To Keep the Ten Commandments or Not?

There is so much debate about following the commandments of God as listed in the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible). Some people say if you follow the Torah you are under the law and the law was done away with when Jesus died on the cross. Others believe if you don’t follow the rules in Torah you are not a child of God’s at all.

For sake of argument, I reserve my opinion on that matter all together. However, I do have a few questions about the Ten Commandments we all grew up on. The ones that say don’t kill or steal or take the Lord’s name in vain. My first question is, “When did we decide that it was ok to keep some of them, but not all of them?” My other question is, “If we don’t believe that the rules in the Torah should be kept, then why should we keep any of the Ten Commandments since it is in the Torah?”

Hear, Learn, and Obey

The scriptures tells us Moses calls together the children of Israel and says to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and keep, and do them.”

The opening statement to Moses’ speech gives the people three instructions. In the first instruction Moses tells the people to hear very carefully the statutes and judgments that he is about to say. This meant stop what you are doing, come over here and pay attention to the next words coming out of his mouth because they are extremely important.

They were about to hear the words Yahweh, their God, spoken for them to follow. It was his statues or ordinances they were to follow from now on. The Hebrew word used for judgments is “Mishpat” and it is used in the sense of justice. Some of its definitions include, “justice, ordinance, judgment, act of deciding a case, and process, procedure, litigation (before judges)” Therefore, it is reasonable to think that Elohim, who gave these statues, could also bring a person to justice using these same statues. As our justice system says, “These things can be used against you in a court of law” if you break one.

The second instruction tells the people to learn these statutes and judgments. When you learn something important it is then your job to pass that knowledge down to your children so they can be blessed also and not get into trouble. So this was an instruction that was to follow all generations.

The final instruction tells the people to obey these statutes and judgments. If the children of Israel obey then they would be blessed and be in right fellowship with their Elohim. Once again, it was also meant for the people to pass their knowledge on to the next generation because Elohim said he will show mercy to all those who love him and keep his commandments. So it reasons to believe if you love him then you will do as Moses instructed: Hear, Learn, and Obey.

The Covenant

Moses continues his speech, “Yahweh, our Elohim made a covenant with us in Horeb. Yahweh did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are here alive today. Yahweh talked with you face to face in the mountain of the midst of the fire.”

Moses was reminding the children of Israel what had taken place at Mount Sinai. It was a covenant – an agreement, a contract. It was a binding offer presented by Yahweh Elohim to the children of Israel, who had a right to refuse his offer. Their part was to hear, learn, and obey. Elohim’s part was to take care of them and bless them and their children. They chose to abide by the rules of the contract and thus entered into a covenant with Yahweh Elohim for themselves and their generations to come.

The amazing thing about all of this is that Elohim showed up himself. He didn’t send a representative. He came to speak to the children of Israel face to face. This was that important to him. Can you imagine Elohim showing himself you? This was amazing! Yet, the children of Israel were afraid. Not that I can blame them. I hear a normal thunderstorm and I’m ready to take cover. Hearing the voice of Elohim would probably cause me to pass out. The point is Elohim showed up to a very important meeting, letting the children of Israel know he meant what he was saying.

Keep the Commandments?

The question is “Should you keep the Ten Commandments?” Well, that depends on whether or not you believe this covenant was broken or not. If you believe Yeshua’s/Jesus’ dying on the cross abolished Yahweh’s commandments, then by all means don’t keep them. However, if you don’t believe that then do keep them.

But I must know a few things from those who believe the law (commandments) was abolished: Which one of the commandments were you struggling to keep? Which commandment do you believe Yahweh thought wasn’t important anymore? Why do you believe these are not important to keep?

For those who believe these commandments should be kept, when did you start keeping them? Is this something you came to learn as you got older or did you always believe this way?

Prayer Time

Our Heavenly Father, who is in heaven,
       Help us to follow Moses’ advice in hearing your words, learning them so that they are in our hearts, and obeying them to the point they are normal to us and to do otherwise will cause us great sorrow.
In Yeshua the Messiah’s name, Amen.

Scripture Reference

1Then Moshe called to all Isra’el and said to them, “Listen, Isra’el, to the laws and rulings which I am announcing in your hearing today, so that you will learn them and take care to obey them. 2 ADONAI our God made a covenant with us at Horev. 3 ADONAI did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us -with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 ADONAI spoke with you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 At that time I stood between ADONAI and you in order to tell you what ADONAI was saying; because, on account of the fire, you were afraid and wouldn’t go up onto the mountain… (Deuteronomy 5:1-5 CJB)

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