Examining The Scripture XXX (30) : The Second Ten Commandments

The repeating of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6–21. Some people do not even realize that the Ten Commandments are itemized and stated twice in the Holy Scriptures. So? Many will ask. What's the big deal? Why list them twice? Simple. History repeats itself. Those that do not know or understand the past are doomed to repeat it. Moses proceeds to deliver again with divine authority the Decalogue. They are ethical and moral and still apply to believers. Jesus Christ abrogated the Ceremonial Law. The ceremonial laws of types and shadows which pointed forward to the death of Christ, had no meaning after the cross but the moral/ethical laws still stand and still apply just as many of the non-ceremonial laws in Leviticus still apply too (sorry folks deviant sexual immorality is still sin). Think of it this way. Anything that continues to make you holy or prevents you from sinning is a good thing. The Ten Commandments prevent you from doing things that incur God's wrath and judgement as do many of the edicts and laws in the Pentateuch. Do you suppose God wants you to have another god or murder any more than He did in 1400 B.C.? Of course not. By His own obedience to the law, Christ testified to its immutable character and proved that through His grace it could be perfectly obeyed by every son and daughter of Adam. So long as heaven and earth exist, the holy principles of God’s law will remain as a blessing to all who chose to hear and obey out of love for Him.

•You shall have no other gods before me.
•You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
•You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God (take the Lord’s name in vain)
•Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
•Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
•You shall not murder.
•You shall not commit adultery.
•You shall not steal.
•You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
•You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The commandments are repeated here for “all” of Israel because it is a new generation of people Moses is speaking to. It is also in continuance of the idea that Deuteronomy is a second reiteration of the Law for a new generation about to enter the Promised Land. To pass on the law to the next generation and subsequent generations. The Decalogue being part of the commandments hinted at in the Chapter 6:4-9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

All the Law including the Decalogue was to be impressed upon the hearts of those who loved God.

The interesting thing about the second delivery of these commandments in Chapter 4 is the word “you” or “you shall”. God is delivering the commandments to the new generation exactly the same way He did to the first so that they will have no excuse to disobey. He delivers them directly: God to People (God is talking in first-person through Moses). “You shall/shalt not” not “God said” or “the Lord commands” (Payne 36-37).

Present tense people. Just as you read it today. Present tense. "YOU SHALL NOT". These passages are speaking to the second generation removed from the Exodus and they are speaking to us, the reader...the believer.

So the next time you hear someone say, "Oh we don't need to adhere to the laws and rules of the Old Testament"... think before you speak. Jesus didn't overturn the Law he fulfilled it. The Law wasn't the thing that was flawed. Nothing that comes from God is flawed. As we learned in Genesis, it is good or very good. The Law was perfect. Had anyone been able to obey all the Law they would've been a perfect man. Please note the only one to perfectly obey the Law: Jesus Christ. All the rest of humanity on the other hand were the imperfect ones and it was because of them that the Law was instituted so that they would know what sin is. Man was dead to his sin and wouldn't have recognized it if it smacked him in the head.

YOU SHALL NOT...they weren't polite requests or suggestions people. They are called commandments for a reason. They are not optional, nor are many other moral/ethical precepts in the Bible. Things that do not add holiness add sin. Things that add sin incur God's wrath or judgment. Because God is ultimately just he must judge wrongdoing and iniquity. Who dictates what constitutes iniquity and wrongdoing? He who has the authority to judge and punish. Who do you suppose that is? Certainly not men as capricious as they are. So who is predicable. Who is immutable and unchanging. Who is the Rock that never wavers?

Payne, David F.. "Introduction." Deuteronomy (Daily Study Bible-Old Testament). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1985. 36-37. Print.