TEACHING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

 

Are you like me, fed up of introducing the ten commandments and then hurrying on to set a homework where the children are expected to make up their own for today’s society?  I am always coming across this sort of thing in textbooks.  It is as if we are embarrassed about them and assume that children will see them as irrelevant (I don’t believe in God, Miss!) and therefore try to rescue some relevance from the shipwreck of the Decalogue by suggesting that rules are still necessary and ten is a nice number so, in a postmodern age, go ahead children and  make up your own.  Well; I don’t do it like this.  I refuse to send children home with the idea that they can do better than God.  What follows is dependent on the late Herbert McCabe, and is very brief but please use it if it appeals to you.  I would add that I used this as a basis for a lesson with a full course Year 10 group last term and the lesson went down very well.  I was very upbeat about the relevance of the commandments and they just took it all in without a murmur.

 

Exodus 20:1-17

 

The Ten Commandments

 

The Ten Commandments are a manifesto for freedom.  They set out rules which are intended to guarantee the freedom of all to pursue their calling as human beings made in the image of God.  They are a call for self-restraint and care for others.  They have been recognised by societies all over the world as a way of ordering society for the good of all.   The passage begins by linking the exodus event to the commandments.  It may seem odd that the God who brings freedom gives uncompromising and absolute commandments.  In Hebrew many commandments begin with the dogmatic ‘thou shalt not’.  But they are rules designed to maximise freedom.

 

 ‘ worship no god but me’…it is important to worship and follow the right god.  We are often influenced to follow and be enslaved by the gods set for us by others, fashion, the media etc or our own preferences.  Only God in the end is worth worshipping.

 

 ‘do not make images’…God is always more than any representation of Him.  The Egyptians made images of the sun god and animals too but this limits God to particular aspects of the natural order.  Images can be used as a means of wielding power against others.

 

 ‘do not use my name for evil purposes’…this forbids the use of God’s name to invoke evil on others.

 

‘no one is to work on the sabbath day ’…this forbids making work into a god.  The Sabbath (Hebrew word meaning rest) is there to prevent people being enslaved to profit and the endless search for wealth. Even the animals are to have a day off!

 

‘respect your father and mother’… The commandments are not addressed to children so this is probably concerned with caring for parents when they are elderly. They must not be cast off and forgotten just because they are old and of no practical use. They matter to God too.

 

‘do not commit murder’…the Hebrew word used here is different from the word used for killing in battle and that used for putting a person to death, both of which are allowed in the Bible. This commandment prohibits murder but the word also refers to those who die an accidental death so it means that people must care that others do not get killed.  It is a call to active involvement in rescuing others who are in danger of dying, whether that be through poverty, civil strife or oppression.

 

‘do not commit adultery’…this refers to breaking up a marriage and is similar to stealing from others.  Adultery breaks up families and hits at the heart of family life.  It was considered a very serious matter which could be punished by death in early times.

 

‘do not steal’…this seems to have referred to kidnapping a free person, rather than property. 

 

‘do not accuse anyone falsely’…bearing false witness can have devastating effects on others, whose freedom may be taken away as a result.

 

‘do not desire another’s property’…this can lead to putting pressure on the weak through bullying or other wrongful means and restricting their freedom.