I heard this preached on today, it occurred to me, God gave this to the children of Israel on Mt Sinai in order to establish civil order and societal balance. Now we don't have this in the USA. It's no longer cool to think that people can heed and obey the ten commandments. But let's see by reviewing them if there is a cure for the civil disorder we have with corruption and murder on our streets.
The First Commandment
You shall have no other gods. We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. I feel like people today trust almost anything other than God. They certainly don't Fear him or they would obey. They say the Love him, they Love Jesus but they don't behave in the same way.
The Second Commandment
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. We do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks in and for all things. Yet, listen to some music, watch HBO, go to Movies and the name of God is taken in vain all the time. Watch as some TV evangelists promise great things if you just send them money. We are surrounded by profanity and it pollutes our culture. I blame the coarseness for much of the violence we see.
The Third Commandment
You shall sanctify the holy day. [Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.] Sunday should be such that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. I believe that a return to Sunday Closing laws might be good.. that a Holy day set apart, even for the godless.. will do our culture good.
The Fourth Commandment
Honor your father and your mother. We do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them. When you see what authority figures have to go thru it is apparent that we have no culture of Honor. Cops are spit on. Teachers abused. The culture has no idea how to pay honor or obey. Sure everybody loves their mother.. and if they know who father is, they love him too. But the other authority figures are lost to them.
The Fifth Commandment
You shall not murder. Do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. Help a person who has fallen without picking his pocket or expecting anything in return. Murder is rampant, but it comes as the first four commandments are ignored. We see murderers not caught or prosecuted. This encourages others to murder.
The Sixth Commandment
You shall not commit adultery. Lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and hon our each other. This also means that unwed motherhood is part of the issue. It means that you don't mess around on your spouse. Marriage is sacred. But again in entertainment, it's not even considered cool to now be banging everything around you. Look at the Holly Madison Cheating website. No one asks were they right for signing up. Only snickers when they got caught. I won't even address the scourge of porn. There must be a fresh revelation of SHAME for Adultery and Fornication. We have disorder and households with 5 kids no dad and 5 genetic fathers. There seems to be not shame and the culture is degraded.
The Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal. We do not take our neighbors money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. This means if you work for a person you help them improve their income. You rejoice in the prosperity of others. This is not how our culture sees the rich any more. They see them as cheaters, winners on life's lottery. That's not the nature of this command. What is worse is when young men and women are caught clearly stealing merchandise on surveillance video, the parents who know who the kids are, they wink at it, hope they don't get caught and the child considers this approval and sinks even further in the cultural decline. If this activity was stopped here, perhaps some of those kids wouldn't end up shot dead on the street.
The Eighth Commandment
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. We do not tell lies about our
neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him,
and explain everything in the kindest way. This is horrid in our culture. People make things up. We have a tabloid mentality. Truth is nearly impossible to find. Salacious rumors and imaginations are all over the culture. It destroys trust and kills with words. Lying is a national pastime.
The Ninth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbors house. We do not scheme to get our neighbors inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it. Yet you know there is all kinds of ways to set yourself up to get in line for a "blessing". It is critical that we allow personal property to be what it is, personal and property. Because we have so many ways of taking from others thru excessive taxation it is a violation of this commandment. People feel like they "have a right to what is yours". This is a meme in the corrupted culture.
The Tenth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbors wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. We do not entice or force away our neighbour’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty. Coveting is secret envy that creates resentment. This goes much deeper in the culture of today than we know. If someone has, we are always trying to figure a way to finagle it out of him or her. It's a cultural penchant for greed.
Even when people think they are teaching their children this in church, the culture is designed to destroy and delete these ten commandments from their behavior. It is a scheme of the enemy. We must be very careful not to endorse, sanction or tolerate the blatant violations of these commandments. With authorities and citizenry alike there must be a return to these simple principles. It was God's intention for us to live in peace and harmony. We do when we operate within the boundaries of his ten commandments. It's a superior culture by far.
The Close of the Commandments
What does God say about all these commandments? He says: “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” [Ex. 20:5–6]
God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them. But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments. Therefore, we should also love and trust in Him and gladly do what He commands.
It is time to call out what is broken about our broken culture. It broke the system that God established to live quiet and peaceful lives. I honor all cultures that keep the commandments. I dishonor those that do not. So should we all. We duplicate what we tolerate. Let's be less tolerant.
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