Characters of the ten commandments

Answer 1

The Ten Commandments are ten laws that God expects man to live by. They were given to the nation of Israel as law and each one was expanded on later in the book of Exodus and Leviticus. They are good laws, but during that time no one could keep all ten commandments and satisfy God. If you broke one law it was as if you had broken them all and were guilty and so a sacrificial system was given to the people to satisfy a holy God. The problem with this was that a sacrifice did not take away sin but only covered it and it had to be repeated over and over.

Answer 2

A:

The general tone of the Ten Commandments is negative. Apart from commandments 4 and 5 (Catholic: 3 and 4), which are positive injunctions, they consist of a list of things not to do.

The commandments were written as coming from a national God, which makes them follow the ancient pattern of a treaty between a king and his subjects, but also very personal.

Answer 3

Going in the ways of God. The Ten Commandments are a pillar of Western civilization. They have improved the conduct of billions of people; and they're so important that God revealed His presence to the entire Israelite nation when He spoke these Commands. And He scribed them in stone (Deuteronomy ch.9); unlike the rest of the Torah, which He had Moses write (Deuteronomy 31:24).

What would Western society look like without these Commandments?

1) "I am the Lord your God..." has shaped the Western beliefs about God. Pantheism and polytheism, which were excuses for immorality, are out.
2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone, is thanks to the Fourth Commandment.
3) Without the Fifth Commandment, society might still permit abandoning our aged parents to die.

4) Without the Sixth Commandment, we might still be killing our own children. Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable; and that was the practice in their societies. The above are just a few examples.
And how do we live by the Commandments in our daily lives?
1) "I am the Lord your God" is our reminder to be aware of God constantly.
2) "You shall not have other gods" means not to make anything other than God too important. Example: not to "worship the almighty dollar" or anything other than God.
3) "You shall not use God's name needlessly" teaches us to deal with God's names with the utmost reverence.
4) "Remember the Sabbath day": to prepare for the holy day properly (nice clothes, food ready, etc.). The Sabbath is a testimony to the Exodus and to the Creation of the world (Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14).
5) "Honor your father and mother": to do our best to honor and assist them; and to avoid being cheeky to them. No "generation gap" should be allowed to spoil family ties.
6) Do not kill: also hints at avoiding character assassination or endangering someone. Slander is forbidden in Judaism even when it's not untrue.
7) Do not commit adultery: flirting is playing with fire.
8) Do not steal: even a paperclip should not be filched.
9) Do not bear false witness.
10) Do not covet: to avoid jealousy and gazing longingly at what is not ours. To realize that the other fellow's possessions have been allotted to him by God.

Answer 4

There are 613 characters in the ten commandments. The same amount as the number of Jewish laws.