On These Two Commandments

I know - its been the equivalent of eternity since I've written in my blog, but I've decided to try and repent and make this more of a frequent occurrence. I know, I've said similar before, but then again, I was in school before. Now that I've graduated with my B.S. and don't have a job yet, there's a lot more time to do other things...such as this! :-)

I have, admittedly, done a post on the topic which I am about to cover before - however, I plan to take this in a way different direction that I had previously done. In fact, you might say that this is the follow-up post to the previous blog that I had written on the subject.

It has been speculated in many an LDS religion class that I have attended that the response given by the Savior in Matthew 22 referencing to the greatest commandment and the Ten Commandments go hand-in-hand - though few seem to understand the connection, much less the magnitude of our Lord's response.

For those that are unfamiliar with this scripture that I refer to, you will find it in Matthew 22:34-40:

34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,, tempting him, and saying,

36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38. This is the first and great commandment.

39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

[Emphasis added]

Now, lets keep these verses in our back pockets as we address the Ten Commandments. In short they are:

- No other Gods before God
- No graven images
- No bearing the name of God in vain
- Keep the Sabbath Day holy
- Honor parents
- Do not kill
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- No false witnesses
- No coveting neighbors house, family, possessions, etc.

Those that want to view my original post on the subject can go here:

Now, for those that want a tiny Hebrew lesson here it is: The first commandment does not truly say "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," but rather it states that "You shall not have any other Gods before my face" - which in the Hebrew culture was taken to mean that if anything stood before God - be it any practices, objects, etc. - then it was said to stand before God's face and get in the way of things.

In any case - how do we break down the Ten to become the two greatest commandments? This is simple because the Lord has essential done that for us already as such:

- No other Gods before God
- No graven images
- No bearing the name of God in vain
- Keep the Sabbath Day holy

-------------------------------------

- Honor parents
- Do not kill
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- No false witnesses
- No coveting neighbors house, family, possessions, etc.

What's interesting is that when we divide the commandments as such - we gain a greater understanding of our Father as a Heavenly being having been mortal before us, His vast plan, and the power of the Savior's response to the Pharisees.

As parents (which I am not yet, but hope to be someday with an amazing girl - she knows who she is) we have to understand that any children that we do have the opportunity to raise are on loan from our Heavenly Parents under whose charge we serve to love and rear in righteousness. With that plain fact in mind - we see that the two divisions of commandments are actually "headed" by two groups - Heavenly Parents and Earthly Parents.

The first section of these commandments we can refer to as "the Law" - which the Lord prescribed as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

The second, being equal in likeness and weight is "the prophets" - which is to love [our] neighbors our ourselves. Note that in the second section of these commandments they are those commandments which involve injury or involvement of a second individual.

Now we must tie this all together to our modern-day and its applicability to us as individuals. The prophets of modern times have boldly declared and continually emphasize that the family is the most essential and fundamental unit to any society and it is only through the means of the family unit that the highest blessings of eternity are obtained. Notice who is at the heads of each and every one of these families? Fathers and mothers - whose honoring is required by commandment.

Conversely, the parents are not without spot or blame and bear a heavy responsibility in fulfillment and observance of this commandment. In the 68th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we are reminded that "Inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents." (D&C 68:23)

Those that pay attention closely in the semi-Annual General Conferences held by the Church will note that many of the counsels given by the Prophet's are in reference to the governance of the family and towards those things that will allow for the observance of the "prophetic" section of the commandments to become almost natural and without much difficulty.

Why do I suggest this? I say this because I have found that it is almost near impossible to violate any of the "prophets" set of commandments if one is strictly adhering to those counsels contained in the Law. The problem is though - that many of us struggle with scripture study, prayer, Church attendance, idolatry, pride, etc. - which causes failure of many of the latter Ten Commandments.

I submit that as we recommit ourselves to a more careful adherence of the Law, we will find that our lives will naturally place themselves in the correct order and that we will encounter less problems with the latter portion of the Ten Commandments, and further we will be able to more fully honor our parents whose sacred responsibility it is to unite families for eternity.