Showing posts with label ten Commandments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ten Commandments. Show all posts

Friday 2 March 2018

A Bulwark

A Bulwark
The Bible states,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
                                                                        Genesis 1:1
The Bible does not debate the existence of God. It was written to believers therefor needs no debate.
That being said there are many in the world who do not believe in the existence of God. However it is my opinion that if God does not exist society could not function well.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.” Abba Hillel Silver.
God has, I believe written on the very hearts of each individual what is right and what is wrong. God also went as far as in modern parlance, as to give mankind “a hard copy” of this.
The Book of Genesis recording.
And God spoke these words
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 
“You shall have no other gods before me. 
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand  generations  of those who love me and keep my commandments. 
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.  
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 
“Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 
“You shall not murder. 
“You shall not commit adultery. 
“You shall not steal. 
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:1-17
Commonly known as the ten commandments it tells mankind how God expects mankind to act with respect to God and ones fellow man.
No atheist group has ever come up with a more comprehensive rules to live by as is reflected in the Ten commandments.
They are rules, especially those governing our interaction with our fellow man that all people follow consciously or subconsciously .
When these rules are violated society suffers.
We only have to look to Nazi Germany to see that when a group of people or a society fail to follow the basics rules layed out in the ten commandments millions can suffer. 
Scripture tells us,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes12:13,14.
It is only when God and his righteous judgement is no longer feared and man turns away from God’s principles, that horrible things start to happen to both individuals and society.
Please think about it.

Friday 13 February 2015

Commandments Ten Commandments

Commandments Ten

You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet. Above is the short form version of the most important code of conduct ever written. It appears in Exodus 20:2-17.
The ten commandments are there to show instruct mankind how to live with both God and ones fellow man.
At a time in history when life was cheap God gave Moses a set of laws that call on mankind to have but one God. The Lord God almighty.
The laws also provide a day of rest, stating,
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.” 
                                                                                                           Exodus 20:8.
Man was never meant to work 24/7. People need at least one day a week to rest from their labours.
Not only that there is a call to respect your parents, to honour them.
Then there are the laws without which our society would fall into anarchy,
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet.
All of these were I believe written on the hearts and in the mind of everyone who has ever lived. God simply chose to give them in a written form to Moses so that no one could say I didn’t know.
The ancient Israelites recognized there was a God and acknowledged Him. The result was to make society better.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
                 Abba Hillel Silver 
God gives us freedom.
It is when man starts to turn away from God and his moral principles that our society starts to slip into lawlessness and chaos.
Think about it.