📖 Exodus 20:13 — The Sixth Commandment
“You shall not murder.” (NKJV)
⚖️ Commandment #6: You Shall Not Murder
📌 This command is short—just two words in Hebrew:
לֹא תִּרְצָח (lo tirtsach)
• “Lo” = no / not
• “Tirtsach” = murder, unlawful killing
🧠 Key point: This command does not say “do not kill” (as in all killing under every circumstance), but do not murder—the intentional, unjust taking of innocent life.
🔎 What This Command Covers
✅ Prohibits:
• Premeditated murder 🔪
• Violent retaliation or revenge
• Taking life without just cause (like manslaughter or negligent killing)
❌ It does not condemn:
- Capital punishment (which God Himself commanded in certain cases – see Genesis 9:6) Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
- Self-defense (Exodus 22:2) If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.
- Just war (see numerous instances in the Old Testament under God’s direction)
- This command is about protecting the value of human life—because all people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
• Life is a gift from God and not ours to take unjustly
• I believe in moral responsibility grounded in Scripture, not human opinion
• Jesus teaches that even hatred and anger are a form of heart-murder (Matthew 5:21–22) 21“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
📖 In the New Testament, the command is deepened:
“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” — 1 John 3:15
• 🧠 Check your heart for resentment, anger, or contempt
• 🕊️ Pursue peace and reconciliation—don’t let bitterness take root
• 👂 Speak life, not hate
The Seventh Commandment
📖 Exodus 20:14 — The Seventh Commandment
“You shall not commit adultery.” (NKJV)
💍 Commandment #7: You Shall Not Commit Adultery
🔍 Observation & Meaning
📌 The Hebrew phrase is:
לֹא תִּנְאָף (lo tina’af)
• “Lo” = no / not
• “Tina’af” = commit adultery
This refers specifically to sexual unfaithfulness within marriage—a violation of the covenant between husband and wife.
💡 Adultery is a sin against the marriage bond, but also against God, who created marriage to be exclusive, faithful, and pure (Genesis 2:24). Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
🧱 Why This Commandment Matters So Much
Marriage is not just a personal relationship—it’s a sacred covenant.
• Adultery breaks trust
• Destroys families
• Often leads to more sin: lying, betrayal, and even violence
💔 In Old Testament Israel, adultery was a capital offense because it was considered a serious threat to community purity and covenant faithfulness (Leviticus 20:10). ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.
💬 What Jesus Taught
Jesus expands the commandment to the heart level in the Sermon on the Mount:
“You have heard… ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” — Matthew 5:27–28
🔥 Lust is heart-level betrayal. Even if no act happens, sin begins in the heart—and Jesus calls us to purity from the inside out.
- The sanctity of marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4–6) 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,’ 5 and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’ ? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
- Sexual relations belong only within marriage—not before, outside, or after
- Christians are called to purity of body and mind (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5) 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
📖 Adultery is not just a “moral failing”—it is sin, and it damages the witness of Christ when tolerated or hidden among believers.
• ❤️ Value and protect marriage—whether it’s your own or others’.
• 👀 Guard your eyes, mind, and heart from lust and temptation
• 💬 Stay accountable in relationships—don’t let secrecy breed sin
• 🧎 If there’s failure in the past, repent and seek God’s forgiveness and restoration—He is merciful!
The Eighth Commandment
📖 Exodus 20:15 — The Eighth Commandment
“You shall not steal.” (NKJV)
🪧 Commandment #8: You Shall Not Steal
🔍 Observation & Meaning
📌 The Hebrew is:
לֹא תִּגְנֹב (lo tignov)
• “Lo” = no / not
• “Tignov” = steal, take unlawfully
This command prohibits taking what doesn’t belong to you, whether openly or secretly.
It includes:
• Burglary 🏠
• Robbery 💰
• Fraud and deception (Leviticus 19:11)
• Cheating or shortchanging others
• Even things like plagiarism or stealing time from an employer
God values honesty, personal responsibility, and respect for boundaries.
PERSONAL NOTE:
I have a memory of stealing as a child. I didn’t get physically caught but in my mind, and certainly by God, I was caught red handed. Of all things, I took some toy/play money. I was at the store and slipped it in my pocket. I must have been 4 or 5. I knew better by then and did it despite knowing it was not mine. I got home with it and felt absolutely horrible. The whole time I had it in my possession I felt guilty and the next time I went to the store I took it back. In my guilt and shame, I stuck the unopened package under the other packages as if that would somehow hide the shamed one. It left a permanent impression on me for the whole of my life.
