Ten Words

 October 8 & 1, 2023 @ Trinity Bixby

Rev. Lucus Levy Keppel

Today begins a sermon miniseries on the ten commandments – a two-parter, just as there were two stones on which the commandments were written. I’m borrowing a persistent idea in this series – that the commandments were divided across two tablets, and that the first three deal with God’s relationship with humanity, while the last seven are about humanity’s relationship with each other. However, this is not the only way to see things – and I think, by the end of the series, you’ll have a greater appreciation of the way the ten commandments have affected us – and, in turn, how we have affected the ten commandments!

First of all, let’s set something aside: no where in the Bible are these words referred to as the Ten Commandments! “But, Pastor Lucus!” I hear you saying, “What about Exodus 34:28?” You are very clever to have the verse number memorized! I’m very impressed. If you read it in the King James version, from 1611, it does, indeed say, “And [Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” Most English translations since then have used the same words, “the Ten Commandments.” But the Hebrew word used is not the word for commandment! It is, instead, the word for “things” or “words.”[1] Asheret ha’Devarim. The ten words – the ten terms – the ten utterances – the ten things. We do not have a word in English to hold all of what this entails. However, Hebrew does have a word for commandment – and it’s one you’ve likely heard before. Mitzvah is one part of the promise that God offers Isaac in Genesis 26:4-5 – “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky… because Abraham listened to my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Hebrew is not shy about using the right word for the right thing. So, the ten commandments should properly be called the ten words – and some English translations are starting to do this now, despite the weight of tradition against it.

So, the ten words are something like the overview of a contract, the terms and conditions of a website or app, or maybe like the outline for the lessons to follow. After all, all of the ten words are given greater detail later in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Like a list of terms and conditions, we often just skim through them to the bottom and hit “ok!” – but if we look carefully at them, we can learn quite a bit of what God’s expectations are for those who follow God’s way.

The first thing that God establishes is that this agreement is an exclusive one. If you agree to the conditions, then you must worship God alone. And who is God? “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The very first statement establishes who God is – and what God has already done! Before the covenant has been established, God has already rescued the people from slavery. And God doesn’t want to have us confuse our actions with God’s actions. “You must have no other gods before me! Do not make idols and worship them, when you know me! Without me, evil and sin may take three or four generations to compound before it resolves, if at all, whereas with me, you will have steadfast love and grace for thousands of generations.”  

So, first of the ten words – keep the covenant exclusively with God. Don’t let the things we make take the place of God in your life. Great – that’s easy, right? After all, the idol manufacturers guild has long been out of business. While we may not make literal statues and fall down to worship them, we certainly still make idols in the world. Maybe it’s the stock market – worshipping the bulls and bears. Maybe it’s not of the market, but offering devotion to work itself. “Nope, too busy working to care for neighbor!” Maybe it’s a person – “Mister Big Man on Campus can do no Wrong!” – or maybe it’s a group – “I have to have the solid gold toothbrush model 2050, since it’s the only one recommended by the American Dental Lobbyists!” – or maybe it’s an idea that you worship – “The pursuit of happiness is more important than any other thing. If I’m not happy, no one can be.”

Following up on that idea, of not letting anything get in the way of worshipping God, the second of the ten words is, “don’t use God’s name lightly.” In ancient Egypt, where the Hebrew people had spent centuries, oaths and promises were sealed by invoking the name of the deities that were believed to ensure compliance. “By Thoth, I will not reveal this secret process for making beer.” But, of course, the Hebrew people followed only one God, so it became a reflex to offer oaths and promises in God’s name. The second word, then, is a rejoinder to think about what you promise in God’s name.

Of course, this means not using God’s name as part of profanity – but also to not claiming to represent God while acting against what God has taught. Don’t use God’s name to justify harmful actions that go against the principles of love, compassion, and justice. Don’t use God’s name to make yourself look pious, exploiting your religious ties for personal gain. And, following directly in the tradition of the Hebrew people, don’t use God’s name to make your own truth seem more genuine.

So, the ten words so far teach us that the covenant is exclusively with God, and we are not to invoke God’s name lightly. The third word reminds us to rest, remembering that God has freed us from endless work. “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there.” And the Sabbath Rest is not just for those in the covenant directly – but, as far as it is in your power, to offer rest to all, including foreigners, employees, and even the animals! Humans are not meant for endless grinding, but should instead emulate God, who takes time to rest. Maximum productivity is not the end goal – instead, we are called to balance work, study, and rest!

Worship only God. Think before using God’s name. Keep Sabbath, and give rest to all in your power. The first three words of the covenant with Moses and the people of God.

