Another foundational piece to our Christian faith is the Ten Commandments. So, by this point in the Bible it has been clearly established that sin is serious business. The fates of Adam and Eve’s first two children were the result of grievous sin: one child was dead (murdered), and the other (the murderer) had to live on the lam. And all of the surviving child’s descendants (Cain’s) proved to be debased, depraved, and outright evil. Adam and Eve did have more children afterward, and it is through their later son Seth’s line that we eventually get to Noah, where out of necessity, God killed all of humanity except Noah and his immediate family, and a whole bunch of animals. Again, just like all of the descendants of Cain (who had murdered his brother), the rest of humanity had also over time become debased, depraved, and outright evil.
Although God promised to never again send a flood to kill all of humanity (and I need to note that He has indeed kept His promise!), humanity has once again become debased, depraved, and outright evil.
I should pause here for a minute. I don’t know who my readers are. I’m writing as if you already know the definitions of “debased” and “depraved” (hopefully knowing the definition of “evil” is a gimme). On the off-chance that a reader comes across this page not knowing those words, I will need to therefore provide dictionary definitions of those words before we go any further:
Debased
Debase
Now, I’m aware that the dictionary definitions of “debased” and “debase” kind of give a mild, sterile picture compared with what the Bible describes. Typically, “debased” in the Bible has been used in context with a “debased mind,” and this article (click the link here) explains in much more comprehensive detail than I really have time to research. (Plus, my passion for evangelism is more geared toward those who already know about Jesus but have not quite embraced Him, or even have walked away from Him.)
Now to the definitions of “depraved” and “depravity”:
Depraved
Depravity
Similarly, click the link here for more reading on the Biblical definitions (and accompanying Bible verses) of “depraved” and “depravity.”
So, if depravity and having a debased mind are that bad, then what’s good? That’s where the Ten Commandments come in. (In a minute.)
To finish telling the story leading up to God sharing the Ten Commandments with His people, the Israelites (and much later, to all of us non-Jews), post-Noah, God made a promise to Abraham (one of Noah’s descendants) that He would make his bloodline a great nation. It took a few generations for this to come to fruition, but by the time his great-grandsons were full-grown adults, 1 man’s seed had grown to over 70 people. A few generations further down the line, that 70 grew to ultimately around 3 million people. But they had been in Egypt (and were oppressed as slaves by the Egyptian rulership) and, after God had shown them signs and wonders, displaying His miraculous power over and over, they were still grumbling and complaining and rebelling a short while later, after they had been freed from Egyptian rule, by way of (what else?) God’s miracles. It was Noah’s descendant, Abraham’s descendant, Jacob’s descendants, led by God via Moses, that were starting to head down the path toward depravity yet again. But this time, God intervened earlier than before. This time, instead of killing them, He enacted laws that would help them see that, without Him they were hopeless, and without Him their eternity was hopeless. God the Son hadn’t come down to earth as Jesus Christ yet, but they were still hopeless, rebellious sinners who needed to be made right with God. And the first key step toward that reconciliation with Him was the Ten Commandments.
If you want to read the passage in its entirety, please click the link attached to the Bible reference (Exodus 20:2-17, NKJV). What I’m going to do instead in this post is list out the commandments without the commentary. But what I’m also going to list with the Ten Commandments are a couple things that Jesus later said that are critical for following those particular laws:
These Ten Commandments are the Terms and Conditions of God’s covenant with Israel. Although today we are under the New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Commandments still hold as the standard of righteous living, especially considering the passages from the Gospel of Matthew that record Jesus’s commentary on two of them. I wanted to add them in, 1. Because God has brought them to mind before, and 2. Because with murder and adultery, most people will not likely actually physically commit those sins, but they’ll fantasize about it. According to Jesus, that’s just as bad. After all, God knows our thoughts, and He knows our hearts. It is ultimately the condition of our hearts that matters, because “out of the abundance of the heart one’s mouth speaks,” (Jesus, in Luke 6:45B, NKJV) and because our actions do ultimately show what is truly in our hearts.
Note of confession: I have broken all ten of the Commandments. I shared this in the virtual group a couple years back when I was leading the group through this passage in Exodus, and I repeated it in an email to the same aforementioned friend from yesterday’s post. First, I did so because it’s true, and, due to what 1 John 1:9 (NKJV) says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Second, I suspect that a lot of people that are on my heart fit into this same category as my friend. They do know the Bible, at least intellectually, but they haven’t grasped the seriousness of what the Bible says. I’ll admit I’m still working on grasping it, myself. There’s so much more to God’s Word than sin and hellfire, but without getting this right, and without getting right with Him first, the other stuff almost doesn’t matter. The foundational stuff must come first: understanding the seriousness of sin and the seriousness of its consequences, and also understanding and believing that Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross is enough to satisfy God’s wrath against you and me.
After all, God is a just God. What does that mean?
Just
Although God promised to never again send a flood to kill all of humanity (and I need to note that He has indeed kept His promise!), humanity has once again become debased, depraved, and outright evil.
I should pause here for a minute. I don’t know who my readers are. I’m writing as if you already know the definitions of “debased” and “depraved” (hopefully knowing the definition of “evil” is a gimme). On the off-chance that a reader comes across this page not knowing those words, I will need to therefore provide dictionary definitions of those words before we go any further:
Debased
adjective
1. lowered in quality, character, or value:
Part of the reason for the rise in commodities and oil is the debased dollar.
Even in the debased conditions of wartime, people had dreams of a beautiful future.
2. lowered in rank, dignity, or significance:
In the 1800s, many people considered show business to be a debased profession.
verb
1. the simple past tense and past participle of debase.
Debase
verb (used with object),de·based, de·bas·ing.
1. to reduce in quality or value; adulterate:
They debased the value of the dollar.
2. to lower in rank, dignity, or significance:
He wouldn't debase himself by doing manual labor.
Now, I’m aware that the dictionary definitions of “debased” and “debase” kind of give a mild, sterile picture compared with what the Bible describes. Typically, “debased” in the Bible has been used in context with a “debased mind,” and this article (click the link here) explains in much more comprehensive detail than I really have time to research. (Plus, my passion for evangelism is more geared toward those who already know about Jesus but have not quite embraced Him, or even have walked away from Him.)
Now to the definitions of “depraved” and “depravity”:
Depraved
adjective
1. corrupt, wicked, or perverted.
Depravity
noun, plural de·prav·i·ties. for 2.
1. the state of being depraved.
2. a depraved act or practice.
Similarly, click the link here for more reading on the Biblical definitions (and accompanying Bible verses) of “depraved” and “depravity.”
So, if depravity and having a debased mind are that bad, then what’s good? That’s where the Ten Commandments come in. (In a minute.)
To finish telling the story leading up to God sharing the Ten Commandments with His people, the Israelites (and much later, to all of us non-Jews), post-Noah, God made a promise to Abraham (one of Noah’s descendants) that He would make his bloodline a great nation. It took a few generations for this to come to fruition, but by the time his great-grandsons were full-grown adults, 1 man’s seed had grown to over 70 people. A few generations further down the line, that 70 grew to ultimately around 3 million people. But they had been in Egypt (and were oppressed as slaves by the Egyptian rulership) and, after God had shown them signs and wonders, displaying His miraculous power over and over, they were still grumbling and complaining and rebelling a short while later, after they had been freed from Egyptian rule, by way of (what else?) God’s miracles. It was Noah’s descendant, Abraham’s descendant, Jacob’s descendants, led by God via Moses, that were starting to head down the path toward depravity yet again. But this time, God intervened earlier than before. This time, instead of killing them, He enacted laws that would help them see that, without Him they were hopeless, and without Him their eternity was hopeless. God the Son hadn’t come down to earth as Jesus Christ yet, but they were still hopeless, rebellious sinners who needed to be made right with God. And the first key step toward that reconciliation with Him was the Ten Commandments.
If you want to read the passage in its entirety, please click the link attached to the Bible reference (Exodus 20:2-17, NKJV). What I’m going to do instead in this post is list out the commandments without the commentary. But what I’m also going to list with the Ten Commandments are a couple things that Jesus later said that are critical for following those particular laws:
Commandment #1: I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:2-3)
Commandment #2: You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above… or in the earth beneath… or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. (Exodus 20:4)
Commandment #3: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
Commandment #4: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
Commandment #5: Honor your father and your mother. (Exodus 20:12)
Commandment #6: You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
Commandment #6A: Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. (Jesus, in Matthew 5:22)
Commandment #6B: Whoever says to his brother “you scoundrel” shall be in danger of the council. (Jesus, in Matthew 5:22)
Commandment #6C: But: whoever says [to his brother] “you fool!” shall be in danger of hell fire. (Jesus, in Matthew 5:22)
Commandment #7: You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
Commandment #7A: Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Jesus, in Matthew 5:28)
Commandment #8: You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
Commandment #9: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
Commandment #10: You shall not covet… anything that is your neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17)
These Ten Commandments are the Terms and Conditions of God’s covenant with Israel. Although today we are under the New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Commandments still hold as the standard of righteous living, especially considering the passages from the Gospel of Matthew that record Jesus’s commentary on two of them. I wanted to add them in, 1. Because God has brought them to mind before, and 2. Because with murder and adultery, most people will not likely actually physically commit those sins, but they’ll fantasize about it. According to Jesus, that’s just as bad. After all, God knows our thoughts, and He knows our hearts. It is ultimately the condition of our hearts that matters, because “out of the abundance of the heart one’s mouth speaks,” (Jesus, in Luke 6:45B, NKJV) and because our actions do ultimately show what is truly in our hearts.
Note of confession: I have broken all ten of the Commandments. I shared this in the virtual group a couple years back when I was leading the group through this passage in Exodus, and I repeated it in an email to the same aforementioned friend from yesterday’s post. First, I did so because it’s true, and, due to what 1 John 1:9 (NKJV) says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Second, I suspect that a lot of people that are on my heart fit into this same category as my friend. They do know the Bible, at least intellectually, but they haven’t grasped the seriousness of what the Bible says. I’ll admit I’m still working on grasping it, myself. There’s so much more to God’s Word than sin and hellfire, but without getting this right, and without getting right with Him first, the other stuff almost doesn’t matter. The foundational stuff must come first: understanding the seriousness of sin and the seriousness of its consequences, and also understanding and believing that Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross is enough to satisfy God’s wrath against you and me.
After all, God is a just God. What does that mean?
Just
adjective
1. guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness:
We hope to be just in our understanding of such difficult situations.
More to come in my next post, which will go deeper into other reflections from the latter half of the Book of Exodus.
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