Will the real set of Ten Commandments, please stand up!

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Grailhunter

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Exodus chapter 20 The Ethical Decalogue
The event: The Hebrews / Israelites, are at Mt Sinai, God speaks from the mountain to the nation of Israel. After the first ten Laws the people freaked. Then after they calm down and step back a distance God continues with four more Laws, and then continues on with some ordinances. So during this event there are fourteen Laws, not ten. From there the confusion starts. This event had more than one purpose and we will get to that later, but note God’s primary concern during this event, which was that the Israelites would break through to get to Him, this concern pretty much dominates the preceding chapter…19. Another thing to consider, is at no point does God or the Bible directly call these Laws “The Ten Commandments” but if it was that simple, scholars would not be debating this to this today.

Exodus 20:3-17 The first ten ethical codes spoken by God. Deuteronomy 5:7-21

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

4 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

6. “You shall not murder.

7. “You shall not commit adultery.

8. “You shall not steal.

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

This list of ethical codes are also listed in Deuteronomy 5:7-21. But neither are directly referenced as the Ten Commandments. After speaking the first 14 Laws, God continues to speak and goes into other sections of the Laws, Laws concerning slaves, (which included concubinage) Laws concerning personal injury, Laws concerning theft, Laws concerning property—physical and living, Laws concerning morality, Laws concerning civil and religious obligations, and Laws concerning conquests and wars. Moses than spoke these Laws to the people and then he wrote them down. He refers to this as the book of the covenant.

Exodus 24:4-12
Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and the remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”

Now everyone knows, the first set of tablets did not end well. In the first instance, God made the tablets and wrote the Laws on them. That did not occur with the second trip that Moses made to Mt Sinai.

In Exodus 34:11-28, here are the only Laws that God calls the Ten Commandments and He refers to the tablets as the Two Tablets of the Testimony. So in verse 34:11 God says, “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Then He goes on to state ten Laws.

1. Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim.

2. for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.

3. You shall make for yourself no molten gods.

4. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

5. The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.

6. You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.

7. You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

8. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

9. You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.

10. You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Then in verse 27 God said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
 

Grailhunter

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In this set of Laws God does not reiterate the basic ethical codes, probably because those codes would be better defined in the 613 Mosaic Laws which would be soon to follow. Now in Deuteronomy chapter 5:7-21 the ten ethical codes (from chapter 20) are listed but they are not directly referred to as the Ten Commandments, even though the phrase occurs in 4:13. This is an observation that is well noted by scholars. That being said, in 5:22 the Laws that are listed are said to have been written on two tablets of stone, so still they seem to be referring to the same event with two different descriptions of that event. In Deuteronomy 5:22 Moses indicates that God wrote the Laws on the tablets and gave them to him. In Exodus 34:27-28 Moses indicate that God told him (Moses) to write the Laws on the tablets and referred to them as the Ten Commandments. Exodus chapter 34, is the only place in the Bible were a set of Laws are directly referred to by God as the Ten Commandments.

Eventually these two sets are labeled as the Ethical Decalogue (chapter 20) and the Ritual Decalogue (chapter 34). These terms do not occur in the Bible and there is no biblical explanation for why there are two sets of Laws. The history of the terms Ethical Decalogue and Ritual Decalogue are ambiguous and I am finding different sources. What is known, is that Ethical Decalogue is never directly referred to as the Ten Commandments, but the Ritual Decalogue is directly called the commandments by God and then written on the Tablets of the Testimony by Moses, and then referred to as the Ten Commandments. But neither Judaism nor the Old Testament initially had a focus on the Ten Commandments. The phrase Ten Commandments appears in Deuteronomy, and this is the last time the phrase is mentioned in the entire Bible, Old and New Testament. Christianity’s interest in the Ten Commandments may have occurred because they were referenced in a singular manner in the New Testament, but never prescribed as Christian Laws. In the Old Testament the Mosaic Law was the preeminent body of Laws. Since all of the Ten Commandments were incorporated and expanded upon in the 613 Laws of Moses, any singular reference to this list of ethical codes in the New Testament is still referencing the Mosaic Law in context. The ECF’s agreed with Paul on the belief that we are not under the Law and warned about Judaizers. It is not until Augustine that any real interest in the “Ten Commandments” surfaces and some say he changed them. (I am not addressing that) From there the Catholic Church develops an interest in the “Ten Commandments” and the Protestants adopt that interest. But still after all this time, are they are referring to the wrong set of Laws?

