Commandments

[-V-]

Actually, I'm not sure, but I think that some of the church consider any imperative, Biblical sentence as a commandment, even things like, "Let there be light."

Well, with a general statement like, "we're looking at the commandments and how they affect us," the vast majority of the time, they're talking about the 10 Commandments.

Trying to analyze EVERY imperative statement in the Bible and figure how it affects us is rather ludicrous, as there's thousands of such statements, and most have nothing to do with us.

 

[Pagan]

Well, with a general statement like, "we're looking at the commandments and how they affect us," the vast majority of the time, they're talking about the 10 Commandments.

Trying to analyze EVERY imperative statement in the Bible and figure how it affects us is rather ludicrous, as there's thousands of such statements, and most have nothing to do with us.

How do you feel about the idea that we subdue the earth and rule over the animals by avoiding the forbidden fruit?

 

[-V-]

How do you feel about the idea that we subdue the earth and rule over the animals by avoiding the forbidden fruit?

The tree of knowledge of good and evil doesn't exist anymore. Other than being the method by which sin & death entered the world, the forbidden fruit has nothing to do with us.

 

[Pagan]

At that time, there will be peace throughout the earth. All humans and animals will be at peace, and nothing will harm or destroy (Daniel 2:35). For all the earth will be full of the knowledge of God (Isaiah 11:6-9).

We should consider these seemingly separate commands, as individual observations of the complete commandment.

Daniel 2:35 says

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

That seems like the opposite of "nothing will harm or destroy."

 

[Pagan]

Exodus 20:2-3 And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."

This could be one commandment, but it might be two.

 

[Serving Zion]

Daniel 2:35 says

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

That seems like the opposite of "nothing will harm or destroy."

I meant to draw the correlation of the phrase "became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth" to the phrase "nothing will harm or destroy in all my holy mountain".

It is also interpreted in Daniel 2:44 that this rock is The New Jerusalem, a Holy Zion, a government that God Himself establishes, that breaks up and consumes all other kingdoms so that all corruption by deceit and sinful practices should pass away from the earth, when His people represent Him faithfully and He acts to support them from heaven.

This is a beautiful, inspiring passage for those who act to serve Him this way: Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 52:7-15 - Tree of Life Version

 

[Serving Zion]

How do you feel about the idea that we subdue the earth and rule over the animals by avoiding the forbidden fruit?

It is unavoidable in the present age (For by the sin of one man, death spread to all because all sinned). But I do personally have hope for a future generation, when Zion is established in righteousness. A holy governance will apply that it is good and right to protect and to not corrupt innocent minds.

 

[Pagan]

Exodus 20:4 has an interesting commandment.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

I learned about this commandment when my grandchildren attended a Baptist Sunday School. The teacher told them about the Creationist view of Biology. In support of that position he said that Darwin had the wrong idea, and that evolution is just a theory.

In the adult Sunday School, the teacher generalized about graven images. She spoke about all the false images in modern society.

Later, when I compared what I had learned with what the kids had learned, I saw the contradiction. Evolution is a change. We can make theories about changes. We can observe changes, but changes cannot be theories.

Since that time I have wondered if the phrase, evolution is just a theory, is deliberate deception or just an odd quirk of grammar.

 

[Pagan]

I meant to draw the correlation of the phrase "became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth" to the phrase "nothing will harm or destroy in all my holy mountain".

It is also interpreted in Daniel 2:44 that this rock is The New Jerusalem, a Holy Zion, a government that God Himself establishes, that breaks up and consumes all other kingdoms so that all corruption by deceit and sinful practices should pass away from the earth, when His people represent Him faithfully and He acts to support them from heaven.

This is a beautiful, inspiring passage for those who act to serve Him this way: Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 52:7-15 - Tree of Life Version

Do you think that the kingdom mentioned in Daniel 2:44 relates to whether or not people follow the commandments?

 

[Blackmarch]

Is Genesis 1:28 the first commandment or maybe the first three commandments?

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

first known one to to the human family on earth at least. and it is an important one.

While one can view things such as "let there be light" as a command (it is), it is not directed to us.

 

[Pagan]

Some of my Christian friends think that Exodus 20:7 began as a Bronze Age business code.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Genesis mentions human interaction between what is now Turkey, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf. People must have traded things like copper, frankincense, gold, linen, myrrh, salt, silver, and slaves. Trade required contracts, and people must have sworn oaths to abide by the contracts. Exodus 20:7 might have began as a prohibition of false oaths.

