“Yahoshua answered, ‘The greatest commandment is, ‘Hear O Israel! Adonai our Elohim, Adonai is ONE. You shall love Adonai your Elohim. Love this way, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandments greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 ~

Have you ever heard that the first and greatest commandment above is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4-5? It is also said to be a summation of the first five commandments. Likewise, the second is a quote from Leviticus 19:18 and a summation of the last five commandments? i would be surprised if you haven’t heard this before. But, i do wonder if you have ever considered them to be parallel? The sixth aligns with the first. The seventh aligns with the second. The eighth aligns with the third. The ninth aligns with the fourth. Finally, the tenth aligns with the fifth. This is what i want to explore in this post and its significance if any.

Already you might be saying, how is the first commandment, “You shall have no other Elohim but Me.” And the sixth, “You shall not murder,” the same? Well, Yahoshua said, “You have heard, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now I say, even if you hate someone you have murdered them in your heart.” How do you hate someone? By wishing them dead? Perhaps, but how are ways we hate? We speak against them, gossiping about them. We harbor ill will towards them, wishing against their good will. We ignore them, turning our backs on them wishing they would go away. If we are called to love even our enemies, and to pray for them. How much more when we ignore Elohim, turning our backs on Him, not following His will. How much more are we murdering Him in our hearts and placing anything and everything in His place?

Have i peaked your interest? Now let’s look at the second. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image. You shall not make anything in the likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I Yahweh your Elohim am a jealous Elohim. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Yet, showing steadfast love to thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Now the seventh, “You shall not commit adultery.” This one is easy. Idolatry is breaking the blood covenant with Elohim. Replacing Him with images and things. Giving our attention to and worship to created things. Adultery, is breaking the marriage covenant. Replacing our spouse with another, this includes emotional adultery. In fact most adultery starts in the heart emotionally. It is giving our time and attention to another. When we cheat on a spouse we are cheating on Elohim too! It is His marriage covenant that is being broken.

The third commandment says, “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your Elohim in vain. For Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” How does this relate to the eighth, “You shall not steal“? To take the name of Elohim in vain is not merely using His name as a curse word. It is attributing things to Him, He did not say, “Do not add to or take away from His word.” We steal from our family when we do not share the Name of Elohim with them. We steal from our friends and others when we do not share His Name with them. The greatest theft of all is taking from others the Name of Yahoshua. Robbing them intellectually and spiritually. Of course, this still means not to steal property but what is property compared to eternal life? This comes down to lifestyle and living a life worthy of the calling. As Ephesians 4:1 declares. “So I, the prisoner of Adonai, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling. This is the lifestyle to which you have been called.”

Now for the commandment the majority of Christianity ignores. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your Elohim. On it you shall not do any work. You or your son or daughter. Nor your male or female servant, not even your livestock. This extends to the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. After He rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” The ninth commandment is this; “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” How do we bear false witness against our Messiah Yahoshua more than when we deny His Sabbath? The argument that Yahoshua is our Sabbath is shallow. It dismisses the intent of the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant. Much like the wedding ring isn’t the covenant of marriage but simply the sign of it. When we take off the sabbath day we are bearing false witness again our Elohim. Just like when we tell falsehoods of others, gossip, or outright lie, bearing false witness is a deep commandment.

The fifth commandment is about honor. “Honor your father and mother. That your days may be long in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you.” The tenth commandment is also about honor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, or anything that is his.” We dishonor our family when we covet others things. Wanting a better life than one was raised is different than wishing for or coveting someone’s life altogether. One might have had a terrible parent. Honor isn’t forgetting but it is forgiving. We are to Honor our family name as we are to honor the lifestyle of Yahoshua. We are to be content with what we have not coveting the life of our neighbors. Striving to be successful, is an honorable attribute and a way of honoring our parents.

So what is the big deal? As Scripture says, “If you are guilty of breaking one commandment, you are guilty of breaking them all.” This is true not just from a stand point of commandments of Elohim and sin. It is true because they are all connected. As Yahoshua declared when He quoted the Torah in response to the greatest commandment. Then adding to it the second. He was showing them and us that the commandments of Elohim our Father in Heaven are holy. They are a sign of our being in covenant with Him, signed in the blood of Yahoshua. Are we guilty of breaking the commandments? Absolutely. Does this excuse us from seeking to obey them? NO, may it never be! We show the Father our love when we choose to obey His commandments. Let us therefore walk as Yahoshua walked, in obedience to the Father. This is the way of the Rabbi that the Apostle Paul recognized. “You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Messiah.” This is echoed by our Messiah. “So Yahoshua replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself. But only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.“

This is the way of the Rabbi,
You are loved,
cj