Jesus encouraged the keeping of these words, despite those then and now who insist that Christians don’t have to do anything from the “dusty old testament.” Indeed, Jesus specifically said, “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them.” Jesus took the covenant seriously, and extended the direct meaning of the words. He taught, again and again, that it was love that was at the very core of God’s covenant with us. Part of exclusively keeping the covenant with God is to recognize when our actions against each other prevent us from carrying out God’s work in the world. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that you have caused harm to your sibling, drop what you’re doing and go make things right – then, return and worship.” He’s saying, if you have caused harm to someone, that making that harm right, reconciling, healing, is of primary importance. It emulates how God has treated us. Just as God forgives us, frees us, and loves us, we are called to love, free, and forgive each other. That is how we keep God first – by remembering and honoring what God has done for us!

Today, we have discussed the first three of the ten words. Worship only God. Think before using God’s name. Keep Sabbath, and give rest to all in your power. These are the words that talk about our relationship with God – but the other seven deal with our relationship with each other. We’ll dive into those next week! For now, let us take time to worship and to rest!

May God free you from the burdens you carry. May Christ lead you in forgiving others. And may the love of the Holy Spirit shine throughout your life! Amen.

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Today, we are continuing the 2-part miniseries on the Ten Words. Last week, we talked about the way that the Ten Words – also known as the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Statements – are sometimes divided into two parts – God’s relationship with humanity, and our relationship with each other. The first three words, in plain English, are: Worship only God. Think before using God’s name. Keep Sabbath, and give rest to all in your power.

These ten words are unique among covenants with humanity in the Bible, because they are the only ones described as having been not just given by God, but written by God directly on tablets of stone. First, according to Exodus 19 and 24, Moses hears the Words and more from God, brings them to the Hebrew people, and returns with the collective will to agree to the covenant. Then, seventy-four leaders of the people – elders of the tribes – go up, and see God’s feet, resting on a floor of Lapis Lazuli – the bluest stone known in the ancient world, something like the stone on the bulletin cover this morning. Moses is called before God, ascending into the cloud, and the people are left below for forty days, after already agreeing to the covenant. That’s when Moses returns to find them worshipping a golden calf idol, and throws down the stones that God provided him, shattering them on the ground, representing the fact that the covenant had already been broken. But God calls him up again, and he returns with the stones containing the essence of the covenant, the ten words. Jewish tradition states that the stones were from the foundation of God’s throne, made of the bright blue lapis lazuli, the color of the sky itself. This is why the tassels on Jewish prayer robes are blue – to remind the people of the blue stone of the covenant. It’s why Lapis Lazuli was part of the garments worn by the chief priests. And it’s why the flag of Israel today uses sky blue as part of its design.

With that background, let’s turn to the fourth of the words written on the tablet: “Honor your father and your mother, exactly as the Lord your God requires, so that your life will be long and so that things will go well for you on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.” I wanted to read out the whole text, as it’s often just summarized “honor your father and your mother” as though the connection back to God, long life, and the land is just incidental. Like the previous statement (for Sabbath), God provides the reasoning behind this one – honor those who have gone before you to show honor to God, and to make things better for you going forward.

Number four, then, is a cross-over Word – a transition from relationship with God to relationship with each other. In honoring your parents, you show that you are willing to keep the covenant that God is establishing. It is, in essence, a call to gratitude – to show thankfulness for those that have raised you, supporting them in turn when they need it. It is a reminder that the blessed ties that bind us together should begin with family – and it’s also why the genealogies appear throughout the Bible. Being able to trace your family back was a way of showing honor, and recognizing your place in the world as a part of God’s chosen people.

Now, about the word “honor” – in Hebrew, this word is kavod, the same word used for glory. But, it’s meaning is more direct – it means give weight to, like a thick woolen robe gives weight to the person bearing it. Glory and honor are recognition of the weight or burden of those who have lived long lives and carry the experiences with them. The elders of the families and tribes of Israel were chosen based on the weight of their experiences – often the eldest in the tribe would fill the role, but actual age wasn’t the most important consideration. The fourth Word, then, is about taking what your parents say with the proper weight – they won’t always be right, of course, but they’re right more often than kids tend to think! In honoring your parents, and teaching your children to honor their parents, the mantle of wisdom gains weight and continues to pass on through the generations, adding to the long life of all to follow. And ultimately, it is God’s great gift, of wisdom handed down, that allows the land to be worked properly and productively.

Give weight to what your parents say, and continue to pass the wisdom on. Great! Now, we’re into the words that actually are single words in Hebrew. These three words are Murder, Adulter, and Steal – and all carry the prefix of negation, lo – becoming not-murder, not-adulter, not-steal. And yes, “adulter” is a single word and concept, rather than the cumbersome, “commit adultery” that we have in English. Unlike every Word before, there’s no explanation for these. They are meant to stand on their own, with recognition of their importance.

