Which Commandments?

Friday, April 18, 2008 -- Week of 4 Easter

Today's Reading for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 961)
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) 51 (evening)
Exodus 34:18-35
1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
Matthew 5:27-37

One of the ironies about the legal/religious controversies over public placement of the ten commandments is that it's challenging to figure out what the ten commandments are. Typically when Christians and Jews speak of the ten commandments they reference two similar, but not identical lists in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The list in Exodus 20 has fourteen or fifteen statements, and different traditions number them differently.

Yet here in our reading today we have a third set of ten commandments. As we've been following the story this week, Moses brought the original set of commandments (presumably the Exodus 20 version) chiseled in stone by God's hand, but the people were reveling around the golden calf. Moses broke the two tablets of the covenant. Moses returned to God's presence and God wrote again the words that were on the previous tablet. Today we read the presumed content of these words. Some traditions call these commandments the "Ritual Decalogue." Here is a handy paraphrase from Wikipedia:

1. Worship no other god than Yahweh: Make no covenant with the inhabitants of other lands to which you go, do not intermarry with them, destroy their places of worship.
2. Do not cast idols.
3. Observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days in the month of Abib in remembrance of the Exodus.
4. Sacrifice firstborn male animals to Yahweh. The firstborn of a donkey may be redeemed; redeem firstborn sons.
5. Do no work on the seventh day.
6. Observe the Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Ingathering: All males are therefore to appear before Yahweh three times each year.
7. Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice with leavened bread.
8. Do not let the Passover sacrifice remain until the following morning.
9. Bring the first fruits of the harvest to the Temple of Yahweh.
10. Do not cook a kid in its mother's milk.

These are not the 10 Commandments that Judge Roy Moore insisted should be displayed in his Alabama courtroom.

If I understand traditional Jewish interpretation, these laws and the other versions of the ten commandments are among the 610 laws that are binding upon Jewish people, but not necessarily binding for non-Jews. There are the Seven Laws of Moses which are listed in the Talmud as applying to all humanity since they come from Noah, from whom all humanity sprang.

1. Prohibition of Idolatry: You shall not have any idols before God.
2. Prohibition of Murder: You shall not murder. (Genesis 9:6)
3. Prohibition of Theft: You shall not steal.
4. Prohibition of Sexual Promiscuity: You shall not commit adultery.
5. Prohibition of Blasphemy: You shall not blaspheme God's name.
6. Prohibition of Cruelty to Animals: Do not eat flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive. (Genesis 9:4)
7. Requirement to have just Laws: You shall set up an effective judiciary to fairly judge observance of the preceding six laws.

According to Jewish traditions, if I am correct about this, a non-Jewish person who follows these laws is regarded as a righteous Gentile, sometimes called a "Noahide" or child of Noah.

One more "decalogue". We are also reading Matthew, who seems to write his Gospel intentionally as the new Torah. We are reading the Sermon on the Mount which has parallels to the traditions from Moses on Mount Sinai. This sections opens with the Beatitudes of Jesus, which are variously numbered from eight to ten, and seem to be Matthew's version of the new commandments of Jesus.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It was curious to me how Judge Moore and other evangelicals have made the Ten Commandments their cause celebre. Why not the Beatitudes? A Rabbi might ask, "Why not the Seven Laws of Moses?" Someone who just wants to pick at them might ask, "Which Ten Commandments?" (Why not the one that includes "Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk"?)

It seems to me that all of these are part of our treasured traditions. All of these are reflections of humanity's interpretation of our relationship with God and with one another. It doesn't seem helpful to me to try to boil all of this "mother's milk" that we have received into only one version and try to say that's God's final and only answer. When we are living in relationship with the scripture, interpretation is always part of the process.

Lowell
____________________________________________

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas