The 10 Commandments (the Law of God, the Decalogue, the Decalogue) are the main 10 laws that, according to biblical tradition, God gave to Moses. In fact, they are the summary, the brief essence of other instructions that are described in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Despite the fact that these commandments appeared more than 3,000 years ago, they remain relevant today.
At first glance, everything is obvious: you cannot kill, envy, commit adultery... However, saying does not mean doing, and in practice, observing even 10 instructions turns out to be difficult. What do the 10 commandments mean for modern man? And how can we learn to observe them today? We'll tell you about this and much more right now.
How did the 10 commandments come about?
The receipt of the Ten Commandments from God is the most significant event in the Old Testament. The very education of the Jewish people is connected with the Ten Commandments. Indeed, before receiving the commandments, a Semitic tribe of powerless and brutalized slaves lived in Egypt; after the Sinai legislation, a people emerged, called to believe and serve God, from which the great prophets, apostles and saints of the first centuries of Christianity subsequently emerged. From him the Savior of the world Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born in the flesh.
The book of Exodus tells about the circumstances of receiving the Ten Commandments in chapters 19-20 and 24. One and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ, after the great miracles performed by the prophet Moses in Egypt, Pharaoh was forced to release the Jewish people, and they, miraculously crossing the Red Sea, walked through the desert of the Sinai Peninsula to the south, heading towards the promised (Promised) land. By the fiftieth day after the exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people approached the foot of Mount Sinai and camped here. (Sinai and Horeb are two peaks of the same mountain). Here the prophet Moses ascended the mountain, and the Lord announced to him:
Tell the children of Israel, If you obey My voice and keep My Covenant, you will be My people.
When Moses conveyed the will of God to the Jews, they replied:
Let us do everything that the Lord has said and be obedient.
Then the Lord commanded Moses to prepare the people for the adoption of the Law by the third day, and the Jews began to prepare for it by fasting and prayer. On the third day, a thick cloud covered the top of Mount Sinai. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and a loud trumpet sound was heard. Smoke rose from the mountain, and the whole of it shook violently. The people stood in the distance and watched in awe what was happening. On the mountain, the Lord told Moses His law in the form of the Ten Commandments, which the prophet later retold to the people.
Having accepted the commandments, the Jewish people promised to observe them, and then a Covenant (alliance) was concluded between God and the Jews, consisting in the fact that the Lord promised His mercies and protection to the Jewish people, and the Jews promised to live righteously. After this, Moses again ascended the mountain and remained there in fasting and prayer for forty days.
Here the Lord gave Moses other ecclesiastical and civil laws, commanded the construction of the Tabernacle (a portable temple-tent) and gave rules regarding the service of priests and the performance of sacrifices. At the end of forty days, God wrote His Ten Commandments, previously given orally, on two stone slabs (tablets) and commanded them to be kept in the “Ark of the Covenant” (a gilded box with images of cherubim on the top of the lid) as an eternal reminder of the Covenant made between Him and Israel. by the people. (The location of the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments is unknown).
In chapter 2, the Second Book of Maccabees tells that during the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century B.C. The prophet Jeremiah hid the stone tablets and some other temple accessories in a cave on Mount Nebo.” This mountain is located twenty kilometers east of where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. Just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land (1400 BC). The prophet Moses was buried on the same mountain. Repeated attempts to find the tablets with the Ten Commandments were unsuccessful). The original text of the commandments is given below.
God's commandments. How many are there and how are they different?
God's commandments. How many are there and how are they different?
Spiritual coach Elena Fateeva is with you.
Believers know that there are ten commandments of God and you must live by them if you want to be with God and move into Eternal life. However, in this article I want to expand your consciousness on this topic and show that there are more commandments and that they are fundamentally different in their power of guidance for us.
Commandments of Moses.
It is well known that the first commandments ( Decalogue
, or
the Law of God
) were received
by the prophet Moses from God on the 50th day after the withdrawal of the Israeli people from Egyptian slavery on Mount Sinai.
It is believed that the version of these commandments contained in the 20th chapter of the book of Exodus was on the first, broken tablets, and the version from Deuteronomy was on the second.
And these commandments were necessary for that period as restrictions on people’s behavior. After all, people then generally did not love God, but feared him.
And life in our world can go out of the system into a state of chaos if it does not create reasonable forms that restrain this chaos. And our God is a God of order.
All this is reflected in each of us. During our earthly life, we all go through both unbelief and the Old Testament and the New Testament, if we correctly move along the steps of spiritual development.
According to the allegory, this is like putting up a fence beyond which you cannot go in order to live in peace with God and with the world.
The level of consciousness of people at that time could not yet accommodate the commandments of love. After all, the lower a person is at the levels of his consciousness, the more strict laws he must be given.
Remember what language people who are narrow-minded and not very educated understand. Simple and strict. So it is here. This is the correspondence of that level of the soul of humanity and these Divine laws.
The text of the Ten Commandments according to the Synodal Translation of the Bible.
1.I am the Lord your God... let you have no other gods before me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. Do not worship them or serve them; For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
4.Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Don't kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10.You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
The Beatitudes.
Further, as we evolved, we became able to understand and accept Divine love and wisdom . This happened at the time of Christ’s coming into the world and incarnation.
Humanity has already become different and the Lord gives in the Sermon on the Mount, which is considered central to the New Testament, the commandments of love or the Beatitudes.
That is, the fence is removed and a person is given greater freedom - to understand and accept love, to embody it in self-sacrifice, forgiveness, reconciliation, etc.
This is already the ability for each of us to acquire obvious signs of God-likeness, without which it is impossible to restore our fallen nature and ascend to Heaven.
It was normal for Old Testament people to observe the law: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” That is, with this law, God abolished revenge, which could last several generations and went beyond all possible boundaries of reason. It was stated: as much as you suffered, you must compensate that much, but no more.
And in the New Testament, Christ already calls to do good and pray for enemies, to love and forgive not selectively, but all.
This was and is the new and highest stage of our evolution , to which each of us can and should strive with our souls in earthly life.
The Beatitudes (from the Greek μακαριος - happy, blessed) remove the fence and show a person without restrictions what he can be if he fulfills them . They complement the commandments of Moses and take them to a new level in accordance with the new level of human consciousness.
This is a way out into full contact with God through the acquisition of Godlikeness and the restoration of one’s fallen nature to its original form.
This is the path of returning to our Heavenly homeland in the subtle-material world of Eden, where we were created and from which we fell, violating the Divine law.
Therefore, it is important to periodically ask yourself the question : “Am I simply afraid of God and punishment from Him for my sins, or am I seeking happiness in Him and with Him through keeping His commandments of love?”
An honest answer to yourself will show you whether you are in the Old or New Testament with your soul today. By the way, write in the comments below the article what you realized after reading it.
Nine Gospel commandments about the beatitudes according to Matthew 5: 3-11
1.Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn (Greek: πενθοῦντες, mourners
), for they will be comforted.
3.Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Greek δικαιοσύνην, righteousness
), for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
6.Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers (Greek εἰρηνοποιοί, in early Slavic texts - those who humble themselves),
for they will be called sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Greek δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, lit. “those who were persecuted because of righteousness”), for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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And there is also the singular of all Laws and Commandments for all times, which Christ expressed in a conversation with a scribe:
Then one of the scribes came to Jesus, having heard the Sadducees arguing with Him, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he approached and asked Him: What is the first of all the commandments? Jesus answered him: The first of all commandments: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength—this is the first commandment! The second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other greater commandment than these.
In total, we see 19 God's laws, which are both a limiter on our behavior, a sign on the spiritual path, and a guide to the highest goal of human life on Earth.
Write under the article how you personally came to understand the Divine laws, what this gave you in life, and what you focus on in your daily affairs, thoughts and feelings.
………………………….
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Ten Commandments - One Source
God wants people to be happy, to love Him, to love each other and not to harm themselves or others, so He gave us commandments. They express spiritual laws, they teach how to live and build relationships with God and people. Just as parents warn their children about danger and teach them about life, so our Heavenly Father gives us the necessary instructions. The commandments were given to people back in the Old Testament, we talked about this in the section on Old Testament biblical history. New Testament people, Christians, are required to keep the Ten Commandments.
Christ said:
Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matt 5:17).
The main law of the spiritual world is the law of love for God and people. All ten commandments say this. They were given to Moses in the form of two stone slabs - tablets, on one of which the first four commandments were written, speaking about love for the Lord, and on the second - the remaining six. They talk about attitude towards neighbors. When Jesus Christ was asked: What is the greatest commandment in the law? - He replied:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; All the law and the prophets are based on these two commandments (Matthew 22:36-40).
What does it mean? The fact is that if a person has truly achieved true love for God and others, he cannot break any of the Ten Commandments, because they all talk about love for God and people. And we must strive for this perfect love. Now let's look at each commandment in more detail.
