The Eleventh Commandment

For the most part People have heard of the Ten Commandments as laid forth in the Word of God; moral principles to guide our lives. They were given to Moses after the people of Israel made the miraculous Exodus from Egypt. As they traveled toward the Promised Land, Moses had an encounter with the great Jehovah God on Mount Sinai where God revealed Ten Commandments etching them onto two tablets of stone.

It’s been explained to me that the first of the Ten Commandments are vertically oriented, pointing toward man’s relationship to God. The first says, “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” God lays claim to mankind and the rest of the Creation that He and He alone is worthy of worship. He continues by saying “Thou shalt not make any graven image…” and that “Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them…” The LORD God further states that even His name is to be considered holy. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…” He also gives a transitional Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” It is a day to worship God and a day for mankind to rest.

Then comes the horizontally aimed commandments directed at relationships between members of the human race. “Thou shalt honour thy Father and thy mother.” This is the only commandment that comes with a blessing offering long life. “Thou shalt not kill.” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

“Thou shalt not steal.” I once heard an entire sermon explaining how stealing was a pivotal commandment and was the basis for all others. Anytime you didn’t honor God, you were stealing the glory that belonged to Him. You were diminishing His worth. “Killing” steals the life from another person. “Stealing” takes something that doesn’t belong to you. “Bearing false witness against thy neighbor,” steals the reputation and the good name that neighbor has with his friends and community.  “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, wife… nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

Now I will share the Eleventh Commandment. It was presented in a sermon last evening. The first Ten Commandments were written in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament Jesus Christ gave another Commandment. It’s found in John 13:34-35. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.