Again we are back to two lists and two events. Attempts to explain and harmonize these events have ended mostly in failure with some of the opinions being that the Torah was an amalgamation of several stories, kind of like trying to merge the four Gospels of the New Testament into one. A detailed explanation of the thought process and attempts to resolve the differences in the events are covered at this site Decalogue Of which most Christians are not going to find comforting.

The actual event of the tablets aside…….there is the possibility of a better explanation for the Ten Commandments. The Ethical Decalogue (chapter 20) are represented in the 613 Mosaic Laws with more lengthy details and descriptions which are sometime expanded to multiple Laws. The Ritual Decalogue are somewhat different then the Ethical Decalogue, and they are more lengthy, but they too, are incorporated into the Mosaic Law. Consider this, the first ten Laws spoken by God at Mt. Sinai appear to be a summary of the ethical Laws in the 613 Mosaic Laws. In which case they are not Laws at all, but a summary of the Laws that where to come with the covenant between God and Israel that would be ratified. God’s intent for speaking to the Israelites from Mt. Sinai, besides the summary of Laws, was to prove to the Israelites, that God was working with Moses, and what he would tell them, came directly from God. (Exodus 19:9) Now most give Moses the title of prophet, but I am thinking he was more than that, because if he wrote down all that God said from Mt. Sinai, he had to have an eidetic memory.

Not that anything is settled and many will disagree with this whole post but, the comfort is that it has little or no effect on Christianity, we are not Jews and the Mosaic Laws are not our Laws. Any ethical code that was in the Old Testament Laws are better explained in the words and actions of Christ. We really have enough to contend with, as it is Christian beliefs regarding the teachings of Christ and sins have varied over the millennia. The Catholic Church (as a structured organization) was the first to consider the concepts of Christian morals and forgiveness and they set down rules and doctrines, of which they ended up with a system of sins…. Mortal and Venial sins, and a list thereof, and the Church more or less took over the process of confession and the process of forgiveness in such a manner that they believe they control forgiveness and some of these Catholic sins are not easy to get forgiveness for. Then the Protestants turned around and start producing their own set of sins….man-made sins…. So as it is, we have enough to contend with just understanding and debating Christian morals and sins without throwing in the Old Testament Laws of which, just muddies the water of understanding. A good part of the Mosaic Law, we could not do or obey, even if we wanted to. But then there is always going to be Judaizers, and they raise their hands and say, “The Mosaic Law is of God, and I believe in them and I believe we should obey God’s words!” But the truth is, you would have to beat them everyday with a bull whip to get them to even try, and they would still fail, because there are Old Testament Laws we cannot do today. Paul referred to the Old Testament Laws as a ministry of death written in letters engraved on stones. At best a cruel tutor that Christ redeemed us from. The written Law failed to provide salvation or a close relationship with God. Christ wrote the ministry of life on our hearts with words of love and grace. Nothing in the Old Testament needs to be added to that. Surely some will think that the ten Laws referenced in chapter 20, the Ethical Decalogue, are compatible with Christ teachings and that most should be easy to obey….as it turns out, by the letter of the Law, some are easier to keep, and some are more difficult, and some fall far short of the Christ’s teachings.
 
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justbyfaith

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Exo 34:28, And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Deu 4:13, 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.

Deu 10:4, And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.
 

justbyfaith

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KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid"

There is no need to complicate the teaching of God's word with things like this.
 
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Enoch111

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Exodus chapter 20 The Ethical Decalogue
You start off by MISREPRESENTING The Ten Commandments and then post everything in bold to annoy everyone.

The Ten Commandments are NOT MERELY ETHICAL. That is a gross misrepresentation. They are MORAL AND SPIRITUAL standards for all mankind. They are also holy, just and good. And they are not limited to the Old Covenant but they are also a part of the New Covenant.

I am not sure what your agenda is, but I believe it is partly related to misrepresenting Bible truth.
Not that anything is settled and many will disagree with this whole post but, the comfort is that it has little or no effect on Christianity, we are not Jews and the Mosaic Laws are not our Laws.
This is PURE BALONEY.
 
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Grailhunter

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You start off by MISREPRESENTING The Ten Commandments and then post everything in bold to annoy everyone.

The Ten Commandments are NOT MERELY ETHICAL. That is a gross misrepresentation. They are MORAL AND SPIRITUAL standards for all mankind. They are also holy, just and good. And they are not limited to the Old Covenant but they are also a part of the New Covenant.

I am not sure what your agenda is, but I believe it is partly related to misrepresenting Bible truth.