Ten Complete Commandments
The commandments of God are actually the rules of community life. A person is free in his actions, but he should not cause harm or inconvenience to other people.
Christ himself convinced his disciples that he came to earth to fulfill the law - the commandments, and not to break it. God's law was written for the benefit of people. If we compare the Commandments with the laws of any civilized, democratic society, they coincide in content.
The list of commandments of the first and second versions, written on the tablets, differ not in meaning, but in the form of presentation of several points. The commandments of the New Testament and the old ones also differ slightly. They do not coincide mainly due to the variety of meanings of the same word when translated.
The first commandment
“I am the Lord your God. And you will have no other gods besides me before my face.”
God is one and there is no one like him in the world. The power and will of God is in everything. It is the Lord who gives everything a person needs or takes away when he sees fit. If you want to gain various abilities to create anything, you should worship God and receive everything from him. There is one source of powerful and life-giving power - God.
Commandment two
“You shall not make for yourself an idol or an image of anything that is above in heaven, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the waters under the earth; do not serve them and do not bow down; For I am the Lord, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of their fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation, those who hated Me, and those who showed kindness to a thousand generations of those who love Me and who keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6) .
Making an idol for yourself means fear of appearing before the Lord alone, or doubting the omnipotence of God and waiting for help from someone else.
Third of the Ten Commandments of the Bible
“Do not take the name of the Lord God in vain (just like that), for the Lord God will not leave anyone without punishment who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7).
The Lord reacts to every utterance of his name, along with the angels surrounding him. You should not disturb the Almighty by pronouncing His name over trifles. He may punish you for needless concern.
Fourth Commandment
“Remember the Sabbath day in order to spend it correctly: Work for six days of the week and do all your work during them, and on the seventh day - rest, dedicate it to the Lord your God. On the above-mentioned day, neither you, nor your daughter, nor your son, do any of your works... For in six days your Lord created everything that is in the earth, sea and sky and themselves, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
A person must work six days a week, and on the seventh rest from righteous labors. But this does not mean lying around all day and doing nothing. Saturday should be dedicated to God: go to church for a service, read something from the Psalter or Gospel at home.
Fifth biblical commandment
“Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you and your days may be long, so that you may live well in the land that the Lord your God has given you” (Exodus 20:12)
Your parents knew God before you and taught you to pray and live righteously. It is the father and mother who give life to everyone and they must be revered, respected, and protected.
God's Sixth Commandment
The translation is: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). A short, simple and understandable commandment. The Lord says that a person cannot arbitrarily deprive someone of the life of God’s creation. This is beyond human power. Here it must be added that suicide is a grave sin. Those who voluntarily took their own lives will never be able to find themselves in the Kingdom of Heaven, since they do not deserve it. This sin (murder) is preceded by feelings such as hatred, anger, anger. This list should not be allowed into the heart of a Christian.
Every creature on earth lives thanks to the fact that the Lord breathed life into him from his life. All of us living on earth are temporary bearers of the life of God. Therefore, to take the life of another person means to kill a part of the Lord. Man has no right to take away what is given by the Almighty. This is one of the most serious sins.
Seventh Commandment
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14).
God gives every person a couple - a wife. You can't have relationships with other people's women.
Eighth Commandment
“Don't steal.”
To steal means to appropriate someone else's property, to upset or offend a layman. God will intercede for anyone who has suffered from someone else’s greed, deception, or meanness. Therefore, you should not take what someone else has, you must achieve everything with your own honest work. Take the Lord for help and pray to him.
Ninth Commandment
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
A lie, a slander against a neighbor - another person, a grave sin. You should always be truthful. If you don't know the truth, keep quiet. You should also not slander yourself. Even if only you know about slander, God knows about it.
Tenth Commandment
“You shall not covet the house that your neighbor has, nor his wife, nor his slave, nor anything that belongs to him.”
It is enough to stop controlling yourself, to envy a neighbor or another person, to desire what he has, and the person is already halfway to a crime. If a Christian comes to his senses in time and realizes the harmfulness of his thoughts, he will realize the sinfulness of his act and will be able to correct himself. Otherwise, the desire to take someone else’s, to take a place in life that is not one’s own ends in a grave offense, a sin.
Desire is comparable to the seed of sin. The harvest will be a sinful act.
You can often hear about the 12 commandments. But they have no direct relation to religion. The closest lists of instructions are created for young spouses. They are based on Orthodox Christian laws and teach young people family life in love and harmony.
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Questions for the priest
Priests are often asked about the Beatitudes - what they are and how they are related by God’s laws. The laity is also interested in other commandments.
People who kept all the commandments, revered God and lived strictly according to his laws were called blessed. With their lives they deserved bliss in the future life. This means that after death they are guaranteed to find the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal bliss. Blessed means happy in eternal life. On a mountain above Lake Galilee, Jesus Christ stopped to talk with his disciples and the people who accompanied him. There he told the 9 Beatitudes. It is not enough just to strictly observe God's laws. We must do godly deeds: give to the poor, help the needy, support with kind words those who strive to do something pleasing to God. And then a person is guaranteed happiness in heaven.
First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God”
The Lord is the Creator of the Universe and the spiritual world. He is the First Cause of everything that exists. Our entire beautiful, harmonious and very complex world could not have arisen by itself. Behind all this beauty and harmony is the Creative Mind. To believe that everything that exists arose on its own, without God, is nothing less than madness. The fool said in his heart: “There is no God” (Ps 13:1), says the prophet David. God is not only the Creator, but also our Father. He cares and provides for people and everything created by Him; without His care the world could not exist.
God is the Source of all good things, and man must strive for Him, for only in God does he receive life. We need to conform all our actions and actions to the will of God: whether they will be pleasing to God or not. So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). The main means of communication with God are prayer and the Holy Sacraments, in which we receive the grace of God, Divine energy.
Let us repeat: God wants people to glorify Him correctly, that is, Orthodoxy. For us there can be only one God, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we, Orthodox Christians, cannot have other gods.
Sins against the first commandment are:
- atheism (denial of God);
- lack of faith, doubt, superstition, when people mix faith with unbelief or all kinds of signs and other remnants of paganism; those who say: “I have God in my soul” also sin against the first commandment, but do not go to church and do not approach the Sacraments or do so rarely;
- paganism (polytheism), belief in false gods, Satanism, occultism and esotericism; this includes magic, witchcraft, healing, extrasensory perception, astrology, fortune telling and turning to people involved in all this for help;
- false opinions contrary to the Orthodox faith, and falling away from the Church into schism, false teachings and sects;
- renunciation of faith, relying on one’s own strength and on people more than on God; this sin is also associated with lack of faith.
Biography - Ten Commandments, philosophy Ten Books Ten Works Ten
Biography
ten commandments (Decalogue, or the law of God) (Heb. עשרת הדברות, “aseret-ha-dibrot” - literally ten sayings; ancient Greek δέκα λόγοι, “decalogue” - literally ten-word) - prescriptions, ten fundamental laws, which, according to the Pentateuch, were given to Moses by God himself, in the presence of the children of Israel, on Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day after the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 19:10-25). the Ten Commandments are contained in the Pentateuch in two slightly different versions (see Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21). Elsewhere (Exodus 34:14-26) part of the commandments is reproduced in the form of a commentary put into the mouth of the Almighty, while moral standards are not commented on, but prescriptions in the religious and cult area are formulated. According to Jewish tradition, the version contained in Exodus 20 was on the first, broken tablets, and the version of Deuteronomy was on the second. The setting in which God gave Moses and the children of Israel the Ten Commandments is described in the Bible. Sinai stood on fire, shrouded in thick smoke, the earth trembled, thunder roared, lightning flashed, and, in the noise of the raging elements, covering it, the voice of God was heard, pronouncing the commandments (Ex. 19: 1 et seq.). Then the Lord himself inscribed “ten words” on two stone tablets, the “Tablets of the Testimony” (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 32:16) or “Tablets of the Covenant” (Deut. 9:9, 11:15), and gave them to Moses. When Moses, after a forty-day stay on the mountain, came down with the tablets in his hands and saw that the people, forgetting about God, were dancing around the Golden Calf, he became so angry at the sight of the unbridled feast that he smashed the tablets with the commandments of God against the rock. After the ensuing repentance of the entire people, God ordered Moses to hew out two new stone tablets and bring them to Him to re-write the Ten Commandments (Deut. 10:1-5).
ten commandments (Ex. 20:2-17). The lists of the Ten Commandments in the Jewish and Christian traditions are somewhat different. According to Jewish tradition, in Ex. 20:2 contains the first commandment, and 20:3 contains the second. According to Christian tradition, the first commandment is contained in Ex. 20:3, and 20:2 is considered as a general introduction. Most Protestant churches, as well as the Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches, divide the second commandment in Jewish tradition (Ex. 20:3-6) into two, considering the first verse to be the first commandment, and the remaining verses the second. The Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches share two-tenths of the commandment in Jewish tradition. Lutherans follow the order of Deuteronomy and make the commandment “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house” the ninth commandment, and what follows is the tenth. In the Nash Papyrus, the commandments have some differences from the Jewish tradition.
