Ten Commandments

Many years after the great Flood, there lived another man of God named Moses. God chose Moses for a special task. God told Moses His commands for all the people. Moses wrote down God's commands and gave them to the people. God told these commands to the people so they would know how to live to please God. God also gave the people these commands so that the people would understand how holy and pure God is. God's commands are wise. Listen to the ten commands that God gave Moses to give to all the people.

The first commandment is the most important. This commandment says. "I am the Lord your God. You must not have or worship any other gods except Me." The second commandment God gave the people says this, "You must not made idols from wood or stone or precious metal or any other thing, and you must not bow down to these idols."

Why did God give these commandments? God wants His people to worship Him because He is the God who created them and care for them and provides for them. But Satan wants to deceive (trick) people and make them worship thing things that are not God. God knows that people are tempted to worship created things such as trees, mountains, and rivers. People even worship idols their hands have made. In days past, this is what people did. They cut down a tree. Half of this cut tree they used for firewood. They cooked their meal and filled their stomachs. In the cold times they burned the wood and kept warm. But the other part of the tree, they took and carved into an idol. Then they bowed to this idol and said to it, "You are my god, save me!" My people, THINK! Is this not foolish? The true God hates such worship of idols. My friends, tell me, why do we worship idols that our hands have made when we worship the God who created us? (pause for thought)

God's third command to the people is this: "You shall not say God's Name in a bad and/or careless way." God has exalted His Name above all things. To say God's Name in a bad way is to dishonor Him.

The fourth commandment is this. "Once in every week you must take a day of rest. Six days you must do your work but the seventh day is to be set apart as a day of rest." God made this command because He also worked six days creating the world and on the seventh day He rested and made it a holy day. This holy day is to be a rest when you do not do your regular work.

God gave a fifth commandment to the people. He told them, "You must honor your father and your mother." You should not despise your father and your mother. Because they have brought you into this world and cared for you, you should treat them with respect and care for them.

The sixth commandment from God says, "You shall not kill." We all know it is a sin to kill another person. The person who murders another person will have to answer to God for that man's life.

God's seventh commandment says, "You must not take another man's wife to be your own , nor should any woman sleep with another woman's husband." In the beginning, as we have heard, God made one wife for Adam. He joined them together as one (unit), as husband and wife. Therefore you must honor marriage as God has honored it.

The eighth commandment God gave to the people says, "You must not steal from anyone else what is not yours." You must not steal from your neighbor or the government or a stranger in your village or from anyone else.

The ninth commandment from God says, "You must not tell lies about or against another person." We must always speak the truth because God knows what we say, and He hates lies. God is a God of truth and He knows all truth. We cannot deceive Him.

The last commandment God gave Moses to give to all the people is this: "You must not covet or want greedily things that belong to another person." God says you must be content with what you have. Just as you brought nothing into this world when you were born, so you will take nothing out of this world when you die. The treasure to pursue in this life is to know God and to do what He wants you to do. Then you will be building (storing up) treasure that will last forever.

These are the ten commandments God gave Moses to give to the people. We all agree that what God commands us to do is good and right. To obey these commands is the wise way to live. Many good men try very hard to obey these commandments. Surely God is very holy who gave these commands to the people. He has also spoken these commands to our hearts. We know He is right. But who has ever obeyed all these commandments? Have you? Have any of your friends obeyed each one of God's commands? My friends, think how can we come to such a holy God after we have sinned and disobeyed Him? God is perfect and completely righteous. He will not overlook anyone who disobeys His commands. He cannot tolerate sin or any evil thing. He will surely judge accurately those who disobey His Word, just as He judged the people of Noah's day who would not believe and obey Him.