Some times we see and ear things taught to us and we are all like "Cool, that's neat." Then there comes that time when what we've been taught actually happens before our very eyes. C. S. Lewis said, "Experience is the most brutal of teachers, but you learn, my God do you learn." That has never been true for something that has been hidden inside the Ten Commandments. More on that in a bit. Let's go on a journey shall we?
I am almost certain that any of us can look around and see things absolutely falling apart in the world. Government is less trustworthy than the average habitual liar. Generally speaking, everyone is out to see what they can do to get ahead of the next person, regardless of what it does to them. Even people in church are attending service on Sunday and then acting like the rest of the world Sunday afternoon through Saturday night. I experience the last two on a daily basis. All this is not to say that I am perfect, please do not put me on that pedestal. I am flawed in my own way just like everyone else.
Now, on to what this has to do with the Ten Commandments. There are some surface meanings each one of the commands. Imagine a sermon like this, "You should not kill people. Ok, lets pray together." Easy right? But there's more to it than that. When you hear, "You should not commit adultery". You should keep yourself pure before marriage, and after you get married you should keep yourself for your spouse. That is a good plan, you should do that, but think about a marriage. Hebrew people see the Scripture for its function instead of its form. "And the Lord hid Moses in the cleft of the rock with His hand." God doesnt have a hand, He's a spirit. So what does a hand do? A hand comforts, protects, guides, etc. In function, a marriage the the union of two people, a lifetime commitment, a covenant that is only broken by death or...wait for it...wait for it...marital unfaithfulness or breaking of your marriage agreement. I think that it's safe to say that adultery is marital unfaithfulness. Therefore, if you damage a marriage by committing adultery, you damage unity.
There is a concept based around a Hebrew word. The word is Echad (the c is silent). The concept is very well put into play in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one." We know today that God is 3 parts, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is unity with in diversity. Each part has its own function and purpose. Everything out of God is echad. The world, as in the earth, has many parts that work together to form one whole. We are out of God, therefore we are echad also. We are body, soul, and spirit. Even our body is echad. Ever had a kidney stone? Did you go to work/school that day? One single part is malfunctioning and you lay out of work. Doesn't make sense until you put the concept of echad into play.
Now that we know that we are echad, the earth is echad, and even God Almighty Himself is echad, and we know from Scripture that He is holding the universe together. So if we act in such a way that we damage this unity, known as echad, then we are damaging the very substance of the being that is holding the universe together. Take a second and let that sink in.
It's pretty difficult to miss the comparison of light and dark in the Bible. You can look at it as light promotes echad, and darkness damages or diminishes it. Genesis 15:12 says that as the sun was going down a horror of great darkness fell upon Abram. That's not talking about lack of sunshine. Next, Jesus says, in Matthew 5:14 that we are the Light of the world, men are supposed to see our light, or good works so that they will give glory to God. That is promoting echad. Basically speaking, our actions have effects on how much the universe stays in balance. Let me put it this way: we find our fufillment in pursuing echad. Give something to someone that they need but cannot attain on their own and think about how you feel at that moment. That feeling is a itsy bitsy piece of the universe being put back together because of one small random act of echad. Look at it this way: to say that Torah was "The Law" is a translation that completely takes the meaning away from it. It is better translated, God's teaching for living the best kind of life. If we do anything to go against "The Law", we are only hurting ourselves. If we "obey the Law", then we are helping restore order.
If you don't know already, this has HUGE implications for us. How do we act? How are we promoting light instead of darkness. The basis of the command, "You shall not commit adultery" goes way beyond two organs coming together in a pleasurable way. This is about sowing seeds of light instead of darkness, unity instead of division. To begin with, in any family church or otherwise, you can feel it when there is a lack of echad. Let's face it, when a church has division, how many people are destroyed in the process? How many of them swear off ever going to church again?
Knowing all of this, we have to be SO careful with our actions and the things that come out of our mouth. I would say that the rest of the commands are centered on this one. That is my own opinion, but not scriptural, the Word according to Brian. If you steal something from someone, you take away something from them that can be boiled down to their completeness, you've damaged echad in them, damaged it in yourself, and possibly caused yourself to go to jail. Lying to someone does the same thing. Gossip is something else that damages echad. It's also one of the things that we try to cover up the most. If it does not directly pertain to you, even if you are asked, keep your mouth shut. If it doesn't promote light and unity, keep your mouth shut! It's none of your business.
I leave you today with these thoughts: How would you see/hear the things you do and the words you say? Are you guarding your heart against influences that are damaging echad within ourselves? May you continually give God the glory, share in all things with those who teach, and may you forever walk in the dust of your Rabbi.
Grace and peace be with you always!
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