The text of the Ten Commandments according to the Synodal Translation of the Bible. I am the Lord your God... let you have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything in the sky above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. Do not worship them or serve them; For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Dont kill. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
ten commandments (Deut. 5:6-21). I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. May you have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the waters under the earth. Do not worship them or serve them; For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is with you, so that your servant and your maidservant rested, as did you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Dont kill. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that your neighbor has. Ritual Decalogue (Ex. 34:14-26). The Ritual Decalogue is a shorthand for the set of Ten Commandments in Exodus 34:14-26. It differs significantly from the Ten Commandments found in Exod. 20:1-17 and Deut. 5:6-21, sometimes called the ethical Decalogue.
Text from the book of Exodus according to the Synodal translation. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do miracles, such as have not been done in all the earth and among any people; and all the people among whom you are will see the work of the Lord; for what I will do for you will be terrible; Keep what I command you this day: behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites; Be careful not to enter into an alliance with the inhabitants of the land into which you will enter, lest they become a snare among you. Destroy their altars, crush their pillars, cut down their sacred groves, and burn the images of their gods with fire, for you must not worship any god other than the Lord God, because His name is Jealous; He is a jealous God. Do not enter into an alliance with the inhabitants of that land, lest when they commit fornication after their gods and offer sacrifices to their gods, they invite you too, and you taste their sacrifices; And do not take wives from their daughters for your sons, and do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, lest their daughters, having committed fornication after their gods, lead your sons also to commit fornication after their gods. Don't make cast gods for yourself. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread: for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt. Everything that opens lies is mine, as are all your male cattle that open lies, such as oxen and sheep; replace the firstborn of the donkeys with a lamb, and if you cannot replace it, then redeem it; Redeem all the firstborn of your sons; Let them not come before Me empty-handed. Work six days, and rest on the seventh day; rest during sowing and harvest. And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of the Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest, and the Feast of the Gathering of Fruits at the end of the year; three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel, for I will drive out the nations from before you and spread out your borders, and no one will covet your land if you appear before the Lord your God three times a year. . Do not shed the blood of My sacrifice on leaven, and the sacrifice of the Passover holiday must not spend the night until the morning. Bring the very first fruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil a kid in its mother's milk. And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words to yourself, for in these words I make a covenant with you and with Israel. And [Moses] stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, eating no bread or drinking water; And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten chapters.
Traditional understanding. In Judaism. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (literally “falsely” - that is, during an oath), for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain falsely. In the original it means “do not bear (Heb. תשא, tisa) the name of the Lord falsely (in vain, vaingloriously, unlawfully).” The original verb נשא nasa' means “to lift, carry, take, exalt.” Once again, the expression "to bear a name" is used in a similar manner only in Exod. 28:9-30, where, in reflection of the commandment, God commands the high priest Aaron to carry on his shoulders into the sanctuary the names of the tribes of the children of Israel, carved on two onyx stones. Thus, the one who professes faith in the God of Israel, according to the commandment, becomes the bearer of His name, bearing responsibility for how he represents God to others. The Old Testament texts describe instances in which God's name was profaned by human hypocrisy and false representations of God or His character. Joseph Telushkin, a Modern Orthodox rabbi, also writes that this commandment means much more than prohibiting casual mention of God's name. He points out that a more literal translation of "lo tissa" would be "You shall not carry" rather than "You shall not take", and that thinking about this helps everyone understand why the commandment is equated with others such as "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not kill". Do not commit adultery." Don't kill. In the original: "לֹא תִרְצָח". The verb used "רְצָח" denotes immoral premeditated murder (cf. murder), as opposed to any killing at all, for example, as a result of an accident, in self-defense, during war or by court order. (Since the Bible itself prescribes the death penalty by court order as a result of breaking certain commandments, this verb cannot mean murder at all, under any circumstances) Thou shalt not commit adultery in the original, this word usually refers only to sexual relations between a married woman and a man who is not hers. husband. According to another opinion, this commandment includes all the so-called “prohibitions of incest,” including incest and bestiality. Don't steal. The prohibition against theft of property is also set forth in Lev. 19:11. Oral tradition interprets the content of the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” in the Ten Commandments as prohibiting the abduction of a person for the purpose of enslavement. Since the previous commandments “do not kill” and “do not commit adultery” speak of sins punishable by death, one of the principles of interpretation of the Torah prescribes that continuation should be understood as a severely punishable crime. “Thou shalt not covet...” This commandment includes the prohibition of theft of property. According to Jewish tradition, theft is also “theft of an image,” that is, the creation of a false idea about an object, event, person (deception, flattery, etc.).
In the Lutheran tradition. In M. Luther's "Short Catechism" the following list of commandments is given (with their explanation): first commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. What does it mean? We must above all respect, love God and trust in Him in everything. Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. What does it mean? We must fear God and love Him so much that we do not curse, swear, cast spells, lie or deceive in His name, but call on His name in every need, pray to Him, thank and glorify Him. The third commandment is: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. What does it mean? We must fear and love God in such a way that we do not neglect the preaching and Word of God, but sacredly honor it, willingly listen and learn. Fourth commandment: Honor your father and your mother, that it may be good for you and that you may live long on earth. What does it mean? We must fear and love God in such a way that we do not despise or anger our parents and masters, but honor them, serve and obey them, love them and treasure them. fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill. What does it mean? Do not cause suffering or harm to your neighbor, but help him and take care of him in all his needs. sixth commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. What does it mean? To be pure and chaste in thoughts, words and deeds, and for each of us to love and honor our spouse. Seventh commandment: Thou shalt not steal. What does it mean? Do not take away your neighbor’s money or property, and do not appropriate someone else’s property through dishonest trade or fraud. But we should help our neighbor in preserving and increasing his property and means of subsistence. Eighth Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. What does it mean? Do not tell lies about your neighbor, do not betray him, do not slander him and do not spread bad rumors about him, but protect him, speak only good things about him and try to turn everything for the better. Ninth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. What does it mean? Do not treacherously encroach on your neighbor’s inheritance or house and do not appropriate it for yourself, hiding behind the law or right, but serve your neighbor, helping to preserve his property. Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his livestock, nor anything that he has. What does it mean? Do not seduce, appropriate or alienate your neighbor’s wife, servants, or livestock, but encourage them to remain in their places and fulfill their duties.
Second Commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”
The second commandment prohibits worshiping a creature instead of the Creator. We know what paganism and idolatry are. This is what the Apostle Paul writes about the pagans:
“Calling themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie... and served the creature instead of the Creator” (Rom 1:22-23, 25) .
The Old Testament people of Israel, to whom these commandments were originally given, were the custodians of faith in the True God. It was surrounded on all sides by pagan peoples and tribes, and in order to warn the Jews not to adopt pagan customs and beliefs under any circumstances, the Lord establishes this commandment. Nowadays there are few pagans and idolaters among us, although polytheism and the worship of idols exist, for example, in India, Africa, South America, and some other countries. Even here in Russia, where Christianity has been around for over a thousand years, some are trying to revive paganism.
Sometimes you can hear accusations against the Orthodox: they say, veneration of icons is idolatry. The veneration of holy icons cannot in any way be called idolatry. Firstly, we offer prayers of worship not to the icon itself, but to the Person who is depicted on the icon - God. Looking at the image, we ascend with our minds to the Prototype. Also, through the icon, we ascend in mind and heart to the Mother of God and the saints.
Sacred images were made back in the Old Testament at the command of God Himself. The Lord commanded Moses to place golden images of Cherubim in the first mobile Old Testament temple (tabernacle). Already in the first centuries of Christianity, in the Roman catacombs (meeting places of the first Christians) there were wall images of Christ in the form of the Good Shepherd, the Mother of God with raised hands and other sacred images. All these frescoes were found during excavations.
Although there are few direct idolaters left in the modern world, many people create idols for themselves, worship them and make sacrifices. For many, their passions and vices became such idols, requiring constant sacrifices. Some people have been captured by them and can no longer do without them; they serve them as if they were their masters, because:
“Whoever is overcome by someone is his slave” (2 Pet 2:19).
Let us recall these idols of passion: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride. The Apostle Paul compares serving the passions with idolatry: covetousness... is idolatry (Col 3:5). Indulging in passion, a person stops thinking about God and serving Him. He also forgets about love for his neighbors.
Sins against the second commandment also include passionate attachment to any business, when this hobby becomes a passion. Idolatry is also the worship of any person. Many people in modern society treat popular artists, singers, and athletes as idols.
Commandments are God's laws
A commandment is the law of life that God gave to man. Therefore, the commandments are God's laws. God's commandments are in both the Old Testament and the New.
"Covenant" means "promise."
