Jeremiah sets the tone

Oh dear! Dummelow’s One Volume Bible Commentary states that in Judea, “On every side among high and low there was dishonesty, false swearing, murder, and open licentiousness. (For an account of the local Baal-worship, see Intro. to Hosea.)”

My goodness! Do we have a Jeremiah in our time to point out the dangers of breaking the Ten Commandments through exactly the same behaviour? Where is the prophet today who says, “If you live and practise the Ten Commandments you will not have epidemics of cases of rape, domestic violence, murder, licentiousness, disease contagion”?

(Definition of licentious 1: lacking legal or moral restraints especially: disregarding sexual restraints [Miriam-Webster])

If there is one prophet, male or female, that one is probably as discouraged as Jeremiah was. The world needs the discipline of the Christ – it is the only solution to the world’s problems – including climate change. God controls the weather. On the other hand, God says of each one of his children: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 4:17).

About the Ten Commandments. The first one covers it all really: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. But we can get down to the nitty gritty of specifics. Is there a specific commandment to handle specific errors?

·         Murder is an easy one, isn’t it? Thou shalt not kill.

·         Sexual promiscuity, rape, sexual violence? Thou shalt not commit adultery.

·         Swearing, obscenities? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

·         Worship of bodily image, making idols of food, alcohol, coffee, exercise? Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

·         Dishonesty, crime, stealing? Thou shalt not steal.

·         Criticising our fellows? Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

·         Coveting what others have; feeling hard done by? Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou slat not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

·         Not keeping a day for worship, for giving thanks for blessings? Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

I am wondering if Jeremiah tells us how to go about obeying all those commandments.

On another occasion I endeavoured to compare the Commandments with the Beatitudes. This is what they look like side-by-side:

	Commandments (Exodus 20)		Beatitudes (Matthew 5)
1	Thou shalt have no other gods before me.	1	Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2	Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.	2	Blessed are they that morn: for they shall be comforted.
3	Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.	3	Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth
4	Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, not thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.	4	Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
5	Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.	5	Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
6	Thou shalt not kill.	6	Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
7	Thou shalt not commit adultery.	7	Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
8	Thou shalt not steal.	8	Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
9	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.	9	Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
10	Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, not his man servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.	10

Each of us has our own divine calling. “What can [I] do to hasten the time /The time that shall surely be / When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God / As the waters cover the sea?” (Christian Science Hymnal - Hymn 82. Also Habakkuk 2: 14).

I can be a good example by endeavouring to live by those Commandments and Beatitudes. I quote from Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896: “No reproof is so potent as the silent lesson of a good example” (p. 126:20-21).

Joyce Voysey