How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
BOOK II: The Power of Three (Science & Religion) – Consideration #93. "The Ten Commandments"
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Tuesday July 25, 2023
“We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
– James Madison
“The Law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”
– John Quincy Adams
“The ten commandments and the sermon on the mount contain my religion.”
– John Adams
“The Ten Commandments have lost their validity...Conscience is a Jewish invention. It is a blemish like circumcision.”
– Adolf Hitler
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
If you ask most people what the first commandment is, they are likely to say “thou shalt not kill,” or “thou shalt not murder.” However, that is the sixth commandment. The first five commandments are directly related to a relationship with God and a respect for His authority. Respect is a key element of both The Law and the Ten Commandments. The reason behind most of the law has to do with respect. Consider the following laws related to unlawful sexual relations in Leviticus 18:8,16,10:
Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.
Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.
Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.
Most laws related directly to Respect involve God or men. However, disrespecting women, or nature, was considered wicked or perverse. Consider Leviticus 18: 17, 23.
Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
Wickedness and perversion actually serve as two direct examples describing types of severe dishonor. The main idea of the law is to prevent dishonor to yourself and others, by showing them, and yourself, the proper respect. Any kind of wickedness or perversion shows strong disrespect not only for the person affected by it, but to an even greater extent, for yourself, and more importantly, for God.
CONSIDERATION: The Ten Commandments
In Genesis God speaks the universe into existence with the words: “And God said let there be light.” In Exodus the Law is brought into existence with the words: “And God spoke all these words…” Once again, the key focus is on the “words” that God speaks.
(Exodus 20:1-29)
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents 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.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
POSTSCRIPT
Let’s consider the essence of these “commandments” a little more. At the top of power and authority is God. He is the One and Only God, there is no higher authority. That is the first commandment.
The second commandment has important theological implications. God is essentially uncontainable and unlimitable. Particularly in terms of image. Although God talks to Moses often, Moses never sees God in any “real” way, because Moses would be struck dead at the site of Him.
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Exodus 33:18-20
God is too big to be contained in physical form. People should not try to do that. God is not a material object or an idol. The God of Israel is a “living” God. God may speak to people, however, He never “shows Himself” to them directly. Disrespecting God will lead to four generations of suffering. However, respecting God leads to a thousand generations of blessings.
The third commandment requires that even a reference to God should be done with respect. God is not to be degraded in any way. Dishonoring God is the first step toward dishonoring yourself. In addition, it reinforces the idea the “words” are important and powerful.
The fourth commandment is a sign of respect for God as the Creator, as well as a continuation of what had been started in the desert with manna.
The fifth commandment bridges the authority between God and human beings by establishing the authority of parents as second only to God. It also suggests that without respect for authority, such as your parents, society cannot last. Evidence for Thomas Hobbes’ argument for an “all-powerful Leviathan” that is fundamentally, and divinely, a necessary part of the social hierarchy.
“If human beings could follow the first five commandments, there would be no need for the other five.”
Therefore, the purpose of the first five commandments is to establish the relationship that righteous people should have with God. The essence of that relationship is respect for His authority and obedience to His guidance. If human beings could follow the first five commandments, there would be no need for the other five. They would live under the grace of God. However, as we have learned, people, tend to stray.
From a Biblical perspective, straying, or separating yourself, from God is to be in a state of sin. When in a state of sin, human beings stop listening to God and do what they, themselves, want to do. This leads to sinful behavior. Therefore, specific laws regarding specific behaviors become necessary in order to help maintain and guide people toward a more consistent state of grace.
“They specifically identify, and list, the worst behaviors that people commit when in a state of sin.”
The last five commandments are often referred to as the “shalt not” commandments. They specifically identify, and list, the worst behaviors that people commit when in a state of sin. If people are allowed to participate in these behaviors a righteous society is not possible.
The most serious and contemplable of these behaviors is murder. While many people think the sixth commandment prohibits killing, this is inaccurate. Other parts of “the law” deal with circumstances such as self-defense, accidental death, and war for example. This commandment is a commandment against murder.
The seventh commandment forbids adultery, which ties into the tenth commandment. God condones the concept of private property, one of John Locke’s original “inalienable rights,” in the eighth commandment by forbidding the theft of a neighbor’s property. That would be disrespectful to your neighbor. The ninth commandment refers to what we call today, perjury. Lying about someone certainly shows them no respect. Finally, the tenth commandment addresses the root sins most responsible for all of the previous behaviors: discontent, jealousy, and envy.
The Ten Commandments and the Greek Virtues manifest the essence of Enlightenment philosophy in the Age of Reason and the foundation for the birth of the United States of America.
Next week the Israelites finally enter the “promised” land; however, Moses does not…
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Expand the Conversation by Upgrading to “Reality by a Thread!”
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If you find yourself growing tired of the same old meaningless fluff, this may be the Podcast you’ve been looking for!
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“Untangling the Knots of Reality – Be A Part of the Conversation!”
Book III “The Enigmatic Mystery – Transcending Science & Religion”
We are now beginning to understand that opposites, like waves and particles, are essentially two ways of looking at the same thing. That “thing” is the mystery. It is now becoming more and more apparent that the mystery science is seeking to understand is ultimately the same mystery religion is seeking to understand. This is the paradox we as human beings are currently facing. We are now at a point in our growth where we will likely transcend the mystery of dualism and embrace the unity of its source or fall back into the Dark Ages of Perception.
It is time to stop arguing about how to solve the mystery and enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to transcend it.
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• What are the current Unexplained Mysteries of Science?
• What are the Metaphysical Foundations for the Holy Trinity?
• What is the Atomic Trilogy?
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Book III in the “HOW THINGS WORK” Series! (129 pages)
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