Man fulfills God's Law in order to receive the benefits that God promised. The Old Testament promised that the Messiah would come to the world, and the New Testament promised that the believer would have the Kingdom of God.
" Bible " is Greek for "book". The writings of the Old and New Testaments were so popular among traders in the Mediterranean region in the early centuries of Christianity that they were simply called “books.”
The Old Testament consists of 39 books:
- 5 books of the prophet Moses;
- 7 books about the history of Israel;
- 5 books of an instructive nature;
- 22 prophetic books.
The New Testament consists of 27 books:
- 4 books of the Gospel;
- 1 book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles;
- 21 Apostolic Epistles;
- Book 1 of the Revelation of John the Theologian.
Commandments of Jesus Christ
Third Commandment: “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.”
To take the name of God in vain means in vain, that is, not in prayer, not in spiritual conversations, but during idle conversations or out of habit. It is an even greater sin to pronounce the name of God in jest. And it is a very serious sin to pronounce the name of God with the desire to blaspheme God. Also a sin against the third commandment is blasphemy, when holy objects become the subject of ridicule and reproach. Failure to fulfill vows made to God and frivolous oaths invoking the name of God are also violations of this commandment. The name of God is holy. It must be treated with reverence.
Saint Nicholas of Serbia. Parable:
One goldsmith sat in his shop at his workbench and, while working, constantly took the name of God in vain: sometimes as an oath, sometimes as a favorite word. A certain pilgrim, returning from holy places, passing by the shop, heard this, and his soul was indignant. Then he called out to the jeweler to go outside.
And when the master left, the pilgrim hid. The jeweler, not seeing anyone, returned to the shop and continued working. The pilgrim called out to him again, and when the jeweler came out, he pretended to know nothing. The master, angry, returned to his room and began to work again. The pilgrim called out to him for the third time and, when the master came out again, he stood silently again, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. The jeweler furiously attacked the pilgrim:
- Why are you calling me in vain? What a joke! I'm full of work!
The pilgrim answered peacefully:
“Truly, the Lord God has even more work to do, but you call on Him much more often than I call on you.” Who has the right to be angry more: you or the Lord God?
The jeweler, ashamed, returned to the workshop and from then on kept his mouth shut.
Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
The Lord created this world in six days and, having completed creation, blessed the seventh day as a day of rest: he sanctified it; for in it he rested from all His works, which God created and created (Gen. 2:3).
In the Old Testament, the day of rest was the Sabbath. In New Testament times, the holy day of rest became Sunday, when the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is remembered. This day is the seventh and most important day for Christians. Sunday is also called Little Easter. The custom of honoring Sunday comes from the times of the holy apostles.
On Sunday, Christians must attend the Divine Liturgy. On this day it is very good to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. We dedicate Sunday to prayer, spiritual reading, and pious activities. On Sunday, as a day free from ordinary work, you can help your neighbors or visit the sick, provide assistance to the infirm and elderly. It is customary on this day to thank God for the past week and prayerfully ask for blessings on the work of the coming week.
You can often hear from people who are far from the Church or have little church life that they do not have time for home prayer and visiting church. Yes, modern people are sometimes very busy, but even busy people still have a lot of free time to often and for a long time talk on the phone with friends and relatives, read newspapers, and sit for hours in front of the TV and computer. Spending their evenings like this, they do not want to devote even a very short time to the evening prayer rule and read the Gospel.
People who honor Sundays and church holidays, pray in church, and regularly read morning and evening prayers, as a rule, manage to do much more than those who spend this time in idleness. The Lord blesses their labors, increases their strength and gives them His help.
Why is it so important to live by observing the 10 laws of God?
You don't have to be a Christian to keep all ten commandments. We are taught from childhood what God wrote on the tablets long ago. A true Christian must keep all ten commandments in order to gain the Kingdom of Heaven after death and remain close to God. However, even for an unbeliever, these commandments are the rules of life, observing which, a person will be able to say that he has lived a worthy, honest, correct life, devoid of envy and bad thoughts. For some, the commandments will help protect themselves from terrible actions, while others will find in them instructions on how to live each day so that life is not wasted.
The Ten Commandments of God are the foundation on which Christianity rests. They were understandable and timely thousands of years ago, as they are now, and will not lose their relevance after many hundreds of years.
Author of the article:
Natalya Nadezhdina
Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother”
Those who love and honor their parents are promised not only a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, but even blessings, prosperity and many years in earthly life. To honor parents means to respect them, to show obedience to them, to help them, to take care of them in old age, to pray for their health and salvation, and after their death - for the repose of their souls.
People often ask: how can you love and honor parents who do not care for their children, neglect their responsibilities, or fall into serious sins? We don’t choose our parents; the fact that we have them like this and not some others is God’s will. Why did God give us such parents? In order for us to show the best Christian qualities: patience, love, humility, the ability to forgive.
Through our parents, God gave us life. Thus, no amount of caring for our parents can compare with what we received from them. Here is what St. John Chrysostom writes about this: “Just as they gave birth to you, you cannot give birth to them. Therefore, if in this we are inferior to them, then we will surpass them in another respect through respect for them, not only according to the law of nature, but also primarily before nature, according to the feeling of the fear of God.
The will of God decisively demands that parents be revered by their children, and rewards those who do this with great blessings and gifts, and punishes those who violate this law with great and grave misfortunes.” By honoring our father and mother, we learn to honor God Himself, our Heavenly Father. Parents can be called co-workers with the Lord. They gave us a body, and God put an immortal soul in us.
If a person does not honor his parents, he can very easily come to disrespect and deny God. At first he does not respect his parents, then he stops loving his Motherland, then he denies his mother Church and gradually comes to denying God. All this is interconnected. It is not without reason that when they want to shake the state, to destroy its foundations from within, they first of all take up arms against the Church - faith in God - and the family. Family, respect for elders, customs and traditions (translated from Latin - transmission) hold society together and make the people strong.
About the Gospel commandments
About the Gospel commandments[1]
The Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, beginning to expound His all-holy commandments, said: Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill
(Matt. 5:17).
How did the Lord fulfill the law and the prophets? Having sealed the transformative sacrifices by sacrificing Himself for humanity; replacing the shadows and fortune-telling of the Old Testament with the grace and truth of the New Testament; satisfying the predictions with their prophetic fulfillment; having supplemented the moral law with so many lofty decrees that this law, while remaining indispensable, at the same time changed due to the height of the new decrees. This is how a child changes when he reaches manhood and remains the same person.
The attitude of the Old Testament to man can be likened to a spiritual will for an inheritance, and a detailed description of the inheritance is usually attached with all the necessary measurements and calculations, with plans of land, with drawings of the structure; The attitude of the New Testament can be likened to the taking possession of an inheritance. Everything is laid out and depicted there on paper: here everything is presented essentially in practice.
How do the commandments of the Gospel differ from the commandments of the Decalogue of Moses? The latter did not allow fallen man to fall into a state that was decidedly unnatural, but they also could not lead him to the state of purity in which man was created. The commandments of the Decalogue preserved in man the ability to accept the commandments of the Gospel (see: John 3:21). The commandments of the Gospel elevate a purity higher than that in which we were created: they build a Christian into the temple of God (see: John 14:23); having made it the temple of God, they maintain it in this grace-filled, supernatural state (see: John 15:10).
The holy apostles Peter and Paul were exact fulfillers of the law of Moses out of special love for God (see: Acts 10, 14, etc.; Phil. 3, 5–6). Purity of direction and integrity of life made them able to believe in the Redeemer and be His apostles. Obvious sinners often turned out to be capable of faith, their sins had descended into the likeness of cattle and beasts, but they confessed to their sins and decided to repent of them. The least capable were those sinners who, with conceit and pride, became like demons, and, like demons, rejected the consciousness of sinfulness and repentance (see Matt. 21: 31–32).
The Lord called all His teaching, all His word and all His words commandments
(John 14, 21, 23).
The words,
He said,
which I speak to you, are spirit and life
(John 6:63). They transform a carnal man into a spiritual one, resurrect the dead, and make the descendant of the old Adam a descendant of the New Adam, a son of man by nature - a son of God by grace.
The commandment of the New Testament, which embraces all other particular commandments, is the Gospel. The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel
(Mark 1:15).
The Lord called His private commandments small due to the simplicity and brevity of their presentation, due to which they are accessible to every person. Having called them small, the Lord announced, however, that the violator of one such commandment will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven
(Matthew 5:19), that is, he will lose this Kingdom (Good News).
Let us fear the Lord's decree! Consider the Gospel; Let us note in it all the commandments of our Lord, let us introduce them into memory for careful and unmissable fulfillment of them; Let us believe with living faith in the Gospel.
The first commandment given by the Lord who became man to humanity is the commandment of repentance. The Holy Fathers affirm that repentance should be both the beginning of a pious life and its soul throughout its entire continuation[2].
Without repentance it is impossible either to acknowledge the Redeemer or to continue in the confession of the Redeemer. Repentance is the consciousness of one’s fall, which has made human nature indecent, defiled, and therefore constantly in need of a Redeemer. The Redeemer, all-perfect and all-holy, is replaced by fallen man who confesses the Redeemer.
So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:16), the Lord said to His disciples, commanding them to do all the virtues in secret together and foretelling that they would be hated and reviled by people (see Matt. 6:1-19; Luke 21:17).
How can we fulfill this commandment of the Lord by doing our good deeds in secret? We will gain the opportunity to fulfill it precisely when we renounce the search for our own glory, when we renounce ostensibly good actions from our fallen nature, from ourselves, and act for the glory of God, from the Gospel (Good News). Serve one another,
says the holy Apostle Peter,
each with the gift that he has received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If anyone speaks, speak as the words of God; If anyone serves, serve according to the strength that God gives, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever (1 Pet. 4:10-11).
Those who, having forgotten their glory, solely seek for God to be glorified and to be known by men, are glorified by God. For I will glorify those who glorify Me
(1 Sam. 2:30);
And whoever serves Me, My Father will honor him
(John 12:26), said the Lord. He who secretly performs his good deeds, solely for the purpose of pleasing God, will be glorified for the edification of his neighbors according to the arrangement of God's Providence for him.
If your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, then you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven
(Matt. 5:20). The truth of the scribes and Pharisees was satisfied with studying the Law of God according to the letter, which was not followed by studying it with life, which, on the contrary, was followed by a life contrary to the Law of God. Those who remain with only studying the Law of God according to the letter, due to such superficial knowledge, fall into pride and conceit, as the Monk Mark the Ascetic notes and as happened with the scribes and Pharisees. The commandments of God, which are essentially comprehended by fulfilling them[3], remained hidden from the Pharisees. The eyes of the soul, enlightened by the commandments (see Ps. 18:9), when they are fulfilled, were not enlightened among the Pharisees. They, from activities contrary to the Law of God, acquired a false concept of the Law of God and, because of the Law of God, which was supposed to bring them closer and assimilate to God, they moved away from God and became enemies of God. Each commandment of God is a sacred mystery: it is revealed by fulfilling it and as it is fulfilled.
The Old Testament forbade the gross consequences of anger: the Lord forbade the most heartfelt action of passion (see Matt. 5:21-22). The prohibition was pronounced by the Lord, and therefore it has extraordinary power. Just remembering the short and simple words of the commandment exhausts passion. This effect is seen in all the Gospel commandments. The Lord directed His first words against anger, as the main sinful ulcer, the main passion opposite to the two main virtues: love for one’s neighbor and humility. On these two virtues the whole edifice of Christian activity is founded. The touching of the passion of anger in a person robs him of all the opportunity for spiritual success.
The Lord commanded the utmost maintenance of peace with our neighbors (see Matt. 5:23), as the Apostle said: If possible on your part, be at peace with all people
(Rom. 12:18). Don’t bother trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong, whether you or your neighbor: try to blame yourself and maintain peace with your neighbor through humility.
The Law of Moses forbade adultery: the Lord forbade carnal lust (see Matt. 5:27–28). How powerfully this prohibition affects fallen nature! Do you want to abstain from unclean views, thoughts and dreams? Remember, as they begin to act, the saying of the Lord: Whoever looks at a woman
with bodily eyes or mind at her image, represented by a dream,
with lust the husband committed adultery with her in his heart
(Matthew 5:28).
There is a natural attraction between bodies of the two sexes. This attraction does not act equally. A person feels almost no attraction to other bodies of the opposite sex, to others it is weak, to some it is very strong. The Lord commanded us to avoid getting close to persons towards whom we feel a special natural attraction, no matter how worthy the persons are of our friendship in terms of their commendable spiritual qualities, no matter how necessary and useful they are to us. This is the meaning of the commandment about casting out the gum that tempts the eye, and about cutting off the gum that tempts the hand (see Matt. 5:29-30. Evangelist).
The Lord forbade divorce, which was permitted by the law of Moses, except in cases where the marriage had already been unlawfully dissolved by adultery of either half (see Matt. 5:31-32). The dissolution of marriage was permitted to human nature, humiliated by the fall; upon the renewal of humanity, the God-man restored the law given to nature in its state of innocence (see Matt. 19: 4–9).
The Lord restored virginity, leaving it to those who wished to preserve it (see Matt. 19:11-12). The Lord forbade the use of an oath. The fathers rightly note that no one deserves less credibility than the one who often uses an oath; On the contrary, no one is trusted as much as someone who constantly tells the truth, even if he does not use an oath. Speak the truth, and you will not be forced to commit godhood, which, being a violation of reverence for God, belongs to the undertakings of Satan (see Matthew 5: 33-37. Evangelist).
The Lord forbade vengeance, which was established by the Mosaic Law and by which evil was repaid with equal evil. The weapon given by the Lord against evil is humility. But I tell you: do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him; and whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer clothing too
(Matt. 5:39–40).
The Lord bequeathed love for enemies, and in order to acquire this love he commanded us to bless those who curse, do good to those who hate, and pray for those who cause misfortunes and those who subject them to exile (see: Matt. 5:44). Love for enemies gives the heart fullness of love. In such a heart there is no place for evil at all, and it is likened in its goodness to the All-Good God. The apostle invites Christians to this graceful moral state when he says: Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone: like Christ I forgave you, so do you
(Col. 3, 12–13). By perfect love for one's neighbors, adoption as sons is brought to God (see Matt. 5:45), that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit is attracted into the heart, and all-holy love for God is poured into it.
A heart infected with malice and incapable of the love for enemies commanded by the Gospel must be healed by the means indicated by the Lord: it must pray for enemies, not at all condemn them, not subject them to slander, speak kindly about them, and do good to them as best we can. These actions extinguish hatred when it flares up in the heart, keep it constantly curbed, and significantly weaken it. But the complete eradication of evil is accomplished by the action of Divine grace.
The Lord commanded those who give alms to give it in secret; He ordered those practicing prayer to pray in the solitude of a closed cage; He commanded those who fast to hide their fasting (see Matt. 6:1-18). These virtues must be performed solely for the purpose of pleasing God, for the benefit of one’s neighbor and one’s soul. Our spiritual treasure must be hidden not only from human eyes, but also from our own
(left hand) (see Matt. 6:3). Human praise robs us of our virtues when we perform them openly, when we do not try to hide them, and we are inconspicuously drawn towards people-pleasing, deceit, and hypocrisy. The reason for this is our damage by sin, the painful state of our souls. Just as an ailing body needs to be protected from winds, cold, various foods and drinks, so an ailing soul needs a variety of storage. While protecting our virtues from damage by human praise, we must also protect them from the evil that lives in us, this foolishness of ours, and not get carried away by vain thoughts and dreams, vain joy and vain pleasure, which appear in us after the accomplishment of virtue, and rob us of its fruit.
The Lord commanded us to forgive our neighbors their sins against us: If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins
(Matt. 6:14–15). From these words of the Lord it follows naturally that a sure sign of the remission of our sins is when we feel in our hearts that we have definitely forgiven our neighbors all their sins against us. Such a state is produced, and can be produced, only by Divine grace. It is a gift from God. Until we are worthy of this gift, we will, according to the will of the Lord, before each of our prayers examine our conscience and, finding memory of malice in it, eradicate it by the above means, that is, by praying for our enemies and blessing them (see Mark 11:25). Whenever we remember our enemy, we will not allow ourselves any other thought about him other than prayer and blessing.
The Lord commanded non-covetousness to His closest disciples and followers. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth
(Matt. 6:19).
Sell your property and give alms.
Prepare for yourselves sheaths that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke 12:33-34). In order to acquire love for spiritual and heavenly objects, one must renounce love for earthly objects; in order to love the fatherland, it is necessary to abandon the painful love for the country of exile.
The Lord gave a commandment about guarding the mind, a commandment that people usually do not care about, do not even know about its existence, about its necessity and special importance (see Matt. 6, 22-23; Luke 11, 34-36). But the Lord, calling the mind the eye of the soul, announced: If your eye is pure, then your whole body will be bright; if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark
(Matt. 6:22–23).
Here residence is called body. Dwelling takes its quality from the way of thinking that guides living. We acquire the correct way of thinking because of the health, integrity or simplicity of our mind, when it completely follows the Truth, without allowing any admixture from the area of lies into its assimilation. Otherwise: only that mind can be called sound which, with the help and action of the Holy Spirit, completely and unswervingly follows the teachings of Christ. A greater or lesser deviation from the teachings of Christ reveals a greater or lesser morbidity of the mind, which has lost simplicity and allowed complexity. Complete deviation of the mind from the teachings of Christ is its death. Then this light is recognized as extinguished, ceases to be light, and becomes darkness. A person’s activity depends entirely on the state in which his mind is: activity flowing from a sound mind is completely pleasing to God; activity that depends on the mind, which has allowed admixture into itself, is partly pleasing to God, partly contrary to God; the activity of a mind that has been darkened by the teachings of lies and rejected the teachings of Christ is completely indecent and abominable. So, if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness?