 

[Blackmarch]

Some of my Christian friends think that Exodus 20:7 began as a Bronze Age business code.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Genesis mentions human interaction between what is now Turkey, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf. People must have traded things like copper, frankincense, gold, linen, myrrh, salt, silver, and slaves. Trade required contracts, and people must have sworn oaths to abide by the contracts. Exodus 20:7 might have began as a prohibition of false oaths.

it's deeper than that, altho in a sort of sense it is a business code from a certain point of view. the KJV renders it as "take" rather than "misuse" altho i think the best rendition i've seen so far is "carry". - when one comes into the covenant of God's people you take upon you his name- meaning that you will be his representative to those who are not his people, in other words to promise to do what he would do in interaction with others.
when a person sins (especially if it is a sin against another human), they misrepresent that name, especially so when viewed by others because then they cause others to misjudge God and thus smear his name.

Covenanting with God is a sort of contract, and often throughout the new testament christ uses parables that are heavy in business type conduct.

 

[Pagan]

Three commandments in Exodus 20 deal with lying. Verse 4 deals with false image or misrepresentation. Verse 7 deals with fraud or promising to do something and then not doing it.

Verse 16 deals with perjury or lying under oath.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

 

[Pagan]

it's deeper than that, altho in a sort of sense it is a business code from a certain point of view. the KJV renders it as "take" rather than "misuse" altho i think the best rendition i've seen so far is "carry". - when one comes into the covenant of God's people you take upon you his name- meaning that you will be his representative to those who are not his people, in other words to promise to do what he would do in interaction with others.
when a person sins (especially if it is a sin against another human), they misrepresent that name, especially so when viewed by others because then they cause others to misjudge God and thus smear his name.

Covenanting with God is a sort of contract, and often throughout the new testament christ uses parables that are heavy in business type conduct.

Thanks for the information.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Mankind tries to subdue/control everything he touches. If we "discover" a nice tropical paradise it won't be long before the trees are chopped down, the resources are taken and the animals die out because they no longer have a habitat.

I didn't read further on this thread yet - Hopefully it has already been pointed out that this is disobedience , by sons of disobedience, willful sin and total rejection of God as Creator.

Sadly , many churches including the one world gov and one world church have not only done nothing to stop the sin, of destroying the earth and life on the earth,
but have actually frequently been behind it ! (doing evil instead of what's right, instead of what the CREATOR SAYS TO DO)

i.e. all the so-called "modern" garbage ruining the air, food and water and bodies of humans, and life overall, is bad .

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The church, where my family attends, emphasizes the commandments and how they affect human behavior, so I figure I should learn more about the commandments and how they affect human behavior.

Interesting in a way - I don't remember anyone asking how obeying YHWH affects human behavior.

It is known and proven for 6000 years that whenever anyone obeys YHWH,
he is blessed, helped, and healed, often may be saved, and/ or moved towards healing for themselves or for others (and yet they might suffer more in laying down their lives for the sake of others).

I.E. it is always good to obey the Creator. LIFE ! BLESSING ! TRUTH !

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

In Exodus 12:2, in which God explains about the Passover, He says to Moses, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year."

This looks like a commandment to have a calendar that begins at Passover which would begin sometime in the Spring, but I know that the Jewish New Year begins in the fall, so it doesn't make any sense.

There are a number of members here (on the forum) and online various websites who can show how the whole of Scripture, YHWH'S PLAN, PURPOSE and SALVATION ,
the feasts, etc etc etc all are according to YHWH'S Calendar, perfectly in order.

The Passover is and was in the NEW TESTAMENT celebrated/ remembered by all the Apostles, disciples, and followers of Jesus at the time and for the first 1 to more centuries properly (as written: Jesus IS the PASSOVER LAMB, Whose BLOOD was SHED for the sins of mankind, ONCE, ONE TIME, for all time, never again, never to die again, never to be crucified again, ever (like some practice) ) ...

 

[Serving Zion]

Do you think that the kingdom mentioned in Daniel 2:44 relates to whether or not people follow the commandments?

It is more whether they have done the will of The Father who is in heaven. In Matthew 7:22, Jesus tells us that many who have done good in His name will be refused because they did not do the will of The Father who is in heaven.

