The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai after God's people left Egypt. These commandments mark a great change in God's dealings with Israel. They were to be different from the surrounding nations. They needed to be separated from the world, and to worship God according to His way and not their own.
God's law came to teach His people to be morally pure, and also which cerimonies they had to abide by. Ultimately, we, as believers today, know that the main purpose of the law is to lead sinners to Christ. Galatians 3:24 reads: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.". No man can on his own obey God's Holy Commandments at all times - because we are sinners. Therefore, if one person breaks just one of God's Commandments, he or she is a law breaker and guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10).
Read the Ten Commandments from the King James Bible (Exodus chapter 20) below:
Second Commandment
“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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ”
Third Commandment
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
Fifth Commandment
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
Eight Commandment
“Thou shalt not steal.”
Ninth Commandment
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Tenth Commandment
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
Interesting Facts about the Law
- There are actually 613 commandments in the Old Testament, which are all summarized in the 10 above.
- The first 4 Commandments deal with our relationship with God, and the last 6 deal with our relationship with one another as individuals.
- Jesus later summed up the 10 commandments into 2.
- The 10 Commandments were written in 2 tablets of stone, by God.
- Moses was 40 days and 40 nights at Mount Sinai with God.