The Ten Commandments...?
The Ten Commandments - Where are they . . .What are they?
Any good Christian would tell you what they have been taught in church - "the Ten Commandments" are found in Exodus Chapter 20, and perhaps they might even know that they are repeated again in Deuteronomy Chapter 5. That is what any good Christian will tell you in answer, as to where "the Ten Commandments" are to be found in the bible.
Just ask this good Christian:
As to what "the Ten Commandments" say, in all actuality, most Christians might be able to, at best, quote a few of the "ten". Heck, they even have fun kids versions of "the Ten":
Here is a problem with teaching tradition in church: Ex. 20 does not contain "the Ten Commandments". It does contain ten commandments that Christians have traditionally claimed are "the Ten Commandments", but they are NOT "the Ten Commandments". Exodus 20 does not indicate that the commandments listed therein are "the Ten Commandments".
So, where are "the Ten Commandments"? They are found in Exodus, but they are not in chapter 20. I suspect that the main reason that Christians don't know this is because they simply do not read their bible the way I read their bible. They read it to confirm what they already believe - I read it to find out what it says.
In Ex. chapter 24 we know "a law, and commandments" were on the stone tablets (tables) that Moses brought down from Sinai - hard to know if it was "the Ten" because they are never referred to as "the Ten Commandments", and in chapter 32 Moses broke the tablets to pieces before we had a chance to read them.
Finally, in chapter 34, God (or Moses?) gets busy (re?)writing "the Ten Commandments" onto stone tablets. It's a bit difficult and confusing trying to isolate and identify exactly what "the Ten" are in Ex. 34, but give it a try by reading it for yourself - but at least you KNOW for a fact that these are "the Ten Commandments" because in verse 28 of Ex. 34 it states: "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."
So, as best as I can decipher, listed below (Ex. 34) are "the Ten Commandments" - and - as to how they compare to the traditional Christian Ten Commandments from Ex. 20 - all we have to do is read and compare:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god . . .
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
The actual Ten Commandments found in Ex. ch. 34 above are a bit different than the traditional Ten Commandments found in Ex. ch. 20 below. I suspect (hope) that Christians will agree with me on this . . . or at least I hope they can see what I see when comparing the two lists of ten - they share AT MOST, only three commandments.
The list from Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain . . .
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother . . .
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness . . .
17 Thou shalt not covet . . .
Hopefully, from now on, when Christians scream to have The Ten Commandments on display in every public building, including schools, they will at least have the integrity to display the actual Ten Commandments from Exodus 34.
bobr.u.reasonable@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment