Still, just saying…

Warning! This post is about to make some claims that will be controversial bordering on heretical if you have any national patriotic leanings of a Judeo-Christian mindset.

Some of you reading that warning will immediately leave with a captivated mind. For those of you who decide to read on, I only request that you suspend your binary thinking for a moment and allow a new thought on an old pattern be introduced and considered. There will always be room and time for speculation, yet rarely do we give ourselves time to consider. Let’s begin.

I don’t believe in the Ten Commandments.

I told you it was going to be blistering. My reasons are many, none of which you might have thought of. But this is beside the point. So, let’s start out with the underlying reason: Israel never viewed them as commandments. Throughout the scope of Hebrew thought, the rabbis and greatest teachers of the Law referred to these as the Ten Sayings or Ten Words. Semantics doesn’t have a footing here. These people never associated them to the harsh reality of “Do or Die” which a commandment could produce. To paraphrase the words of Captain Barbossa of the Black Pearl, “The commandments are more guidelines than actual rules.”

My strongest reason however comes from a passage where Jesus claims a very important kingdom principle.

Mar 10:31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Now I’ll the first to admit that this verse has nothing to do with the sayings, yet as I stated, it does reveal a kingdom principle which I strongly believe has never been considered heretofore, particularly when dealing with a list generated by God Himself. I’m fairly certain that David Letterman is not God, however, it is quite possible that his ability to create and present a top ten list is a divine attribute which many should consider employing.

Here is my offering to you on this subject which, if you consider the sayings to be guidelines, and believe God has the best intentions in mind for all, might reveal to you a grace you never knew existed in these sayings. As a means to implement them together, I will offer this as a narrative which conveys the love Jehovah has for the children of Israel and the world.

Before you lies the Land I have promised as your inheritance. It is occupied by a people who I will give to you. You need to be aware of how you will conduct yourself in this land not only with strangers but with your own kin because there is a trap waiting for you in the very abundance the land offers. To avoid this trap, you need to not desire the house of your neighbor, or desire his wife, or his servants, or his livestock which provide transportation for him, or clothes and feeds his family. If you are able to do this, you will live and prosper mightily in the land.

However, if desire befalls you, beware, for it has a path which will lead you to destruction. It will cause you to lie and bear a false accusation against your neighbor in order to possess what you desire from him. You will steal, even kidnap, that which is not yours. This desire will cause you to commit adultery, even kill the one who holds what is not yours. These actions will not bring honor to your mother or father and will merely shorten your miserable life.

The drive to possess your desire will force you to work incessantly and not take a day of rest to restore yourself. Even I took a break when I created this world out of My desire for you. You, regrettably, will not be so charitable to yourself in creating your own world. In this wearied state you will begin to blame Me for your woes and sorrows which will force you to look toward other gods, images or systems of power who you believe will alleviate your misery simply by offering them tokens of your affection. Ultimately you will become dissatisfied with these and proclaim that you, and you alone, are supreme, thereby refusing to recognize that in your proclamation, you have once again returned to the bondage I just delivered you from.

I am, just saying, the choice is yours.

I don’t believe that God is a top-down deity, sitting on a throne of grace, acting like the great and mighty Oz, reminding people that he is God! The traditional reading of the Sayings would, however, lead you to believe this. No, I believe He is a bottom-up kind of deity who cares mightily about His creation and does all in His power to support its development and progression. He, like no one else, knows what we are like and what drives us. It simply makes sense that He would try to offer us His wisdom on how to navigate into and through unchartered territory. Trouble only arises when we don’t know how to read the map simply because our forefathers never taught us what the symbols meant (often because their’s never did the same to them).

Throughout this land there are monuments to the ten commandments as the de facto basis for all justice. In my opinion, not that you care anyway, this is a blatant disregard for the wisdom they offer simply because they aren’t displayed properly. Far too many do not believe in God, particularly those who are facing prosecution. They have never possibly thought how their desires have placed them in the very condition they are trying desperately to get out of.

You can’t command someone to believe in God. You certain can show them how their actions have led them to believe there isn’t one and they have put themselves into that role of supreme being, even when they are in handcuffs.

No, I don’t believe in the Ten Commandments. I believe in the love and grace of a Creator who cares for me and how I represent His will when I look at my neighbor’s success. Just saying…