THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Given at the Feast of Tabernacles 2014
Daniel, Age 14

Exodus 20:1-3, I am YAHWEH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other elohim before Me.

 

The first thing I got from this is pretty much that HE is the only one of our worship and nothing should ever come before Him. Yahweh definitely puts His signature on the children of Israel to help them remember He rescued them through great miracles to build their faith. Those miracles are still building our faith today.

Exodus 20:4-6, You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, YAHWEH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

 

Don’t make any images of Yahweh to bow down to! There are some that would rather bow down to the sun, the moon and the stars—worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. Pretty much, don’t praise the pot, praise the potter. He does not want you to be divided in your worship because He wants you to bring glory to HIS NAME instead of others.

Exodus 20:7, You shall not take the name of the YAHWEH your Elohim in vain, for YAHWEH will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

 

Do not use Yahweh’s Name wrongly because there is a consequential treatment for misusing His Name.

Exodus 20:8-12, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of YAHWEH your Elohim; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore YAHWEH blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

 

There are a lot of people who have forgotten about the Sabbath day which is why it was written to remember it. Some people claim Sunday is the Sabbath, but it is the first day of the week and Sabbath is the seventh day. Many do not keep it as Sabbath. Sabbath is a sign of creation when Yahweh rested on the seventh day after He created everything. Yahweh is very serious about your house taking a rest as He specifically mentions “your sons, your daughters, nor the sojourner, nor the cattle, etc.” Yahweh made it holy, not man.

Exodus 20:12, Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which YAHWEH your Elohim gives you.

 

This is probably the hardest one for me! If you do not honor your parents, you will be missing out on many blessings from Yahweh. We don’t want that! We honor our parents by saying and doing things they would be proud of instead of just looking out for our own interests. Yahweh knows that we will be wise if we honor our parents.

Exodus 20:13, You shall not murder.

 

Don’t kill people. Is that so hard?

Exodus 20:14, You shall not commit adultery.

 

Do not have anything to do with someone else’s spouse. We are called to be faithful people and this is one of the ways we stay faithfully committed to our spouse.

You shall not steal.

 

If it is not yours, keep your hands off—it’s just that simple.

Exodus 20:16, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 

Don’t spread white lies and don’t say false statements about anyone. We are here to walk and talk in the truth even when it hurts. So, that one’s pretty good, I’d say.

Exodus 20:17, You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

 

Do not look upon the blessings that Yahweh has given to others in a way that you want it for yourself. We should be looking out for people to be blessed and receive good gifts and be happy for them when it happens.

Yahweh has given good commands to follow and we should realize the two greatest commandments are represented here because the first four are honoring Yahweh and the last six are honoring our neighbor. We should walk in these commandments to receive favor from Yahweh.

May Yahweh bless you and the rest of your Feast!