This is PURE BALONEY.

Pure scripture...probably over your head
 
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VictoryinJesus

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Paul referred to the Old Testament Laws as a ministry of death written in letters engraved on stones. At best a cruel tutor that Christ redeemed us from.

“The ministration of death engraved on stones. Describes perfectly to “Stony ground” who endure for a time: Mark 4:16-17 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; [17] And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

2 Corinthians 3:7-9 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: [8] How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? [9] For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

The ministration of the Spirit: the good ground which endures in “blessed is he who is not offended in Me”: a new heart of flesh given of God for spiritual fruit after the heart of stone is removed. Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
 

justbyfaith

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“The ministration of death engraved on stones. Describes perfectly to “Stony ground” who endure for a time: Mark 4:16-17 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; [17] And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

2 Corinthians 3:7-9 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: [8] How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? [9] For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

The ministration of the Spirit: the good ground which endures in “blessed is he who is not offended in Me”: a new heart of flesh given of God for spiritual fruit after the heart of stone is removed. Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
I think that that is stretching it a bit; however I also do not see it as false doctrine per se; so I will let it slide.
 

VictoryinJesus

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I think that that is stretching it a bit; however I also do not see it as false doctrine per se; so I will let it slide.

Wrong maybe but it sure helps with all His parables spoken to them. It is not meant to be against Him... see the tomb as the heart with a “great stone” rolled away and Life called forth into the Light to bear fruit unto Life and not death. Called forth out of the ministration of death and loosed from grave clothes to serve the ministration of the Spirit. Mark 16:3-4 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? [4] And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

Oddly they could roll this great stone over the mouth of the Tomb...but only God could remove it. Psalm 38:1-4 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. [2] For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. [3] There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. [4] For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
 
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justbyfaith

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In that, it can be seen that the Lord considered our iniquities that He paid the penalty for on the Cross, to be His own.
 
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Giuliano

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Exodus chapter 20 The Ethical Decalogue
The event: The Hebrews / Israelites, are at Mt Sinai, God speaks from the mountain to the nation of Israel. After the first ten Laws the people freaked. Then after they calm down and step back a distance God continues with four more Laws, and then continues on with some ordinances. So during this event there are fourteen Laws, not ten. From there the confusion starts. This event had more than one purpose and we will get to that later, but note God’s primary concern during this event, which was that the Israelites would break through to get to Him, this concern pretty much dominates the preceding chapter…19. Another thing to consider, is at no point does God or the Bible directly call these Laws “The Ten Commandments” but if it was that simple, scholars would not be debating this to this today.
You are right. "Ten commandments" is an unfortunate translation. "Ten sayings" or "Ten words" would be better. The Orthodox Church has it right referring to the "Decalogue."

I will give you a Jewish explanation -- and I think it agrees with what Jesus and Paul taught. It is said that all 613 laws, commandments, or words were communicated by the Voice of God which sounded to many like a trumpet. Only Moses understand everything. That is because his mind was unassuming, without prior misconceptions. Moses knew when he didn't know something. That is what is meant by Moses being "meek."

The vast majority of Israel still had the minds of slaves. They had misconceptions and biases. They could hear only "ten words" sensibly. The rest sounded like a deafening and threatening trumpet sound to them. They could not and did not want to hear the Voice of God for themselves -- the Oral Torah -- the lively oracles -- the Law of Love -- the Law of Spirit.

Moses then wrote down the remaining laws using the words of men. Those words are not the real Law, they are the "written law." From the beginning of the Law of Moses then, the "written law" was a substitute for men and women unable to hear the Voice of God for themselves. The task for Jews today even is to read the written laws and to seek the Spirit behind them, to circumcise the heart so they can hear the Voice of God.
They know, they acknowledge, that "blindness" came on them and they seek to have that blindness removed.

In that state of blindness (or ignorance) of the true spiritual Law, they could not interpret those laws in practical terms for themselves. That is where the Sanhedrin came in. At Sinai, 70 elders went up higher than most people, and Joshua went up higher than the 70. They could understand more than the average person. The "Oral Law" itself was transmitted by Moses to Joshua.

Exodus 17:14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

The Oral Law was transmitted this way, orally, for generations. Other traditions evolved in competition with the right one. If anyone has studied the Oral Law (since it was finally written down), he will find that the New Testament quotes from it. Jesus himself was not teaching anything that radical about the Law of Moses. As a set of 613 commandments set down using the language of men, it served a purpose; but no matter how it was interpreted, it could never cover all the possibilities in life.