📖 Old Testament Justice Principles
In Israelite law, stealing required repayment, often with interest (Exodus 22:1). “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
• No prisons were used—restitution was the goal.
• The victim was restored, and the offender learned responsibility.
🔁 New Testament Reinforcement
• Ephesians 4:28 — “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor… that he may have something to give to him who has need.”
✨ Not just “stop stealing”—but “start working and giving.”
Christian character involves not only honesty, but generosity.
🙏 Application
• 💬 Am I always honest in business, taxes, time, and promises?
• 🎁 Am I using what God has given me to bless others, or only myself?
• 🤝 Am I modeling trustworthiness in all areas of life?
The Ninth Commandment
Alright, right up front, I admit it. It is not easy to share this truth: I long had a problem with gossip. This one hits me right in the gut. It took me a long time to figure out that talking out of turn was so damaging. Thankfully, I finally got the message. God’s love is so pure.
📖 Exodus 20:16 — The Ninth Commandment
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (NKJV)
⚖️ Commandment #9: You Shall Not Bear False Witness
🔍 Observation & Meaning
📌 The Hebrew is:
לֹא תַעֲנֶה בְרֵעֲךָ עֵד שָׁקֶר (lo ta’aneh v’re’akha ed shaker)
• “Lo” = no / not
• “Ta’aneh” = testify, answer, respond
• “Ed shaker” = false witness or deceptive testimony
🧠 This commandment originally refers to legal testimony—telling the truth when you speak about others, especially in court.
But its meaning goes beyond legal situations:
Don’t lie, slander, mislead, or twist the truth—especially about someone else.
🗣️ God Cares Deeply About Truth
• God is a God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4) But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.
• Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
• Lying isn’t a “small sin”—it’s a serious betrayal of God’s character
🤥 False witness can:
• Destroy reputations
• Split churches
• Ruin families
• Spread division and injustice
• Proverbs 6:16–19 — lists lying and false witness among the seven things the Lord hates
• Ephesians 4:25 — “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.”
- Stress truth in all communication, especially when handling God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
- Believe that honesty is part of walking in the light (1 John 1:6–7) 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Understand that gossip, slander, or exaggeration are forms of false witness, even if not said in court
🧼 We are called to keep clean lips and clean hearts, because truth and love must go together.
🙏 Application
• 🧠 Am I careful to speak only what I know is true?
• 💬 Do I repeat things I’ve heard without verifying them?
• 🔇 Am I willing to stay silent rather than speak falsely or harshly?
✅ Let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no (Matthew 5:37).
The Tenth Commandment
📖 Exodus 20:17 — The Tenth Commandment
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”(NKJV)
🪧 Commandment #10: You Shall Not Covet
🔍 Observation & Meaning
📌 The Hebrew word for “covet” is חָמַד (chamad) — to desire, delight in, or long for something inappropriately.
This command isn’t about appreciation or even ambition—it’s about a selfish, consuming desire for what belongs to someone else.
🚫 It forbids:
• Envy of someone else’s home, spouse, status, or success
• Discontentment that leads to bitterness or plotting
• Internal sin that can eventually fuel external sins (like theft, adultery, etc.)
❤️🔥 Why This Commandment Is So Deep
Unlike the other commandments, this one isn’t about actions, but about the heart.
Jesus taught the same principle: sin begins on the inside (Matthew 5:28 I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. & Mark 7:21–23 21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,22thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”).
📖 Paul says in Romans 7:7 that this commandment is what made him realize the sin in his heart:
“I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’”
💡 Coveting is invisible, but destructive—it erodes contentment, peace, and love.
I understand this command as a call to:
• Heart integrity — not just external obedience, but inner purity
• Contentment in Christ (Philippians 4:11–13) 11Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned bot to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• Respecting others’ blessings without jealousy or resentment
💬 Coveting can live quietly:
• Wanting someone else’s influence
• Resenting others’ blessings
• Desiring attention or praise above others
🙏 Application
• 💭 Am I content with what I have—or do I often think about what others have that I don’t?
• 🧎 Do I bring my desires to God, asking for help with envy or bitterness?
• 🤲 Can I thank God for others’ blessings without comparison?
The Ten Commandments are more than just a list of do’s and don’ts—they are a beautiful reflection of God’s holiness, His covenant love, and His design for how we are to live in relationship with Him and one another. The first four teach us how to honor God with exclusive worship, reverence, and devotion. The final six guide us in how to honor others through respect, purity, truthfulness, and contentment. From our words to our thoughts, from our families to our hearts, God calls us to live as His set-apart people—not just in outward obedience but in sincere devotion. These commands still matter because they reveal the character of God, and as followers of Christ, we long to reflect Him in every area of life.
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