This Torah teaching on the Parasha
“Yitro” is a little different.
This is not the usual weekly commentary on the portion
aimed at like-minded believers.
On the flip side, this Emet Insights is meant to be a tool
for you to use in sharing the truth with your community.
Provided
below is a short “Letter to the Editor” about the Ten Commandments
and their importance. Please
fill in your own personal information at the bottom, print this
letter out, and send it to your local newspaper.
It is ok to claim this letter as your own when you submit
it to the media. Feel free to email Emet Ministries back
with the outcome of your own “Letter to the Editor” about this
Parasha. You may be surprised at what may come of this
simple way of witnessing the truth.
_______________________
Dear Editor,
Most people are familiar with the “Ten
Commandments Judge,” Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama and his
crusade to post the 10 Commandments in public places.
On February 1, Judge Moore appealed his removal from office
last November for his refusal to obey a federal order to take
his 5,280 pound Ten Commandments monument out of the state courthouse.
“The freedom to worship God is being taken from us by federal
courts who misuse the First Amendment as a sword to take away
our rights, instead of a shield to preserve them for us," Moore
recently said. The Judge’s quest is a noble effort, yet
I must sincerely and openly question Judge Moore and anyone who
believes as he does. Do
you believe the 10 Commandments apply to life today?
Should they be placed in public view for all to see?
Whether or not you agree with
the idea of posting the 10 Commandments is NOT the real issue
of this whole ordeal. The actual issue at stake is should we
say one thing and do another.
A recent CNN poll shows that the majority of the population
agrees that the Ten Commandments should be followed for moral
and ethical reasons. However, most people simply do not keep
them, nor can name all ten commands.
Should leaders – judges, pastors, and politicians - ask
people to obey the commands that they themselves ignore?
I’m not judging Judge Moore or anyone who agrees with him. What I am doing is simply questioning
his and our nation’s integrity.
Too many people say we should
post the Ten Commandments in courthouses, schools, and libraries
while those very same people do not even obey them.
Posting any Bible verse or inspirational saying does not
negate the effects of people disobeying it.
Let’s face the truth. It is much easier to support the symbolism
of hanging the Ten Words than it is to actually obey the substance
of what they teach. Take
for example the fourth commandment to remember and honor the Sabbath
day.
The majority of the world’s
Protestants and Catholics, including Judge Moore, do not keep
the fourth command. This verse from the King James Bible makes
it abundantly clear that the Almighty is very specific about this
rule. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath,” Exodus 20:9-10. Just take a look at your calendar and
remind yourself that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath. Sunday is NOT the Biblical Sabbath. According to this verse honoring any other
day as the Sabbath is breaking the Ten Commandments. Is it not then hypocritical that Judge
Moore and most of his supporters teach the Ten Commandments yet
don’t even obey the simplest of them?
“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification
of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of
Saturday, a day which we never sanctify," Cardinal James Gibbons
wrote in The Faith of our Fathers.
Another example of hypocrisy
that so many people are involved in concerns the Third Commandment. Churches everywhere teach that people
should not “take the name of the Lord in vain.” Churches say that this commandment means
to use curse phrases with the Almighty’s name. This simply cannot be the meaning of this
verse. The Ten Commandments
were spoken and written in Hebrew to a Hebrew nation. The phrase “god d-mn” did not and does
not exist in that language.
To assume that the Third Commandment means to not cuss
or talk slang about “God” or “Lord” is unfounded in the Bible.
Surprising, to not use His
Divine Name is one real way people take the “take the name of
the Lord in vain.”
Again, the Almighty spoke these commands in Hebrew to a
Hebrew nation. The English language did not exist then
so His Name simply cannot be “Lord” or “God.” Yet His Name is found hidden within these
English terms in your Bible.
Whenever you find the English word “Lord” in capital letters the translators
are letting you know that the sacred name of Yahweh is being used. Yahweh is His Name. But, Yahweh says emphatically in Exodus
3 that Yahweh “is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto
all generations.” This
name was not intended to be hidden by scribes and translators;
rather Yahweh Himself gave it to man as a sign of His existence
and as a means of personal relationship.
This is similar to how you
introduce yourself on a first name basis when you want to get
to know someone – Yahweh gave us His personal name so we could
approach Him with intimacy. It’s very important to note that “Yahweh”
is used almost 7,000 times throughout the Bible as the only and
unique name of the Mighty One of Israel.
The KJV sometimes even uses the poetic form of “Jah” to
reference the mighty name of Yahweh, see Psalm 68:4.
And the prefaces of many Bibles explain this very clearly. Sorry Judge Moore, but according to the
Scriptures when you don’t use the name of Yahweh, then you are
guilty of breaking the Third Commandment.
Much more could be written
about idolatry, adultery, and the remaining Ten Commands but the
point has been made sufficiently. The point is that the teachings of the
Bible weren’t meant to only be plastered on walls. Nor were they given to be glossed over
by preachers and seminaries that teach exact obedience to the
Word is not important. On
the contrary, the Scriptures were given as specific loving instructions
for man to experience life through.
True, abundant life comes in literally obeying the words
of the Bible through faith. Those found in the Ten Commandments are
very simple to understand and simple to obey. The Savior said, “If you love me, then
obey my, commands.” What
were His commands? What
did He teach? Luke 24:27 KJV, “And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures.” The Savior taught that people should obey
all the words of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. He did not teach that they had “passed
away” or were not important.
Surely the Ten Commandments are bearing upon Bible believers
today?
Judge Moore may be sincere,
noble, and brave but he and those who support him are still clearly
in the wrong if they continue in disobedience.
What do you think the Almighty Yahweh wants from His people?
Does He want His word to be virtually ignored yet posted
for all to see? Or
does He want His word obeyed as an example for all to see? What
is a bigger witness to the message of the Bible - to walk out
the commandments or just talk about them? The case is set before you now. You be the judge.
Sincerely,
________________