"Thou shalt not steal." Sometimes stealing would be the right thing to do. If your friend needed immediate medical care and you had no car, I hope you would steal mine if you could to save his life. Of course, later you would contact me to let me know what happened. You should offer to pay for gas too -- and I'd probably say, "Forget it." If you wrecked it, you should offer to pay for the repairs. (I might not say to forget that.)

The point to be understood is that the 613 laws should never be interpreted to justify callousness towards human suffering. It is absolutely wrong to read any of them to mean you should "obey the letter" in a way that cost someone else his life. The purpose given was to choose right and live.

So Jews, knowing they do not know, are told to obey the rulings of the Sanhedrin. If they do that, God will not hold their ignorance or blindness against them if they are still struggling to understand the "Spiritual Law."

The Oral Torah -- which came from the mouth of God -- is the Real Law -- and it remains in effect. David, in the correct Tradition of the Jews, wrote:

Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

I think some Christians could benefit, not by trying to obey the 613 laws by the letter, but by studying them to try to understand the Law of Love behind them and why they were written down in the language of men.
 
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Grailhunter

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You are right. "Ten commandments" is an unfortunate translation. "Ten sayings" or "Ten words" would be better. The Orthodox Church has it right referring to the "Decalogue."

I will give you a Jewish explanation -- and I think it agrees with what Jesus and Paul taught. It is said that all 613 laws, commandments, or words were communicated by the Voice of God which sounded to many like a trumpet. Only Moses understand everything. That is because his mind was unassuming, without prior misconceptions. Moses knew when he didn't know something. That is what is meant by Moses being "meek."

The vast majority of Israel still had the minds of slaves. They had misconceptions and biases. They could hear only "ten words" sensibly. The rest sounded like a deafening and threatening trumpet sound to them. They could not and did not want to hear the Voice of God for themselves -- the Oral Torah -- the lively oracles -- the Law of Love -- the Law of Spirit.

Moses then wrote down the remaining laws using the words of men. Those words are not the real Law, they are the "written law." From the beginning of the Law of Moses then, the "written law" was a substitute for men and women unable to hear the Voice of God for themselves. The task for Jews today even is to read the written laws and to seek the Spirit behind them, to circumcise the heart so they can hear the Voice of God.
They know, they acknowledge, that "blindness" came on them and they seek to have that blindness removed.

In that state of blindness (or ignorance) of the true spiritual Law, they could not interpret those laws in practical terms for themselves. That is where the Sanhedrin came in. At Sinai, 70 elders went up higher than most people, and Joshua went up higher than the 70. They could understand more than the average person. The "Oral Law" itself was transmitted by Moses to Joshua.

Exodus 17:14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

The Oral Law was transmitted this way, orally, for generations. Other traditions evolved in competition with the right one. If anyone has studied the Oral Law (since it was finally written down), he will find that the New Testament quotes from it. Jesus himself was not teaching anything that radical about the Law of Moses. As a set of 613 commandments set down using the language of men, it served a purpose; but no matter how it was interpreted, it could never cover all the possibilities in life.

"Thou shalt not steal." Sometimes stealing would be the right thing to do. If your friend needed immediate medical care and you had no car, I hope you would steal mine if you could to save his life. Of course, later you would contact me to let me know what happened. You should offer to pay for gas too -- and I'd probably say, "Forget it." If you wrecked it, you should offer to pay for the repairs. (I might not say to forget that.)

The point to be understood is that the 613 laws should never be interpreted to justify callousness towards human suffering. It is absolutely wrong to read any of them to mean you should "obey the letter" in a way that cost someone else his life. The purpose given was to choose right and live.

So Jews, knowing they do not know, are told to obey the rulings of the Sanhedrin. If they do that, God will not hold their ignorance or blindness against them if they are still struggling to understand the "Spiritual Law."

The Oral Torah -- which came from the mouth of God -- is the Real Law -- and it remains in effect. David, in the correct Tradition of the Jews, wrote:

Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

I think some Christians could benefit, not by trying to obey the 613 laws by the letter, but by studying them to try to understand the Law of Love behind them and why they were written down in the language of men.

