Moses – also known as “Charlton Heston” – holding the original 10 Commandments...

 

The readings for Sunday October 5 are Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20, Psalm 19, Philippians 3:4b-14, and Matthew 21:33-46.   For Psalm 19, see On the Psalms up to October 5.  The full readings are at Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Proper 22.

Here are some highlights from the Old Testament reading.  For highlights from the New Testament and Gospel readings, see On the readings for October 5 – Part II.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 includes the first rendition of the 10 Commandments.  A second restatement came later on in Deuteronomy (from the Greek for “second law”):

Deuteronomy 5:4–20 consists of God’s re-telling of the Ten Commandments to the younger generation who were to enter the Promised Land.  The passages in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain more than ten imperative statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all.

(E.A.)  Incidentally, Dueteronomy is a set of sermons given by Moses to this younger generation, as a result of the older generation showing a lack of faith, 40 years earlier.

That is, not long after God gave the Hebrews the original 10 Commandments, He also gave them a chance to demonstrate their faith and enter the Promised Land quickly.  But that older generation failed that test, and the result was their having to literally wander in the wilderness, for another 40 years, until that older generation died off and a new generation took its’ place.

Moses reviewed this history in the first chapter of Deuteronomy, to instruct that new generation about to enter the Promised Land.  The review included a second version of the Ten Commandments, after Moses told of God’s pronouncement in Deuteronomy 1:34-36:

“And the LORD … was angered, and he swore, ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephun’neh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land upon which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ 

(See also The Twelve Spies – Wikipedia, about Numbers 13, where Moses sent out 12 men to spy out the Promised Land.   Ten men said the land was too hard to conquer, while Joshua and Caleb said it would be easy, with God’s help; “the Israelites believed the majority’s conclusions.  All of the spies except Joshua and Caleb were struck down with a plague and died.”  That led to the Hebrews having to wander in the wilderness another 40 years.  So much for majority rule.)

And that’s why we have two versions of the 10 Commandments in the Bible…

Getting back to the original 10 Commandments, it is “a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity.”  See also, Ten Commandments – Wikipedia, which said they address “matters of fundamental importance in both Judaism and Christianity.”  The article then added:

The Ten Commandments are written with room for varying interpretation, reflecting their role as a summary of fundamental principles…  [T]hey provide guiding principles that apply universally, across changing circumstances.  They do not specify punishments for their violation.  Their precise import must be worked out in each separate situation.

Note those words like “varying interpretation,” and “guiding principles that apply across changing circumstances.”   Of course Fundamentalism and/or interpreting the Bible literally is much easier to do, mostly because you don’t have to think or use the brain God gave you.  (But see also On broadminded, spelled “s-i-n”.)   Anyway, here are the original Big 10:

1)  “I am the LORD your God[;] you shall have no other gods before me;”  2)  You shall not make for yourself an idol;”  3)  “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God;”  4)  Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy;”  5)  “Honor your father and your mother;”  6)  “You shall not murder;”  7)  “You shall not commit adultery;”  8)  “You shall not steal;”  9)  “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor;”  10)  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house … or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  [RSV]

As noted, for more highlights from the New Testament and Gospel readings, see On the readings for October 5 – Part II.

 

 

The upper image is courtesy of Never-before-seen slides from The Ten Commandments starring …, about a January 2014 auction of a “collection of items from Cecil B. DeMille films, including The Ten Commandments…   The highlight of the collection is 15 previously unpublished 35mm color slides from the set of the 1956 classic.”  The article added, “Charlton Heston was one of the iconic film stars of the 20th century…  His instantly recognizable features, seen in these paintings have become synonymous with his commanding performance as Moses.”

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article, The Twelve Spies – Wikipedia, with the caption, “The Grapes of Canaan by James Tissot.  Although the spies brought back a cluster of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it (Numbers 13:23), only two of the twelve brought back a good report of the land.”   Wikipedia added the following note:

When ten of the twelve spies showed little faith … they were slandering what they believed God had promised them. They did not believe that God could help them, and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land.  As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years, until almost the entire generation of men had died.   Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed.  They were the only men from their generation permitted to go into the Promised Land after the time of wandering.

 

Re: “My way or the highway.”  See Matthew 13:52 (ERV), where “Jesus said to the followers, ‘So every teacher of the law who has learned about God’s kingdom has some new things to teach.  He is like the owner of a house.  He has new things and old things saved in that house.   And he brings out the new with the old.” (Emphasis added.  See also On Jesus: Liberal or Fundamentalist?)

As to Deuteronomy as a restatement, see Restatements of the Law – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, regarding “a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law.”