Many people misuse commandments and actually are working against Him while believing that they are keeping the commandments. This is the danger of legalism: that one has learned how live such that their peers cannot use the commands of the law to condemn them (Romans 4:4), but has not come to have His law written on their heart so that they may be approved by God through obedience (Romans 4:5, Romans 6:16, Matthew 7:13). In such cases, The Holy Spirit still condemns that person when He speaks through our words, yet that one has acquired a belief that satisfies them so they will not receive His judgement (eg Jeremiah 19:15).

This is why in Hebrews 3:12-15 we are warned that if we have accepted His judgement and come into repentance (that is what Christians do), then we must remain repentant and obedient to His voice until the end otherwise we become obstinate and we are cut off from Christ because of our stubbornness and refusal to obey (John 15:1-2). This actually happens every time that a person chooses to disregard truth, they become hardened in their heart against the truth and then having gained confidence to oppose that truth, is trapped in their sin of pride, to keep resisting call of The Holy Spirit to repentance.

Some of my Christian friends think that Exodus 20:7 began as a Bronze Age business code.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Genesis mentions human interaction between what is now Turkey, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf. People must have traded things like copper, frankincense, gold, linen, myrrh, salt, silver, and slaves. Trade required contracts, and people must have sworn oaths to abide by the contracts. Exodus 20:7 might have began as a prohibition of false oaths.

If you read Exodus 19, you will see that this is not how it came about. The Jewish people had been wandering the wilderness after having escaped Egypt, and God was giving instructions for how they must live to distinguish themselves as a holy people.

It is not a small coincidence that when Jesus gave the perfect model of prayer, He instructed that our first request should be "let your name be sanctified/revered/glorified/hallowed in all the earth". He also stated in Matthew 6:33 that our first priority should be to vindicate God's name from those who have misused it. In John 12:28, Jesus again shows that the glorification/sanctification/vindication of God's name is the first place in His heart. The voice from heaven in that verse shows prophecy spoken by the power of God (not by human words), that He will glorify His name again.

There is a depth of meaning in the commandment Exodus 20:7 - to take His name in vain (as vanity), is to take for the pride of one's appearance. There are many people who will qualify their opinions by God's name, claiming to have authority because they were officially ordained or baptised. The ones who do this wrongly (meaning that they do not have God's approval - they are using His name for a wrong purpose and deceitfully), are those whom Jesus will say in judgement (Matthew 7:21) "I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of iniquity".

Again, to claim a right to salvation by the keeping of law where one does not personally consult God in order that they may truly carry out His desire (compared to doing their own desire in His name), that is one who is taking His name for their own pride of appearance - vanity/misuse. A holy people, a kingdom of righteousness, does not do that.

 

[Blackmarch]

Daniel 2:35 says

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

That seems like the opposite of "nothing will harm or destroy."

the different materials represent different kingdoms, come forth out of the previous kingdom that existed before it, generally of lesser or weaker quality and more fractured than the one before it (such as rome which used to be one huge state, but now that are is comprised of many seperate nations since... Who often quarrel with each other to some degree). The rock represents the a work or kingdom set up by god that eventually fills the earth... A paradaisical state will come after that, and that is where the "none will hurt or destroy" will come into effect.
The stone destroying the statue shows that this work will destroy the machinations or politicizations of man. Interestingly this could mean by the sword... Or it could mean in that enough people of all nations adopt this work/kingdom to such a degree that there will be no need for borders or multiple governments

 

[Pagan]

I didn't read further on this thread yet - Hopefully it has already been pointed out that this is disobedience , by sons of disobedience, willful sin and total rejection of God as Creator.

Sadly , many churches including the one world gov and one world church have not only done nothing to stop the sin, of destroying the earth and life on the earth,
but have actually frequently been behind it ! (doing evil instead of what's right, instead of what the CREATOR SAYS TO DO)

i.e. all the so-called "modern" garbage ruining the air, food and water and bodies of humans, and life overall, is bad .

Several posters have expressed their ideas about the meaning of "subdue the earth." So far, I don't think we have any agreement that it should mean "manage the earth."

My environmentalist neighbors think we should manage the earth. Their inspiration comes more from the science than the religion. One of them believes that King Henry VIII of England became the first person to manage a forest when he bought Kensington, which is now part of London. At the time it was a forest, which he wanted to preserve as a place to hunt the critters.