Genesis 1-5 - The Ten Commandments

No, I’m not confused about either the content of Genesis 1-5 or where the Ten Commandments are located in Scripture! But as I read Genesis 1-5, I note that the basis for most of the Ten Commandments are established in these chapters that teach us about the beginning of our world and the beginning of the human race.

1. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3

Genesis 1 clearly establishes the authority of God through his creation. It establishes the power and creativity of God as well. Genesis 3 establishes “who” is to be listened to and obeyed above all. Eve and then Adam made the mistake of listening to Satan rather than God. What are “other gods” besides voices – temptations to not obey what God is saying to us? Sometimes we make actual physical idols and call them our gods, and sometimes we make ‘virtual’ idols – ideas built on false teachings or understandings.

2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Exodus 20:4

In Genesis 2, God establishes the responsibility of the human race to care for the creation they live in. First he tells Adam that he is to work the ground and take care of it. Then he gives Adam the responsibility to “name” the creatures. Man is responsible to care for the world we live in. We are not subject to the plants and animals, but they are subject to us. Making idols in the forms of things we are responsible to care for doesn’t make sense!

3. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” Exodus 20:7

At the end of Genesis 4, after Adam became the father of Seth and Seth became the father of Enosh, we are told that “at that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4:26b While profanity is a primary way that we can misuse the name of the Lord, there would certainly be other misuses such as trying to make God into our ‘fairy godmother’ or ‘Santa Claus’ by making our prayers into long lists of “I wants”’ and “do this or do that” and ending “in the name of Jesus” and expecting him to do whatever we demanded without the loving relationship that he desires to have with us.

4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating he had done.” Genesis 2:2-3 God made the Sabbath holy and we are asked to keep it holy. I have been wondering a lot about what exactly this means for me today in the culture I live in. Is Sunday more holy than other days? Can I maintain a Sabbath on another day of the week? Is it okay to shop on Sunday’s, to eat out, to buy gas, to shop on the Internet? What does it mean for me to keep the Sabbath holy? Jesus clearly was not impressed with the Sabbath laws that had been established by the religious leaders over the generations and it became one of his most obvious points of contention with them. In fact, he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

At the end of each day of creation, God said that it was good. On the seventh day he rested. It seems to me that keeping the Sabbath holy has to do with reflecting on God’s creation, his authority, our place in the scheme of things and our need for rest. I believe rest means more than sitting in an easy chair with our feet up or taking an afternoon nap. I believe true rest comes from faith – believing God is who he says he is and has the power and authority to control even our daily circumstances when we allow him that honor. A true Sabbath rest comes from me giving up my need to control things and allowing God to be God of my life.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

Throughout the early books of Genesis, the first genealogies are established. The family structure is set up. It appears that they were in no rush to leave home and get married as the sons named in the genealogies are born when the parent is around 100 years old! Of course, that is mere adolescence when you realize that they lived to be 7-900+ years old. God shows us how to be a Father worthy of honor and respect. Since we are made in his image, we would be expected to be parents worthy of honor and respect.

6. “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13

The story of Cain murdering Abel in Genesis 4 quickly establishes how quickly things can go downhill when we choose to not honor and obey God. Cain’s first mistake is not honoring God – he “brought some of the fruits” of his labors (Genesis 4:3), not his first fruits, not his best fruits. His second mistake was comparing himself to his brother Abel and being angry with Abel because God looked with favor on Abel’s offering of the firstborn of his flock. His third mistake was not obeying the voice of God when God instructed him about doing what was right and warned him about “sin crouching at your door” (Genesis 4:7) His fourth mistake was letting his jealous rage have control rather than letting God have control which led to the murder of his brother. Murder doesn’t ‘just happen’. It comes from a series of movements away from God.

7. “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14

Genesis 2 establishes the basis of marriage. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 As we become one flesh in marriage, the family is established. To commit adultery is to tear apart what God has put together. It leads to destruction of family rather than construction of family. Just as God warned Cain about “sin crouching at your door,” so he warns us through this commandment. Cain became separated from God when he let ‘sin’ have control. So it is with adultery. It not only separates what God has put together, it also leads to separation from God.

8. “You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15

Eve had not been given permission to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She listened to Satan’s lies amidst his half-truth and took what did not belong to her. She invited Adam to take as well and he did. It didn’t seem like a big thing at the time. But it became the downfall of the human race!

9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

As we watch the story of the temptation and the taking of the forbidden fruit, we see one sin leads to the next sin leads to the next sin… When God calls to them, they hide – just like a child today who swipes a cookie and hides behind the big chair in the living room so Mom doesn’t see him or her. Then the blaming begins. Adam blames Eve (and God who gave her to him) and Eve blames the Serpent who deceived her. They were all trying to get someone else in trouble rather than take responsibility for their own actions. The Serpent lied - gave false testimony against God - but Eve made a choice and Adam made a choice and pointing the finger at others didn’t undo the poor choices they had made.

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17

The first murder occurred because Cain coveted the favor of God his brother Abel had gained. He wasn’t willing to do what it took to gain the favor, but he wanted God to show him favor. Cain could have nipped this one in the bud by humbling himself before God, honoring him and seeking his favor through giving his first fruits, not his leftovers. But he let the coveting consume him and cloud his judgment until it led to murder and separation from God and his family.

Suddenly, the Creation account and the story of the human race leading up to the Exodus comes together in a new light. Genesis is the basis for the Law of Moses. God didn’t spend 40 days on the mountain with Moses chiseling out those Ten Commandments. He could have done that in a flash of lightening. I believe that he talked with Moses about how the people had gotten to the point of needing these Ten Commandments in order to come back into right relationship with God, their Creator. He established his authority and his honor and the importance of these laws through sharing with Moses the history of creation and the early genealogy of the human race.

The Ten Commandments aren’t just rules to be followed. They are the short version of Genesis – God’s relationship with the human race from the beginning of time.