“Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
– Exodus 20:20
Hi James and Ellen,
How do you feel about laws? How do you feel about rules? How do you feel about chores? Why do you think that governments govern with laws? Why do you think that institutions institute rules? Why do you think that dads and mas designate chores? What happens if a law is broken? The consequence for a guy or gal who has broken a law that has been generated by elected officials will have the lawbreaker pay at least a monetary fine with jail and even death as a more severe consequence for guys and gals who are ascertained by a jury and/or judge to be criminals. What do you think that life would be like for guys, gals and kids if the country in which they live in permits guys, gals and kids to do whatever a guy, gal or kid wants to do? What happens if a rule is broken? The consequence for a guy, gal or kid who has broken a rule that has been generated by institutional administrators very possibly will mean that the rulebreaker will be – if the institution is a school, reprimanded by his or her teacher by sending the kid to the principal’s office at which time he or she may be expelled as a more severe consequence because of being presumed by his or her teacher and/or the school principal to be incorrigible. What do you think that a classroom would be like for a kid if the school that he or she goes to permits the kids who attend the school to do whatever the kids want to do? What happens if a chore is not done? The consequence for not doing a chore that a dad and/or ma has obliged their kid to do will mean that the chore breaker will have to at least suffer through a verbal admonishment with having privileges taken away and even being sent to his or her room as a more of a severe consequence for a kid who has rebelled against his or her dad and/or ma by not conscientiously completing a designated chore. What do you think that home would be like for a kid if the house in which he or she lives permits kids to do whatever the kids want to do? Laws invite order. Rules insure consistency. Chores instigate disciplines. Laws propagate peace. Rules promote harmony. Chores perpetrate maturation.
Why do you think that God gave the Israelite people group guys and gals – His specially chosen guys and gals, a Decalogue – which is known as the Ten Commandments? Do you think that what God – using His finger, wrote on a pair of tablets as the ‘Ten Words’ should be recognized by the guys and gals who are living on planet Earth as their legal and moral laws? Moses recorded in his Exodus Book – in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments. God tells Moses – before He gave him the Ten Commandments, that the Israelite people group guys and gals – His specially chosen guys and gals, that they are His subjects who He rescued from being Egyptian people group slaves and that He expects them to be always submissive, allegiant and obedient to Him out of gratitude for His mercies, reverence for His sovereignty and trust in His care. What do you think that planet Earth would be like today if every guy and gal who lived, who is living and who will live on planet Earth worshipped only God. Even though your grandpaa knows that God can make this happen by . . . your grandpaa also knows that God has something that is much bigger in play. Before God once again returns His dynamic cosmos to absolute tranquility and glorious rejoicing, God is permitting Lucifer – who is a prideful, fallen angel, his ‘day’ in time before relegating Lucifer – who today is known as Satan, and his bevy of minions to eternal damnation and resultant eradication. The Ten Commandments begins with God telling His specially chosen guys and gals to obey Him only and to never worship other gods. The second commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals to never make for themselves any form of an idol god to worship. The third commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are never to take His name in vain. The fourth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are to use six days to work while the seventh day – which is the Sabbath Day, is to be kept holy by never doing any work. The fifth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are to always honor their dad and ma. The sixth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are never to kill another guy or gal. The seventh commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that guys and gals who are married are never to have illicit liaisons with other guys or gals, The eighth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are never to steal. The ninth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are never to tell lies about each other. The tenth commandment is God telling His specially chosen guys and gals that they are never to want what another guy or gal has. To convey His specially chosen guys and gals His expectation that they obey each of the ten commandments, God sent lightning, thunder, the sound of trumpets and smoke from the top of Mount Sinai – which is the mountain that Moses climbed to meet God and where God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets which He gave to Moses to present to His specially chosen guys and gals for them to apply daily as markers or guardrails on how to live their lives. Verse 20 says, “Moses said to the people, “‘Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”’
What do you think that life would be like today on planet Earth if every Christ-follower guy, gal and kid used just the ‘Ten Words’ or Ten Commandments mandates as their life guides. Are you obedient ‘Decalogue’ devotees?
Exodus 20 (971)