Thanks Giuliano
If we were to do a study of the Jews, it would be the study of the Old Testament Israelites, the Jews of Christ's time, their progression through history, and modern Judaism. Modern Judaism is a lot different, much more civilized of course and they would like to go back and rewrite the Laws about selling their daughters into concubinage and polygamy, harshness toward females, and rules of war. People look back and either want to criticizes or want to rewrite history. Americans would rather not have had slavery in their past, and in the land of the free and justice, making women second rate citizens is something that people are having a hard time understanding. Historians understand the "mind of time" the progression of the social mind and morals. We old timers think that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. My great-grand pa thought the same thing. But the time of yester-years was harsh and unforgiving. It is what it is. We learn from the past, or rather we can learn from the past
 

Giuliano

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Thanks Giuliano
If we were to do a study of the Jews, it would be the study of the Old Testament Israelites, the Jews of Christ's time, their progression through history, and modern Judaism. Modern Judaism is a lot different, much more civilized of course and they would like to go back and rewrite the Laws about selling their daughters into concubinage and polygamy, harshness toward females, and rules of war. People look back and either want to criticizes or want to rewrite history. Americans would rather not have had slavery in their past, and in the land of the free and justice, making women second rate citizens is something that people are having a hard time understanding. Historians understand the "mind of time" the progression of the social mind and morals. We old timers think that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. My great-grand pa thought the same thing. But the time of yester-years was harsh and unforgiving. It is what it is. We learn from the past, or rather we can learn from the past
The Oral Torah, after it was finally written down, can still be read as written.

Studying the rules of war might be interesting. Remember now, that how the Sanhedrin interpreted things always depended on culture. As culture changed, interpretations needed adjustment. In a culture where slavery existed, what was the humane thing to do with widows and orphans of your dead enemies? You could let them wander about, to become slaves of others if they didn't starve; or you could take the women as concubines and support them and their children. Which would be more humane in that culture?

Polygamy? I find the "black Muslims" interesting there. The current state of affairs in many black neighborhoods is that many black males are either dead at a young age or in prison. While polygamy is banned officially in the USA, nevertheless many black Muslims marry (unofficially) the women who are widows and so on. They even marry older women at times, so it's not for their good looks. They take care of them too. I'd say they love them. I see nothing wrong with it. It's not the ideal situation, but it's the compassionate thing given the situation.

Is modern warfare more humane today? More powerful nations can go bomb areas, laying the area desolate and creating refugees by the thousands. Today there are millions of refugees who suffer tragically. Some of those refugees are in that state because of the methods of modern warfare. We create them and then say, "It's not our problem." We pretend to be civilized by saying we'd never have slaves; but what happens today may be worse.

How Jews look at women may also be interesting. For example, women are seen as more spiritual than men. Many of the "thou shalt" laws of Moses don't apply to them. Women light the sabbath candles -- light left the world through a woman, they say, and it must return through a woman. Did you know too that when women had their periods, they didn't have to do any work? Compare that to the modern world. Some women aren't that disturbed emotionally by their periods, but some are. Yet modern society expects women to do their jobs without taking any notice of any stresses of having periods. Then often they go home, clean the house, and cook the meals as well. And today, if a woman would prefer not to work, many people look down their noses at her. The pressure is really on women a lot, I think.

Did you also know that men are expected to make their wives happy? If a woman isn't happy in a marriage and her neighbors and family find out, they approach the man and put the pressure on him. "Either make her happy, or divorce her so she might find a man who will make her happy."
Certainly divorce was permitted when men had hard hearts. It was even encouraged.
 
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tooldtocare

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Each and every religion listed below express the same common moral values.
Anyone care to guess which values they have in common-?
“Religions of the world

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?
Asked by Charlene Dupree of Toronto

There are some 4,300 religions of the world+/-

The world's 20 largest religions and their number of believers are:

1. Christianity (2.1 billion)
2. Islam (1.3 billion)
3. Nonreligious (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist) (1.1 billion)
4. Hinduism (900 million)
5. Chinese traditional religion (394 million)
6. Buddhism 376 million
7. Primal-indigenous (300 million)
8. African traditional and Diasporic (100 million)
9. Sikhism (23 million)
10. Juche (19 million)
11. Spiritism (15 million)
12. Judaism (14 million)
13. Bahai (7 million)
14. Jainism (4.2 million)
15. Shinto (4 million)
16. Cao Dai (4 million)
17. Zoroastrianism (2.6 million)
18. Tenrikyo (2 million)
19. Neo-Paganism (1 million)
20. Unitarian-Universalism (800,000)

Are there more human religions or more human languages in the world?
Languages. There are some 4,300 religions of the world compared with 6,800 living languages spoken somewhere in the world.”"

