2020.10.04 | Rules to Live By
“Rules to Live By”
The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring
Today we’re talking about the Ten Commandments. Not Cecil B. DeMille’s version, but the Moses’ versions. That’s right. There are two. The first is found in the book of Exodus, and the second is found in the book of Deuteronomy. In both stories, Moses descends from a mountain carrying two stone tablets on which the commandments are inscribed. The laws are essentially the same in both iterations, but the order in which they are listed is different.
The version in today’s reading is from Exodus 20. It is the original Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The other (in Deuteronomy 5) is part of the covenant renewal ceremony that took place at Mt. Horeb, when God reissued the covenant after Moses smashed the first set of tablets in disgust. You remember the scene when Moses came down the mountain and saw his people worshipping a golden calf. (Stay tuned. Pastor Pepper’s preaching on that story next Sunday.)
Whether the Ten Commandments are familiar to you or not, and whether one version is more familiar to you than the other likely depends on whether you were raised in the Christian faith and, if so, which tradition you were raised in.
Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Lutheran and Calvinist Protestant traditions each have their own respective catechisms, which all list the 10 Commandments, but they don’t all list them in the same order, and they definitely don’t interpret them in the same way.
Students of Western history understand that much blood was shed and many European boundaries were altered on account of differences in the faith values expressed in these catechisms.
So even if you could care less about the order, content, or different interpretations of the 10 Commandments, you might just pause for a moment today and appreciate that the Commandments and their differing interpretation have mattered--not just to the ancient world, but the Renaissance period in Western Europe.
II
For those who find history boring, and who question the value of what might be thought of as archaic law, I’m going to try and make a case that the 10 Commandments were not only a big deal in the ancient world, but that they still matter. To make my case, I’ll begin with a summary of their origins.
The story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments is embedded in the larger wilderness narrative of the Hebrew people—a people who at that time (back in 1250 BCE) had no law and no land.
The Hebrew were liberated by God from Egypt, where they had been subject to Pharaoh’s law. In the Wilderness they were free, but sometimes freedom didn’t seem to be all that it was proported to be. Freedom in the Wilderness turned out to be the Ancient Near East’s equivalent of pioneer America’s “Wild West,” meaning there were no clear boundaries and no set law. So things got a little out of hand at times.
Those who have understood the Ten Commandments as a gift from God valued them, because the Commandments brought some order to the chaos of Siani. The Commandments defined the outer limits of human conduct, using succinct, unequivocal prohibitions, which (if adhered to) would protect the community from behavior that might otherwise destroy it. The Ten Commandments were addressed to individuals, yet adherence to them ultimately provided for the common good.
The first commandment is the cornerstone of the ten. It goes like this: “I am the Lord, your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.” Note that this first commandment reiterates God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah.
The first through the fourth commandments define the Hebrew’s obligations to God, and the fifth through the tenth were “do’s” and “don’ts” pertaining to the Hebrews’ relationships with each other.
The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) literature includes two kinds of laws. One is the apodictic, and the other is the casuistic.
An apodictic law is a short, second person command or prohibition: do this; don’t do that. The Ten Commandments are the best examples of apodictic laws.
Many Hebrew Bible scholars think that the Ten Commandments were originally just ten words that when uttered would conjure up a clear and more elaborate meaning. The Ten Commandments, as apodictic laws, did not include an “if-then” warning, which is the characteristic format of casuistic laws.
Some scholars argue that the absence of the “if-then” warning is indicative of the fact that the Ten Commandments were meant to serve as guiding principles rather than threats to the Hebrews. For example, do keep the Sabbath. Don’t worship other gods. Don’t make golden calves. Don’t swear, murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet your neighbor’s stuff.
Meanwhile, other Hebrew scholars point out that the lack of penalty associated with each of the commandments was reflective of a “don’t-even-think-about-it” spirit behind the laws. Consider for example, the penalties for failure to adhere to the Ten Commandments which are explained in later parts of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), and the penalties for failing to fulfill these Commandments were extremely harsh. The most common penalty for breaking the Commandments was death.[1]
My personal view is that the 10 Commandments were and are intended to provide the kind of structure that parents try to give children when they’re not interested in explaining why they have certain expectations of them. They give said directions to their children, because they are the parents, they know better, and they hope their children will listen and come to understand the value of this guidance as they mature.
III
Given the fact that religious terms like “Commandment” and “Law” have negative connotations here on the Left Coast, many of us may wonder whether the Ten Commandments are still relevant or helpful in our time. What do you think?
Here’s my view: the Ten Commandments have an enduring value, if we understand the role that they originally played in the lives of the ancient Hebrews.
Hebrew Bible scholar Terence Fretheim says that the Ten Commandments were Ancient Israel’s “Bill of Rights.” Like the U.S. Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments were foundational laws for the Hebrew people.
Also like the U.S. Bill of Rights, Fretheim explains, there was room for growth and interpretation in the Decalogue. As our nation matured, the U.S. Bill of Rights was extended, amended, and reinterpreted. The same happened with the Ten Commandments.
Nine of the Ten Commandments are also found elsewhere in the Old Testament, but Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are the only places where the ten are found together. So, the definition and interpretation of the Ten Commandments varies throughout the Hebrew Bible and Christian history.
This historic and evolutionary process gives us precedent and perspective for proposing five ways that the Decalogue has and can continue to provide moral guidance for our time and for future generations.
1) The Ten Commandments remind us that law helps to establish and maintain order in society. Laws speak to our shared values, vision, and mutual expectations. Laws foster stability and assurance for communities and nations. Adherence to laws support cultures in which families and neighborhoods can be nurtured, education can be advanced, religion can flourish, and economies can develop.
2) The fact that there are two versions of the Ten Commandments in the Bible and three major interpretations of their meaning expressed in three of the great Western Christian catechisms demonstrates that there are multiple ways of defining, interpreting, and applying God’s law. Each generation must review and learn from its predecessors and do its own work in order to give life to the faith that we claim.
3) The Ten Commandments point us toward God’s hope, but they alone will not ensure that God’s hope is fulfilled. It is not enough to avoid negative behavior. It is not sufficient to avoid getting into trouble. We must strive to do what is right, good, and fitting in order to experience God’s hope for our lives.
4) The Ten Commandments are moot on many modern evils that these ancient laws could not have anticipated. So each generation must become students of ethics and collectively discern what is right, good, and fitting--and hold each other and our societies accountable for our behavior--in order for human law to matter and our collective character to reflect the ideals on which the law is based.
5) The Ten Commandments provide a cornerstone for an ethical revival in modern times. Note that the principles expressed in the Ten Commandments are central to the value systems of all three Abrahamic faith traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Though the language and interpretation vary, the principles expressed in the Ten Commandments have historically been—and could again serve—as the basis upon which we restore and maintain civility in our community, nation, and world.
Call me crazy. Call me old fashioned. Call me an idealist. I’m good to go with those characterizations, because I believe that we can more successfully address the ethical dilemmas of our generation and future generations by adhering to the 10 Commandments. The Commandments may not offer all of the solutions that we seek, but they can help us discern those solutions and provide guidance as we pursue solutions to the moral and ethical dilemmas of our time. Amen.