Ten Building Blocks For Mankind - Part Three

Christ Has Washed His Bride With His Law Through Our Feet

...continued from Part Two (Part One)

I'd like to finish the discussion about the Ten Commandments and how they are not solely a religious idea, but the basis of the world's civilization, with an interesting reality that preceded these ten commands.

As I see things, the notion encapsulated into these commands show that these notions of law have been stirring in man's heart since eternity.

God's inspiration has not been idle, nor fully myopic...although it has been uniquely expressed in one place.

The inspirations that have produced rational laws are with us today for a purpose and reason that on the surface may not be clear to everyone.

The Code of Hammurabi supposedly predates the Ten Commandments by ~300 years, according to archeological and historical dating methods.

The Code of Ur-Nammu predates Hammurabi's code also by roughly 300 years, also according to archeological and historical dating methods.

Interestingly, these ancient codes carried with them religious overtones and religious significance in their time (as you can read about the respective articles).

The kings of those times, who upheld and applied those laws in their own realms, believed they represented God (or the current ideas of the divine), and insisted these codes be followed for the sake of order and reverence for God (or their idea of god[s]).

Although some of the ancient explanations of religious thought have expired, some of the laws have persisted and survived.

Over time, it seems chaff has been removed to reveal what is acceptable and fruitful.

Although these two pre-Ten Commandment codes are the oldest surviving records, what about those which have not survived or have yet to be found?

If earlier ones were to be found, I think they would show the gradual growth in humanity's maturity.

What has been found is the basics of guidance for humanity, weaved into subsequent cultural constructs.

When speaking to the Ten Commandments within the modern context, the protesting argument labels it crassly as “Christian sentiments”.

As in days past, and Today, there is constant vitriol against such sentiments, yet it seems the negative sentiment is very narrow and unappreciative.

There is a valid historical argument that portrays these commands as culturally weaved into the concepts that have developed most countries on earth, especially those countries who share a common trade of ideas, travel, and open relationships.

Current sentiments about religious viewpoints should be acknowledged as current.

Why?

I think current opinions prevent the objective and positive evidence and positive influence of what people call 'Judeo-Christian' that has forged the world towards light.

This is evident not only in early United States government documents, but the governments of the world previous to the U.S..

These efforts toward the light continue to be forwarded, albeit slowly, in darker corners of the world.

Historians have shown several founding fathers of the government of the United States as being either Deists or Theists.

However differently they expressed their thoughts on God, divinity and law, they acknowledged the past as a work in progress towards civility...balanced with rights and freedoms; the very construct the Ten Commandments express and have thus established.

Even religions that share a somewhat common thread, but hold to a varied interpretation that is pre-Ten Commandments and lacking the Christ-conclusion (like Islam and some other religions,) the tolerance ideal stemming from these commands and expressed in Christian-influenced governments allow for a variety of people and their varied thinking.

There is another product spawned from the further development of the Ten Commandments: the experiment that is democracy.

This aim is a direct product of the gracious approach to others expounded in the New Testament.

The law has yet again changed, or progressed and matured as mankind has grown and matured, but not as people may perceive change.

In the previous parts I explained how the past showed the dangers of forced religious notions onto the public at-large, thus the effort we know as the separation of church and state is argued.

But again, the inspiration leading to the freedoms, value in human life, and the other concepts we appreciate stem from not only the Ten Commandments, but the breadth of Jewish and Christian moral and ethical codes.

Notice how in nations that have been cultured and inspired by Islamic ideals, their code calls for death and severe punishment for homosexuality, theft and apostasy.

Although there is a mirrored methodology in the Jewish law regarding these three issues, notice there is is no such method expressed through Christ or the primary source of the New Testament.

What men have conceived after the fact of the primary source, is their own effort and obviously in sharp contrast with their law of love and peace.

There is a return to the basic principles of the Gospel, again built upon the Ten Commandments, that is measurable in modern societies.

This maturity didn't happen by osmosis or by accident, but by persistent reflection and revelation of man's consciousness, which is by Christ's teaching of love and peace for all mankind.

There is evidence of cultural pendulum swings in the world's cultures.

We see this in both western and eastern ancient cultures.

Since the U.S.'s inception, the effort to balance rationality with moral codes has swung as a pendulum swings, according to secular sentiment and religious connotations.

This is the process of growth and maturity.

One who lives under such a process should appreciate this benefit.

Several places on earth do not enjoy such freedom of discussion, but outright tyranny.

I see this as yet another evidence of the grace that comes from the New Testament.

The concepts like loving your enemies and such.

One highlight usually unnoticed is how a sentence for a crime may be reduced if a criminal openly confesses and acknowledges their misdeeds, as opposed to a criminal who denies their offenses all the way up to conviction.

Further evidence of the law graduating into grace that I'm sure some people appreciate.

This is another stepping stone in mankind's maturation of grace from the law.

Conclusion

Looking at the blend of religious overtones with the reality of modern government because of the Ten Commandments:

When there were many high priests managing the religious ideas of any given people, Today there is a single High Priest who has gone into heaven and provides grace on behalf of humanity.

When there were many kings managing their respective realms over certain peoples, Today there is the King of kings who has established His kingdom over the kingdoms of men, and His kingdom has circumvented and overcome all previous earthly kingdoms.

When there were many prophets who brought inspiration, warning, correction and clarity to any given people at certain times, Today there is the Prophet who is also the Messiah.

This Messiah, as described in several prophetic sources, is God manifested on earth.

When sacrifice was previously demanded by high priests, sacrifice Today is no longer the shedding of human or animal blood, but the sacrifice of shedding one's inferior manners in exchange for love and light.

When tribute was previously demanded by kings to show their legitimacy or their superiority over others, tribute Today is no longer in support of military expeditions and further conquest, but the tribute of a conscious-driven soul that serves the less fortunate - feeding, housing and clothing those who reflect the King's heart throughout the land; the weak, the downtrodden, the defenseless, the needy regardless of their thoughts and beliefs.

When religious practice was previously demanded by prophets as a means to know God, religion Today is no longer in support of repetitive rituals that fail to penetrate a stone-cold heart, but the practice of loving others as you would desire others to love you...not with a hope to receive reciprocity, but because the aim of love is charity and is a one way street, as Yeshua Christ exemplified...even unto death.

The aim of law has been concluded in Christ: love.

Where love reigns there is no law, and since some places on earth still lack both the law and love of Christ, the conclusion has yet to saturate the world completely.