Commandments - Not Suggestions? Why is God pushy, or is it for self-government like the Constitution?

Summary: Self-government is the basis of freedom, and the U.S. Constitution wisely provides for numerous liberties not found in other countries. The 10 Commandments were also a document of self-government. Living within those guidelines was the foundation for a free and happy people for 200 years. Why not now?

Our 2^nd U.S. President, John Adams, warned his fellow countrymen, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Noah Webster, author of the first American Speller and the first Dictionary said, “[T]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government…and I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form [not about political parties, but Constitutional] can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence.”

Looking back on 40 years since Roe v Wade, change came to America before Obama announced it. He was right about America no longer being a Christian nation, for a people rarely rise above their leaders, and we have made some poor choices.

Babies were routinely murdered in Egypt. 58+ million babies have been slaughtered in the U.S. alone and mirror many parallels to Egypt and its Pharaohs. As birds drop out of the sky and fish beach themselves around the world, we should realize that times parallel to the plagues of Egypt may be impending. God took Israel to Sinai and gave them the greatest document for self-government this world has seen—The 10 Commandments.

The adequacy of self-government and utter default failure is contrasted in the type of healthcare we need. It can be as simple as eating wisely and getting exercise, or as complicated as Intensive Care with tubes in every orifice. Failing at the basics, we invite tyranny at every level.

Some local governments can fine you for idling your car to warm it. Before long, they may be telling us how much toilet paper to use! If we love liberty, we should embrace the 10 Commandments, not as the millions of stupid liberty-restricting rules out of Washington, but the wise commands written in stone by God, and displayed over the entrance of the Supreme Court.

The Great Teacher whose life divided history into BC and AD, summarized the Decalogue as loving God and our neighbor (anyone who needs help that we can give) as ourselves. Life is better if we learn the rules when we’re young.

This is a brief introduction to a series that is intended to look at each commandment. The first one, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3) is in the context of God saying, “I brought you out of slavery and oppression, and because you love Me, you will have no other gods before Me.”

If we look at it that way, there are no negatives—just positive attitudes as motivation for honoring God as supreme in our lives. Out of gratitude, we want to do what He asks of us, because like a wise parent, He only wants what is best for us. And God gives the best to those who say, “Thy will be done”–this is an excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer. To those who don’t say, ‘Thy will be done,’ He is likely to reply, “Have it your way” (and when we do, things don’t turn out so well!)

We would be a blob of protoplasm if we didn’t have bones and sinews to give structure or shape to our bodies. In a similar way, God’s ‘laws’ give shape to our lives. If we reflect upon those principles, they result in a positive life and much happiness in our choice to exercise our free will through obedience to God’s sovereign Will.

At the height of Israel’s prosperity under Solomon, the major trade routes passed through Jerusalem. How surprised an alien might have been if he could have crept into the Most Holy Place of the Temple to discover the secret of Israel’s greatness was not an idol studded with gems, but the brilliance of ‘The Law’—laws that outlined wise actions for every circumstance in life. We will look at these commandments in this series.

Here is a comment on this 1^st Commandment from a favorite author, Ellen White: “Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.” http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp27.html

Dr Richard Ruhling is a graduate of a Bible college with enough courses for a major in religion. In retirement, he finds much meaning in current events as they fit Bible prophecy. His greatest interest is in the wedding parables which he believes are misunderstood as a rapture. He has a dozen reasons why not a rapture at http://ChooseABetterDestiny.com/rapture.htm He is available for programming on health, current events and Bible prophecy topics that you can see on his webpage athttp://RichardRuhling.com He may be contacted by email to [email protected]