(Matt. 6:23).
The Lord forbade vain worries so that they would not scatter us and weaken our essential care for acquiring the Kingdom of Heaven (see Matt. 6:24-34). Vain care is nothing more than an illness of the soul, an expression of its unbelief. That is why the Lord said: You of little faith! Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear.
(Matt. 6, 30 and 25). Hate the idleness that God hates, love the work that God loves, but do not weaken your soul with empty care, which is always useless and unnecessary. So that you would be strong in soul and zealous in the cause of God, in the cause of your salvation, the Lord gave a promise to provide you with everything you need for temporary life, with His almighty right hand, that is, with His Divine Providence (see Matt. 6:33).
The Lord forbade not only condemnation
neighbors, but also
to judge
them (see Luke 6:37; Matt. 7:1), when it does not seem necessary to carry out the right judgment for one’s own and public benefit.
The last kind of judgment
is
greater than the law
(Matthew 23:23), according to the definition of the Lord;
Without such a judgment, good cannot be separated from evil, our activities cannot be correct and pleasing to God. This judgment rarely occurs between people, but they are constantly engaged in judgment and condemnation, forbidden by the Lord. For what reason? Because of complete inattention to oneself, because of forgetting one’s sinfulness, because of complete neglect of repentance, because of conceit and pride. The Lord came to earth to save sinners, and therefore consciousness of sinfulness is certainly required from all people; judgment
and
condemnation
of neighbors is the rejection of this consciousness and the appropriation of righteousness that does not belong to oneself; It is from this that judgment and condemnation are made: the name of a hypocrite is the most characteristic name for anyone who judges and condemns his neighbors (see Matt. 7:5).
The Lord commanded constant, that is, frequent and unceasing prayer. He did not say that we should ask at once and then stop asking, but He commanded us to ask strenuously, persistently, and combined with the command to ask the promise to hear and fulfill the request (Good News). Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
(Matt. 7:7–8).
Let us ask with patience and constancy, denying our will and our reason, leaving to the all-holy will of God both the time, the method of fulfillment, and the very fulfillment of what we ask. We will not be ashamed: will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although He is slow to protect them
(Luke 18:7), that is, slowing down the fulfillment of their petition. The day-night cry to the Lord of the elect depicts their constant, persistent, unceasing, intensified prayer.
Based on the consequences of prayer with which it is crowned by God, one can and should conclude about its objects. Evangelist Luke says that God will not protect His chosen ones,
that is, he will free them from the captivity in which we are held by our passions and demons.
Evangelist Matthew says that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask Him
(Matthew 7:11).
There are blessings that the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not entered the heart of man
(1 Cor. 2:9).
Again the Evangelist Luke says: The Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him
(Luke 11:13). The objects of our prayer should be spiritual and eternal, and not temporary and material. The main and initial prayer should consist of petitions for the forgiveness of sins[4].
Leading us to the accomplishment of goodness, driving out evil from us, the Lord, who commanded not to judge or condemn our neighbors, to forgive our neighbors all their sins against us, also lays down the law: In everything, as you want people to do to you, do so to them.
(Matt. 7:12).
We love that our neighbors be lenient towards our weaknesses and shortcomings, that they generously endure insults and insults from us, that they do us all kinds of services and favors: let us be like that towards our neighbors. Then we will achieve the fullness of goodness, according to which our prayer will receive special power; its strength always corresponds to the degree of our goodness. Forgive and you will be forgiven;
give, and it will be given to you: good measure, shaken together, pressed, and running over, will be poured into your bosom; For with the measure you use, the same will be measured back to you (Luke 6:37-38), from the merciful and just God in His mercy.
Enter in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go therein.
(Matt. 7:13).
The wide gate and the wide path are activities according to the will and mind of the fallen nature. The narrow gate - activities according to the gospel commandments. The Lord, looking equally at the present and the future, seeing how few people would follow His holy will, revealed by Him in the Gospel commandments, [and many] would prefer self-pleasing to this will, said: Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find them!
(Matt. 7:14).
Encouraging and comforting His followers, He added: Fear not, little flock!
for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom (Luke 12:32).
The Lord commanded us to lead a sober life, to constantly watch and watch ourselves, because, on the one hand, the hour of the Lord’s visitation is unknown, as well as the hour of our death, our calling to the Judgment of God - it is unknown what temptation and what sorrow may unexpectedly arise and fall upon us; on the other hand, it is unknown what kind of sinful passion can arise in our fallen nature, what kind of cob and what kind of network the vigilant enemies of our salvation - demons - can create for us. Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him.
(Luke 12:35–36).
And what I say to you, I say to everyone: stay awake
(Mark 13:37).
Beware
The Lord commands
false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-16). False prophets are always cunning: and therefore the Lord commands special attention and special caution towards them (Blagovestnik). False prophets are known by their fruits: by their lives, by their deeds, by the consequences flowing from their activities. Do not be carried away by the eloquence and sweet speech of the hypocrites, their quiet voice, as if expressing meekness, humility and love; do not be carried away by that sweet smile that plays on their lips and face, by that friendliness and helpfulness that shines from their eyes: do not be seduced by the rumor that they skillfully spread about themselves among people - by those approvals, praises, big names with which they are called world: look at their fruits.
The Lord said about those who listen to the teachings of the Gospel and try to fulfill the Gospel commandments that, having heard the word, they keep it in a good and pure heart and bear fruit in patience
(Luke 8:15).
He foretold to His disciples the hatred of the world, persecution, adversity, promised Himself to vigilantly watch over them and protect them, forbade fear and cowardice, commanded: Save your souls with your patience
(Luke 21:19).
In constant trust in God, one must generously endure sorrow from passions arising from fallen nature, from brothers - men, from enemies - demons: but he who endures to the end will be saved
(Matthew 24:13).
Those who are in grave slavery to sin, under the dominion of a bitter, stony-hearted Pharaoh, under the incessant and painful blows of fierce guards, in the pandemonium caused by the pride of the world! The Savior is calling you to spiritual freedom. Come to Me
He says,
all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest;
take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). The yoke and burden of Christ are
the gospel commandments.
They require self-sacrifice and therefore are called a yoke, but they free and revive the soul, fill it with inexplicable peace and pleasure and therefore are called a good and easy yoke. Each of them is fragrant with meekness and humility, imparting these virtues to the executor of the commandment. The skill to fulfill the Gospel commandments makes meekness and humility a property of the soul. Then Divine grace introduces spiritual meekness and spiritual humility into the soul through the action of the peace of Christ that transcends the mind.
The Lord combined all His private commandments into two main ones: the commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for one’s neighbor. The Lord depicted these commandments as follows: Hear , O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength—this is the first commandment! The second is like this: love your neighbor as yourself
(Mark 12:29–31).
All the law and the prophets are based on these two commandments
(Matthew 22:40). A person becomes capable of the love of God from the fulfillment of love for his neighbor; He is raised to a state of striving with his whole being towards God through prayer.
Fulfillment of the Gospel commandments
culminates in the union of man with God.
When a disciple of Christ is healed of anger towards his neighbor and through the action of mental and heartfelt prayer directs all the strength of soul and body to God, then he is recognized as loving God. Whoever loves Me,
says the Savior,
will be loved by My Father;
and I will love him and appear to him Myself. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14, 21, 23).
The condition for remaining in the love of God and in union with God is to observe the Gospel commandments. By violating them, the condition is terminated: the violator is ejected from the embrace of love and from the face of God into utter darkness - into the region of passions and demons. If you keep My commandments,
said the Lord,
abide in my love.
Abide in Me, and I in you. Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out (John 15, 10, 4, 6).
Brethren! Let us study the almighty and life-giving commandments of our great God, Creator and Redeemer: let us study them through thorough study—in books and in life. In the Holy Gospel they are read, but are understood as they are fulfilled in practice. Let us make war upon our fallen nature when it resists and becomes furious, not wanting to submit to the Gospel. We will not be afraid if this battle is difficult and persistent. With greater effort we will try to win. Victory must certainly follow: warfare is commanded, victory is promised by the Lord. Kingdom of heaven,
He said,
He takes it by force, and those who use force,
that is, those who violate their nature,
delight him
(Matthew 11:12). Amen.
[1] Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
. Creations: in 7 volumes - M.: Publishing house. Sretensky Monastery, 1998. T. 1. Ch. 48.
[2] See the teachings and words of the Venerable Abba Isaiah the Hermit and Mark the Ascetic. Word 3 of Mark the Ascetic. About repentance, always and everything necessary... - M.: Rule of Faith, 2007. P. 400–423.
[3] See: Venerable Mark the Ascetic. 200 chapters on spiritual law, ch. 32. Philokalia: supplemented. In 5 volumes. T.1. - M.: Siberian Blagozvonnitsa, 2010. P. 453.
