The Ten Commandments #9 & #10

“Celebrate Good Times,” balloons & confetti!) Good times, indeed. It is always a good idea to recite these commandments among friends & family. This practice is intended to encourage one another and a positive testimony to any onlookers. We want to communicate that we are serious about knowing the Lord, as well as seeking His requirements for the people who bear His Name.

9th COMMANDMENT: Hold up a “High-Five” on the one hand and a “High-Four” on the other, and say, “Commandment number Nine: no lying!” “Nine” and “Lying” sort of rhyme…

“Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

Today, we finish the 10 Commandments! (Cue the Pointer Sisters’ “Celebrate Good Times,” balloons & confetti!) Good times, indeed. It is always a good idea to recite these commandments among friends & family. This practice is intended to encourage one another and a positive testimony to any onlookers. We want to communicate that we are serious about knowing the Lord, as well as seeking His requirements for the people who bear His Name.

9th COMMANDMENT: Hold up a “High-Five” on the one hand and a “High-Four” on the other, and say, “Commandment number Nine: no lying!” “Nine” and “Lying” sort of rhyme…

“Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

Pretty much everyone knows that lying is a sin, but as with the other commandments, this one goes deeper than the general pedestrian understanding. God foresaw a time when the people of Israel would take each other to court and lie about the evidence. ( Surely, that would NEVER happen today. Ha!) We see this sin most prominently displayed in the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Some Pharisees convinced people to testify falsely against Jesus, but none of their stories could be corroborated. When we consider the idea of what modern Christianity calls “witnessing” (or sharing your faith), the command not to “Bear false witness” carries extra gravity. After all, don’t we sin when we profess to love Jesus, yet our lifestyles bear witness that we really love the World?

10th COMMANDMENT: Hold up two “High-Fives” and say, “Number Ten is the end: We LOVE IT! Don’t covet!”

“Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20: 17

The correct understanding of coveting is somewhat foreign to our culture. Coveting is not simply wanting something your neighbor has. That is no sin. If your neighbor gets a new car, for instance, and you want one too, all you have to do is simply work hard and buy one like your neighbor’s. Coveting is more like an evil craving to have something INSTEAD of your neighbor. Coveting is the deep compulsion to envy and hate your neighbor for having some “thing” instead of you, and it generates the desire to destroy your neighbor, if necessary, to obtain that “thing.” It is the root of all spiritual and relational adultery. It is the root of all sorts of greed, thievery, malicious intent, and warring.

So, now can you recite ALL 10 Commandments by memory??