The Basis of all law II ...the wayfarer 4/10/13


The Basis of all Law II


“For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”

(Matthew 12:8)

Today, we continue our look at the Ten Commandments on which all the laws of our society are based, despite what atheists and other groups would have you believe.

 It is within these ten laws that a society defines itself today, just as it was in Moses day. If that society adheres to all ten of them, it is a truly civilized nation. Without them civilization, as we know it would disappear, and chaos would rule.

 Jesus stated that He is Lord of the Sabbath as well as all else. This statement was made when he was criticized for healing on the Sabbath day. Healing was part of God’s will and therefore not work as defined by the priests and Pharisees of the time.

The fourth Commandment states:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy.  Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested  the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

(Exodus 20:8-11)

The Sabbath is both a physical and spiritual necessity!

 It was set aside by God himself to give us rest from the various cares and labors of the week. It is intended to be the day that gives us the strength, and guidance, necessary to get through the week to come, and to recover from the week past.

 God knew that this body we have will need that recovery and rest. To squander this Holy day will wreck the body, mind and soul of he who treats it as any other day of the week. This commandment is so important that Moses said more about it than any of the other commandments.


Many waste this important restorative day, rushing to visit relatives, trying to get in time hunting or fishing, doing all the household chores that have been neglected during the week, shopping for things they don’t even need etc.

 Others waste it just lying around the house doing nothing but watching whatever sport is in season, or whatever current fad show is on the television. None of this reinvigorates the soul, or the body as the day is intended by our creator.

 These are all good things, but they are meaningless to the celebration of the Sabbath which we celebrate in church. 

More than just the body being restored, we also need the restoration of our spiritual energy, of the two, the soul should always take precedence.


We need to spend a lot less time talking about what not to do on our Sabbath, and a lot more time doing the things that should be done on this important day, that was given us as a covenant between God and his chosen people. 

It should be a day of rest in remembrance of God’s rest, after having created all that we have, and are, a day of thanksgiving for all the blessings given the prior week, and a day to sanctify ourselves for the coming week.

Sadly most of our society no longer honors the Sabbath as it is intended to be honored. 

Schedules intentionally relegate it to be just another work day. 

Stores open intentionally to draw as many to them as they possibly can. 

 It seems that everyone has forgotten that Jesus said you cannot serve both God and mammon. Mammon is in control of far too many lives that would be blessed by God, if the individual would only allow it by keeping the Sabbath, and the other laws given us by God Himself!


The fifth commandment states:

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

(Exodus 20:12)

This also is a commandment that has been neglected by a large majority of our society. Our parents gave us life, nourished us when we were too young to take care of ourselves, cared for our every need, which allowed us to have a fuller, and better life, than they themselves had. It angers me to see so many elderly people shuttled away to a nursing home, and left to the devices of an uncaring institution for their final days. All too often today’s children are so engrossed with their own life, and search for money that the parents are forgotten.


Another violation of this commandment comes in the form of knowledge. Today’s children firmly believe that all knowledge and wisdom is at their disposal in the universities and other institutions available to “teach” them, and that somehow they are smarter than those who have gone before them.


These smart people can’t tell you the names of all the plants around them, or their uses as could the old ones. 

They can’t, for the most part grow a garden and be self-sufficient instead of relying on the local grocery store. Some can’t even tell you which animals their morning bacon and eggs comes from, much less raise, collect and prepare it for themselves.  Yet they smugly make fun of those who cling to the old methods. Even our leaders smugly denigrate those who cling to God and guns as though we are less intelligent for caring about the things that are important in life.

They forget the wisdom that is acquired only by the years of pain, sorrow, joy and love that only the older folks have lived.

 When seeking advice in life’s problems, parents are often not considered in the equation. Instead children seek advice from peers, or from books, and “feel good” sociologists, and others whose only interest is in selling their current book, or their hourly rate for being consulted.


 I have been most fortunate in life to have had many elderly friends and relatives, as well as my own parents to consult with about life’s interesting twists and turns, that never seem to follow the map we draw for ourselves in our youth.

 Love your parents, allow them to share their love, and the learning of a lifetime with you. Try to understand that one day, you too will age.

 That day may seem distant now, but the rapidity with which it approaches will soon surprise you. Think about how you wish to be treated when you reach that point in your life, and attempt to comprehend the hurt that is so often unnecessarily caused by intentional or unintentional neglect.

 They will not always be there. Make the time that you have with them special and memorable while you can.  

I have many regrets in life, among them is the misspent time in youth that could have easily been shared with my parents and elderly friends.

  I also have many fond memories and a wealth of information I never would have had had I not spent the time with them that I did. 

This commandment if not followed is also a broad road to the destruction of our society, another path to chaos and lawlessness!


The sixth commandment states:


“Thou shalt not kill”

(Exodus 20:13)

Short, sweet and to the point. This injunction not to murder those within our society leaves no grey areas whatsoever. It is only through the laws of man that we find degrees of murder.


This commandment was given because of the sin that was first committed by Cain and still plagues us today.

 Remember that Jesus said that all sin comes from within the man, from his very heart. It is this inner man that allows anger, greed or other motive to so control his life that he will take another’s life to gain whatever it is that he feels he needs at the time. 

That plague exists in each and every one of us. It is only by the grace of God that we are able to hold back the actual act that constitutes this sin. 

The fear of retribution, or of prison time is strong,  (laws of men), but the love that God places within each of us is far stronger if we allow it to be.

 I would clarify that this commandment is not intended to prohibit the defense of one’s self, family or nation that would otherwise fall victim to  murder by another. 

This defense is paramount to the ability to maintain the laws of God and of our society. 

 It does, however, apply to our interaction with each other in this society, and allows for no degrees of punishment other than that given by God himself.


The seventh commandment states:

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

(Exodus 20:14)

Again succinct and to the point!

The sin of adultery was defined as the carnal knowledge of another man’s wife, or her carnal knowledge of a man not her husband.

 This commandment was given to maintain the purity of bloodlines in families so that children were raised and taught by their natural biological parents. 

 We find a major breakdown in today’s society because of the failure not only to follow this commandment, but to even acknowledge that it exists!

Jesus ,when questioned about divorce, gave only one acceptable reason for divorce, fornication. Adultery!

Divorce is far too common today for reasons of incompatibility and a laundry list of other causes.

 That laundry list will not be found in any scripture that we have been given.

 Marriage is ,by definition ,a sharing of life’s burdens between people, who love each other and are willing to devote their lives to one another. It is a unique institution between a man and a woman. 

Any other definition of it is a perversion, by those who used to be recognized as perverts. This law given us is the law of God, not the law of man.

.Personally I recognize who the greater authority on this and all other matters is; and I will respect only that greater authority!

If we continue to allow the blatant disregard of this commandment, again our society is bound to fail and chaos is bound to be the end result. 

The core family is the only means of preserving a real civilization as was intended by our Creator.


Again, for the sake of brevity and to do justice to the remainder of our subject matter I will conclude for today with the promise that we will examine the remaining commandments at a later date. For now, I salute my brethren and sisters with the love of this sinner, saved by grace through the sacrifice of my Savior,and faith only in, Jesus!

2 Timothy 1:12
 12For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.


AMEN and AMEN
the Wayfarer

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