The Decalogue are the first Ten Commandments spoken by God directly to the gathered congregation of Israel after they were told to assemble at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1-25).
They are simply the first ten of the precepts given by God to Moses on the same mountain, written in God’s own handwriting.
I have always urged that what we now term as ancillary or supplementary commandments are part of the extended package.
There are almost six hundred of these others in their entirety.
Our focus is on the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:1-20 reads: And God spoke all these words, saying, “Thou shall have no other gods besides me - (1st commandment).
“Thou shalt not make into thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, or serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children into the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments - (2nd commandment).
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain - (3rd commandment).
“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 menservant, 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 is in them, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it - (4th commandment).
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee - (5th commandment).
“Thou shalt not kill – (6th commandment).
“Thou shalt not commit adultery – (7th commandment).
“Thou shalt not steal – (8th commandment).
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor – (9th commandment).
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s – (10th commandment).
In the New Testament, one of the Pharisees, a lawyer, asked Jesus Christ a question, to test him. “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said unto him; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Mathew 22:36-40 (KJV)).
Love is the theme of the Ten Commandments. Accordingly, they are summed up in the two great laws in accordance with the summary given by Jesus Christ.
The first four commandments talk about the love we should show to our God.
This is about the love from man to the Lord our God. It is about the love which the earthly inhabitants (mankind) should show to the Heavenly Father above us. It is a straight-up kind of love.
The first four commandments can be referred to as the vertical commandments which reflect the upwards love to the Lord our God.
If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, (1) you will serve/have no other gods besides him: (2) not serve or bow down to worship any idol: (3) not take His name in vain, and (4) keep His Sabbath day holy.
The other six commandments of the Decalogue has to do with the love from man to fellow man.
It starts from you the individual and spreads out to across to all those you associate with across the spectrum.
In short, it is summed up as the love towards your neighbours. This is why the six commandments can be referred to as the horizontal love in summation.
As a summary of the horizontal commandments, if you love your neighbour you will: Honour your father and mother (5th commandment): not kill anyone intentionally (6th commandment): not commit adultery with another man’s wife or another woman’s husband (7th commandment): Not steal another person’s possession (8th commandment): not bear false witness against anyone (9th commandment): not be jealous (covet) any possessions of another being (10th commandment). As spoken by God and his Son, Jesus Christ it simply means, “Do unto others as you would like them do unto you”. Thus the second greatest commandment becomes, “Love your neighbour as you would love yourself”.
Thus, the Decalogue is summed up in the two great laws: (i) Love the Lord thy God (the first four vertical commandments), (ii) Love thy neighbor (the last six horizontal commandments). Amen.
*Prosper Tingini is the Scribe of the Children of God Missionary Assembly - God’s messengers. Contact details: Mobile & whatsapp – 0771 260 195. Email address: ptingini@gmail.com