Thursday, December 19, 2024

The Ten Commandments...Priceless?

 


Then God spoke all these words, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;  you shall have no other gods before[a] me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it. Exodus 20

A marble table containing the Ten Commandments was sold at auction yesterday and realized five million USD, far above the estimate of one to two million. Would Moses have been impressed, given that this wasn't an original?  According to Al Jazeera:

The tablet dates from 300 to 800 AD and is inscribed with the commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script — the only complete example of its kind from antiquity, according to Sotheby’s.It was unearthed during railroad excavations along the southern coast of Israel in 1913 and was not recognised as historically significant at first. Sotheby’s said the tablet was used as a paving stone at a local home until 1943, when it was sold to a scholar who grasped its significance.


There is a certain irony here given that the Ten Commandments are no longer posted in public places (it is important to separate church and state) and rarely referred to even in religious settings. I wonder when any of us have heard or preached a series on the Ten "Suggestions"? I wasn't sure if I ever did but a document search unearthed that I offered a series of sermons and a study series on the subject in days of yore (2010). 

There is a further irony that some conservative Christians and legislators in the US are insisting that they be reintroduced in courts and classrooms even as there has been a rash of #MeToo-style "outings" of evangelical leaders for sexual impropriety -- would they be posted with a fingers-crossed symbol in front of "thou shalt not commit adultery"? 

Let's keep the irony rolling with the thought of a passel of nomads wandering in the wilderness and their beleagured leader being called up a mountain so that Yahweh, the God of Israel, could provide them with a moral code. The story is remarkable when you consider it, regardless of what you think about the actual theophany aspect. While these commandments would be "priceless" for more than three thousand years they have been devalued in terms of their application in every day life. Now this tablet of questionable provenance has been commodified and sold to the highest bidder. 

We might keep in mind that Moses went up the mountain for the commandments and ended up smashing the first set because when he came back down the people of Israel had created the Golden Calf as an idol. Moses also destroys the idol made of melted down jewelry although after he calms down he ascends for the second set of tablets. Note that this cautionary story is in the Jewish Torah, the Quran of Islam, and the Christian scriptures. Maybe we should turn our attention to the importance of the commandments as an important element of our moral compass in a society that seems to be wandering in the wilderness. 

You are hereby cautioned not to covet or steal your neighbours' Christmas inflatables. 

 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 “You shall not murder.

 “You shall not commit adultery.

 “You shall not steal.

 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”






1 comment:

Judy said...

Christmas inflatables offer no temptation at all to me - old - fashioned lights and ornaments are my faves. Merry Christmas, David and Ruth !