They have much in common. Can you guess what commonalities they have in common-?
Could; "thy shall not murder" be one?
Could; "thy shall not lie" be one?
Could; "thy shall not Deceive" be one-?

:)-
 
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Giuliano

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Each and every religion listed below express the same common moral values.
Anyone care to guess which values they have in common-?
“Religions of the world

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?
Asked by Charlene Dupree of Toronto

There are some 4,300 religions of the world+/-

The world's 20 largest religions and their number of believers are:

1. Christianity (2.1 billion)
2. Islam (1.3 billion)
3. Nonreligious (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist) (1.1 billion)
4. Hinduism (900 million)
5. Chinese traditional religion (394 million)
6. Buddhism 376 million
7. Primal-indigenous (300 million)
8. African traditional and Diasporic (100 million)
9. Sikhism (23 million)
10. Juche (19 million)
11. Spiritism (15 million)
12. Judaism (14 million)
13. Bahai (7 million)
14. Jainism (4.2 million)
15. Shinto (4 million)
16. Cao Dai (4 million)
17. Zoroastrianism (2.6 million)
18. Tenrikyo (2 million)
19. Neo-Paganism (1 million)
20. Unitarian-Universalism (800,000)

Are there more human religions or more human languages in the world?
Languages. There are some 4,300 religions of the world compared with 6,800 living languages spoken somewhere in the world.”"

They have much in common. Can you guess what commonalities they have in common-?
Could; "thy shall not murder" be one?
Could; "thy shall not lie" be one?
Could; "thy shall not Deceive" be one-?

:)-
The Golden Rule is also common to many religions. Golden Rule - Wikipedia
 
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Enoch111

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Pure scripture...probably over your head
This is rich, coming from someone who has no clue about the Ten Commandments, but posts lengthy posts all bolded to annoy everyone, so that some might think he knows what he is talking about.
 

Enoch111

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Each and every religion listed below express the same common moral values.
But only Bible Christianity presents Christ and Him crucified, risen, ascended, and exalted.

So what is your point? Do you believe that all religions are on the same footing?
 

Enoch111

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You are right. "Ten commandments" is an unfortunate translation.
Why is it an *unfortunate translation* when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself called them "the commandments" and listed six of them? Are you wiser than Christ, or do you prefer the doctrines of men?

Now please note carefully what is stated below in Scripture and then RETRACT what you said:

THE WORDS OF CHRIST
Thou knowest the commandments*, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. (Mk 10:19)

*Strong's Concordance
entolé: an injunction, order, command

Original Word: ἐντολή, ῆς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: entolé
Phonetic Spelling: (en-tol-ay')
Definition: an injunction, order, command
Usage: an ordinance, injunction, command, law.


Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1785: ἐντολή
b. ethically; α. used of the commandments of the Mosaic law: ἡ ἐντολή τοῦ Θεοῦ, what God prescribes in the law of Moses, Matthew 15:3 (and R G in Matthew 15:6); Mark 7:8f; especially of particular precepts of this law as distinguished from ὁ νόμος (the law) their body or sum: Matthew 22:36, 38; Mark 10:5; Mark 12:28ff;Romans 7:8-13; Romans 13:9; Ephesians 6:2; Hebrews 9:19; κατά τήν ἐντολήν, according to the precept of the law, Luke 23:56; plural, Matthew 4:19); ; Mark 10:19; (Luke 18:20); τηρεῖν τάς ἐντολάς, Matthew 19:17;πορεύεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς, Luke 1:6; ὁ νόμος τῶνἐντολῶν, the law containing the precepts, Ephesians 2:15 (see δόγμα, 2). β. of the precepts of Jewish tradition: ἐντολαί ἀνθρώπων, Titus 1:14. γ. universally, of the commandments of God, especially as promulgated in the Christian religion: 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:21; 1 John 5:3; ἐντολήν διδόναι, 1 John 3:23;ἐντολήν ἔχειν, ἵνα, 1 John 4:21; ἐντολήν λαβεῖνπαρά τοῦ πατρός, 2 John 1:4; τήρησις ἐντολῶνΘεοῦ, 1 Corinthians 7:19; τηρεῖν τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ, 1 John 2:3; 1 John 3:22, 24; 1 John 5:2 (here L T Tr WHποιῶμεν), 3; or τοῦ Θεοῦ, Revelation 12:17; Revelation 14:12; ποιεῖν τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ, Revelation 22:14 RG; περιπατεῖν κατά τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ, 2 John 1:6; of those things which God commanded to be done by Christ, John 15:1