Deuteronomy chapter 5

vs 12

This is an important law. You know, while there are a lot of religions with a lot of holidays, there aren't many that have a holy day every week on which you don't work. The idea of working every day is actually more common than we westerners, with a system based first on a sabbath and then a 40 hour work week really know. So this is a real distinctive between Israel and other nations.

Not to say that other nations had no holidays at all - some of them could last weeks - but the regular day every week is something different.

vs 13

Which is still more than our 40 hour week.

vs 14

Everyone gets that rest. Even animals get that rest. Yes, the sabbath is a time of worship to God, but it is also a time of rest for the sake of rest. Animals don't go to church. The foreigners might not even (couldn't really, unless they were proselytes). So the rest is important for its own sake, which is something I think we lose track of sometime. See my sermon on rest for more about that.

vs 15

I think the connection there is that since God did such a great thing for them, they should remember him officially every week. It could also be that God has given them rest from their slavery work. But I wonder... See, elsewhere we're told that the Sabbath is established because of the created order given in Genesis 1. Sure, it can be both. But it's always fun to ask what came first.

vs 16

Of course, honouring your parents probably goes along with listening to them about the traditions of God. It also, no doubt, shows God's respect for the family unit he created.

vs 17

Fairly obvious one, this. The reason behind it? Apart from the fact that it stops people from becoming dead, it shows God's respect for human life. Human life, that is. Eating chicken is not murder, you hippy.

vs 18

This one I always find problematic, dependent on the definition you give adultery. The law, in its more full stipulations, tends to put married people fooling around outside of marriage as far more serious than unmarried people fooling around. Love marriages were, of course, pretty rare. So most were arranged. But outside of marriage, the "punishment" if you like was marriage. It's a very different cultural context.

vs 19

A support for private property. We really were just being driven towards capitalism with a big bloody stick, weren't we? What does this mean for the Acts 2 community of common property, I wonder? Well, I suppose they still didn't steal from the people outside the community...

vs 20

An important law for the smooth workings of justice, and also showing that God values truth, but especially in a judicial sense. False testimony is not the same as lying about a surprise birthday party, or even lying about Jews in your closet.

vs 21

Belongs to you neighbour... like his wife... I guess this supports the private property too. But it's also a mark against greed and jealousy, so it's a mark against capitalism. Sufficiency and contentment are the order of the day, according to this law. The interesting thing about this law is that it measures attitude as much as action. Covetousness is a feeling, an attitude. If we legislated against that, not only would we undermine our precious capitalism, but we'd also be condemning people for thought crime.

vs 22

Of course, God really did add a bunch more. But these are the big 10. They are representative of a bunch of things, and 10 is really about as many as you want before people start forgetting them or trivialising them.