[4] See our venerable father Isaac the Syrian for his ascetic words.
Word 55. - M.: Lepta Book, 2010. P. 470 Views: 2,107
Sixth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill"
Murder, taking the life of another person, and suicide are among the most serious sins.
Suicide is a terrible spiritual crime. This is rebellion against God, who gave us the precious gift of life. Committing suicide, a person leaves life in a terrible darkness of spirit, mind, in a state of despair and despondency. He can no longer repent of this sin; there is no repentance beyond the grave.
A person who takes the life of another through negligence is also guilty of murder, but his guilt is less than that of one who deliberately encroaches on the life of another. Also guilty of murder is the one who contributed to this: for example, a husband who did not dissuade his wife from having an abortion or even contributed to it himself.
People who shorten their lives and harm their health through bad habits, vices and sins also sin against the sixth commandment.
Any harm caused to one's neighbor is also a violation of this commandment. Hatred, malice, beatings, mockery, insults, curses, anger, gloating, rancor, ill-will, unforgiveness of offenses - all these are sins against the commandment “thou shalt not kill,” because everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15) , says the word of God.
In addition to bodily murder, there is an equally terrible murder - spiritual, when someone seduces, seduces a neighbor into unbelief or pushes him to commit a sin and thereby destroys his soul.
Saint Philaret of Moscow writes:
“Not every taking of life is criminal murder. Murder is not unlawful when life is taken by office, such as: when a criminal is punished with death by justice; when they kill the enemy in the war for the Fatherland.”
The sixth commandment of God is not to kill: interpretation, brief explanation for adults and children
- The sixth commandment is the prohibition against killing by any means. The prohibition applies both to other people and to oneself (suicide). The most terrible and serious sin is the deprivation of life - the greatest gift of God.
- Suicide is one of the grave sins, in which not only the sin of murder is seen, but despair and daring rebellion against the Providence of the Lord. A suicide will not be able to repent after death and ask for salvation for his soul.
The sixth commandment of God is not to kill: interpretation, brief explanation for adults and children
Explanation of the sixth commandment for children:
- Taking the life of one person by another is the most terrible sin.
- The same sin is to torture animals, birds, insects. All of them are creations of the Lord, which man must take care of.
“It’s not just guns that kill people! And life is shortened. Sometimes it is not guns, but a rude word, a thoughtless act. Life destroys another, whether he is old or young. Take care of people, take care, love, bless everyone and give joy!”
Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery"
This commandment prohibits sins against the family, adultery, all carnal relations between a man and a woman outside of legal marriage, carnal perversions, as well as unclean desires and thoughts.
The Lord established the marriage union and blessed carnal communication in it, which serves childbearing. Husband and wife are no longer two, but one flesh (Gen. 2:24). The presence of marriage is another (though not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals do not have marriage. People have marriage, mutual responsibility, duties to each other and to children.
What is blessed in marriage, outside of marriage is a sin, a violation of the commandment. The conjugal union unites a man and a woman into one flesh for mutual love, bearing and raising children. Any attempt to steal the joys of marriage without mutual trust and the responsibility that a marriage implies is a serious sin, which, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, deprives a person of the Kingdom of God (see: 1 Cor 6:9).
An even more serious sin is the violation of marital fidelity or the destruction of someone else's marriage. Cheating not only destroys a marriage, but also defiles the soul of the one who cheats. You can’t build happiness on someone else’s grief. There is a law of spiritual balance: having sowed evil, sin, we will reap evil, and our sin will return to us. Shameless talking and failure to guard one's feelings are also violations of the seventh commandment.
Eighth Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal”
A violation of this commandment is the appropriation of someone else's property - both public and private. Types of theft can be varied: robbery, theft, deception in trade matters, bribery, bribery, tax evasion, parasitism, sacrilege (that is, appropriation of church property), all kinds of scams, fraud and fraud. In addition, sins against the eighth commandment include all dishonesty: lies, deception, hypocrisy, flattery, sycophancy, people-pleasing, since by doing this people are trying to acquire something (for example, the favor of their neighbor) dishonestly.
“You can’t build a house with stolen goods,” says a Russian proverb. And again: “No matter how tight the rope is, the end will come.” By profiting from the appropriation of someone else's property, a person will sooner or later pay for it. A sin committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is sure to return. A man familiar to the authors of this book accidentally hit and scratched the fender of his neighbor's car in the yard. But he didn’t tell him anything and didn’t compensate him for the damage. After some time, in a completely different place, far from his home, his own car was also scratched and they fled the scene. The blow was struck on the same wing that he damaged his neighbor.
The passion of love of money leads to violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not steal.” It was she who led Judas to betrayal. The Evangelist John directly calls him a thief (see: John 12:6).
The passion of covetousness is overcome by cultivating non-covetousness, charity towards the poor, hard work, honesty and growth in spiritual life, for attachment to money and other material values always stems from lack of spirituality.
The ninth commandment of God is not to lie: interpretation, brief explanation for adults and children
- All lies, untruths, slander are prohibited by the Lord by the tenth commandment. Testifying to a lie during a trial against another person, denunciation, slander, and gossip are unacceptable for a Christian.
- You cannot lie even if you have no intention of harming your neighbor. Because such behavior is not consistent with love and respect for others.
Explaining the Ninth Commandment to Children:
- There are situations when the only way to avoid punishment may be to lie. But this method is just an illusion.
- By following the path of lies, you can overcome certain difficulties, but in the end, circumstances will develop in such a way that the deception will be revealed. You also can’t speak untruths about people.
“Don’t tell lies about people! For this, ask for God’s help, To see the good in your neighbors. Think not evil, but good about them! A lie can bring misfortune, but the truth can lead to your victory.”
The ninth commandment of God is not to lie: interpretation, brief explanation for adults and children
Ninth Commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness"
With this commandment, the Lord prohibits not only direct false testimony against one’s neighbor, for example in court, but also all lies spoken about other people, such as slander, false denunciations. The sin of idle talk, so common and everyday for modern man, is also very often associated with sins against the ninth commandment.
In idle conversations, gossip, gossip, and sometimes slander and slander are constantly born. During an idle conversation, it is very easy to say unnecessary things, to divulge other people’s secrets and secrets entrusted to you, and to put your neighbor in a difficult position. “My tongue is my enemy,” people say, and indeed our language can bring great benefit to us and our neighbors, or it can do great harm.
The Apostle James says that with our tongue we sometimes bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, created in the likeness of God (James 3:9). We sin against the ninth commandment not only when we slander our neighbor, but also when we agree with what others say, thereby participating in the sin of condemnation.
Judge not, lest ye be judged (Matthew 7:1), the Savior warns. To condemn means to judge, to boldly admire a right that belongs only to God. Only the Lord, who knows the past, present and future of man, can judge His creation.
The story of St. John of Savvaitsky:
One day a monk from a neighboring monastery came to me, and I asked him how the fathers lived. He answered: “Okay, according to your prayers.” Then I asked about the monk who did not enjoy good fame, and the guest told me: “He has not changed at all, father!”
Hearing this, I exclaimed: “Bad!” And as soon as I said this, I immediately felt as if in delight and saw Jesus Christ crucified between two thieves. I was about to worship the Savior, when suddenly He turned to the approaching Angels and said to them: “Cast him out, - this is the Antichrist, for he condemned his brother before My Judgment.”
And when, according to the word of the Lord, I was driven out, my robe was left at the door, and then I woke up. “Woe is me,” I then said to the brother who came, “I am angry this day!” "Why is that?" - he asked. Then I told him about the vision and noticed that the mantle I left behind meant that I was deprived of God’s protection and help.
And from that time I spent seven years wandering through the deserts, not eating bread, not going under shelter, not talking to people, until I saw my Lord, who returned my mantle to me.
The history of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament
The Ten Commandments were given to man about one and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ. The prophet Moses was chosen to convey them to ordinary people. This happened at the moment when the Jews got rid of Egyptian slavery, wandered through the desert, led by a prophet, and ended up at Mount Sinai. The commandments were written by the Lord on two stone slabs. Each tablet (slab) had its own special purpose: on the first, God described the duties of every person on Earth in relation to God, there were four in total; the second tablet consisted of six commandments and described the rules that a person must observe with his neighbors.
This knowledge became a real revelation and guide for people who revered the Lord and wanted to live according to their conscience.
Tenth Commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife”
This commandment prohibits envy and grumbling. It is impossible not only to do evil to people, but even to have sinful, envious thoughts against them. Any sin begins with a thought, with a thought about something. A person begins to envy the property and money of his neighbors, then the thought arises in his heart to steal this property from his brother, and soon he puts sinful dreams into action.
Envy of the wealth, talents, and health of our neighbors kills our love for them; envy, like acid, eats away at the soul. An envious person has difficulty communicating with others. He is delighted by the sorrow and grief that befell those whom he envied. This is why the sin of envy is so dangerous: it is the seed of other sins. An envious person also sins against God, he does not want to be content with what the Lord sends him, he blames his neighbors and God for all his troubles.
Such a person will never be happy and satisfied with life, because happiness depends not on earthly goods, but on the state of a person’s soul. The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). It begins here on earth, with the correct spiritual structure of man. The ability to see the gifts of God in every day of your life, to appreciate them and thank God for them is the key to human happiness.
Interpretation of God's Ten Laws:
The Ten Commandments of Jesus Christ, translated into everyday language, state that it is necessary:
- Believe in only one Lord, one God.
- Don't create idols for yourself.
- Do not mention, do not pronounce the name of the Lord God just like that.
- Always remember Saturday - the main day of rest.
- Respect and honor your parents.
- Don't kill anyone.
- Do not commit adultery, do not cheat.
- Don't steal anything.
- Don't lie to anyone, don't lie to people.
- Do not envy your comrades, friends or just acquaintances.
The first four commandments of God directly relate to the relationship between man and God, the rest - the relationship between people.
Commandment one and two:
Signifies the unity of the Lord. He is revered, respected, considered Almighty and wise. He is also the kindest of all, therefore, if a person wants to grow in virtue, it is necessary to look for it in God. “You cannot have other gods besides Me.” (Exodus 20:3)
Quote: “What do you need other gods, since your God is the Lord Almighty? Is there anyone wiser than the Lord? He guides righteous thoughts through people's everyday thoughts. Satan, on the other hand, rules through the traps of temptation. If you worship two gods, keep in mind that one of them is the Devil.”
Religion says that all power lies in God and in him alone; the next one follows from this first commandment.
People blindly pray to pictures with other idols depicted on them, bow their heads, kiss the priest’s hands, etc. God's second law speaks of the prohibition of the deification of creatures and their veneration on an equal footing with the Creator.
“Do not create for yourself a carved or any other image of what is above in the heavens, below in the earth, or in the waters under the earth. Do not worship or serve them, for remember that I am your God Jehovah, who requires exceptional devotion!”
(Exodus 20:4-5)
The Christian religion believes that after meeting the Lord it is impossible to honor anyone more than Him, that everything that is on Earth was created by Him. Nothing is compared to it or compared, for the Lord does not want the human heart and soul to be occupied with someone or something else.
Commandment three:
God's third law is stated in Deuteronomy (5:11) and Exodus (20:7).
From Exodus 20:7 “Do not take the name of the Lord in vain; believe that the Lord will not leave unpunished the person who takes His name in vain.”
This commandment uses a word from the Old Testament and is translated as:
- swear falsely by God's name;
- to pronounce It in vain, just like that.
According to the teachings of antiquity, great power lies in the name. If you pronounce the name of God, which contains special power, with or without reason, then there will be no benefit from it. It is believed that the Lord hears all prayers offered to him and responds to each of them, but this becomes unlikely if a person calls on him every minute as a saying or at dinner. The Lord stops hearing such a person, and in the event that this person needs real help, God will be deaf to him, as well as to his requests.
The second part of the commandment contains the following words: “...for God will not leave unpunished those who pronounce His name just like that.” This means that God will certainly punish those who violated this law. At first glance, using His name may seem harmless, because what’s wrong with mentioning Him in small talk or during a quarrel?
But it is important to understand that such an oversight can offend the Lord. In the New Testament, Jesus explained to his disciples that all ten commandments are boiled down to just two: “Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The third law is a reflection of man’s love for God. He who loves the Lord with all his heart will not take his name in vain. This is equivalent to how a young man in love does not allow anyone to speak incorrectly about his beloved. Mentioning the Lord in vain is baseness and an insult to the Lord.
Also, breaking the third commandment can ruin the reputation of the Lord in the eyes of people: Romans 2:24 “For because of you, as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” The Lord commanded that His name should be sanctified: Leviticus 22:32 “Do not dishonor (profane) My holy name, that I may be holy among the children of Israel.”
An example of how God punishes people for violating the third commandment of God's law is the episode from 2 Samuel 21:1-2: “There was a famine in the land in the days of David for three years, one year after another. And David asked God. The Lord said: it was for the sake of Saul and his bloodthirsty house that he killed the Gibeonites. Then the king called to the Gibeonites and communicated with them. They were not from the children of Israel, but from the remnant of the Amorites; The Israelites swore an oath, but Saul wanted to destroy them because of his zeal for the descendants of Israel and Judah.” In general, God punished the people of Israel for breaking the oath of truce that they swore to the Gibeonites.
Commandment four:
According to legend, the Creator created our world and the Universe itself in six days; he devoted the seventh day to rest. This rule generally defines human life, where he is obliged to devote most of his life to work, and leave the rest of the time to the Lord.
According to the Old Testament, Saturday was celebrated. The Sabbath rest was established for the benefit of man: both physical and spiritual, and not for the sake of enslavement and deprivation. To collect your thoughts into one whole, to refresh your mental and physical strength, you need to step away from everyday activities once a week. This allows you to comprehend the purpose of everything earthly in general and your work in particular. In religion, work is a necessary part of human life, but the main thing will always remain the salvation of his soul.
The fourth commandment is violated by people who, in addition to working on Sunday, are also lazy to work on weekdays and shirk their responsibilities, because the commandment says “to work six days.” Those who, without working on Sunday, do not dedicate this day to the Lord, but spend it in continuous amusements, indulge in various excesses and revelry, also violate it.
Fifth commandment:
Jesus Christ, being the Son of God, honored his parents, was obedient to them, and helped Joseph with his work. The Lord reproached the Pharisees for refusing parents the required maintenance under the pretext of dedicating everything they had to God, because by doing so they violated the requirement of the fifth law.
With the fifth commandment, God calls us to honor our parents, and for this he promises a person a prosperous, good life. Respect for parents means respecting them, loving them, under no circumstances insulting them with words or deeds, being obedient, helping them and caring for them when necessary, especially in old age or illness. It is necessary to pray to God for their souls both during life and after death. A great sin is disrespect for parents.
In relation to other people, the Christian religion speaks of the need to honor everyone in accordance with their position and age.
The Church has always considered and still considers the family to be the basis of society.
Sixth commandment:
With the help of this law, the Lord prohibits killing both oneself and others. After all, life is God’s great gift, and only the Lord himself can deprive someone of life on Earth. Suicide is also a serious sin: it also conceals the sin of despair, lack of faith, and rebellion against God’s meaning. A person who has violently ended his life will not be able to repent, because after death it is not valid. In moments of despair, it is necessary to remember that earthly suffering is sent for the salvation of the soul.
A person becomes guilty of murder if he somehow facilitates a murder, allows someone to be killed, helps commit it with advice or consent, covers up a sinner, or pushes people to commit new crimes.
It should be remembered that you can lead a person to sin not only by deed, but also by word, so you need to watch your tongue and think about what you say.
Seventh Commandment:
The Lord commands spouses to remain faithful, and unmarried people to be chaste both in deeds and in words, thoughts, and desires. In order not to sin, a person needs to avoid everything that causes unclean feelings. Such thoughts need to be nipped in the bud, not allowing them to take over the will and feelings. The Lord understands how difficult it is for a person to control himself, so He teaches people to be merciless and decisive towards themselves.
Eighth Commandment:
In this law, God prohibits us from appropriating for ourselves what belongs to another. Thefts can range from simple theft to sacrilege (theft of sacred things) and extortion (taking money from those in need, taking advantage of the situation). And any appropriation of someone else's property through deception. Evasion of payments, debts, concealment of what was found, deception in sales, withholding payments to employees - all this is also included in the list of sins of the seventh commandment. A person’s addiction to material values and pleasures pushes him to commit such a sin. Religion teaches people to be selfless and hardworking. The highest Christian virtue is renunciation of any property. This is intended for those who strive for excellence.
Ninth Commandment:
With this law, the Lord prohibits any lie, for example: deliberately false testimony in court, denunciation, gossip, slander and slander. “Devil” means “slanderer.” A lie is unworthy of a Christian and is inconsistent with neither love nor respect. A comrade understands something not with the help of ridicule and condemnation, but with the help of love and a good deed, advice. And in general, it is worth watching your speech, since religion is of the opinion that the word is the greatest gift.
Tenth Commandment:
This law encourages people to refrain from unworthy desires and envy. While the nine commandments talk about a person's behavior, the tenth pays attention to what happens inside him: desires, feelings and thoughts. Encourages people to think about spiritual purity and mental nobility. Any sin begins with a thought; a sinful desire appears, which pushes a person to act. Therefore, to combat temptations, one should suppress the thought of it in the mind.
Envy is mental poison. No matter how rich a person is, when he is envious, he will be insatiable. The task of human life, according to religion, is a pure heart, for only in a pure heart will the Lord dwell.
