Why the Ten Commandments?

Hi I'm Derek Packard. Here's some background on why the Kid's Ten Commandments video is so important.  You'll find the Ten Commandments in the Bible in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

The Ten Commandments were given by God to His people for a reason. The commandments define how people are to worship God and treat other people. To keep people on a path toward God, it is important to know the boundaries of the path and that's what most of the ten commandments do.  They are God's standards of how to behave in ways that please Him. If we want to be in relationship with our Father in Heaven, in makes sense to want to please Him.

Quite literally, what we call the Ten Commandments is God the Father's testimony written down as a permanent record.  God felt his testimony was important enough to write it down not once, but twice with His own finger. (Exodus 31:18)   Many places in Scripture the stone tablets are called "the Testimony". (Exodus 25:21) And the Ark was often called the Ark of the Testimony. (Exodus 25:21-22)  The Ark was kept in an enclosure called the Tabernacle of the Testimony. (Exodus 1:53) We know this enclosure as the Tabernacle of Moses.  There have been many books written about the symbolism of the Tabernacle and the Temple, in fact, it's perhaps the most talked about subjects in all of Scripture.  But in my prayer and study over the last several years, I've been impressed by the Lord that the whole Tabernacle was built as an enclosure for His Testimony, the Ten Commandments.  It's fascinating that in God's communicating with Moses on the Mountain that he begins by giving the commandments in Exodus 20 and proceeds to describe the tabernacle and it's furnishings from the inside out through chapters 25.  So the commandments first, then the Ark, and out from there.

Many Christian denominations and churches don't talk about or teach the Ten Commandments much anymore. They are often ignored because they are considered Old Testament law.   This is unfortunate as the Ten Commandments are eternal in nature.  We know this because there is an eternal Ark of the Covenant in heaven. (Revelation 11:19)  And the Temple in heaven is where the Covenant law is permanently kept.. (Revelation 15:5) And remember, the Ten Commandments are God the Father's Testimony to the Israelites and all mankind.  Will God's Testimony every be obsolete?  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

There are three types of law in the Bible:  (1) Levitical priesthood laws   (2) civil laws and (3) moral law.  The Ten Commandments are the core of moral law for all eternity!  It is God's moral laws that are the foundation for moral behavior in Western Civilization and the basis of our legal code for laws regarding how one person is to treat another.  ie. do not steal or do not murder.

The more we take the Ten commandments out of the public discourse, it follows that they are talked about less and less at home.  Consequently they lose there importance as moral guidelines in our children's upbringing.  As a result, we see a "relative moral standards" promoted today in our culture and at public schools.  At home we now fight against prevailing cultural norms to teach what is right and wrong behavior.   And unfortunately we are more often than not, losing the battle.

We Christians are supposed to be set apart from culture to be an example of how to live life according to God's ways.   Yet statistically today, we are not much different in moral behavior patterns than the unchurched.  This is a tragedy of the first degree.

In our effort to make Christianity and Jesus more palatable to "seekers" and unchurched people we have grace coated everything in sermons.  And avoid the awareness of sin and how to deal with it our hearts.

If we will honor the principles of Scripture, principles like teaching our kids the commandments early on, and then referring to them as we discipline or instruct our kids in everyday situations, then we will raise kids with solid moral standards of behavior.  God commanded this type of parenting through Moses in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:7), and Jesus actually deepened it in His Sermon on the Mount.  (Matthew 5:19)

So we have a clear Biblical mandate to teach these commandments to our children, as well as obey them as Christians through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Step one is simply to learn the Ten Commandments.  And the video featured on the site will help you do that.