 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, subject to specific rules, so we know it is permissible when judiciously administered. However, 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.
Therefore, we 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, it becomes easy for individuals to justify other violent acts that do not end lives, such as rape and battery.
You shall not commit adultery.
Upholding this commandment stabilizes societies and safeguards their long-term viability.
Families are the building blocks of successful societies. Sexual infidelity can destroy marriages and thus harm children, break up families, and weaken societies.
This prohibition prompts spouses in unhappy marriages to resist temptation and take steps to strengthen their relationship.
If done well, this effort makes both spouses less selfish and more attuned to each other and to the children.
These attributes characterize functional families and benevolent societies.
You shall not steal.
God forbids us from taking what does not belong to us, whether directly through theft or indirectly through deception, coercion, manipulation, or fraud.
Societies become dysfunctional when theft is rampant.
The generality of this commandment indicates that it concerns more than the physical theft of tangible property.
It also pertains to the illicit taking of others’ intangibles, including their dignity, identity, innocence, ideas, and opportunities.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Our neighbors are the people we encounter throughout our lives. God wants us to be honest with everyone in what we do, say, represent, and imply.
Successful societies value trust and justice, both individually and collectively. Upholding these values requires us to be truthful and honest.
Common sense tells us there are exemptions to this commandment when telling less than the truth protects innocent lives from harm.
For example, we need not answer truthfully when a violent home invader asks whether our children are in the house.
Some state and military secrets are so important that they must be protected 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 elevation 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 place the object of our desire above God. Our fascination with its allure supplants our adoration of his excellence.
Covetousness keeps us from experiencing true contentment.
God is the source of true contentment. Coveting directs our affection toward inferior alternatives that offer only fleeting fulfillment.
Covetousness breeds anger, resentment, and bitterness. It sours our relationships with God and others. If left to fester, it can harm our emotional health.
Covetousness is often the underlying motive for lying, theft, adultery, and murder, all of which are prohibited in the preceding commandments.
Abstaining from covetousness makes us more likely to keep these precepts.
Societies fracture when covetous individuals and groups act on this impulse in harmful ways. Conversely, 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 as we would want to be treated.
He proclaimed that these two actions effectively fulfill the Ten Commandments and all of God’s other precepts.