But, we run into a problem of translation, again. In English, “murder” has a connotation of premeditated, illegal killing. The Hebrew word here, ratsach, has a much wider range of meaning. It comes from a root word that means “dash to pieces,” and it is used for violence of humans against each other – whether intentional or not, and whether or not the violence has been sanctioned by law, as in an execution. So, execution, manslaughter, and murder – all in a single word. It’s clear that the ancient Hebrew people also struggled with this – what does it mean to be called to war? To accidental death? Wrestling with the interpretation is something that we must continue to do today – but I tend to prefer “not-murder” as the intention here. Not killing each other, I think we can agree, is a good rule to live by.

In contrast, not-adulter and not-steal are pretty straightforward. Together with non-murder, these three words are about the actions we should not take. Don’t murder, don’t cheat on your spouse, or cause another’s spouse to be unfaithful, and don’t take what isn’t yours. The last of these, not-steal has another component in Hebrew that is missing in English – it also means “not-deceive.” Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you, yes, not even by deception.

That provides a great transition into the next Word – don’t bear false witness, as it’s traditionally rendered. A more literal reading would be, “do not respond with evil testimony against your neighbor.” This includes both making up a lie in court – the way we tend to think of bearing witness – but also the sense of don’t lie to your neighbor outside of court, too. Don’t speak evil words is my summary of this one, hopefully getting both senses together.

Give weight to your parents, and carry on their wisdom. Never participate in murder, adultery, or theft and deception. Don’t speak evil words.

That leaves us with two more to go – and these are more delicate. Now, instead of the actions and words, we’re dealing with sin of the heart and mind. “Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife and don’t covet your neighbor’s house or field, or servants, or ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” I’m going to deal with these two words separately, but make this note first: in Deuteronomy, the words for coveting of a neighbor’s spouse and coveting a neighbor’s things are different words. Even in the ancient world, the difference between people and things was clear. But we’ll come back to that in a moment – first, let’s talk about coveting.

Covet is an interesting word – we understand it, I think, as related to want or desire, but it’s rare that we use it in everyday conversation. Wanting and desiring something are a part of being human, though – we want and desire all sorts of things, and that’s not a bad thing, nor is it against the covenant. We might want to eat food, or want a place to live, or want a meaningful relationship. We might desire to change the way we look or feel, or a better job, or time away from the daily grind. But coveting goes beyond desire or want. It’s not seeing a neighbor’s new car, and thinking, “Hey, I really like that EV – I want to get one myself!” Instead, coveting is an intense, unchecked and envious desire for something specific that belongs to someone else. It often comes with a sense of entitlement and disregard for rights, feelings, or possessions of others.

Instead of “I want to get one like that for myself,” coveting would be thoughts like, “I want THAT exact car, and I’ll do whatever it takes to have it, even if it means taking it from my neighbor.”

Not surprisingly, coveting something is a very bad idea. In many cases of theft, the criminal had been stewing over the specific object for some time, cultivating an internal sense where taking the thing was justified, because the criminal thought it “would be better taken care of” by themself. The Word against coveting things is a warning against cultivating that depth of desire – recognizing it as a trap, and being able to turn your thoughts in a different direction.

Now, I mentioned that Deuteronomy uses two different words for covet in these two of the ten Words. It’s a subtle distinction, but the Hebrew for coveting a neighbor’s things means something like, “desire to take possession of” whereas the Hebrew for coveting a neighbor’s spouse is closer to “desire to take delight or pleasure in.” Some versions render this as “lust after” – which is fine in this context, but falls apart when the same word is used in Proverbs 1:22 – “and the scoffers delight themselves in scoffing” or in Song of Songs 2:3 – “in his shade, I took great delight and sat down.”

Add to this that, of course, there is no gender-neutral word for “spouse” in ancient Hebrew, so the Hebrew reads eshet, meaning woman or wife. However, the implication is clear – no matter the genders involved, “don’t crave delight with your neighbor’s spouse”.

 Worship only God. Think before using God’s name. Keep Sabbath, and give rest to all in your power. Give weight to your parents, and carry on their wisdom. Never participate in murder, adultery, or theft and deception. Don’t speak evil words. Don’t crave delight with your neighbor’s spouse. Don’t covet what your neighbor has.

As we reflect on these Ten Words, we see how they form the framework for a life of righteousness, compassion, and reverence for God. They guide us in navigating our relationship with the Divine and with one another. Through these commandments, we’re reminded of the weight of our actions, the importance of gratitude, and the value of wisdom passed down through generations.

May we carry the wisdom of these commandments in our hearts, living them out in our daily interactions. Let us honor our parents, respect one another’s lives and property, speak truth and guard against envy. In doing so, we not only honor the covenant with God, but also contribute to the flourishing of our communities.

May the Ten Words be a beacon, illuminating our path toward a life lived in accordance with God’s gracious plan. May we find strength we need to love and serve one another, thus fulfilling the sacred covenant between God and humanity. Amen.

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[1] I continue to find it fascinating that the Hebrew understanding of words and things are contained in a single word! (עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים)