Welcome to Day 2396 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – Counting the Ten Commandments – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2396 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2396 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.   Today is the ninth lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today, our lesson is Counting the Ten Commandments. One of the most enduring elements of the Bible and the Judaeo-Christian worldview within Western culture is the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Even if one can’t recite them all, most people have seen the fiery finger of God etch the commandments into two stone tablets as Moses— for many of us, Charlton Heston—watches in awe. It seems to go without saying that the list of the Ten Commandments is something that Judaism and Christianity have always agreed upon. Well, that is not exactly true. Historically speaking, Jews and Christians—and even denominations within Christianity—have disagreed on exactly how the Ten Commandments should be listed and expressed. In fact, how to precisely spell out the commandments was an issue of considerable importance during the Protestant Reformation. The difference concerns how many commands are found in the first six verses and last two verses of Exodus 20:2-17, the initial listing of the commandments received by Moses at Sinai.- One point of context is required before we can understand the thinking behind the differences in the listing and expression of the commandments. Any listing of the commandments must result in a total of ten, because three other passages of Scripture fix the number of commandments at ten. Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and Deuteronomy 10:4 each clearly tell us that God gave Moses ‘asereth hadvarim (“ten words”; “ten statements”) at Sinai. Interestingly, the Jewish tradition treats the statement in Exodus 20:2 (compare Deut 5:6) as a command when the wording has no imperative force to it at all. This latitude arises from the fact that the Hebrew text of the Old Testament exclusively uses ‘asereth hadvarim (“ten words”) instead of ‘asereth hamitsvot (“ten commandments”) with respect to the contents of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. After regarding Exodus 20:2 as the first “word” of the ten, verses 3-6 are thematically understood as speaking to a single prohibition: making idols for worship. There are actually three imperative statements in this group of verses ( You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything. You must not bow down to them or worship them)/ but to consider them as separate commands would move the total beyond ten. Christian perceptions of Exodus 20 are not rooted in the Hebrew terminology ‘asereth hadvarim (“ten words”), so Christian formulations do not regard verse one as the first point of the Decalogue. As a result, all of Exodus 20:2- 6 is considered the starting point, and the imperative wording (“You must not”) prompted the “commandment” terminology so widely known and used today. The enumeration adopted by Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism originated with Augustine. While they prefer it, the enumeration of Augustine is not a point of dogma. Section 2066 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is representative of the acknowledgment that ‘The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history.’- Reformed Protestants and Greek Orthodox Christians also reject verse 1 as a command, but distinguish verse 3 from verses 4-6 as the first and second commands. This position is likewise not dogmatically taken. The last two verses are the other significant point of divergence in expressing the number and contents of the commandments. Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism divide Exodus 20:17, which speaks of coveting your neighbor into two commands to achieve the number ten, a necessity in view of seeing Exodus 20:2-6 as the first command. This dichotomy is perhaps puzzling, since the entirety of the content of verse 17 speaks about one’s household and possessions, and in light of the thematic grouping at the beginning of the Decalogue. Thematic grouping at the beginning of the Decalogue and thematic splitting at the end doesn’t make sense—unless one considers the need to wind up with ten! Let me read the Ten Commandments as we usually refer to them. This is from the NLT: New Living Translation: 1 “You must not have any other god but me. 2 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind 3 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. 4 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 5 “Honor your father and mother 6  “You must not murder. 7 “You must not commit adultery. 8 “You must not steal. 9  “You must not testify falsely 10 “You must not covet Despite the numerical disagreement over how to count the commandments, the moral core of the Judaeo-Christian ethic has never been in doubt among those Jews and Christians who take the Bible seriously. A lack of certainty in counting the Ten Commandments is no impediment to understanding their importance in honoring God and our fellow human beings. The lessons that make up Theology Thursday on the Wisdom-Trek Podcast for the next couple of years will satisfy the statement, “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.” I trust you’ll enjoy them—and, of course, not be bored. Reflect… If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’. Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!