GOD’S TOP TEN

Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!  (Deuteronomy 5:29)

If you Google “top ten,” you will find a top ten list of just about everything.   For instance, when I did, it pulled up a top ten list for songs, movies, auto insurance companies, greatest people of all time, best rock drummers, and so forth.  The list of lists goes on.  Did you know God has a top ten list?  We call them the Ten Commandments, and one presentation of those is in Deuteronomy 5.  Deuteronomy means “second law.”  It is not a second version of God’s law, but a second proclamation of it.  The adult generation that came out of Egypt had heard the law stated the first time, but miserably failed to obey it.  The consequence was that they would perish in the wilderness—and by the time Moses speaks here, they had.  Now a new generation needs to know God’s top ten—and that is what you find in this chapter.

These commands reveal the very heart of Holy God.  They are the essence of His law—every other command flows from these.  They span the dimensions of  life in how we relate to God and man.  God was not offering suggestions; He was setting expectations.

• The first commandment (v.6) deals with Who we worship.  Yahweh is to be the exclusive object of worship. He will tolerate no rival.
• The second commandment (v.7-10) sets the way we worship.  Idolatry is forbidden.  We are not to worship a false god, neither are we to worship the true God in a false way.
• The third commandment (v.11) reminds us that the name of God is sacred because His name represents His nature.  Using His name profanely is besmirching Him.
• The fourth commandment (v.12-15) declares that God not only has a sacred name, but a special day.  One day set aside from work to focus on worship is the way of remembering that all of our days belong to God, and we are a stewards of time.
• The fifth commandment (v.16) calls us to respect our parents who are God’s representatives to us.  Honoring them shows we honor our Heavenly Father.
• The sixth commandment (v.17) underscores the sanctity of life.  Human life is made in the image of God, and is not to be taken in murder.
• The seventh commandment (v.18) shows the sanctity of marriage.  Unfaithfulness to our spouse is unfaithfulness to God.  We are stewards of our sexuality.
• The eighth commandment (v.19) tells us about the sacredness of property.  What God has given to us is not to be taken from us in theft.
• The ninth commandment (v.20) sets forth the sacredness of truth.  We are to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth for God is truth.
• The tenth commandment (v.21) is one that deals with attitude and ties all these actions together.  Coveting position leads us to idolatry, where we worship false gods and in false ways, desecrate God’s name, His day, and His representatives—our parents.  Coveting possessions can lead us to kill, commit adultery, steal, and lie about it.  Deny covetousness and you nip other sins in the bud.

We would do well to make God’s top ten ours also!

AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.”  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.  (Gen.4:1-5)

Anyone who has had more than one child can tell you that each one is unique.  Even in the case of “identical” twins, you will find distinctions among the similarities.  As no two snowflakes are identical, so each human is different.  Sometimes they are as different as night and day.  That was certainly true of two brothers—Cain and Abel.  One was faithful  (full of faith) and the other was faithless.

The results of sin’s curse became readily apparent.  When a bouncing baby boy named Cain emerged from the womb, Eve gave him that name because she saw Cain as the fulfillment of God’s prophecy that her seed would vanquish the Serpent (Gen.3:15).  Instead, Cain would prove to be of the Serpent’s spawn.  Another baby was born—Abel—and his name meant, “vanity,” suggesting that Eve was already disappointed by the way Cain was turning out.

The brothers were different in their choice of vocations—one becoming a tiller of the field and the other a tender of the flock.  But, the primary difference in the two was spiritual—seen in the fact that Cain’s offering was rejected, while Abel’s was received.  Hebrews 11 gives us the Holy Spirit’s explanation, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.”  (v.4)  Abel was faithful and Cain was faithless.  Why did Abel have faith and Cain did not?  Again, we turn to the New Testament, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  (Rom.10:17)  Apparently, God had given His Word to Adam and Eve, when He clothed them in animal skins—that the work of man’s hands cannot atone for sin—it required the shedding of blood.  Cain might have purchased a lamb from his brother, but he rejected the Word of God and God rejected his offering.  Jude 11 speaks of “the way of Cain,” which is the way of false teaching—a religion of self-righteous works rather than the righteousness which comes by faith.  Cain’s angry response rather than humble repentance disclosed the depravity of his heart.  Cain saw no need to bring a blood sacrifice, but had no qualms about shedding his brother’s blood.

We could say more, but let me close with this—everyone reading these words is either faithful or faithless.  Your spiritual forebear is Cain or Abel.  None of us can be forgiven without responding in faith to the blood of the Lamb of God—the Lord Jesus Christ.  The two are as different as night and day—the faithful entering God’s Eternal Day, while the faithless is cast into, “outer darkness.”  (Matt.25:30).  We are the seed of the Serpent or sons of God.  Read 1 John 3:10-19 for further insight. Who is your spiritual father?