Deuteronomy 5 - Ten Intentionally Broad Commandments

Just like the rest of the moral law, it was never meant to redeem us. It was always to expose the shortcomings of humans and the impossibly high expectations of a perfect and Holy God. The covenant of grace was in full effect since the fall of Adam & Eve in the garden. God wants a faithful heart that follows these moral commands not just because they are asked of us, but because we love them and want to follow them for a God that loves us and knows what is best for us. All of God's laws that reflect moral character both in the Ten Commandments and in other subsequent sections are an unchanging expectation of all His people; these laws are not what Christ came to abolish.

Idolatry, intentionally the first law listed, is the most applicable and can stop the root of almost every sin. Pretty much all sin is the sin of idolatry at its root. Prioritizing something higher than God in some way, be it little or big. Every single Christian is guilty of this every single day. It's a standard that is so hard to keep perfectly that it would cause anyone to have to go offer a sin offering for back in the day keeping their eyes on God for forgiveness. Thankfully, Christ fulfilled that sacrificial process so every day we fail to live up to this standard, we can immediately point our eyes to God and through the Holy Spirit have our priorities changed towards Him. This should shift our hearts into gratitude regularly which is such a blessing that we don't deserve.

Following up on idolatry, close after is the worship of any image or depiction of either God Himself, angels, or any living thing on earth. Nobody knows the face of God and God should be worshipped in truth and essence, not as an image created by the speculations of humans. Many people want to box God into being understandable or viewable as the likeness of a human or visible being, but God is way more than that and should be worshiped as such. Paul even expands on this in Romans 1 when mentioning that humans always tend to do this in pride and professing wisdom, but it is always foolish in the end.

Using God's name in vain is very similar to the graven image commandment as well. It returns to the idea of humans diminishing the holiness of God not just by worshiping a manmade image of Him, but by disrespecting His holy name. This would extend to blasphemy in the sense of attributing words to God's name that God does not say, explaining God's character in a way that is not representative of God's revelation to us, and other forms of mischaracterization. This commandment's severity is likely where the absurdly harsh rebukes of false teaching come from throughout the Bible as well. Attributing a false claim to God is turning God into something He is not which is an extremely important issue shown by how it has been condemned not once, but three different and specific times so far in the first three commandments.

Keeping the Sabbath is something that has been plagued heavily throughout history, especially by Talmudic Judaism and the Pharisees. A desire to take this commandment to its absolute wild extreme while still leaving open gaps to justify certain behaviors has always been the main goal. The problem is that viewing it this way always seems to miss the mark that the Bible constantly points to, which is the heart attitude toward the law rather than the law itself. A desire to redefine or justify certain behavior that breaks the law is not loving it. It is clearly stated here that even slaves and animals fall under this category of deserving rest and human dignity before God. However, the "shabbos goy" is completely legal under the Jewish law that Jesus was correcting on many occasions throughout His life on Earth. Work should not become an idol in anyone's life. God is always to be the first and foremost focus which will naturally lead to respecting Him with our time. A rejection of idolatrous activity in our lives out of pure reverence, fear, and love of God will give us a spiritually healthy balance of work and rest over time just on its own. That balance is extremely easy to pollute with our warped and unbalanced justifications which is why a sober reverence to being corrected by the Holy Spirit in this area is essential for finding that balance. We can't follow this commandment without it.

Honoring your father and mother is yet another one that is often justified through selfish means. Jesus even directly rebukes the Pharisees' hypocritical Talmudic-tradition interpretation of the law in Matthew 15 due to how wrong they got it. They had come up with some religious exceptions to the rule where if they declared all their possessions were a sacrifice saved for God, then they could claim that they had nothing to give to their parents while also being regarded as an extremely religious person. How often do we participate in similar justifications to them without considering the thought behind them? God understands the importance of family bonds and God also understands the severe generational damage that broken families bring along. Paul even reiterates this idea in Ephesians 6; that family units sticking together and loving each other generationally up the chain leads to long and prosperous lives within a nation/land. A collapsing society/nation is defined by a degradation of family units and yes that includes not honoring your previous family unit as well.

Murder, adultery, theft, covetousness, and lying are also ones that were given more clarification by Jesus as well during the Sermon on the Mount. He explains that anger and insults (v21-26) make you guilty before God of murder and that even a look towards a woman with lustful intent (v27-30) makes you guilty of adultery. This standard explains the issues of the heart that Jesus' ministry was focused on so much. A heart must be changed towards God to truly love and follow the Law. It is also an impossible standard to follow as a fallen human. Thank God that we have the grace of Jesus Christ for forgiveness in areas where we daily fall short of this standard.

The final point God speaks is one that I think is glossed over quite often. That we will live long in the land that we possess. A land that constructs its laws after God's instruction and is filled with people who love and obey God will continue to exist. A land under the judgment of God will fall. I want to continue to advocate for God's law in our legislature and lead others to God so they might be able to enjoy communion and justification before God, but for the sake of our nation as well.