Less Turvey "THE COMMANDMENT SERIES"

The Commandments Series

Life - A Publication Syndicated by: Leslie A Turvey -Lines

All Scripture is linked through the Blue Letter Bible.

This Series sets forth the Commandments In the Bible. There are 11 Articles in this series. They date from June 2003 - July 2003

God gave a series of commandments to the people of Israel, and to us, to define our relationship with him and with our fellow man. This series will take you through each of the ten, one at a time.

Brother Leslie A Turvey - A servant of the only true and living God

The Commandment Series (Lesson 1)

YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME

God gave a series of commandments to the people of Israel, and to us, to define our relationship with him and with our fellow man. This series will take you through each of the ten, one at a time.

Gary Gotbucks was getting out of his BMW when a truck roared by, taking the door completely off the car. As Gary ranted and raved about it a bystander said, “You rich kids disgust me. You’re so wrapped up in your material things that you haven’t noticed your left arm has been torn off.”

“Oh, no,” screamed Gary. “Where’s my Rolex?”

For several generations the ancient Israelites were enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters whose gods were animals and insects and rivers. Had they lived today their gods would likely be BMWs, Rolexes, and other indicators of so-called success.

I knew a man who drove a Rolls Royce, had trousers with the RR symbol in gold thread on the legs, and wore a two-inch high tie tac: a diamond-studded dollar sign. Wonder what his god was.

The book of Exodus describes a series of plagues God rained down on the Egyptians. Most people believe they were sent to force the pharaoh to free the Israelites, but in each case we’re told pharaoh’s heart was hardened as God said it would be (Exodus 7:3). The Egyptians’ gods became plagues to them: the water became unusable (vs 20), frogs were everywhere (verse 6), the earth generated lice (verse 17), flies swarmed into the houses (verse 24), and so on. God brought the plagues to show pharaoh, and the Israelites, who the true God is, and to show his power over the gods of the Egyptians (Exodus 9:16).

Eventually the Israelites were not just let go; they were sent out of Egypt (Exodus 12:31-33). But God knew they needed laws to govern their lives. They only law they knew was “Work faster!” imposed by the painful sting of the lash on their backs, so God gave them ten commandments, the first four of which dealt with their relationship with him, and the last six which dealt with their relationship with each other. Jesus described them as love God, and love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Until recently the Israelites had known only gods which, they learned, were powerless at the hand of the God who was now leading them. The first commandment he gave them was, “You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7).” The Hebrew word <’al> [H5921], normally translated before, also means beside. It’s not just a matter of not having other gods that take precedence over the eternal God. It’s a matter of having no other god, period. God, and God alone.

Imagine what life would be like if everyone obeyed this one commandment. Deuteronomy 28:1-14 tells us we would have blessings in the city and in the field; enjoyment of our children, and great increase of crops and cattle; safety and protection as we come and go; plenty to eat, and plenty to store; rain in proper amounts in the proper seasons; and a promise we would be God's showcase nation to the world.

But what do we do as a nation? We put our BMWs and our Rolexes and our diamond-studded jewellery ahead of God. Our taskmasters make sure we work three shifts, seven days a week, so we can pay for all the expensive toys we just can’t do without. And where does it get us? We’re always on the verge of war. There are annual crop failures. We’re not safe anywhere. And terrorists, who don’t care a whit about the eternal creator God, fly aircraft into towers devoted to our greatest national god, the almighty dollar.

How can we know if we have other gods before our God in heaven? A simple test is this: If there is anything in your life that prevents you from obeying God with all your heart, it is a god to you. And no matter how you try to justify it, it is a god beside the only true and living God.

And God spoke all these words saying....”You shall have no other gods except me.”

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 2)

YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF ANY GRAVEN IMAGE

One of the most difficult of the ten commandments for many Christians to come to grips with is the second – no graven images.

How dull our home would be without figurines of cardinals and blue jays and eagles and such. We have pictures of our children on the walls, and on our book cases and entertainment center. A small Mercedes 500 SL sits atop my monitor, the nearest I will likely come to owning the real thing.

Are these the graven images God referred to in Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 5:8-10?

Some religious groups do not permit photographs as, they claim, a photograph is a graven image. Their homes must be rather drab with no dolls for their lassies, no teddy bears for their wee laddies, and not one photograph of their daughter to recall her wedding day. They will have nothing of the kind in their homes lest they break the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself 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.”

If that was the entire commandment I’d be in real trouble. Not only would all the pictures and figurines and my Mercedes have to go, I’d have to search through every book in my library and cut out every sketch and photograph. My dictionaries and encylopedias and bible helps would become useless.

But that's not the entire commandment. It continues, “You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them.”

Many ancient cultures worshipped fish and birds and trees, the sun and moon and stars. But we don’t have to look to the ancients to find people who worship such things. Many, today, wear bracelets or necklaces engraved with their particular astrological sign. They search their horoscope daily to determine everything from what to name the baby to who they should marry. They trust their horoscope more than they trust God.

During my journalism years I photographed an accident in which an image of St Christopher was on the dashboard of the car. Rather than trusting Jesus Christ for safety, and driving like Jesus would drive, a woman drove like the devil was after her, and trusted a graven image on the dashboard to protect those in the car. Four women and their four unborn babies were killed in an instant.

When God led Israel through the wilderness he never showed himself. Why? Deuteronomy 4:15-16 tells us he didn’t want them to corrupt themselves by making anything supposedly representing him.

Do you have a picture purporting to be Jesus, hanging on your bedroom wall, or sitting on the piano in your living room? We have no record of Jesus sitting for a portrait of himself, so we don’t know what he looked like. But the Greeks sculpted images of Apollo, Hermes, and other gods. Guess who was the model for your Jesus pictures.

A scene from Exodus 32:1-8 gives us an understanding of the second commandment. Moses had been on Mount Sinai so long the Israelites didn’t know what became of him. They brought their jewellery to Aaron to be melted down. While the metal cooled it magically took the shape of a golden calf. Well, that’s the story Aaron told when Moses returned from talking with God.

It was party time! The Israelites were cavorting around the image, bowing to it, and likely drinking plenty of potions in its honour. Why not? They had spent their entire lifetime worshipping the gods of Egypt precisely the same way. It was difficult for them to envision a God they couldn’t see; a God who created the very things they had worshipped; a God to whom obeisance is due because he loves us, and wants the very best for us.

Moses had led them to freedom, but they didn’t know what became of him (Exodus 32:23). Reverting to the only gods they knew seemed to be their only recourse.

But as Moses descended from the mountain he carried two stone tablets engraved by God himself (Exodus 32:15-16). On one of them was the words, “You shall not make for yourself 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. You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them.”

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 3)

YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN

You wouldn’t use God’s name as a curse word, would you? But many Christians unknowingly use God’s name in vain.

After this manner pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (Matthew 6:9).” When his disciples wanted to know how to pray Jesus told them to hallow – keep sacred – the name of God. When the one we know as Jesus Christ gave the ten commandments he decreed, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).”

It’s reasonable to believe most Christians won’t associate God’s name with damn, yet many think nothing of slurring it into Gosh darn. Look in your dictionary: you’ll learn it’s a euphemism for the real thing.

But using God’s name in vain doesn’t only mean using it in a cursing manner. The words “in vain” mean “for no good purpose.”

One of today’s favourite expressions is, “Oh my God.” For a while it became mod to say it five times in rapid succession once someone introduced the craze on television. My question to people who use God’s name this way is, “Who is your god?”

Writers often scribe, “My gawd.” Do they really think God is so stupid he doesn’t realize this is just another way to write “My God?”

Other throw-away expressions include, “Thank God” (as in, “Thank God it wasn’t broken,” when a toddler knocked the vase off the table); “So help me God” (as in, “So help me God, you’re going to get it when we get home.”); and “Hallelujah” or “Praise the Lord” as an expression for nearly any reason.

Another ungodly expression is, “As God is my witness.” The person using this expression tends to use God as a talisman. When the apostle Paul used the expression in Romans 1:9, he used it in a meaningful way. Our prayers are to be private (Matthew 6:6), so only God could witness that Paul was truthful when he said, “...without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.”

Some entertainers, who wouldn’t know God if he joined them at the microphone, will record an album of gospel music to attract the Christian market. This is another way of using God's name in vain.

Another way to use God’s name in vain is to use it hastily, or without thinking. A Life Lines reader was on a tour bus in Israel when it began raining. Barry told me a woman on the bus stood and said, "I rebuke this rain in the name of Jesus." The tour guide faced the lady and said, "Lady, what do you think you are doing? We have been praying for rain for the last two months."

I had a severe throat infection, but wanted to check out something in a bible bookstore. When I suggested the staff keep their distance a man said, "I rebuke that in Jesus' name." I thought he was sincere, but was unprepared for what happened next. He snickered!

The word reverend occurs only once in the bible, and there it refers to the name of God (Psalm 111:9). Yet many ministers – men and women who should know better – attach the adjective reverend to their name. What an affront to our heavenly father, for a human to adopt what is rightfully God’s. Some even go further and call themselves “The Very Reverend” or “The Most Holy Reverend so-and-so,” as though they are greater than God. This is a despicable example of using of God’s name in vain.

Jesus said many people would use his name in vain. Read it in Matthew 24:5, “...many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” We have them today in self-styled prophets who say, “God spoke to me,” then proceed to tell their own version of events in the book of Revelation. We have them in religious types who pray in Jesus name without truly knowing him. And we have them in preachers who deceive their congregations about God’s law being abolished. One of those laws is, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” and it’s every bit as valid today as it was when Israel was camping in the wilderness.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 4)

REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY

When God says, “Remember,” millions of Christians forget.

A good friend gifts you with a brand-new Rolex, but says, “If you don’t want the real thing, here’s a cheap Made-In-Who-Knows-Where counterfeit.” Which would you accept?

God has given mankind a Rolex-quality day, yet millions of Christians have chosen the counterfeit. God’s day is the sabbath. For many it’s not that they don’t know any better: they just don’t care.

God gave us six days to work. They are our days. But he knew, from the beginning, that man would quickly wear himself out if he didn’t take some time to rest. So God tells us on the seventh day, the same day he rested from his labours (Genesis 2:2-3), we are to take the day off too.

The sabbath is not an option. It’s God’s day, and we’re commanded to remember it, and to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12). But Christianity has forgotten it, and made it as unholy as Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.

Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27),” but Christianity has trampled all over it, choosing to observe another day. A Baptist minister in Ourtown told his congregation, “We do not have – at least we do not observe – the sabbath day as the scriptures teach us to observe it.” At least he was being honest.

“But the sabbath is the Jews’ day,” you say. Sorry, friends. The sabbath was created thousands of years before there ever was a Jew.

“But we’re Christians. We keep the Christian sabbath.” Wrong again. If Sunday is the Christian sabbath there should be at least one biblical reference to validate the change. And, since Jesus Christ is the Lord of the sabbath (Mark 2:28), only he could authorize such a change. Yet listen to what a Roman catholic cardinal, James Gibbons, wrote in an editorial in 1893, “There is absolutely no biblical authority for Sunday worship. The only authority is the Roman catholic church. You protestants bow down to us every Sunday morning.”

“But Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, so we keep that day in his honour.” Wrong on two counts. Jesus was resurrected as the sun was setting Saturday evening. But even if he had been resurrected on Sunday, does it honour him to dishonour the sabbath day that God sanctified, and has held holy for six thousand years?

Consider a young child, perhaps your own. He swipes some flowers from a neighbour’s garden, then gives them to you. His intent might be honourable, but does he honour you by his theft? Not unless you’re a dishonourable person yourself. Yet millions of Christians steal from God’s sabbath day week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year without giving it a second thought.

Recall in the first installment of this series you read, “If there is anything in your life that prevents you from obeying God with all your heart, it is a god to you.” And no matter how you try to justify it, observing any other day as the sabbath makes it a god beside the eternal God.”

In Exodus 31:13 God commands, “My sabbaths you shall keep.” In John 14:15 Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Do you love Jesus enough to put away your Sunday god to keep the fourth commandment? That’s the one that says, “Remember the [seventh day] sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 5)

HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER

Jesus Christ said the law is summed up in two things: love God, and love your fellow man as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). The first four commandments describe how to love God. The last six show how to love others.

Honour your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16).

“But God, my parents don’t deserve my honour.”

“Honour them anyway.”

I was fortunate to be blessed by parents who were easy to honour. Oh, yes, they had their shortcomings, but don’t we all? But my parents were kind and gentle, never drank anything stronger than tea and coffee, treated me well, and took me to sunday school and church nearly every week. If all the world’s parents were like mine, we’d live on a pretty peaceful planet.

Unfortunately all parents aren’t like mine. I needn’t cite a litany of lifestyles which many young people are raised in. I guess it’s understandable they might argue with God, “My parents don’t deserve my honour.”

But the fifth commandment doesn’t say, Honour your father and your mother if they deserve your honour. It says, Honour your father and your mother regardless of what they deserve. For many people, that must be really difficult.

Why did God make this the fifth commandment, and not the seventh or tenth? The first four show how to love and give honour to God; the last six concern our dealing with humanity, and they begin with the two humans closest to us: our parents. When we honour our parents, we will generally honour those outside our family circle.

Paul called this the first commandment with promise, and what a promise it is: that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth (Ephesians 6:2-3).

It’s not too difficult to see how the promise can apply to the children of Godly parents. If your parents honour God, then you give them honour by honouring God too. If your parents live a life free from tobacco, drugs, alcohol, and such, you honour them if you abstain too.

How do you refer to your parents, even if they do have a few shortcomings? When you refer to them with love you certainly honour them in your speech.

If your parents live an honourable life, and you give them the honour they deserve, they will have no reason to drive you out into the cruel world of crime and hate, of sleeping on a cold sidewalk, of overindulgence in alcohol and tobacco and drugs, and possibly bringing your life to an abrupt and horrible end.

But what if your parents don’t honour God, and drink and swear and do drugs. It may be difficult, but treat them with respect and love, and stay away from the things they do. This honours them according to God’s commandment, and secretly they will admire you for it.

And when you speak of them it’s not necessary to tell the world their sins: the world already knows. Your love for them, even though you think they don’t deserve it, will cover a multitude of their sins (James 5:20).

The fifth commandment is not only for the benefit of your parents; it’s for you, and for your welfare. Honour your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 6)

YOU SHALL NOT KILL

Is it wrong to swat a mosquito that’s transfusing itself on your blood? What did God really mean when he said, “You shall not kill?”

Is God mixed up? In the sixth commandment he says, “You shall not kill (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17).” Yet in Numbers 31:1-2 the Lord told Moses, “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites....” And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males (verse 7).

In 1 Samuel 15:2-3 God told King Saul, “Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

You shall not kill?

The Lord said to Moses, “You shall say to the children of Israel, Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed [children] to Molech; he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones (Leviticus 20:1-2).”

During Israel’s journeying in the wilderness, a man was discovered gathering firewood on the sabbath day, so the Lord told Moses, “The man shall be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses (Numbers 15:32-36).

You shall not kill?

Does this mean you can’t swat a fly that’s buzzing around your food, or kill a mosquito that’s biting you? Or euthanize your faithful dog when she gets so old and arthritic that life is nothing but misery for her?

When God gave the commandments to Israel, and to us, he knew there would be times when our nations would have to defend ourselves against aggressive enemies. Does warfare negate the commandment?

When someone stubbornly disobeyed God, the death penalty was imposed as a lesson to the rest of the people.

Of course, the killing of animals for food or for sacrifice was not prohibited by the commandment. The commandment refers to premeditated killing -- murder.

It’s interesting how many preachers trot out their seminary-taught Hebrew to prove what the commandment means. But what about the fellow who has never learned the biblical languages? Very simple. If you’re not sure what “You shall not kill” means, you need only ask Jesus. He’ll tell you it means murder (Matthew 19:18).

The commandment against murder is not as easy to keep as it may seem. Jesus magnified the law so if we even think something we have done it in our hearts (Matthew 5:27-28).

We may not take a knife or gun to someone who aggravates us, but we may think in our mind, “I wish you were dead.” Indeed, if we let “I wish you were dead” into our minds often enough, we may eventually fulfil our wish by actually killing the person.

No, God is not mixed up. He did say, “There is a time to kill (Ecclesiastes 3:3),” but he did not say there is a time to take innocent life. That’s murder, and God has the answer for that: “He that kills any man shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 24:17).”

Premeditated taking of another person’s life is unjustifiable, and it’s murder. Of this God commands, “You shall not kill.”

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 7)

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY [Part 1]

If the ancient penalty of stoning was carried out today, adultery would not likely be the plague it is on today’s society.

The scribes and Pharisees brought to [Jesus] a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst they said to him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned. But what do you say (John 8:3-11)?”

Adultery is a heinous act in the eyes of God. We shouldn’t have to ask why: the results are seen today in marriages broken up by extra-marital affairs. God knew what the results would be thousands of years ago, so he commanded Moses to write, “The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:10).”

That’s pretty heavy stuff. The same sentence for murdering another person was imposed for both parties in an adulterous relationship -- apparently even for a one-night stand.

When one understands the human family is a microcosm of God’s eternal family, it becomes apparent why God forbids adultery. Unfaithfulness to one’s spouse destroys the sanctity of the family, and if family sanctity goes unchecked destruction of the nation will result.

Shattered marriages result in confusion and fear in the lives of young children who don’t understand what’s going on. Even if the affair doesn’t destroy the home directly, sexually transmitted diseases can be brought to the marriage bed. And if the mistress has several paramours the disease will be spread even further, and further, and further. This is especially evident where a husband has a homosexual lover on the side. The scourge of AIDS, although it is no longer just a homosexual disease, Is still spread in the lifestyle of men and women whose adulteries are with men and women of their own gender.

We didn’t have to discover the results of adultery through experimentation. Thousands of years ago King Solomon said a man who goes to his neighbour’s wife will be burned just as surely as it he had walked on hot coals (Proverbs 6:27-28). The Contemporary English Version translates verse 32 like this, “If you go to bed with another man's wife, you will destroy yourself by your own stupidity.”

How true. It’s not just AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases which destroy the adulterer. The concern of being found out brings on stresses which can result in mental problems, and physical ill health. The distress of being discovered often results in murder or suicide.

Many years ago it was determined one’s actions reverberate through an average of seventeen people. So when a man and woman shack up together, at least thirty-four others are affected. Except for the divorce lawyer who gains by the infidelity, the effect on most of the others is negative.

Although the commandment refers to the act of adultery, Jesus magnified the law by saying if a man looks at a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her in his mind (Matthew 5:28). And this applies to the woman who looks at a man with the same lustful thoughts.

Jesus knew if we lust after someone long enough, we will eventually fulfil our lusts, even if it means resorting to the violent form of adultery we call rape.

The commandment states, “You shall not commit adultery.” When he said lusting after a woman was as immoral as actually committing adultery with her, Jesus didn’t raise the bar. He merely showed how high the bar really is.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 8)

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY [Part 2]

The same Christian who would never think of sleeping with another man’s wife, regularly commits another form of adultery.

Adultery is heinous in the eyes of God. No matter whether a man sleeps with his neighbour’s wife, or buys sexual favours from a street-corner whore, adultery is adultery. The results are seen in broken homes and shattered families.

An ancient nation was shattered by adultery of another sort, and our Christian nations continue to commit it today. God calls it whoring after other gods (Judges 2:17).

(Now before you bang off the usual hate mail, read the undeniable truth in your own bible.)

The Israelites had worshipped Egyptian gods through several generations. When God showed them he was the God of power, and rescued them from their slavers, he had a right to believe they would follow him exclusively. But did they?

God related the story to Ezekiel, saying there were two women, the daughters of one mother. In their youth they committed whoredoms, referring to their service of the Egyptian gods.

After being delivered to the land of Palestine, civil war resulted in Judah parting company from the rest of Israel. God called the ten tribes Aholah, and Judah was named Aholibah.

Aholah played the harlot and committed whoredoms with the nations around her, and defiled herself with their idols. Not only that, she never really left the Egyptian gods behind.

God therefore, “...delivered her into the hands of her lovers,” who took the ten-tribed kingdom captive to the Caspian Sea area, from whence they were dispersed through the known world, and beyond (Ezekiel 23:1-10).

One might think Judah, now known as the Jews, would have learned a lesson from this, but God continued saying, “And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt...in her whoredoms, more than her sister in her whoredoms.” The Jews were worse than the rest of Israel (vs 11). The remaining verses describe how God would deal with Judah, and for what? “I will do these things to you because you have gone whoring after the heathen, and because you are polluted with their idols (vs 30). Verse 37 says, “...with their idols have they committed adultery....Moreover,” adds God, they have “profaned my sabbaths (vs 38).” One need not wonder why the Jews became scattered to the world, and why they cannot find peace today. It’s all there in the record of Ezekiel.

But what does this have to do with Christianity? We haven’t gone whoring after other gods. We haven’t profaned God’s sabbaths. Oh?

God told Israel, “Learn not the way of the heathen....one cuts a tree out of the forest....They deck it with silver and with gold... (Jeremiah 10:2-4).” So what do Christians do every december? They follow the way of the heathen.

What about every spring time? Christians honour an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess called Eastre, but call their celebrations Christian. In so doing they profane the sabbaths of God’s holy days (Leviticus 23:1-44), as well as his weekly sabbaths.

And what does God say about this? He warned the ancient Israelites, and warns us today, “Take heed that you ...enquire Not after their gods saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise (Deuteronomy 12:30).’ You shall not do so unto the Lord your God.”

We cannot incorporate heathen gods and practices into the worship of the eternal God, and expect him to look the other way forever. The commandment states, “You shall not commit adultery,” neither with your neighbour’s wife, nor with the gods of the ancients.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 9)

YOU SHALL NOT STEAL

If you plan to be a purse snatcher, beware of Annie. She may give you a thrashing you won’t soon forget.

It had been a wonderful vacation, but intuition told Irene something wasn’t right. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Suddenly she froze.

“Paul,” she called. “Come quick. We’ve been robbed.” Their television was gone. Their CDs were gone. And a silver tea service that had passed through generations of her family was gone. Every room in the house was ransacked, and several empties showed the burglars had enjoyed a refreshing libation while they worked.

Gone are the days when people could be trusted. Today, more than ever, we need the commandment, “You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15).”

Women, especially, use the word violated when referring to their feelings when their home is burgled. Violated! It’s the same word women use when they’ve been raped.

I know the feeling. Many years ago I left my car overnight at a service garage. The next day something was missing. It was worth only a few dollars, but to me it was priceless: a pair of my wife’s surgical scissors. Jeannette, a student nurse, had died just three years after we were married.

Thieves don’t care about sentimental value. They want what you have. They don’t care that you worked hard to enjoy a few luxuries in life. They want the luxuries, or the money they can bring, and they want it the easy way.

A lady in Ourtown, well into her nineties, was accosted by two teenagers, one of whom grabbed her purse: full daylight, right downtown. After the thrashing Annie gave the kids with her cane, they likely wished they’d obeyed the eighth commandment: You shall not steal.

But theft doesn’t just refer to stealing another person’s possessions. Shakespeare wrote in Othello, “Who steals my purse steals trash....but he that filches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.”

A person who would think carefully before uttering a falsehood on the witness stand, will pass on a rumour without thinking at all. After all, it came from a very reliable source. Oh?

Rumours generally include an element of truth, but as they grow the truth is suppressed until it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. And the rumour always steals from someone’s reputation.

If you do drugs you steal from your health, and will steal from the grocery and rent money to pay for your habit.

If you fail to properly raise and educate your children you steal from their future. A Jewish proverb says, “He who fails to teach his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief.”

Young people need, and want, limits on what they can do. The father who bails out his kids every time they get into trouble, steals from their character and self-esteem, as well as from his own.

Remember the fourth commandment? That’s the one in which God says, “I rested on the seventh day. You take the day off too.” If we don’t properly rest on God's sabbath days we steal from our health, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

It’s good to take an occasional break during the day to just do nothing but relax. But beware, it can also become a time-stealing habit.

I could go on, but it's up to you to decide which areas of your own life break the commandment that says, You shall not steal. I'll leave it up to you and God to correct them.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 10)

YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS

“Did you hear about Nellie? Well, let me tell you.” And with that comes a juicy story you know is true, because it came from someone who would never lie. Oh?

How good is your word? Can it be trusted, or do you tend to fudge a bit? Is your promise to help overridden by some trivial thing you decide is more important -- like watching the game on television?

Fifty years ago a man’s word could be trusted. If he said he would help you, he would. If he borrowed from you, his promise to return it was all you needed.

But it’s different today, isn’t it? Even if you get a promise in writing it’s not necessarily trustworthy. The word of many people of authority cannot be trusted. As the question asks, “How can you tell when a politician is lying?” Answer: His lips are moving.

In court, if you wrongly witness against a person you may be charged with perjury. The same charge can be assessed for false witness in favour of the person being tried.

The bible says let your yea be yea and your nay be nay (James 5:12), but judge junkies see the opposite every day on television: yea means nay, and nay means maybe.

Outside the courtroom many people bear false witness against people by gossiping. And when two gossips get together, the story generally grows as more and more tidbits of false witness is added to it.

Sarah, the self-appointed supervisor of the church's morals, accused George of being an alcoholic after she saw his truck parked in front of the town's only bar. George walked away saying nothing. Later that evening, he quietly parked his pickup in front of Sarah's house....

...and left it there all night.

Sarah’s false witness came back at her like a boomerang, and so does most other false witness, because nobody has a good enough memory to be a good liar.

It’s easy to rationalize away your excuse for going back on your word. “He’ll have plenty of help without me.” But would you want your friend going back on his word to you? Most of us have been there, and know the frustration that comes from being one man short.

There’s another good reason for never giving false witness. A man’s good word can be destroyed by one lie. After that, one will always wonder whether he’s telling the truth or lying again.

Someone breaks a window, and Dad asks the kids who did it. “Not me!” comes Timmy’s response. That’s fine if Tim didn’t do it, but the intimation is someone else did. But, if Tim was responsible he committed false witness against someone else, and against himself.

There is someone who will not commit false witness against you and me, and I’m not speaking of Jesus. That someone is the accuser of the brethren, satan. He accuses us day and night (Revelation 12:10), but of what? Every time I sin he stands before God and says, “Did you see that? Les Turvey did such-and-such,” and his accusation will be true.

There’s someone else who will never witness falsely against anyone. Titus 1:2 tells us God cannot lie. His word will always be true, so he may have to agree with satan.

Fortunately we have an intercessor, Jesus Christ, whose word is so true it took false witnesses to put him away. When he tells his father, “I poured out my blood so Les doesn’t have to pay the ultimate penalty for that sin,” I can trust my sin is blotted from the record.

No wonder Jesus, in giving the commandments, was able to write with his own finger, “You shall not bear false witness (Exodus 20:16; 31:18).” He set the example in his own life.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

The Commandment Series (Lesson 11)

YOU SHALL NOT COVET

God gave us nine specific commandments regarding actions. You might think that’s enough. But he gave us one that covers attitudes, and covers the bases for all the others.

A huge book would be required to list all the things we covet -- lust after.

To covet generally means to wrongfully desire. How often we see the results of covetousness when you get a new car or television or whatever. The jealousy of covetousness manifests itself when your neighbour soon gets a new car or television or whatever, and it generally upstages yours.

All covetousness is not wrong. Paul had been writing about the many gifts of God’s spirit, and ended with, “But covet earnestly the best gifts... (1 Corinthians 12:31).”

We are to covet the best that God can give us. But God has not given us our neighbour’s house, his wife, his servants, his animals, or anything else that belongs to our neighbour.

What is so wrong with coveting? Is it wrong to say, “Nice car, John. Sure wish it was mine.” Not really. It’s a way of saying John made a great choice when he bought it.

But coveting is in the mind. If we let our wish that John’s car was ours grow, we may eventually break the eighth commandment and steal it, or one like it.

Jesus told his disciples the old testament says you shall not commit adultery. “But," he added, "I tell you, whoever looks on a woman to lust after [covet] her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).”

If there’s no other way to have what our neighbour has, we may even resort to disobeying the sixth commandment and kill him. In doing so we’ll likely claim someone else did it, thus breaking the ninth commandment about bearing false witness. It’s done every day.

If we wrongly desire our neighbour’s things, they become gods, thus breaking the first commandment.

God told ancient Israel, and us today, if we, as a nation, listen to God and keep his commandments, we will be safe wherever we go; we will have abundant crops; and our children will be a joy to us. If we do this as a nation God will make us a showcase nation to the world (Deuteronomy 28: 1-14). But if we refuse to obey God and his commandments, well you can read the rest of the chapter.

The tenth commandment may seem like an add-on compared to such big-ticket items as murder, stealing, lying, and adultery, but it is foundational to all the other commandments and ensures peace and contentment. It is the only command that zeroes in on a forbidden attitude rather than an action. Yet it is a safeguard against the temptation to break the other nine commandments.

David's covetous desire for another man's wife led to adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11:1-27). And a desire for more and more pleasure, power, or possessions can destroy family relationships and cause us to lie to others. Because covetousness is idolatry, it also keeps us from having and maintaining a right relationship with God.

Confusing our wants with our needs goes to the heart of coveting and explains why we are so often driven by the desire for more and more.

Recall that Paul said,“...covet earnestly the best gifts... (1 Corinthians 12:31).” But he didn’t stop there. He added, “...and yet I show to you a more excellent way.” That more excellent way is not found in accumulating things, but in keeping God’s commandments.

A final warning; You cannot break God's law. But if you disobey God's law it will break you.

Lord God, help us to be content in keeping your laws. They are righteous and holy, and were given for our own good.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

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Last Revised October 01, 2006
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Lesson 5	Lesson 6	Lesson 7	Lesson 8
Lesson 9	Lesson 10	Lesson 11